| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells: and down as their owners ran in all directions. ... I seemed altogether
unhurt. I ran forward some paces, shouting, then turned about. I was
amazed.
I had come right through them in vast flying strides, they were all behind
me, and running hither and thither to hide.
I felt an enormous astonishment at the evaporation of the great fight into
which I had hurled myself, and not a little exultation. It did not seem to
me that I had discovered the Selenites were unexpectedly flimsy, but that
I was unexpectedly strong. I laughed stupidly. This fantastic moon!
I glanced for a moment at the smashed and writhing bodies that were
scattered over the cavern floor, with a vague idea of further violence,
The First Men In The Moon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: wherewith he pursued his strange experiments, of the tubes wherein
he isolated the bacilli of unclassified diseases, of the yellow-bound
volumes for a glimpse at which (had they known of their contents)
the great men of Harley Street would have given a fortune--no trace remained.
The silken cushions; the inlaid tables; all were gone.
The room was stripped, dismantled. Had Fu-Manchu fled?
The silence assumed a new significance. His dacoits and kindred
ministers of death all must have fled, too.
"You have let him escape us!" I said rapidly.
"You promised to aid us to capture him--to send us a message--
and you have delayed until--"
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: Mademoiselle de Verneuil after the marquis, in his fury and despair,
had abandoned her to Pille-Miche. Francine had caught Marche-a-Terre
by the arm and reminded him, with sobs, of the promise he had made
her. Pille-Miche was already dragging away his victim like a heavy
bundle. Marie, her head and hair hanging back, turned her eyes to the
lake; but held as she was in a grasp of iron she was forced to follow
the Chouan, who turned now and then to hasten her steps, and each time
that he did so a jovial thought brought a hideous smile upon his face.
"Isn't she a morsel!" he cried, with a coarse laugh.
Hearing the words, Francine recovered speech.
"Pierre?"
The Chouans |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield: Neave could not manage at all. He stumped along, lifting his knees high as
if he were walking through air that had somehow grown heavy and solid like
water. And the homeward-looking crowd hurried by, the trams clanked, the
light carts clattered, the big swinging cabs bowled along with that
reckless, defiant indifference that one knows only in dreams...
It had been a day like other days at the office. Nothing special had
happened. Harold hadn't come back from lunch until close on four. Where
had he been? What had he been up to? He wasn't going to let his father
know. Old Mr. Neave had happened to be in the vestibule, saying good-bye
to a caller, when Harold sauntered in, perfectly turned out as usual, cool,
suave, smiling that peculiar little half-smile that women found so
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