| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: anger. "This is not Mombi at all, but some other person who has been made to
resemble her! Tell me," she demanded, turning to the trembling girl, "what
is your name?"
This Jellia dared not tell, having been threatened with death by the witch
if she confessed the fraud. But Glinda, sweet and fair though she was,
understood magic better than any other person in the Land of Oz. So, by
uttering a few potent words and making a peculiar gesture, she quickly
transformed the girl into her proper shape, while at the same time old
Mombi, far away in Jinjur's palace, suddenly resumed her own crooked form
and evil features.
"Why, it's Jellia Jamb!" cried the Scarecrow, recognizing in the girl one of
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: formed on any one spot, and might there maintain itself in a body, so that
whatever intercrossing took place would be chiefly between the individuals
of the same new variety. A local variety when once thus formed might
subsequently slowly spread to other districts. On the above principle,
nurserymen always prefer getting seed from a large body of plants of the
same variety, as the chance of intercrossing with other varieties is thus
lessened.
Even in the case of slow-breeding animals, which unite for each birth, we
must not overrate the effects of intercrosses in retarding natural
selection; for I can bring a considerable catalogue of facts, showing that
within the same area, varieties of the same animal can long remain
On the Origin of Species |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: that it was not wet enough to matter since she had been
covered by a robe in the automobile until just a moment
before she had been hurled out.
"Then, after you are warmed up," said Bridge, "you
can step into this other room while the kid and I strip
and dry our things, for there's no question but that we
are wet enough."
At the suggestion the kid started for the door. "Oh,
no," he insisted; "it isn't worth while. I am almost dry
now, and as soon as we get out on the road I'll be all
right. I--I--I like wet clothes," he ended, lamely.
The Oakdale Affair |
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 Touchstone by Edith Wharton: A battue of helpless things driven savagely out of shelter. He
had not known it would be like this. . . .
He understood now that, at the moment of selling the letters, he
had viewed the transaction solely as it affected himself: as an
unfortunate blemish on an otherwise presentable record. He had
scarcely considered the act in relation to Margaret Aubyn; for
death, if it hallows, also makes innocuous. Glennard's God was a
god of the living, of the immediate, the actual, the tangible; all
his days he had lived in the presence of that god, heedless of the
divinities who, below the surface of our deeds and passions,
silently forge the fatal weapons of the dead.
|
