| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: Mahon struck a bargain with him for half-a-crown to
tow our skipper alongside; but it was Mrs. Beard that
came up the ladder first. They had been floating about
the dock in that mizzly cold rain for nearly an hour. I
was never so surprised in my life.
"It appears that when he heard my shout 'Come up,'
he understood at once what was the matter, caught up
his wife, ran on deck, and across, and down into our boat,
which was fast to the ladder. Not bad for a sixty-year-
old. Just imagine that old fellow saving heroically in
his arms that old woman--the woman of his life. He
Youth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: cousin who, dressed in a sealskin jacket, himself resembled some
strange animal from a cold country, told me what preparations he
had made for that same night.
We were to start at half past three in the morning, so as to
arrive at the place which he had chosen for our watching-place at
about half past four. On that spot a hut had been built of lumps
of ice, so as to shelter us somewhat from the trying wind which
precedes daybreak, a wind so cold as to tear the flesh like a
saw, cut it like the blade of a knife, prick it like a poisoned
sting, twist it like a pair of pincers, and burn it like fire.
My cousin rubbed his hands: "I have never known such a frost," he
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: sunset, it was only because they could not scrape another
morsel off the poor animal's bones.
The next morning, their appetites were as sharp as ever. They
looked at Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up the
cliff again, and come back with another fat deer upon his
shoulders. Instead of setting out, however, he summoned the
whole crew together, and told them it was in vain to hope that
he could kill a stag every day for their dinner, and therefore
it was advisable to think of some other mode of satisfying
their hunger.
"Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff, yesterday, I
Tanglewood Tales |
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 Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: ascertaining if they are not already acquainted as enemies; and
the pursuit of another's happiness with a running pack of
strangers."
INVENTOR, n. A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels,
levers and springs, and believes it civilization.
IRRELIGION, n. The principal one of the great faiths of the world.
ITCH, n. The patriotism of a Scotchman.
J
J is a consonant in English, but some nations use it as a vowel --
than which nothing could be more absurd. Its original form, which has
been but slightly modified, was that of the tail of a subdued dog, and
The Devil's Dictionary |
