| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: behind the great black rock, almost every evening spurted irregularly, so
that one had to watch for it and it was a delight when it came, a fountain
of white water; and then, while one waited for that, one watched, on the
pale semicircular beach, wave after wave shedding again and again
smoothly, a film of mother of pearl.
They both smiled, standing there. They both felt a common hilarity,
excited by the moving waves; and then by the swift cutting race of a
sailing boat, which, having sliced a curve in the bay, stopped; shivered;
let its sails drop down; and then, with a natural instinct to complete the
picture, after this swift movement, both of them looked at the dunes
far away, and instead of merriment felt come over them some
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: she was stolen."
"Well, you have. All the people of Oz," explained Scraps, "are ruled
by Ozma, whether they know it or not. And she has been stolen.
Aren't you angry? Aren't you indignant? Your Ruler, whom you didn't
know you had, has positively been stolen!"
"That is queer," remarked the Frogman thoughtfully.
"Stealing is a thing practically unknown in Oz, yet this Ozma has
been taken, and a friend of mine has also had her dishpan stolen.
With her I have traveled all the way from the Yip Country in order to
recover it."
"I don't see any connection between a Royal Ruler of Oz and a
The Lost Princess of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: must end this sort of thing--absolutely." He glanced at the
faces of the singers, and it became beyond all other things
urgent, that he should lift them once for all above the sectarian
dogmatism of that hymn to a simple vision of God's light....
He roused himself to the touching business of the laying on of
hands. While he did so the prepared substance of his second
address was running through his mind. The following prayer and
collects he read without difficulty, and so came to his second
address. His disposition at first was explanatory.
"When I spoke to you just now," he began, "I fell
unintentionally into the use of a Greek word, epitelesei. It was
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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 Coxon Fund by Henry James: "Yes, but would she marry YOU? What I ask of you of course is
nothing less than your word of honour as to your conviction of
this. If you give it me," I said, "I'll engage to hand her the
letter before night."
Gravener took up his hat; turning it mechanically round he stood
looking a moment hard at its unruffled perfection. Then very
angrily honestly and gallantly, "Hand it to the devil!" he broke
out; with which he clapped the hat on his head and left me.
"Will you read it or not?" I said to Ruth Anvoy, at Wimbledon, when
I had told her the story of Mrs. Saltram's visit.
She debated for a time probably of the briefest, but long enough to
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