| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Plutarch's Lives by A. H. Clough: seemed to become one that had seen service in so many and great wars
and expeditions. This same house Cornelia bought for seventy-five
thousand drachmas, and not long after Lucius Lucullus, for two
million five hundred thousand; so rapid and so great was the growth
of Roman sumptuosity. Yet, in spite of all this, out of a mere
boyish passion for distinction, affecting to shake off his age and
weakness, he went down daily to the Campus Martius, and exercising
himself with the youth, showed himself still nimble in his armor,
and expert in riding; though he was undoubtedly grown bulky in his
old age, and inclining to excessive fatness and corpulency.
Some people were pleased with this, and went continually to see him
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: Then all the little girls looked up.
There stood two pretty grown-up people.
And these two grown-up people had no soft white around their faces
like the soft white around the face that Sister Angela wore, and
they had no black veils, soft and long like the black veil that
Sister Angela wore. And they had no little white crosses like the
small white cross that Sister Angela wore on the breast of her soft
black dress.
One of the pretty-grown up folks looked at one of the little tiny
girls and said: ``And what is her name?''
Sister Angela said: ``Bessie Bell was written on her little white
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: appear to help them to the best of his capacity, or he practically
published his mistrust. And yet Mountain assures me the man's brow
was never ruffled. He sat in the midst of these jackals, his life
depending by a thread, like some easy, witty householder at home by
his own fire; an answer he had for everything - as often as not, a
jesting answer; avoided threats, evaded insults; talked, laughed,
and listened with an open countenance; and, in short, conducted
himself in such a manner as must have disarmed suspicion, and went
near to stagger knowledge. Indeed, Mountain confessed to me they
would soon have disbelieved the Captain's story, and supposed their
designated victim still quite innocent of their designs; but for
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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 Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: to help himself to brandy. 'It is surprising how this
journey has fatigued me. But I am growing old, I am growing
old, I am growing old, and - I regret to add - bald.'
He cocked a white wide-awake coquettishly upon his head - the
habit of the lady-killer clung to him; and Esther had already
thrown on her hat, and was ready, while he was still studying
the result in a mirror: the carbuncle had somewhat painfully
arrested his attention.
'We are papa now; we must be respectable,' he said to Dick,
in explanation of his dandyism: and then he went to a bundle
and chose himself a staff. Where were the elegant canes of
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