| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: for things, and how to avoid being cheated by her servants. He told
her she could rely on Constantin and make him her major-domo. Thaddeus
had trained the man thoroughly. By the end of May he thought the
countess fully competent to carry on her affairs alone; for Clementine
was one of those far-sighted women, full of instinct, who have an
innate genius as mistress of a household.
This position of affairs, which Thaddeus had led up to naturally, did
not end without further cruel trials; his sufferings were fated not to
be as sweet and tender as he was trying to make them. The poor lover
forgot to reckon on the hazard of events. Adam fell seriously ill, and
Thaddeus, instead of leaving the house, stayed to nurse his friend.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: I have said something already with relation to the great extent of
ground which lies waste, and in which there is so great a quantity
of large timber, as I have spoken of already.
This waste and wild part of the country was, as some record, laid
open and waste for a forest and for game by that violent tyrant
William the Conqueror, and for which purpose he unpeopled the
country, pulled down the houses, and, which was worse, the churches
of several parishes or towns, and of abundance of villages, turning
the poor people out of their habitations and possessions, and
laying all open for his deer. The same histories likewise record
that two of his own blood and posterity, and particularly his
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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 Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest: The job will not bring you to fame
Or riches or honor or joy
Or add any weight to your name.
You may fail or succeed where you are,
May honestly serve or may rob;
From the start to the end
Your success will depend
On just what you make of your job.
Don't look on the job as the thing
That shall prove what you're able to do;
The job does no more than to bring
Just Folks |
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 Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: magical draft; but before he could find it he had grown to enormous
proportions, and was bigger than the biggest giant. There was nothing
in the book of magic to make one grow smaller, so he was obliged to
remain as he was--the largest man in the Enchanted Island.
All this had happened in a single night. The morning after his
master's murder the page announced himself lord of the castle; and,
seeing his enormous size, none dared deny his right to rule. On
account of his bushy hair, which was fiery red in color, and the bushy
red beard that covered his face when he became older, people came to
call him the Red One. And after his evil deeds and quarrelsome temper
had made him infamous throughout the island, people began to call him
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
