| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: "But you're going to leave me. It's because I've done wrong."
"Don't blame yourself, dear. It has been all my fault. I ought to
have known."
Her hands fell from him. The life seemed to die out of her whole
figure. "You do despise me."
Desire of her throbbed through him, but he spoke very quietly.
"Listen, dear. There is nobody I respect more . . . and none I
like so much. I can't tell you how. . . fond of you I am. But I
must go now. You don't understand."
She bit her lip to repress the sobs that would come and turned
away to hide her shame. Jeff caught her in his arms, kissed her
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: the soil. These things grow more like sea-weeds, which have no
roots, but only hold on to the rock by the foot of the stalk, as a
ship holds on by her anchor. But as for its being strange that
live animals should grow on stalks, if it be strange it is common
enough, like many far stranger things. For under the water are
millions on millions of creatures, spreading for miles on miles,
building up at last great reefs of rocks, and whole islands, which
all grow rooted first to the rock, like sea-weeds; and what is
more, they grow, most of them, from one common root, branching
again and again, and every branchlet bearing hundreds of living
creatures, so that the whole creation is at once one creature and
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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 Purse by Honore de Balzac: reluctance, but with the self-possession of a noble soul, fully
aware of the character of bonds formed by such an obligation,
while, at the same time, they are its highest glory as a proof of
esteem.
"I fancy," said the painter, "that the uniform is that of a naval
officer."
Yes," she said, "that of a captain in command of a vessel.
Monsieur de Rouville--my husband--died at Batavia in consequence
of a wound received in a fight with an English ship they fell in
with off the Asiatic coast. He commanded a frigate of fifty-six
guns and the Revenge carried ninety-six. The struggle was very
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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 Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: listen to the reading of his sentence by the foreman of a jury.
What I advised the girl to do would seal our fate as well, since
if I bowed to the inevitable decree of age-old superstition we must
all remain and meet our fate in some horrible form within this awful
abode of horror and cruelty.
"We have the right to escape if we can," I answered.
"Our own moral senses will not be offended if we succeed,
for we know that the fabled life of love and peace in the
blessed Valley of Dor is a rank and wicked deception. We
know that the valley is not sacred; we know that the Holy
Therns are not holy; that they are a race of cruel and
The Gods of Mars |
