| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: a dream to become a Gray Friar, and Buchanan answered in language
which had the unpleasant fault of being too clever, and--to judge
from contemporary evidence--only too true. The friars said nothing
at first; but when King James made Buchanan tutor to one of his
natural sons, they, "men professing meekness, took the matter
somewhat more angrily than befitted men so pious in the opinion of
the people." So Buchanan himself puts it: but, to do the poor
friars justice, they must have been angels, not men, if they did not
writhe somewhat under the scourge which he had laid on them. To be
told that there was hardly a place in heaven for monks, was hard to
hear and bear. They accused him to the king of heresy; but not
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: it receives from parents or nurses, or because of the
disposition it inherits, its nature soon becomes changed,
and it develops certain characteristics peculiar to the
Chinese child. It becomes t'ao ch'i. That almost means
mischievous; it almost means troublesome--a little tartar--
but it means exactly t'ao ch'i.
In this respect almost every Chinese child is a little tyrant.
Father, mother, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are all made
to do his bidding. In case any of them seems to be recalcitrant,
the little dear lies down on his baby back on the
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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 Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: near. Before reading it I asked the man who it was that had given it
to him, and how long he had been upon the road; he told me that as
he happened to be passing through one of the streets of the city at
the hour of noon, a very beautiful lady called to him from a window,
and with tears in her eyes said to him hurriedly, 'Brother, if you
are, as you seem to be, a Christian, for the love of God I entreat you
to have this letter despatched without a moment's delay to the place
and person named in the address, all which is well known, and by
this you will render a great service to our Lord; and that you may
be at no inconvenience in doing so take what is in this handkerchief;'
and said he, 'with this she threw me a handkerchief out of the
Don Quixote |
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 Tom Grogan by F. Hopkinson Smith: other side of the fence, but ye can't tell. Nobody keeps their
heads in times like that."
"Have you been in bed ever since?" Babcock asked.
"In bed! God rest ye! I was down to the board meetin' two hours
after, wid Mr. Crane, and signed the contract. Jennie and all of
'em wouldn't have it, and cried and went on, but I braved 'em all.
I knew I had to go if I died for it. Mr. Crane had his buggy, so
I didn't have to walk. The stairs was the worst. Once inside, I
was all right. I only had to sign, an' come out again; it didn't
take a minute. Mr. Crane stayed and fixed the bonds wid the
trustees, an' I come home wid Carl and Jennie." Then, turning to
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