| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Land of Footprints by Stewart Edward White: respectfully as to what we wanted for dinner, we yielded weakly
to the temptation and told him. Then we marched us boldly to the
house and took possession.
All around the house ran a veranda, shaded bamboo curtains and
vines, furnished with the luxurious teakwood chairs of the
tropics of which you can so extend the arms as to form two
comfortable and elevated rests for your feet. Horns of various
animals ornamented the walls. A megaphone and a huge terrestrial
telescope on a tripod stood in one corner. Through the latter one
could examine at favourable times the herds of game on the
plains.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: The conservative respect for tradition which made the Roman people
delight in the ritual and formulas of law, and is as apparent in
their politics as in their religion, was fatal to any rise of that
spirit of revolt against authority the importance of which, as a
factor in intellectual progress, we have already seen.
The whitened tables of the Pontifices preserved carefully the
records of the eclipses and other atmospherical phenomena, and what
we call the art of verifying dates was known to them at an early
time; but there was no spontaneous rise of physical science to
suggest by its analogies of law and order a new method of research,
nor any natural springing up of the questioning spirit of
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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 Finished by H. Rider Haggard: the voice of Zikali and the mourning of the women of his house.
It is finished. Farewell, King Cetewayo, I pass to tell Panda,
your father, how it fares with you. When last we parted did I
not prophesy to you that we should meet again at the bottom of a
gulf? Was it this gulf, think you, or another? One day you
shall learn. Farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!"
Once more the smoke spread out like a fan. When it thinned and
drew together again, the Shape was gone.
Now I thought that the Zulus would be so impressed by this very
queer exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural
guidance, but make up their minds for war at once. This,
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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 A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain: I could not seem to find anything but furniture.
I could not remember that there was much furniture
in the room when I went to bed, but the place was alive
with it now --especially chairs--chairs everywhere--
had a couple of families moved in, in the mean time? And
I never could seem to GLANCE on one of those chairs,
but always struck it full and square with my head.
My temper rose, by steady and sure degrees, and as I
pawed on and on, I fell to making vicious comments under
my breath.
Finally, with a venomous access of irritation, I said I
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