| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast
pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the
light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash;
a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and
dark. The power of thought was restored; he knew that the
rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream. There was
no additional strangulation; the noose about his neck
was already suffocating him and kept the water from his
lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river! -- the
idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the
darkness and saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant,
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: "I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you it was
your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb
and
.WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA
.ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out
."Any excuse will serve a tyrant."
The Dog and the Shadow
It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was
carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way
home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he
crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the
Aesop's Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: verse in words which no one understood, and bent her lean body seven times
back and forth over the fire. And now the incantation seemed complete, for
the Witch stood upright and cried the one word "Yeowa!" in a loud voice.
The vapor floated away; the atmosphere became, clear again; a whiff of fresh
air filled the tent, and the pink curtains of the couch trembled slightly,
as if stirred from within.
Glinda walked to the canopy and parted the silken hangings. Then she bent
over the cushions, reached out her hand, and from the couch arose the form
of a young girl, fresh and beautiful as a May morning. Her eyes sparkled as
two diamonds, and her lips were tinted like a tourmaline. All adown her back
floated tresses of ruddy gold, with a slender jeweled circlet confining them
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: moment's forgetfulness of the sullen forces shifting and changing
about him could mean for him maiming or destruction. So, finally,
to one of an imaginative bent, these eyes, like the "cork boots,"
grew to seem part of the uniform, one of the marks of their caste,
the outward symbol of their calling.
"Blow, you son of a gun!" cried disgustedly one young fellow with a
red bandana, apostrophising the wind. "I wonder if there's ANY side
of this fire that ain't smoky!"
"Keep your hair on, bub," advised a calm and grizzled old-timer.
"There's never no smoke on the OTHER side of the fire--whichever
that happens to be. And as for wind--she just makes holiday for the
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