| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to
turn upon me, but the spear, imbedded in its throat,
prevented it from seizing me though it came near
to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me.
VIII
THE MAHAR TEMPLE
The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into
the skiff, and seizing the spear with me helped to hold
off the infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded
reptile was now crimsoning the waters about us and soon
from the weakening struggles it became evident that I
At the Earth's Core |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: forth only a paean of selfishness. Yes, your love is selfish; you love
Gaston far less for himself than for what he is to you.
LIV
MME. GASTON TO THE COMTESSE DE L'ESTORADE
May 20th.
Renee, calamity has come--no, that is no word for it--it has burst
like a thunderbolt over your poor Louise. You know what that means;
calamity for me is doubt; certainty would be death.
The day before yesterday, when I had finished my first toilet, I
looked everywhere for Gaston to take a little turn with me before
lunch, but in vain. I went to the stable, and there I saw his mare all
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: my sorrow, he would share it.
I ran like a madman, like a thief, to the Hotel de Paris; I found
the key in the door of my father's room; I entered. He was
reading. He showed so little astonishment at seeing me, that it
was as if he was expecting me. I flung myself into his arms
without saying a word. I gave him Marguerite's letter, and,
falling on my knees beside his bed, I wept hot tears.
Chapter 23
When the current of life had resumed its course, I could not
believe that the day which I saw dawning would not be like those
which had preceded it. There were moments when I fancied that
Camille |
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 Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: reached her intelligence. All things moved silently, like ghosts. Only
one noise penetrated her ears; the parrot's voice.
As if to divert her mind, he reproduced for her the tick-tack of the
spit in the kitchen, the shrill cry of the fish-vendors, the saw of
the carpenter who had a shop opposite, and when the door-bell rang, he
would imitate Madame Aubain: "Felicite! go to the front door."
They held conversations together, Loulou repeating the three phrases
of his repertory over and over, Felicite replying by words that had no
greater meaning, but in which she poured out her feelings. In her
isolation, the parrot was almost a son, a love. He climbed upon her
fingers, pecked at her lips, clung to her shawl, and when she rocked
A Simple Soul |
