| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: "What! You know this girl! Who is she?"
"She is one of the finest weapons in the enemy's armory, Petrie.
But a woman is a two-edged sword, and treacherous.
To our great good fortune, she has formed a sudden predilection,
characteristically Oriental, for yourself. Oh, you may scoff, but it
is evident. She was employed to get this letter placed in my hands.
Give it to me."
I did so.
"She has succeeded. Smell."
He held the envelope under my nose, and, with a sudden sense of nausea,
I recognized the strange perfume.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling: words rang like a trumpet. He had a voice that changed
its tone almost as an opal changes colour - sometimes
deep and thundery, sometimes thin and waily, but
always it made you listen.
'Many people can bear witness to that,' Puck
answered. 'Tell these babes how it was done. Remember,
Master, they do not know Doubt or Fear.'
'So I saw in their faces when we met,' said Kadmiel.
'Yet surely, surely they are taught to spit upon Jews?'
'Are they?' said Dan, much interested. 'Where at?'
Puck fell back a pace, laughing. 'Kadmiel is thinking 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 The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: whispered, "No tears!"
"Henriette, do you no longer care for our dear valley," I said, as if
to explain my sudden movement.
"Oh, yes!" she said, turning her forehead to my lips with a fond
motion. "But without you it is fatal to me,--without THEE," she added,
putting her burning lips to my ear and whispering the words like a
sigh.
I was horror-struck at the wild caress, and my will was not strong
enough to repress the nervous agitation I felt throughout this scene.
I listened without reply; or rather I replied by a fixed smile and
signs of comprehension; wishing not to thwart her, but to treat her as
The Lily of the Valley |
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 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: Ed Overbrook was a classmate of Babbitt who had been a failure. He had a large
family and a feeble insurance business out in the suburb of Dorchester. He
was gray and thin and unimportant. He had always been gray and thin and
unimportant. He was the person whom, in any group, you forgot to introduce,
then introduced with extra enthusiasm. He had admired Babbitt's
good-fellowship in college, had admired ever since his power in real estate,
his beautiful house and wonderful clothes. It pleased Babbitt, though it
bothered him with a sense of responsibility. At the class-dinner he had seen
poor Overbrook, in a shiny blue serge business-suit, being diffident in a
corner with three other failures. He had gone over and been cordial: "Why,
hello, young Ed! I hear you're writing all the insurance in Dorchester now.
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