| 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: There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless
the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that I
might find some way to encompass his release kept me
from turning back to Phutra.
Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine,
but I hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might solve
the problem for me. It was quite evident however that
little less than a miracle could aid me, for what could
I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed?
It was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps
to Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain,
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 Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: dress in the hallway, his dinner had been waiting half an hour,
and he had worked himself into a state of fierce antagonism
toward everything and everybody.
At the sound of Aggie's voice however, his heart began to pound
with fear. "Had she found him out for the weak miserable
deceiver that he was? Would she tell him that they were going to
separate forever?"
Aggie's first words were reassuring. "Awfully sorry to be so
late, dear," she said.
Jimmy felt her kiss upon his chubby cheek and her dear arms about
his neck. He decided forthwith to tell her everything, and
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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 Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: Here, take the watch--tell me what to do!'
He was trying to press his watch upon me, and was exposing the paper
and explaining it to me, when Adler appeared on the scene,
about a dozen yards away. I said to poor Kruger--
'Put up your watch, I don't want it. You shan't come
to any harm. Go, now; I must tell Adler his fortune.
Presently I will tell you how to escape the assassin;
meantime I shall have to examine your thumbmark again.
Say nothing to Adler about this thing--say nothing to anybody.'
He went away filled with fright and gratitude, poor devil.
I told Adler a long fortune--purposely so long that I could
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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 The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: things sweet, things strong, and all the singular aspects of
mountainous Nature in the heart of France.
As she watched these many pictures, varied in form but all inspired
with the same thought, the awful sadness of this Nature, so wild, so
ruined, abandoned, fruitless, barren, filled her soul and answered to
her secret feelings. And when, through an opening among the trees, she
caught a glimpse of the plain below her, when she crossed some arid
ravine over gravel and stones, where a few stunted bushes alone could
grow, the spirit of this austere Nature came to her, suggesting
observations new to her mind, derived from the many significations of
this varied scene.
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