| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: the modern world has schemes. It proposes to do away with poverty
and the suffering that it entails. It desires to get rid of pain,
and the suffering that pain entails. It trusts to Socialism and to
Science as its methods. What it aims at is an Individualism
expressing itself through joy. This Individualism will be larger,
fuller, lovelier than any Individualism has ever been. Pain is not
the ultimate mode of perfection. It is merely provisional and a
protest. It has reference to wrong, unhealthy, unjust
surroundings. When the wrong, and the disease, and the injustice
are removed, it will have no further place. It will have done its
work. It was a great work, but it is almost over. Its sphere
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: outlaw. Duane was present in the tavern when the fellow
arrived, saw the few words whispered, but did not hear them.
Fletcher turned white with anger or fear, perhaps both, and he
cursed like a madman. The messenger, a lean, dark-faced,
hard-riding fellow reminding Duane of the cowboy Guthrie, left
the tavern without even a drink and rode away off to the west.
This west mystified and fascinated Duane as much as the south
beyond Mount Ord. Where were Knell and Poggin? Apparently they
were not at present with the leader on the mountain. After the
messenger left Fletcher grew silent and surly. He had presented
a variety of moods to Duane's observation, and this latest one
The Lone Star Ranger |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: born baby?"
But Carroll was laughing softly to herself on the bed. She held out
her arms for the baby, and cuddled it close to her breast.
"He's a little darling," she crooned, "and he's going to grow up big
and strong, just like his daddy." She put her cheek against the
sleeping babe's and looked up sidewise at the two standing above
her. "But I know how you feel," she said to her husband. "When
they first showed him to me, I thought he looked like a peanut a
thousand years old."
Grandma Orde fairly snorted with indignation.
"Come to your old grandmother, who appreciates you!" she cried,
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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 Night and Day by Virginia Woolf: the verge of some discussion of her plans, but she received no
encouragement. He fell into one of his queer silences, which seemed to
Mary, in spite of all her precautions, to have reference to what she
also could not prevent herself from thinking about--their feeling for
each other and their relationship. She felt that the two lines of
thought bored their way in long, parallel tunnels which came very
close indeed, but never ran into each other.
When he had gone, and he left her without breaking his silence more
than was needed to wish her good night, she sat on for a time,
reviewing what he had said. If love is a devastating fire which melts
the whole being into one mountain torrent, Mary was no more in love
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