| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: quiet. I shall go to bed early to-night and shall not see you.
But, to make up, I shall expect you to-morrow at twelve. I love
you."
My first thought was: She is deceiving me!
A cold sweat broke out on my forehead, for I already loved this
woman too much not to be overwhelmed by the suspicion. And yet, I
was bound to expect such a thing almost any day with Marguerite,
and it had happened to me often enough with my other mistresses,
without my taking much notice of it. What was the meaning of the
hold which this woman had taken upon my life?
Then it occurred to me, since I had the key, to go and see her as
Camille |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: town--the movies. They would tide her over, she felt gratefully.
When she was too lonely, she would go to them and shed her own
troubles and problems by absorption in those of others. She who
had been married for years and had borne two children without
ever having had the joy of one overwhelming kiss, would find
romance at last, for an hour, as she identified herself with the
charming heroines of the films.
She was to surrender the farm and the crops as they stood in
June, but as there was to be no new immediate tenant in her old
house it was easily arranged that she could continue in it until
the cottage in Fallon would be empty in September.
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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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: the riders now trampling into the driveway were uncouth. lean,
savage. They were guerrillas, a band of the raiders who had been
harassing the border since the beginning of the revolution. A
second glimpse assured Madeline that they were not all Mexicans.
The presence of outlaws in that band brought home to Madeline her
real danger. She remembered what Stillwell had told her about
recent outlaw raids along the Rio Grande. These flying bands,
operating under the excitement of the revolution, appeared here
and there, everywhere, in remote places, and were gone as quickly
as they came. Mostly they wanted money and arms, but they would
steal anything, and unprotected women had suffered at their
The Light of Western Stars |
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 Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: "It is well meant," returned the skipper. "Ye can go, boy; for I
will keep your good friend and my good gossip company till curfew -
ay, and by St. Mary, till the sun get up again! For, look ye, when
a man hath been long enough at sea, the salt getteth me into the
clay upon his bones; and let him drink a draw-well, he will never
be quenched."
Thus encouraged upon all hands, Dick rose, saluted his company, and
going forth again into the gusty afternoon, got him as speedily as
he might to the Goat and Bagpipes. Thence he sent word to my Lord
Foxham that, so soon as ever the evening closed, they would have a
stout boat to keep the sea in. And then leading along with him a
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