| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: seemed to be progressing slowly toward higher standards
of intelligence. Into the hands of such, he realized,
he had fallen; but--what were their intentions toward him?
As he glanced about the courtyard, he saw fully fifty
of the hideous beasts, squatting on their haunches,
and at a little distance from him another human being,
closely guarded.
As his eyes met those of his fellow-captive a smile
lit the other's face, and: "Kaor, red man!" burst from
his lips. It was Kar Komak, the bowman.
"Kaor!" cried Carthoris, in response. "How came you
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: you will use up many a crayon and spoil many a canvas before you reach
that height. Undoubtedly a woman carries her head this way and her
petticoats that way; her eyes soften and droop with just that look of
resigned gentleness; the throbbing shadow of the eyelashes falls
exactly thus upon her cheek. That is it, and--that is NOT IT. What
lacks? A mere nothing; but that mere nothing is ALL. You have given
the shadow of life, but you have not given its fulness, its being, its
--I know not what--soul, perhaps, which floats vaporously about the
tabernacle of flesh; in short, that flower of life which Raphael and
Titian culled. Start from the point you have now attained, and perhaps
you may yet paint a worthy picture; you grew weary too soon.
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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 Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: stand aside and wait the event with that unhappy courage of the
looker-on. He was a good swimmer, and taught them to swim. He
thoroughly loved all manly exercises; and during their holidays,
and principally in the Highlands, helped and encouraged them to
excel in as many as possible: to shoot, to fish, to walk, to pull
an oar, to hand, reef and steer, and to run a steam launch. In all
of these, and in all parts of Highland life, he shared delightedly.
He was well onto forty when he took once more to shooting, he was
forty-three when he killed his first salmon, but no boy could have
more single-mindedly rejoiced in these pursuits. His growing love
for the Highland character, perhaps also a sense of the difficulty
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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 A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: That's to you sworn, to none was ever said;
For feasts of love I have been call'd unto,
Till now did ne'er invite, nor never woo.
'All my offences that abroad you see
Are errors of the blood, none of the mind;
Love made them not; with acture they may be,
Where neither party is nor true nor kind:
They sought their shame that so their shame did find;
And so much less of shame in me remains,
By how much of me their reproach contains.
'Among the many that mine eyes have seen,
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