| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: which the provinces cling so tenaciously. During the winter season,
when she lived in town, she seldom went into society; society came to
her. She received every Wednesday, and gave three grand dinners every
month. Her friends felt that she was more at ease in her own house;
where, indeed, her passion for her husband and the care she bestowed
on the education of her children tended to keep her.
Such had been, up to the year 1809, the general course of this
household, which had nothing in common with the ordinary run of
conventional ideas, though the outward life of these two persons,
secretly full of love and joy, was like that of other people.
Balthazar Claes's passion for his wife, which she had known how to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: Pyecraft.
Well, you know, he wasn't there!
I never had such a shock in my life. There was his sitting-room
in a state of untidy disorder, plates and dishes among the books
and writing things, and several chairs overturned, but Pyecraft--
"It's all right, o' man; shut the door," he said, and then I
discovered him.
There he was right up close to the cornice in the corner by the door,
as though some one had glued him to the ceiling. His face was anxious
and angry. He panted and gesticulated. "Shut the door," he said.
"If that woman gets hold of it--"
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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 Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: took a piece of paper and made on it an exact copy of the instructions
for pronouncing Pyrzqxgl. Then he folded the paper and put it
in his pocket, and replaced the board in the floor so that no one
would suspect it had been removed.
After this Kiki went into the garden and sitting beneath a tree made
a careful study of the paper. He had always wanted to get away from
Mount Munch and visit the big world--especially the Land of Oz--and
the idea now came to him that if he could transform himself into a
bird, he could fly to any place he wished to go and fly back again
whenever he cared to. It was necessary, however, to learn by heart
the way to pronounce the magic word, because a bird would have no way
The Magic of Oz |
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 Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: told her to be ashamed when she had cried: Pretty! Pretty! Pretty!
as the something green, and blue, and soft, and brown was waved to
and fro in front of her until she seized it and buried her little
face in it for the joy--of remembering--
So Sister Helen Vincula did not know, and Bessie Bell did not
remember, while the lady talked.
Only long after, when Bessie Bell grew much larger, it happened that
whenever she saw an old-fashioned peacock-feather-fly-brush--at
first, just for a second, she felt very glad; and then, just for a
second, she felt very sorry; and she never knew or could remember
why. She forgot after awhile how she had been so full of sorrow
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