| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: gathering was serious, silent,--almost grim,--which formed about
Feliu.
Mateo, who had come to the country while a boy, spoke English
better than the rest of the cheniere people;--he acted as
interpreter whenever Feliu found any difficulty in comprehending
or answering questions; and he told them of the child rescued
that wild morning, and of Feliu's swim. His recital evoked a
murmur of interest and excitement, followed by a confusion of
questions. Well, they could see for themselves, Feliu said; but
he hoped they would have a little patience;--the child was still
weak;--it might be dangerous to startle her. "We'll arrange it
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: earshot of the village--knifed and stripped at the door of
his father's home, was in itself sufficiently mysterious, but
these last awesome discoveries within the village, within the
dead Kulonga's own hut, filled their hearts with dismay, and
conjured in their poor brains only the most frightful of
superstitious explanations.
They stood in little groups, talking in low tones, and ever
casting affrighted glances behind them from their great
rolling eyes.
Tarzan of the Apes watched them for a while from his
lofty perch in the great tree. There was much in their
Tarzan of the Apes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: - what did I find about my wife; Lies!' he broke out. 'They are
lies! There are not, so help me God! four words of truth in your
intolerable libel! You are a man; you are old, and might be the
girl's father; you are a gentleman; you are a scholar, and have
learned refinement; and you rake together all this vulgar scandal,
and propose to print it in a public book! Such is your chivalry!
But, thank God, sir, she has still a husband. You say, sir, in that
paper in your hand, that I am a bad fencer; I have to request from
you a lesson in the art. The park is close behind; yonder is the
Pheasant House, where you will find your carriage; should I fall,
you know, sir - you have written it in your paper - how little my
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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 Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: official trials, all but one were killed outright, and the
solitary exception was so terribly burned as to survive the fall
for only a few hours.
The accident was remarkable and demonstrated very convincingly
that although Count Zeppelin apparently had made huge strides in
aerial navigation through the passage of years, yet in reality he
had made no progress at all. He committed the identical error
that characterised the effort of Severo Pax ten years previously,
and the disaster was directly attributable to the self-same cause
as that which overwhelmed the Severo airship. The gas, escaping
from the balloons housed in the hull, collected in the confined
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