| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: met by her mother's extended arm and by a low murmured warning
not to make a noise.
"Have you seen them, mother?" asked Nina, in a breathless
whisper.
Mrs. Almayer turned her face towards the girl, and her sunken
eyes shone strangely in the red half-light of the passage.
"I saw him," she said, in an almost inaudible tone, pressing her
daughter's hand with her bony fingers. "A great Rajah has come
to Sambir--a Son of Heaven," muttered the old woman to herself.
"Go away, girl!"
The two women stood close to the curtain, Nina wishing to
Almayer's Folly |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: friends.
"Come down, Hermas, you sluggard! Come down! It is
Christmas morn. Awake, and be glad with us!"
"I am coming," he answered listlessly; "only have patience
a moment. I have been awake since midnight, and waiting for
the day."
"You hear him!" said his friends one to another. "How he
puts us all to shame! He is more watchful, more eager, than
any of us. Our master, John the Presbyter, does well to be
proud of him. He is the best man in our class."
While they were talking the door opened and Hermas stepped
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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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: down the river.
Travel down the river was at times very pleasant, and at times very
disagreeable. The ground had now hardened so that a wanigan boat
was unnecessary. Instead, the camp outfit was transported in
waggons, which often had to journey far inland, to make
extraordinary detours, but which always arrived somehow at the
various camping places. Orde and his men, of course, took the river
trail.
The river trail ran almost unbroken for over a hundred miles of
meandering way. It climbed up the high banks at the points, it
crossed the bluffs along their sheer edges, it descended to the
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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 The Koran: not be helped.
And when his Lord tried Abraham with words, and he fulfilled them,
He said, 'Verily, I will set thee as a high priest for men.' Said
he, 'And of my seed?' God said, 'My covenant touches not the
evildoers.'
And when we made the House a place of resort unto men, and a
sanctuary, and (said) take the station of Abraham for a place of
prayer; and covenanted with Abraham and Ishmael, saying, 'Do ye two
cleanse my house for those who make the circuit, for those who pay
devotions there, for those who bow down, and for those too who adore.'
When Abraham said, 'Lord, make this a town of safety, and provide
The Koran |
