| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: She had every conceivable indulgence, and if she married
him for his money, at least she had got what she wanted.
She led the most agreeable life conceivable, and she ought to be
in high good-humor. It was impossible to have a prettier house,
a prettier carriage, more jewels and laces for the adornment
of a plump little person. It was impossible to go to
more parties, to give better dinners, to have fewer privations
or annoyances. Bernard was so much struck with all this that,
advancing rapidly in the intimacy of his gracious hostess,
he ventured to call her attention to her blessings.
She answered that she was perfectly aware of them, and there
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tom Grogan by F. Hopkinson Smith: Tom's hands were in the side pockets of her ulster. Her face was
aglow with her brisk walk from the tenements. She never took her
eyes from his face, and never moved a muscle of her body. She was
slowly revolving in her mind whether any information she could get
out of him would be worth the waiting for.
Crimmins relapsed into silence, and began patting the floor with
his foot. The prolonged stillness was becoming uncomfortable.
"I was tellin' ye about the meetin' we had to the Union last
night. We was goin' over the list of members, an' we didn't find
yer name. The board thought maybe ye'd like to come in wid us.
The dues is only two dollars a month. We're a-regulatin' the
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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 Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: kind office for that far more numerous, and not less beautiful
class, the beetles. There is also an admirable "Manual of British
Butterflies and Moths," by Mr. Stainton, in course of publication;
but, perhaps, the most interesting of all entomological books which
I have seen (and for introducing me to which I must express my
hearty thanks to Mr. Stainton), is "Practical Hints respecting
Moths and Butterflies, forming a Calendar of Entomological
Operations," (36) by Richard Shield, a simple London working-man.
I would gladly devote more space than I can here spare to a review
of this little book, so perfectly does it corroborate every word
which I have said already as to the moral and intellectual value of
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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 In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: our brain. The wonder is the world is as good as it is. Now I live on the
simple, provided food"--she pointed to a little bag beside her--"a lettuce,
a carrot, a potato, and some nuts are ample, rational nourishment. I wash
them under the tap and eat them raw, just as they come from the harmless
earth--fresh and uncontaminated."
"Do you take nothing else all day?" I cried.
"Water. And perhaps a banana if I wake in the night." She turned round
and leaned on one elbow. "You over-eat yourself dreadfully," she said;
"shamelessly! How can you expect the Flame of the Spirit to burn brightly
under layers of superfluous flesh?"
I wished she would not stare at me, and thought of going to look at my
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