| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Othello by William Shakespeare: And so, with no money at all, and a little more Wit, returne
againe to Venice
Iago. How poore are they that haue not Patience?
What wound did euer heale but by degrees?
Thou know'st we worke by Wit, and not by Witchcraft
And Wit depends on dilatory time:
Dos't not go well? Cassio hath beaten thee,
And thou by that small hurt hath casheer'd Cassio:
Though other things grow faire against the Sun,
Yet Fruites that blossome first, will first be ripe:
Content thy selfe, a-while. Introth 'tis Morning;
Othello |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: may be sure, sir, I should never 'ave had this berth if I 'adn't
'ave been up to Dick. We been expecting of you this month back.
My eye! I never see such preparations. Every day the fires has
been kep' up, the bed made, and all! As soon as it was known you
were coming, sir, I got the appointment; and I've been up and down
since then like a Jack-in-the-box. A wheel couldn't sound in the
avenue but what I was at the window! I've had a many
disappointments; but to-night, as soon as you stepped out of the
shay, I knew it was my - it was you. Oh, you had been expected!
Why, when I go down to supper, I'll be the 'ero of the servants'
'all: the 'ole of the staff is that curious!'
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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 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: removed their eyes from the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, denied that
there was any mark whatever on his breast, more than on a
new-born infant's. Neither, by their report, had his dying words
acknowledged, nor even remotely implied, any -- the slightest --
connexion on his part, with the guilt for which Hester Prynne had
so long worn the scarlet letter. According to these
highly-respectable witnesses, the minister, conscious that he was
dying -- conscious, also, that the reverence of the multitude
placed him already among saints and angels -- had desired, by
yielding up his breath in the arms of that fallen woman, to
express to the world how utterly nugatory is the choicest of
The Scarlet Letter |
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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: "Then you don't believe me yet?"
"You mean about the beautiful Mrs. Kniepp?
"And yet I tell you I am right. It was an intentional suicide."
"Muller, Muller, you must keep better watch over your imagination
and your tongue! It is a dangerous thing to spread rumours about
persons high in favor with the Arch-duke. But you had better tell
me what you think about this affair," continued the doctor,
pointing back towards the room they had just left.
"There's a woman in the case."
"Aha! you are romancing again. Well, they won't be so sensitive
about this matter, but take care that you don't make a mistake again,
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