| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Rig Veda: of
the flowing Soma.
10 Whether, O Indra-Agni, ye be dwelling in highest earth,
in central,
or in lowest,
Even from thence, ye mighty Lords, come hither, and drink libations
of
the flowing Soma.
11 Whether ye be in heaven, O Indra-Agni, on earth, on mountains,
in
the herbs, or waters,
The Rig Veda |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: of amusement, of travel, or of bread-winning.
We were sitting round a mahogany table that reflected
the bottle, the claret-glasses, and our faces as we leaned
on our elbows. There was a director of companies, an
accountant, a lawyer, Marlow, and myself. The direc-
tor had been a CONWAY boy, the accountant had served
four years at sea, the lawyer--a fine crusted Tory, High
Churchman, the best of old fellows, the soul of honor--
had been chief officer in the P. & O. service in the good
old days when mail-boats were square-rigged at least on
two masts, and used to come down the China Sea before
Youth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: of an old friend. "Don't worry yourself. Trust to
me."
The man dropped his hand and turned again. They
went over the brow in single file and to the headland
beyond Penally, with the sleepless man gesticulating
ever and again, and speaking fragmentary things
concerning his whirling brain. At the headland they
stood for a space by the seat that looks into the dark
mysteries of Blackapit, and then he sat down. Isbister
had resumed his talk whenever the path had widened
sufficiently for them to walk abreast. He was enlarging
When the Sleeper Wakes |
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 My Antonia by Willa Cather: Her skin, so brown and hardened, had not that look of flabbiness,
as if the sap beneath it had been secretly drawn away.
While we were talking, the little boy whom they called Jan came in and
sat down on the step beside Nina, under the hood of the stairway.
He wore a funny long gingham apron, like a smock, over his trousers,
and his hair was clipped so short that his head looked white and naked.
He watched us out of his big, sorrowful grey eyes.
`He wants to tell you about the dog, mother. They found it dead,'
Anna said, as she passed us on her way to the cupboard.
Antonia beckoned the boy to her. He stood by her chair,
leaning his elbows on her knees and twisting her apron strings in his
My Antonia |
