| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: timidity, is capable at times of vehement and fixed purposes, she
found Lady Forester resolutely unmoved and determined when the
moment of departure arrived. Ill satisfied with the expedition,
but determined not to leave her sister at such a crisis, Lady
Bothwell accompanied Lady Forester through more than one obscure
street and lane, the servant walking before, and acting as their
guide. At length he suddenly turned into a narrow court, and
knocked at an arched door which seemed to belong to a building of
some antiquity. It opened, though no one appeared to act as
porter; and the servant, stepping aside from the entrance,
motioned the ladies to enter. They had no sooner done so than 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 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: I heard him fall heavily on the turf, and without looking behind me,
I galloped off to the other end of the field; there I turned round and saw
my persecutor slowly rising from the ground and going into the stable.
I stood under an oak tree and watched, but no one came to catch me.
The time went on, and the sun was very hot; the flies swarmed round me
and settled on my bleeding flanks where the spurs had dug in.
I felt hungry, for I had not eaten since the early morning,
but there was not enough grass in that meadow for a goose to live on.
I wanted to lie down and rest, but with the saddle strapped tightly on
there was no comfort, and there was not a drop of water to drink.
The afternoon wore on, and the sun got low. I saw the other colts led in,
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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 Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: Church last Sunday - all wet - to hear the music, and Eddi ran out."
'My good Eddi rubbed his hands and his shins together, and
flushed. "Padda is a child of the Devil, who is the father of lies!"
he cried, and begged my pardon for having spoken. I forgave him.
'"Yes. You are just about stupid enough for a musician," said
Meon. "But here he is. Sing a hymn to him, and see if he can stand
it. You'll find my small harp beside the fireplace."
'Eddi, who is really an excellent musician, played and sang for
quite half an hour. Padda shuffled off his ox-hide, hunched
himself on his flippers before him, and listened with his head
thrown back. Yes - yess! A rather funny sight! Meon tried not to
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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 Crito by Plato: evil, they will be angry with him while he lives; and their brethren the
Laws of the world below will receive him as an enemy. Such is the mystic
voice which is always murmuring in his ears.
That Socrates was not a good citizen was a charge made against him during
his lifetime, which has been often repeated in later ages. The crimes of
Alcibiades, Critias, and Charmides, who had been his pupils, were still
recent in the memory of the now restored democracy. The fact that he had
been neutral in the death-struggle of Athens was not likely to conciliate
popular good-will. Plato, writing probably in the next generation,
undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular, not to
the Athenians of his day, but to posterity and the world at large.
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