| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: backgrounds with an effect of silent discretion, leaving us to
ourselves.
I felt suddenly extremely exhausted, absolutely overcome with
fatigue since I had moved; as if to sit on that Pompeiian chair had
been a task almost beyond human strength, a sort of labour that
must end in collapse. I fought against it for a moment and then my
resistance gave way. Not all at once but as if yielding to an
irresistible pressure (for I was not conscious of any irresistible
attraction) I found myself with my head resting, with a weight I
felt must be crushing, on Dona Rita's shoulder which yet did not
give way, did not flinch at all. A faint scent of violets filled
 The Arrow of Gold |
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 Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: as "Saturdayings".
Early in 1919 the Central Committee of the Communist
Party put out a circular letter, calling upon the Communists
"to work revolutionally," to emulate in the rear the heroism
of their brothers on the front, pointing out that nothing but
the most determined efforts and an increase in the
productivity of labor would enable Russia to win through her
difficulties of transport, etc. Kolchak, to quote from
English newspapers, was it "sweeping on to Moscow," and
the situation was pretty threatening. As a direct result of this
letter, on May 7th, a meeting of Communists in the sub-district
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