| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: solemn. Now one thought of it, cleared of chatter and emotion, it
seemed always to have been, only was shown now and so being shown,
struck everything into stability. They would, she thought, going on
again, however long they lived, come back to this night; this moon;
this wind; this house: and to her too. It flattered her, where she was
most susceptible of flattery, to think how, wound about in their
hearts, however long they lived she would be woven; and this, and this,
and this, she thought, going upstairs, laughing, but affectionately, at
the sofa on the landing (her mother's); at the rocking-chair (her
father's); at the map of the Hebrides. All that would be revived again
in the lives of Paul and Minta; "the Rayleys"--she tried the new name
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from King Lear by William Shakespeare: Than prais'd for harmful mildness.
Alb. How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell.
Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.
Gon. Nay then-
Alb. Well, well; th' event. Exeunt.
Scene V.
Court before the Duke of Albany's Palace.
Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool.
Lear. Go you before to Gloucester with these letters. Acquaint
my
daughter no further with anything you know than comes from
King Lear |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: species of overthrow, Queen Elizabeth said to herself, with that
profound instinct of domination which was her ruling passion:--
"If I don't take care I shall soon be nobody in this house."
Burrowing into that idea, she came to think that if the project of
making a common household with la Peyrade, then Celeste's husband,
were carried out, the situation which was beginning to alarm her would
become even worse. From that moment, and by sudden intuition, Felix
Phellion, that good young man, with his head too full of mathematics
ever to become a formidable rival to her sovereignty, seemed to her a
far better match than the enterprising lawyer, and she was the first,
on seeing the Phellion father and mother arrive without the son, 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 The Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: seventh day of December, giving to Mr. Joseph Mullet, who has shown
me his legitimation as a member of the Secret Police. I am willing
to put myself at the service of the authorities if I am called for."
"You are willing to do this, aren't you?" asked Muller when the
goldsmith had arrived at the end of the notice.
"Of course."
"Have you anything to add to this?"
"No, it is quite complete. I will sign it at once."
Several hours later, Muller re-entered the police station in his
home town and saw the windows of the chief's apartment brilliantly
lighted. "What's going on," he asked of Baner's servant who was
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