| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche: revolt against them. "Enlightenment" causes revolt, for the slave
desires the unconditioned, he understands nothing but the
tyrannous, even in morals, he loves as he hates, without NUANCE,
to the very depths, to the point of pain, to the point of
sickness--his many HIDDEN sufferings make him revolt against the
noble taste which seems to DENY suffering. The skepticism with
regard to suffering, fundamentally only an attitude of
aristocratic morality, was not the least of the causes, also, of
the last great slave-insurrection which began with the French
Revolution.
47. Wherever the religious neurosis has appeared on the earth so
Beyond Good and Evil |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Before Adam by Jack London: We came out upon the river, but we did not know it for
our river. We had been lost so long that we had come to
accept the condition of being lost as habitual. As I
look back I see clearly how our lives and destinies are
shaped by the merest chance. We did not know it was
our river--there was no way of telling; and if we had
never crossed it we would most probably have never
returned to the horde; and I, the modern, the thousand
centuries yet to be born, would never have been born .
And yet Lop-Ear and I wanted greatly to return. We had
experienced homesickness on our journey, the yearning
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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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: the newspapers can make, as they say, "fine weather and foul"; that
is, you have things all your own way, and it's enough to ask your help
to get any place, no matter what, under government. Now, though I have
faculties, like others, I know myself: I have no education; I don't
know how to write, and that's a misfortune, for I have ideas. I am not
seeking, therefore, to be your rival; I judge myself, and I know I
couldn't succeed there. But, as you are so powerful, and as we are
almost brothers, having played together in childhood, I count upon you
to launch me in a career and to protect me-- Oh, you MUST; I want a
place, a place suitable to my capacity, to such as I am, a place were
I can make my fortune.' Massol was just about to put his compatriot
|
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 Betty Zane by Zane Grey: "Humph! What did Colonel Ebenezer Zane tell him?" asked Bessie, in disgust.
"Oh, not much. I simply told him not to lose his nerve; that a woman never
meant 'no'; that she often says it only to be made say 'yes.' And I ended up
with telling him if she got a little skittish, as thoroughbreds do sometimes,
to try a strong arm. That was my way."
"Col. Zane. if my memory does not fail me, you were as humble and beseeching
as the proudest girl could desire."
"I beseeching? Never!"
"I hope Alfred's wooing may go well. I like him very much. But I'm afraid.
Betty has such a spirit that it is quite likely she will refuse him for no
other reason than that he built his cabin before he asked her."
Betty Zane |
