| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: and when we send down water upon it it stirs and swells; verily, He
who quickens it will surely quicken the dead; verily, He is mighty
over all.
Verily, those who are inclined to oppose our signs are not hidden
from us. Is he who is cast into the fire better, or he who comes
safe on the resurrection day? Do what ye will: verily, He on what ye
do doth look.
Verily, those who misbelieve in the reminder when it comes to
them-and, verily, it is a glorious Book! falsehood shall not come to
it, from before it, nor from behind it-a revelation from the wise, the
praiseworthy One. Naught is said to thee but what was said to the
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: five hours is kept under the eye of a woman who has had him at her
feet all day. Thus Italian habits allow of perpetual satisfaction, and
necessitate a constant study of the means fitted to insure it, though
hidden under apparent light-heartedness.
It is a beautiful life, but a reckless one, and in no country in the
world are men so often found worn out.
The Duchess' box was on the pit tier--/pepiano/, as it is called in
Venice; she always sat where the light from the stage fell on her
face, so that her handsome head, softly illuminated, stood out against
the dark background. The Florentine attracted every gaze by her broad,
high brow, as white as snow, crowned with plaits of black hair that
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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 The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: together; it is your wind that is the great separator.
The taller the ship, the further she can be seen; and her white
tallness breathed upon by the wind first proclaims her size. The
tall masts holding aloft the white canvas, spread out like a snare
for catching the invisible power of the air, emerge gradually from
the water, sail after sail, yard after yard, growing big, till,
under the towering structure of her machinery, you perceive the
insignificant, tiny speck of her hull.
The tall masts are the pillars supporting the balanced planes that,
motionless and silent, catch from the air the ship's motive-power,
as it were a gift from Heaven vouchsafed to the audacity of man;
The Mirror of the Sea |
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 Poems of William Blake by William Blake: And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky.
And why it scatters its bright beauty thro the humid air.
Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.
The Cloud descended and the Lily bowd her modest head:
And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.
II.
O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell me
Why thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away:
Then we shall seek thee but not find: ah Thel is like to thee.
I pass away, yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.
The Cloud then shewd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd.
Poems of William Blake |
