| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: they were making their feathers smooth with their bills, they were
having a confidential conversation together. The servant stood by and
listened. They were telling one another of all the places where they
had been waddling about all the morning, and what good food they had
found; and one said in a pitiful tone: 'Something lies heavy on my
stomach; as I was eating in haste I swallowed a ring which lay under
the queen's window.' The servant at once seized her by the neck,
carried her to the kitchen, and said to the cook: 'Here is a fine
duck; pray, kill her.' 'Yes,' said the cook, and weighed her in his
hand; 'she has spared no trouble to fatten herself, and has been
waiting to be roasted long enough.' So he cut off her head, and as she
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: idea of his intentions? I hadn't seen him for a month. It seems
impossible that he should be gone."
"He told me it was going to be a demonstration against a building,"
said the Professor. "I had to know that much to prepare the
missile. I pointed out to him that I had hardly a sufficient
quantity for a completely destructive result, but he pressed me
very earnestly to do my best. As he wanted something that could be
carried openly in the hand, I proposed to make use of an old one-
gallon copal varnish can I happened to have by me. He was pleased
at the idea. It gave me some trouble, because I had to cut out the
bottom first and solder it on again afterwards. When prepared for
The Secret Agent |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Plunging like a wounded bison,
Yes, like Pezhekee, the bison,
When the snow is on the prairie.
Swifter flew the second arrow,
In the pathway of the other,
Piercing deeper than the other,
Wounding sorer than the other;
And the knees of Megissogwon
Shook like windy reeds beneath him,
Bent and trembled like the rushes.
But the third and latest arrow
|
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 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: foundation in any of my behaviour have I given for such a
suggestion?
'If, then, I have yielded to the importunities of my affection,
and if I have been persuaded to believe that I am really, and
in the essence of the thing, your wife, shall I now give the lie
to all those arguments and call myself your whore, or mistress,
which is the same thing? And will you transfer me to your
brother? Canyou transfer my affection? Can you bid me
cease loving you, and bid me love him? It is in my power,
think you, to make such a change at demand? No, sir,' said I,
'depend upon it 'tis impossible, and whatever the change of
Moll Flanders |
