| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: consent.
XXXIII
Knowest thou what a speck thou art in comparison with the
Universe?---That is, with respect to the body; since with respect
to Reason, thou art not inferior to the Gods, nor less than they.
For the greatness of Reason is not measured by length or height,
but by the resolves of the mind. Place then thy happiness in that
wherein thou art equal to the Gods.
XXXIV
Asked how a man might eat acceptably to the Gods, Epictetus
replied:--If when he eats, he can be just, cheerful, equable,
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: mentioned to me a most interesting, and, as far as I am
aware, quite unparalleled case, of a subterranean disturbance
having changed the drainage of a country. Travelling from
Casma to Huaraz (not very far distant from Lima), he
found a plain covered with ruins and marks of ancient
cultivation but now quite barren. Near it was the dry course of
a considerable river, whence the water for irrigation had
formerly been conducted. There was nothing in the appearance
of the water-course to indicate that the river had not flowed
there a few years previously; in some parts, beds of sand and
gravel were spread out; in others, the solid rock had been
The Voyage of the Beagle |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: joined in any attempt wherein they might die gallantly with their
swords in their hands, but nothing presented; they often sallied
and cut off many of the enemy, but their numbers were continually
supplied, and the besieged diminished; their horse also sunk and
became unfit for service, having very little hay, and no corn, and
at length they were forced to kill them for food; so that they
began to be in a very miserable condition, and the soldiers
deserted every day in great numbers, not being able to bear the
want of food, as being almost starved with hunger.
22nd. The Lord Fairfax offered again an exchange of prisoners, but
the Lord Goring rejected it, because they refused conditions to the
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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 Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: his business hurry, drawing up to speak good-humouredly with those
he met. And now, in his turn, Lindsay is gone also; inhabits only
the memories of other men, till these shall follow him; and figures
in my reminiscences as my grandfather figured in his.
To-day, again, they have Professor Butcher, and I hear he has a
prodigious deal of Greek; and they have Professor Chrystal, who is
a man filled with the mathematics. And doubtless these are set-
offs. But they cannot change the fact that Professor Blackie has
retired, and that Professor Kelland is dead. No man's education is
complete or truly liberal who knew not Kelland. There were
unutterable lessons in the mere sight of that frail old clerical
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