| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: dissected in their presence the heart of some large animal possessed of
lungs (for this is throughout sufficiently like the human), and to have
shown to them its two ventricles or cavities: in the first place, that in
the right side, with which correspond two very ample tubes, viz., the
hollow vein (vena cava), which is the principal receptacle of the blood,
and the trunk of the tree, as it were, of which all the other veins in the
body are branches; and the arterial vein (vena arteriosa), inappropriately
so denominated, since it is in truth only an artery, which, taking its
rise in the heart, is divided, after passing out from it, into many
branches which presently disperse themselves all over the lungs; in the
second place, the cavity in the left side, with which correspond in the
Reason Discourse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: anyhow"; so he told his wife when he went home.
The Rue Feydeau, as idlers about town are aware, is a place of
pilgrimage for youths who for lack of a mistress bestow their ardent
affection upon the whole sex. On the first floor of the most rigidly
respectable domicile therein dwelt one of those exquisite creatures
whom it has pleased heaven to endow with the rarest and most
surpassing beauty. As it is impossible that they should all be
duchesses or queens (since there are many more pretty women in the
world than titles and thrones for them to adorn), they are content to
make a stockbroker or a banker happy at a fixed price. To this
good-natured beauty, Euphrasia by name, an unbounded ambition had led
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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 Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: enterprise?"
"I fear naught but the Lord," answered the old man.
"Do you not fear for those with you?" went on the colonel earnestly. "I am
heart and soul with you in your work, but want to impress upon yon that the
time is not propitious. It is a long journey to the village, and the way is
beset with dangers of which you have no idea. Will you not remain here with me
for a few weeks, or, at least, until my scouts report?"
"I thank you; but go I will."
"Then let me entreat you to remain here a few days, so that I may send my
brother Jonathan and Wetzel with you. If any can guide you safely to the
Village of Peace it will be they."
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: Jealousies of a Country Town
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Beatrix
Giraud, Leon
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
The Secrets of a Princess
Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van
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