| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Verses 1889-1896 by Rudyard Kipling: But there aren't much comfort 'andy on ten deaths a day.
Our Chaplain's got a banjo, an' a skinny mule 'e rides,
An' the stuff 'e says an' sings us, Lord, it makes us split our sides!
With 'is black coat-tails a-bobbin' to ~Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-ay!~
'E's the proper kind o' ~padre~ for ten deaths a day.
An' Father Victor 'elps 'im with our Roman Catholicks --
He knows an 'eap of Irish songs an' rummy conjurin' tricks;
An' the two they works together when it comes to play or pray;
So we keep the ball a-rollin' on ten deaths a day.
Verses 1889-1896 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: "I want you to let me call him in--to investigate this matter."
"What--now? Before the post-mortem?"
"Yes, time is an advantage if--if--there has been foul play."
"Rubbish!" cried Lawrence angrily. "In my opinion the whole
thing is a mare's nest of Bauerstein's! Wilkins hadn't an idea of
such a thing, until Bauerstein put it into his head. But, like
all specialists, Bauerstein's got a bee in his bonnet. Poisons
are his hobby, so of course he sees them everywhere."
I confess that I was surprised by Lawrence's attitude. He was so
seldom vehement about anything.
John hesitated.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: CRITIAS.
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Critias, Hermocrates, Timaeus, Socrates.
TIMAEUS: How thankful I am, Socrates, that I have arrived at last, and,
like a weary traveller after a long journey, may be at rest! And I pray
the being who always was of old, and has now been by me revealed, to grant
that my words may endure in so far as they have been spoken truly and
acceptably to him; but if unintentionally I have said anything wrong, I
pray that he will impose upon me a just retribution, and the just
retribution of him who errs is that he should be set right. Wishing, then,
to speak truly in future concerning the generation of the gods, I pray him
to give me knowledge, which of all medicines is the most perfect and best.
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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 The Europeans by Henry James: Presently she came back with a very large decanter in one hand
and a plate in the other, on which was placed a big, round cake
with a frosted top. Gertrude, in taking the cake from the closet,
had had a moment of acute consciousness that it composed the refection
of which her sister had thought that Mr. Brand would like to partake.
Her kinsman from across the seas was looking at the pale,
high-hung engravings. When she came in he turned and smiled at her,
as if they had been old friends meeting after a separation.
"You wait upon me yourself?" he asked. "I am served like the gods!"
She had waited upon a great many people, but none of them had
ever told her that. The observation added a certain lightness
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