| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: it.
76. 1. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and
strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early
growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.
2. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of
death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.
3. Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not
conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms,
(and thereby invites the feller.)
4. Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that
of what is soft and weak is above.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: this light; and I believe that in this chiefly consisted the secret of the
power of such philosophers as in former times were enabled to rise
superior to the influence of fortune, and, amid suffering and poverty,
enjoy a happiness which their gods might have envied. For, occupied
incessantly with the consideration of the limits prescribed to their power
by nature, they became so entirely convinced that nothing was at their
disposal except their own thoughts, that this conviction was of itself
sufficient to prevent their entertaining any desire of other objects; and
over their thoughts they acquired a sway so absolute, that they had some
ground on this account for esteeming themselves more rich and more
powerful, more free and more happy, than other men who, whatever be the
Reason Discourse |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: Then I drew the posy ring from my finger and gave it to her, and
she sat down by the table and examined it in the light of the
candle, and as she sat thus, I saw how beautiful she was still, and
how little time had touched her, except for the sadness of her
face, though now she had seen eight-and-thirty winters. I saw also
that though she kept control of her features as she looked upon the
ring, her breast heaved quickly and her hand shook.
'The token is a true one,' she said at length. 'I know the ring,
though it is somewhat worn since last I saw it, it was my mother's;
and many years ago I gave it as a love gage to a youth to whom I
promised myself in marriage. Doubtless all your tale is true also,
Montezuma's Daughter |
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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: paralytic state, that though he lived on to a great age, he was
never able to say anything again but 'Double Sixes.' The story was
well known at the time, though, of course, out of respect to the
feelings of the two noble families, every attempt was made to hush
it up; and a full account of all the circumstances connected with
it will be found in the third volume of Lord Tattle's RECOLLECTIONS
OF THE PRINCE REGENT AND HIS FRIENDS. The ghost, then, was
naturally very anxious to show that he had not lost his influence
over the Stiltons, with whom, indeed, he was distantly connected,
his own first cousin having been married EN SECONDES NOCES to the
Sieur de Bulkeley, from whom, as every one knows, the Dukes of
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