| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: invitations were sent out before sunset, and straightway
the young folks of the village were thrown into a fever
of preparation and pleasurable anticipation. Tom's
excitement enabled him to keep awake until a pretty
late hour, and he had good hopes of hearing Huck's
"maow," and of having his treasure to astonish Becky
and the picnickers with, next day; but he was dis-
appointed. No signal came that night.
Morning came, eventually, and by ten or eleven
o'clock a giddy and rollicking company were gathered
at Judge Thatcher's, and everything was ready for a
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.
THE LITTLE VAGABOND
Dear mother, dear mother, the Church is cold;
But the Alehouse is healthy, and pleasant, and warm.
Besides, I can tell where I am used well;
Such usage in heaven will never do well.
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: And how many a city have we destroyed while it yet did wrong, and it
was turned over on its roofs, and (how many) a deserted well and lofty
palace!
Have they not travelled on through the land? and have they not
hearts to understand with, or ears to hear with? for it is not their
eyes which are blind, but blind are the hearts which are within
their breasts.
They will bid thee hasten on the torment, but God will never fail in
his promise; for, verily, a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years
of what ye number.
And to how many a city have I given full range while it yet did
The Koran |
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 A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: balance, one down, the other up. Tamasese raised his flag (Jan.
28th, 1886) in Leulumoenga, chief place of his own province of
Aana, usurped the style of king, and began to collect and arm a
force. Weber, by the admission of Stuebel, was in the market
supplying him with weapons; so were the Americans; so, but for our
salutary British law, would have been the British; for wherever
there is a sound of battle, there will the traders be gathered
together selling arms. A little longer, and we find Tamasese
visited and addressed as king and majesty by a German commodore.
Meanwhile, for the unhappy Malietoa, the road led downward. He was
refused a bodyguard. He was turned out of Mulinuu, the seat of his
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