| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: things, for to know the manner of every country amongst Christian
men. And then he let clepe in all the lords that he made void
first out of his chamber, and there he shewed me four that were
great lords in the country, that told me of my country and of many
other Christian countries, as well as they had been of the same
country; and they spake French right well, and the soldan also;
whereof I had great marvel.
Alas! that it is great slander to our faith and to our law, when
folk that be without law shall reprove us and undernim us of our
sins, and they that should be converted to Christ and to the law of
Jesu by our good ensamples and by our acceptable life to God, and
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Several Works by Edgar Allan Poe: Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato,
like his countrymen, was a quack-- but in the matter of old wines he
was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him
materially: I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and
bought largely whenever I could.
It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of
the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me
with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore
motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his
head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased
to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: must have two footmen behind her carriage, and very big ones. That was
her taste. And she had a lady's maid, also big. She said..."
Here Prince Hippolyte paused, evidently collecting his ideas with
difficulty.
"She said... Oh yes! She said, 'Girl,' to the maid, 'put on a
livery, get up behind the carriage, and come with me while I make some
calls.'"
Here Prince Hippolyte spluttered and burst out laughing long
before his audience, which produced an effect unfavorable to the
narrator. Several persons, among them the elderly lady and Anna
Pavlovna, did however smile.
War and Peace |
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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: voyage, and the hazards of living in such places, but oftentimes
death itself, and the most violent tortures, for the sake of this
work.
Father Simon was appointed, it seems, by order of the chief of the
mission, to go up to Pekin, and waited only for another priest, who
was ordered to come to him from Macao, to go along with him. We
scarce ever met together but he was inviting me to go that journey;
telling me how he would show me all the glorious things of that
mighty empire, and, among the rest, Pekin, the greatest city in the
world: "A city," said he, "that your London and our Paris put
together cannot be equal to." But as I looked on those things with
Robinson Crusoe |
