| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: a barrel and a horse. He was furious with rage at learning that I
had been depriving myself of spending my money, and yet he was
delighted to see his wishes fulfilled; he laughed and scolded, he
looked at his barrel, at his horse, and wiped away a tear, as he
said, 'It is too bad. What a splendid barrel! You really ought
not. Why, that horse is as strong as an Auvergnat!'
"I never saw a more touching scene. Bourgeat insisted on buying
for me the case of instruments mounted in silver which you have
seen in my room, and which is to me the most precious thing
there. Though enchanted with my first success, never did the
least sign, the least word, escape him which might imply, 'This
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: his low position), no one finds fault with him.
9. 1. It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to
carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been
sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
2. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them
safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil
on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming
distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.
10. 1. When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one
embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided
attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of
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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 Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William and Ellen Craft: tie over the head. This nearly hid the expression
of the countenance, as well as the beardless chin.
The poultice is left off in the engraving, because
the likeness could not have been taken well with
it on.
My wife, knowing that she would be thrown
a good deal into the company of gentlemen, fancied
that she could get on better if she had something
to go over the eyes; so I went to a shop and
bought a pair of green spectacles. This was in the
evening.
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom |
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 Jolly Corner by Henry James: his favourite sister, to say nothing of other kin, in numbers, had
run their course and met their end there. That represented, within
the walls, ineffaceable life.
It was a few days after this that, during an hour passed with her
again, he had expressed his impatience of the too flattering
curiosity - among the people he met - about his appreciation of New
York. He had arrived at none at all that was socially producible,
and as for that matter of his "thinking" (thinking the better or
the worse of anything there) he was wholly taken up with one
subject of thought. It was mere vain egoism, and it was moreover,
if she liked, a morbid obsession. He found all things come back to
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