| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: "It is enough that I have them," he used to mutter. In the
course of thirty years they were seen on his breast only
twice--at an auspicious marriage in the family and at the funeral
of an old friend. That the wedding which was thus honoured was
not the wedding of my mother I learned only late in life, too
late to bear a grudge against Mr. Nicholas B., who made amends at
my birth by a long letter of congratulation containing the
following prophecy: "He will see better times." Even in his
embittered heart there lived a hope. But he was not a true
prophet.
He was a man of strange contradictions. Living for many years in
A Personal Record |
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: great. In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage)
king is one of them.
4. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from
Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its
being what it is.
26. 1. Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of
movement.
2. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far
from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects to
look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to
them. How should the lord of a myriad chariots carry himself lightly
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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 Timaeus by Plato: set them whirling about one another, and while they are in a whirl cause
them to dash against and enter into one another, and so form hollows
surrounding the particles that enter--which watery vessels of air (for a
film of moisture, sometimes earthy, sometimes pure, is spread around the
air) are hollow spheres of water; and those of them which are pure, are
transparent, and are called bubbles, while those composed of the earthy
liquid, which is in a state of general agitation and effervescence, are
said to boil or ferment--of all these affections the cause is termed acid.
And there is the opposite affection arising from an opposite cause, when
the mass of entering particles, immersed in the moisture of the mouth, is
congenial to the tongue, and smooths and oils over the roughness, and
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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 Kenilworth by Walter Scott: "I swear it," said Alasco, "that the elixir thou hast there in
the flask will not prejudice life! I swear it by that immortal
and indestructible quintessence of gold, which pervades every
substance in nature, though its secret existence can be traced by
him only to whom Trismegistus renders the key of the Cabala."
"An oath of force," said Varney. "Foster, thou wert worse than a
pagan to disbelieve it. Believe me, moreover, who swear by
nothing but by my own word, that if you be not conformable, there
is no hope, no, not a glimpse of hope, that this thy leasehold
may be transmuted into a copyhold. Thus, Alasco will leave your
pewter artillery untransmigrated, and I, honest Anthony, will
Kenilworth |
