| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: that when one found a stone he passed it on to his fellow, and he to
another, and he to another. No man kept the stone he found. And at times
they gathered in great company about when a large stone was found, and
raised a great shout so that the sky rang; then they worked on again.
And I asked God what they did with the stones they found at last. Then God
touched my eyes again to make them stronger; and I looked, and at my very
feet was a mighty crown. The light streamed out from it.
God said, "Each stone as they find it is set here."
And the crown was wrought according to a marvellous pattern; one pattern
ran through all, yet each part was different.
I said to God, "How does each man know where to set his stone, so that the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: 'Gods, sons of gods, my works, if I will, are indissoluble. That which is
bound may be dissolved, but only an evil being would dissolve that which is
harmonious and happy. And although you are not immortal you shall not die,
for I will hold you together. Hear me, then:--Three tribes of mortal
beings have still to be created, but if created by me they would be like
gods. Do ye therefore make them; I will implant in them the seed of
immortality, and you shall weave together the mortal and immortal, and
provide food for them, and receive them again in death.' Thus he spake,
and poured the remains of the elements into the cup in which he had mingled
the soul of the universe. They were no longer pure as before, but diluted;
and the mixture he distributed into souls equal in number to the stars, and
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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 The Talisman by Walter Scott: Plantagenet, the wise and the noble? Or is it some lovesick
woman who cares not for her own fame in comparison of the life of
her paramour? Now, by King Henry's soul! little hinders but I
order thy minion's skull to be brought from the gibbet, and fixed
as a perpetual ornament by the crucifix in thy cell!"
"And if thou dost send it from the gibbet to be placed for ever
in my sight," said Edith, "I will say it is a relic of a good
knight, cruelly and unworthily done to death by" (she checked
herself)--"by one of whom I shall only say, he should have known
better how to reward chivalry. Minion callest thou him?" she
continued, with increasing vehemence. "He was indeed my lover,
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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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: faith, he overthrew him, or at any rate contributed largely to his
overthrow, and covered him with mud.
A fallen minister, if he is to rise again to power, must show that he
is to be feared; this man, intoxicated by Royal glibness, had fancied
that his position would be permanent; he acknowledged his
delinquencies; besides confessing them, he did Marcas a small money
service, for Marcas had got into debt. He subsidized the newspaper on
which Marcas worked, and made him the manager of it.
Though he despised the man, Marcas, who, practically, was being
subsidized too, consented to take the part of the fallen minister.
Without unmasking at once all the batteries of his superior intellect,
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