| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: would have with my whack of the shiners and the yellow boys I have
stowed."
"Do what he bids you!" said Fil-de Soie.
"You don't say so?" retorted la Pouraille, looking at his pal.
"What a flat you are! You will be booked for the Abbaye!" said le
Biffon. "You have no other door to budge, if you want to keep on your
pins, to yam, wet your whistle, and fake to the end; you must take his
orders."
"That's all right," said la Pouraille. "There is not one of us that
will blow the gaff, or if he does, I will take him where I am
going----"
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Protagoras by Plato: for dogs; and some for no animals, but only for trees; and some for the
roots of trees and not for their branches, as for example, manure, which is
a good thing when laid about the roots of a tree, but utterly destructive
if thrown upon the shoots and young branches; or I may instance olive oil,
which is mischievous to all plants, and generally most injurious to the
hair of every animal with the exception of man, but beneficial to human
hair and to the human body generally; and even in this application (so
various and changeable is the nature of the benefit), that which is the
greatest good to the outward parts of a man, is a very great evil to his
inward parts: and for this reason physicians always forbid their patients
the use of oil in their food, except in very small quantities, just enough
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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 Death of the Lion by Henry James: The curtain fell lately enough on the lamentable drama. My memory
of the day I alighted at Mr. Paraday's door is a fresh memory of
kindness, hospitality, compassion, and of the wonderful
illuminating talk in which the welcome was conveyed. Some voice of
the air had taught me the right moment, the moment of his life at
which an act of unexpected young allegiance might most come home to
him. He had recently recovered from a long, grave illness. I had
gone to the neighbouring inn for the night, but I spent the evening
in his company, and he insisted the next day on my sleeping under
his roof. I hadn't an indefinite leave: Mr. Pinhorn supposed us
to put our victims through on the gallop. It was later, in the
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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 Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: direction, two of the most beautiful of the Hamburghs
in her arms, and followed the maid-servant, who had
likewise taken two, to the adjacent mansion, which,
though ornate and imposing, showed traces everywhere on
this side that some occupant of its chambers could bend
to the love of dumb creatures--feathers floating within
view of the front, and hen-coops standing on the grass.
In a sitting-room on the ground-floor, ensconced in an
armchair with her back to the light, was the owner and
mistress of the estate, a white-haired woman of not
more than sixty, or even less, wearing a large cap.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
