| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Blix by Frank Norris: the balcony that commanded the view of the Plaza, they elected as
their own.
It was charming. At their backs they had the huge, fantastic
screen, brave and fine with its coat of gold. In front, through
the glass-paned valves of a pair of folding doors, they could see
the roofs of the houses beyond the Plaza, and beyond these the
blue of the bay with its anchored ships, and even beyond this the
faint purple of the Oakland shore. On either side of these doors,
in deep alcoves, were divans with mattings and head-rests for
opium smokers. The walls were painted blue and hung with vertical
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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: of the neighbouring parts; and since the parts do not distribute the
original impression to other parts, it has no effect of motion on the whole
animal, and therefore produces no effect on the patient. This is true of
the bones and hair and other more earthy parts of the human body; whereas
what was said above relates mainly to sight and hearing, because they have
in them the greatest amount of fire and air. Now we must conceive of
pleasure and pain in this way. An impression produced in us contrary to
nature and violent, if sudden, is painful; and, again, the sudden return to
nature is pleasant; but a gentle and gradual return is imperceptible and
vice versa. On the other hand the impression of sense which is most easily
produced is most readily felt, but is not accompanied by pleasure or pain;
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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 Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: the pathetic thoughts which were passing through the person's mind.
As a further illustration of the view here advanced,
I may remark that if, during an early period of life,
when habits of all kinds are readily established, our infants,
when pleased, had been accustomed to utter loud peals of laughter
(during which the vessels of their eyes are distended)
as often and as continuously as they have yielded when
distressed to screaming-fits, then it is probable that in after
life tears would have been as copiously and as regularly
secreted under the one state of mind as under the other.
Gentle laughter, or a smile, or even a pleasing thought,
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
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 Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: pleasure to hear his well-remembered yell. Not
much longer than a year before, I had seen ten
thousand fans rise as one man and roar a greeting
to him that shook the stands. So I was
confronted by a situation strikingly calculated to
rouse my curiosity and sympathy.
He found an end seat on a row at about the
middle of the right-field bleachers and I chose
one across the aisle and somewhat behind him.
No players were yet in sight. The stands were
filling up and streams of men were filing into the
The Redheaded Outfield |
