| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: HONORIUS. The sun is setting, Myrrhina. Come with me to
Alexandria.
MYRRHINA. I will not go to Alexandria.
HONORIUS. Farewell, Myrrhina.
MYRRHINA. Honorius, farewell. No, no, do not go.
* * * * *
I have cursed my beauty for what it has done, and cursed the wonder
of my body for the evil that it has brought upon you.
Lord, this man brought me to Thy feet. He told me of Thy coming
upon earth, and of the wonder of Thy birth, and the great wonder of
Thy death also. By him, O Lord, Thou wast revealed to me.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: woman's black eyes had shot at him by stealth, there was such a world
of buried sorrows and promised joys! And she had colored so fiercely
when, on coming out of a shop where she had lingered a quarter of an
hour, her look frankly met the Count's, who had been waiting for her
hard by! In fact, there were so many /buts/ and /ifs/, that, possessed
by one of those mad temptations for which there is no word in any
language, not even in that of the orgy, he had set out in pursuit of
this woman, hunting her down like a hardened Parisian.
On the way, whether he kept behind or ahead of this damsel, he studied
every detail of her person and her dress, hoping to dislodge the
insane and ridiculous fancy that had taken up an abode in his brain;
Gambara |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: faster out of a church when it is almost empty, than when a crowd
is at the door.
Few are qualified to shine in company; but it is in most men's
power to be agreeable. The reason, therefore, why conversation
runs so low at present, is not the defect of understanding, but
pride, vanity, ill-nature, affectation, singularity, positiveness,
or some other vice, the effect of a wrong education.
To be vain is rather a mark of humility than pride. Vain men
delight in telling what honours have been done them, what great
company they have kept, and the like, by which they plainly confess
that these honours were more than their due, and such as their
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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 The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: profession; and I even gave up going into the Engineers in order to
preserve my independence."
"And you did well," said the Count. "But how can you regard it as an
honor to be a doctor?" added the Breton nobleman. "Ah, my young
friend, such a man as you----"
"Monsieur le Comte, I respect every profession that has a useful
purpose."
"Well, in that we agree. You respect those professions, I imagine, as
a young man respects a dowager."
Monsieur Longueville made his visit neither too long nor too short. He
left at the moment when he saw that he had pleased everybody, and that
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