| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: there. We had no idea, never guessed at all."
"And do you feel sad here?" Pierre inquired.
"How can one help it, lad? My name is Platon, and the surname is
Karataev," he added, evidently wishing to make it easier for Pierre to
address him. "They call me 'little falcon' in the regiment. How is one
to help feeling sad? Moscow- she's the mother of cities. How can one
see all this and not feel sad? But 'the maggot gnaws the cabbage,
yet dies first'; that's what the old folks used to tell us," he
added rapidly.
"What? What did you say?" asked Pierre.
"Who? I?" said Karataev. "I say things happen not as we plan but
War and Peace |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: of statement . . . He waved his hand at me and mended his pace. I
guessed that he was anxious to get his mission over as quickly as
possible. He barely gave himself time to shake hands with me and
made a rush at the narrow glass door with the words Hotel Entrance
on it. It swung to behind his back with no more noise than the snap
of a toothless jaw.
The absurd temptation to remain and see what would come of it got
over my better judgment. I hung about irresolute, wondering how
long an embassy of that sort would take, and whether Fyne on coming
out would consent to be communicative. I feared he would be shocked
at finding me there, would consider my conduct incorrect,
Chance |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: The day that every soul shall find what it has done of good
present before it; and what it has done of evil, it would fain that
there were between itself and that a wide interval. 'God bids you
beware of Himself, but God is gentle with His servants.'
Say, 'If ye would love God then follow me, and God will love you and
forgive you your sins, for God is forgiving and merciful.'
Say, 'Obey God and the Apostle; but if ye turn your backs God
loves not misbelievers.'
Verily, God has chosen Adam, and Noah, and Abraham's people, and
Imran's people above the world,- a seed, of which one succeeds the
other, but God both hears and knows.
The Koran |
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 Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: a room whose atmosphere was perfumed, and the thick carpet of which he
could feel beneath his feet.
A woman's hand pushed him on to a divan, and untied the handkerchief
for him. Henri saw Paquita before him, but Paquita in all her womanly
and voluptuous glory. The section of the boudoir in which Henri found
himself described a circular line, softly gracious, which was faced
opposite by the other perfectly square half, in the midst of which a
chimney-piece shone of gold and white marble. He had entered by a door
on one side, hidden by a rich tapestried screen, opposite which was a
window. The semicircular portion was adorned with a real Turkish
divan, that is to say, a mattress thrown on the ground, but a mattress
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
