| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: to supply food to this beef-eating population, is one of
the spectacles best worth seeing. The strength of the horse
as compared to that of the bullock is quite astonishing: a
man on horseback having thrown his lazo round the horns
of a beast, can drag it anywhere he chooses. The animal
ploughing up the ground with outstretched legs, in vain
efforts to resist the force, generally dashes at full speed to
one side; but the horse immediately turning to receive the
shock, stands so firmly that the bullock is almost thrown
down, and it is surprising that their necks are not broken.
The struggle is not, however, one of fair strength; the
The Voyage of the Beagle |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: creation of chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany
outstrips us? Modern myths are even less understood than ancient ones,
harried as we are with myths. Myths are pressing us from every point;
they serve all theories, they explain all questions. They are,
according to human ideas, the torches of history; they would save
empires from revolution if only the professors of history would force
the explanations they give into the mind of the provincial masses. If
Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader or a student, and if there had
existed in the department of the Orne a professor of anthropology, or
even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her conjugal
life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: woman, we are doing this because you robbed your master,' and then
stoke up the fire still hotter."
"Nevertheless _I_ shall continue to say, 'You are roasting me for
nothing, for I never stole anything at all.' Why, THERE it is, lying
on the table! You have been accusing me for no reason whatever!"
And, sure enough, the sheet of paper was lying before Plushkin's very
eyes. For a moment or two he chewed silently. Then he went on:
"Well, and what are you making such a noise about? If one says a
single word to you, you answer back with ten. Go and fetch me a candle
to seal a letter with. And mind you bring a TALLOW candle, for it
will not cost so much as the other sort. And bring me a match too."
Dead Souls |
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 Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: discovering it for themselves. Besides this, the habit which they will
acquire, by seeking first what is easy, and then passing onward slowly and
step by step to the more difficult, will benefit them more than all my
instructions. Thus, in my own case, I am persuaded that if I had been
taught from my youth all the truths of which I have since sought out
demonstrations, and had thus learned them without labour, I should never,
perhaps, have known any beyond these; at least, I should never have
acquired the habit and the facility which I think I possess in always
discovering new truths in proportion as I give myself to the search.
And, in a single word, if there is any work in the world which cannot
be so well finished by another as by him who has commenced it, it is
Reason Discourse |
