| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James: don't!" when he went on in a manner that showed he had read my
thought and had his own idea of the probability of our some day
redeeming ourselves. "By my little point I mean - what shall I
call it? - the particular thing I've written my books most FOR.
Isn't there for every writer a particular thing of that sort, the
thing that most makes him apply himself, the thing without the
effort to achieve which he wouldn't write at all, the very passion
of his passion, the part of the business in which, for him, the
flame of art burns most intensely? Well, it's THAT!"
I considered a moment - that is I followed at a respectful
distance, rather gasping. I was fascinated - easily, you'll say;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: black silk stockings, breeches of "pou-de-soie" (paduasoy), a white
pique waistcoat, dazzling shirt-front, a blue-bottle coat, violet silk
gloves, gold buckles to his shoes and his breeches, and, lastly, a
touch of powder and a little queue tied with black ribbon. His face
was remarkable for a pair of eyebrows as thick as bushes, beneath
which sparkled his gray eyes; and for a square nose, thick and long,
which gave him somewhat the air of the abbes of former times. His
countenance did not belie him. Pere Cardot belonged to that race of
lively Gerontes which is now disappearing rapidly, though it once
served as Turcarets to the comedies and tales of the eighteenth
century. Uncle Cardot always said "Fair lady," and he placed in their
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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 A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: Let this, then, suffice as a plain, hasty explanation of the
First Table of Moses, pointing out to simple folk what are the
highest of good works.
The Second Table follows.
"Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother."
From this Commandment we learn that after the excellent works of
the first three Commandments there are no better works than to
obey and serve all those who are set over us as superiors. For
this reason also disobedience is a greater sin than murder,
unchastity, theft and dishonesty, and all that these may include.
For we can in no better way learn how to distinguish between
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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 Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: Nikita in answer to the low whinny with which he was greeted by
the good-tempered, medium-sized bay stallion, with a rather
slanting crupper, who stood alone in the shed. 'Now then, now
then, there's time enough. Let me water you first,' he went
on, speaking to the horse just as to someone who understood the
words he was using, and having whisked the dusty, grooved back
of the well-fed young stallion with the skirt of his coat, he
put a bridle on his handsome head, straightened his ears and
forelock, and having taken off his halter led him out to water.
Picking his way out of the dung-strewn stable, Mukhorty
frisked, and making play with his hind leg pretended that he
Master and Man |
