| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: upon his mind. Here he was, coming home; the wife was dancing, the
husband had been playing a trick upon a lackey; and meanwhile, all
about them, they were a by-word to their subjects. Such a prince,
such a husband, such a man, as this Otto had become! And he sped
the faster onward.
Some way below he came unexpectedly upon a sentry; yet a little
farther, and he was challenged by a second; and as he crossed the
bridge over the fish-pond, an officer making the rounds stopped him
once more. The parade of watch was more than usual; but curiosity
was dead in Otto's mind, and he only chafed at the interruption.
The porter of the back postern admitted him, and started to behold
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: will they speak, and this would turn to my reproach. Yea,
and I myself would think it blame of another maiden who did
such things in despite of her friends, her father and
mother being still alive, and was conversant with men
before the day of open wedlock. But, stranger, heed well
what I say, that as soon as may be thou mayest gain at my
father's hands an escort and a safe return. Thou shalt find
a fair grove of Athene, a poplar grove near the road, and a
spring wells forth therein, and a meadow lies all around.
There is my father's demesne, and his fruitful close,
within the sound of a man's shout from the city. Sit thee
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: blue ribbons. Every day, when George came home from his work, he
found some new article completed, and was ravished by the scent
of some new kind of sachet powder. What a lucky man he was!
You would think he must have been the happiest man in the whole
city of Paris. But George, alas, had to pay the penalty for his
early sins. There was, for instance, the deception he had
practiced upon his friend, away back in the early days. Now he
had friends of his own, and he could not keep these friends from
visiting him; and so he was unquiet with the fear that some one
of them might play upon him the same vile trick. Even in the
midst of his radiant happiness, when he knew that Henriette was
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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 King Lear by William Shakespeare: With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up!
And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.
Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps.
This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,
Stand in hard cure. [To the Fool] Come, help to bear thy
master.
Thou must not stay behind.
Glou. Come, come, away!
King Lear |
