| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: When ye divorce women, and they have reached the prescribed time,
then keep them kindly, or let them go in reason, but do not keep
them by force to transgress; for whoso does that, he is unjust to
his own soul: and do not take God's signs in jest; and remember
God's favours to you, and what He has sent down to you of the Book and
wisdom, to admonish you thereby; and fear God, and know that God
doth all things know.
When ye divorce women, and they have reached their prescribed
term, do not prevent them from marrying their (fresh) husbands, when
they have agreed with each other reasonably. That is what he is
admonished with who amongst you believes in God and in the last day.
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: chime tower, that stood on a neighbor's land.
Down on the grass beneath her Betsy and Doctor were lying. Betsy was a dear,
homely red-and-white Laverack setter, and Doctor, black-and-white and better
looking, was her son. Doctor's beautiful grandmother Tadjie was lying, alas!
under the grass instead of on it, not very far away. It was a sad day for the
dog world when Tadjie left it, for although she was very old, she was very
beautiful up to the last with a glossy silky coat, a superbly feathered tail,
and with brown eyes so soft and entreating, they fairly made you love her,
whether you were fond of dogs or no.
Well, Tattine was sketching away and was quite absorbed in it, but Doctor, who
was little more than a puppy, thought it very dull. He lay with his head
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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 Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: day, if they knew what they had lost, would regret also. They have
still Tait, to be sure - long may they have him! - and they have
still Tait's class-room, cupola and all; but think of what a
different place it was when this youth of mine (at least on roll
days) would be present on the benches, and, at the near end of the
platform, Lindsay senior (3) was airing his robust old age. It is
possible my successors may have never even heard of Old Lindsay;
but when he went, a link snapped with the last century. He had
something of a rustic air, sturdy and fresh and plain; he spoke
with a ripe east-country accent, which I used to admire; his
reminiscences were all of journeys on foot or highways busy with
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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 A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: Madame Aubain lay at the foot of the couch, clasping it with her arms
and uttering groans of agony. The Mother Superior was standing on the
right side of the bed. The three candles on the bureau made red blurs,
and the windows were dimmed by the fog outside. The nuns carried
Madame Aubain from the room.
For two nights, Felicite never left the corpse. She would repeat the
same prayers, sprinkle holy water over the sheets, get up, come back
to the bed and contemplate the body. At the end of the first vigil,
she noticed that the face had taken on a yellow tinge, the lips grew
blue, the nose grew pinched, the eyes were sunken. She kissed them
several times and would not have been greatly astonished had Virginia
A Simple Soul |
