| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: was turned over on its roofs, and (how many) a deserted well and lofty
palace!
Have they not travelled on through the land? and have they not
hearts to understand with, or ears to hear with? for it is not their
eyes which are blind, but blind are the hearts which are within
their breasts.
They will bid thee hasten on the torment, but God will never fail in
his promise; for, verily, a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years
of what ye number.
And to how many a city have I given full range while it yet did
wrong! then I seized on it, and unto me was the return.
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: through the open slats.
"So shall I," answered her companion. "There is nothing in the world
so miserable as a wet hen."
The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it grew
more distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by the
little girl in the floating hen-coop. Next to the water was a broad
beach of white sand and gravel, and farther back were several rocky
hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees that marked
the edge of a forest. But there were no houses to be seen, nor any
sign of people who might inhabit this unknown land.
"I hope we shall find something to eat," said Dorothy, looking eagerly
Ozma of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: "And seeing that both alike feel the need of giving and receiving, He
set down memory and carefulness between them for their common use,[26]
so that you would find it hard to determine which of the two, the male
or the female, has the larger share of these. So, too, God set down
between them for their common use the gift of self-control, where
needed, adding only to that one of the twain, whether man or woman,
which should prove the better, the power to be rewarded with a larger
share of this perfection. And for the very reason that their natures
are not alike adapted to like ends, they stand in greater need of one
another; and the married couple is made more useful to itself, the one
fulfilling what the other lacks.[27]
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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 Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: packages.
The bedroom was lighted on the side of the yard by a window with
leaded panes, and hung with the old-world tapestry that decorated
house fronts in provincial towns on Corpus Christi Day. For furniture
it boasted a vast four-post bedstead with canopy, valances and quilt
of crimson serge, a couple of worm-eaten armchairs, two tapestry-
covered chairs in walnut wood, an aged bureau, and a timepiece on the
mantel-shelf. The Seigneur Rouzeau, Jerome-Nicolas' master and
predecessor, had furnished the homely old-world room; it was just as
he had left it.
The sitting-room had been partly modernized by the late Mme. Sechard;
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