| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: as in playfully biting each other, or their masters' hands.
I have described, in the second chapter, the gait and
appearance of a dog when cheerful, and the marked antithesis
presented by the same animal when dejected and disappointed,
with his head, ears, body, tail, and chops drooping, and eyes dull.
Under the expectation of any great pleasure, dogs bound and jump
about in an extravagant manner, and bark for joy. The tendency
to bark under this state of mind is inherited, or runs in the breed:
greyhounds rarely bark, whilst the Spitz-dog barks so incessantly
on starting for a walk with his master that he becomes a nuisance.
[1] `The Anatomy of Expression,' 1844, p. 140.An agony of pain is
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: "Yes and no. I want to operate, but not what you think.
Let me tell you now, but not a word to another. I want to cut
off her head and take out her heart. Ah! You a surgeon,
and so shocked! You, whom I have seen with no tremble
of hand or heart, do operations of life and death that make
the rest shudder. Oh, but I must not forget, my dear
friend John, that you loved her, and I have not forgotten
it for is I that shall operate, and you must not help.
I would like to do it tonight, but for Arthur I must not.
He will be free after his father's funeral tomorrow, and he will
want to see her, to see it. Then, when she is coffined ready
Dracula |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: of saying to himself that she was not, after all, such a monstrous goose.
"Daisy spoke of you the other day," she said to him. "Half the time
she doesn't know what she's saying, but that time I think she did.
She gave me a message she told me to tell you. She told me to tell you
that she never was engaged to that handsome Italian. I am sure I am
very glad; Mr. Giovanelli hasn't been near us since she was taken ill.
I thought he was so much of a gentleman; but I don't call that very polite!
A lady told me that he was afraid I was angry with him for taking Daisy
round at night. Well, so I am, but I suppose he knows I'm a lady.
I would scorn to scold him. Anyway, she says she's not engaged.
I don't know why she wanted you to know, but she said to me three times,
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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 Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum: grassy hill that appeared quite beautiful.
"Well," said Dorothy, "what are we to do, Ozma? Walk
down into that thick fog, an' prob'bly get lost in it,
or wait till it clears away?"
"I'm not sure it will clear away, however long we
wait," replied Ozma, doubtfully. "If we wish to get on,
I think we must venture into the mist."
"But we can't see where we're going, or what we're
stepping on," protested Dorothy. "There may be
dreadful things mixed up in that fog, an' I'm scared
just to think of wading into it."
Glinda of Oz |
