| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: diffused and common, that is the dominant species belonging to the larger
genera, which vary most. The varieties, or incipient species, thus
produced ultimately become converted, as I believe, into new and distinct
species; and these, on the principle of inheritance, tend to produce other
new and dominant species. Consequently the groups which are now large, and
which generally include many dominant species, tend to go on increasing
indefinitely in size. I further attempted to show that from the varying
descendants of each species trying to occupy as many and as different
places as possible in the economy of nature, there is a constant tendency
in their characters to diverge. This conclusion was supported by looking
at the great diversity of the forms of life which, in any small area, come
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: know. They can't tell whether they're watching the fish-slice or
the 'Longfellow'. And all the time they're really counting the
marron glaces. It's called 'getting the wall- eye.'"
I stooped to straighten my spat. When I looked up, the servants
had disappeared. I glanced through the leaves to see them pass
into the dining- room.
"Gone?" said the girl. I nodded.
"Thank goodness! And now, who are you? I believe one is
supposed to get to know one's husband on the honeymoon."
I took one of the letters the footman had given me out of my
pocket.
The Brother of Daphne |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: She could not have had any illusions about that fellow. To pick up
with Bamtz was coming down pretty low in the world, even from a
material point of view. She had always been decent, in her way;
whereas Bamtz was, not to mince words, an abject sort of creature.
On the other hand, that bearded loafer, who looked much more like a
pirate than a bookkeeper, was not a brute. He was gentle - rather
- even in his cups. And then, despair, like misfortune, makes us
acquainted with strange bed-fellows. For she may well have
despaired. She was no longer young - you know.
"On the man's side this conjunction is more difficult to explain,
perhaps. One thing, however, must be said of Bamtz; he had always
Within the Tides |
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 Critias by Plato: For many generations, as tradition tells, the people of Atlantis were
obedient to the laws and to the gods, and practised gentleness and wisdom
in their intercourse with one another. They knew that they could only have
the true use of riches by not caring about them. But gradually the divine
portion of their souls became diluted with too much of the mortal
admixture, and they began to degenerate, though to the outward eye they
appeared glorious as ever at the very time when they were filled with all
iniquity. The all-seeing Zeus, wanting to punish them, held a council of
the gods, and when he had called them together, he spoke as follows:--
No one knew better than Plato how to invent 'a noble lie.' Observe (1) the
innocent declaration of Socrates, that the truth of the story is a great
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