| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reef by Edith Wharton: This little passage came back to him the next morning, as he
opened his hotel window on the early roar of the Northern
Terminus.
The girl was there, in the room next to him. That had been
the first point in his waking consciousness. The second was
a sense of relief at the obligation imposed on him by this
unexpected turn of everts. To wake to the necessity of
action, to postpone perforce the fruitless contemplation of
his private grievance, was cause enough for gratitude, even
if the small adventure in which he found himself involved
had not, on its own merits, roused an instinctive curiosity
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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 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: for his professions of regard to me, and that he might rely on every
thing in my power to make his administration as easy as possible,
hoping at the same time that he had not brought with him the same
unfortunate instruction his predecessor had been hamper'd with.
On this he did not then explain himself; but when he afterwards came
to do business with the Assembly, they appear'd again, the disputes
were renewed, and I was as active as ever in the opposition,
being the penman, first, of the request to have a communication
of the instructions, and then of the remarks upon them, which may
be found in the votes of the time, and in the Historical Review I
afterward publish'd. But between us personally no enmity arose;
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: virtue, and of the widest comprehension, or rather extending to the whole
duty of a good and honourable man.
This, friends, is my praise of Socrates. I have added my blame of him for
his ill-treatment of me; and he has ill-treated not only me, but Charmides
the son of Glaucon, and Euthydemus the son of Diocles, and many others in
the same way--beginning as their lover he has ended by making them pay
their addresses to him. Wherefore I say to you, Agathon, 'Be not deceived
by him; learn from me and take warning, and do not be a fool and learn by
experience, as the proverb says.'
When Alcibiades had finished, there was a laugh at his outspokenness; for
he seemed to be still in love with Socrates. You are sober, Alcibiades,
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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 The Odyssey by Homer: you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land.
Then, hide all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and
come back here with your men.'
"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found
the men at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When
they saw me the silly blubbering fellows began frisking round me
as calves break out and gambol round their mothers, when they
see them coming home to be milked after they have been feeding
all day, and the homestead resounds with their lowing. They
seemed as glad to see me as though they had got back to their
own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred. 'Sir,'
The Odyssey |
