| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: but only asking him questions; and now he fancies that he knows how long a
line is necessary in order to produce a figure of eight square feet; does
he not?
MENO: Yes.
SOCRATES: And does he really know?
MENO: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: He only guesses that because the square is double, the line is
double.
MENO: True.
SOCRATES: Observe him while he recalls the steps in regular order. (To
the Boy:) Tell me, boy, do you assert that a double space comes from a
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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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: their village, they mused, the people were good, quiet, sensible,
fearing God, and Elena Ivanovna, too, was quiet, kind, and
gentle; it made one sad to look at her, but why had they not got
on together? Why had they parted like enemies? How was it that
some mist had shrouded from their eyes what mattered most, and
had let them see nothing but damage done by cattle, bridles,
pincers, and all those trivial things which now, as they
remembered them, seemed so nonsensical? How was it that with the
new owner they lived in peace, and yet had been on bad terms with
the engineer?
And not knowing what answer to make to these questions they were
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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 King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: [Exeunt King Edward, Lady Grey, Clarence, and Nobleman.]
GLOSTER.
Ay, Edward will use women honourably.
Would he were wasted, marrow, bones, and all,
That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring,
To cross me from the golden time I look for!
And yet, between my soul's desire and me--
The lustful Edward's title buried--
Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward,
And all the unlook'd-for issue of their bodies,
To take their rooms ere I can place myself;
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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 Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: outspoken fears; and the new conviction of all had found
expression in the words of the host himself,--"Il n'y a rien de
mieux a faire que de s'amuser!" Of what avail to lament the
prospective devastation of cane-fields,--to discuss the possible
ruin of crops? Better to seek solace in choregraphic harmonies,
in the rhythm of gracious motion and of perfect melody, than
hearken to the discords of the wild orchestra of storms;--wiser
to admire the grace of Parisian toilets, the eddy of trailing
robes with its fairy-foam of lace, the ivorine loveliness of
glossy shoulders and jewelled throats, the glimmering of
satin-slippered feet,--than to watch the raging of the flood
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