| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: the Almighty, praying him to preserve us from those dangers which we
endeavoured to avoid, and to deliver us from those to which our
flight exposed us. Thus we travelled all night, till eight next
morning, without taking either rest or food; then, imagining
ourselves secure, we made us some cakes of barley-meal and water,
which we thought a feast.
We had a dispute with our guides, who though they had bargained to
conduct us for an ounce of gold, yet when they saw us so entangled
in the intricacies of the wood that we could not possibly get out
without their direction, demanded seven ounces of gold, a mule, and
a little tent which we had; after a long dispute we were forced to
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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 Odyssey by Homer: put on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a
light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful
golden girdle about her waist and a veil to cover her head. She
at once set herself to think how she could speed Ulysses on his
way. So she gave him a great bronze axe that suited his hands;
it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful olive-wood
handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze,
and then led the way to the far end of the island where the
largest trees grew--alder, poplar and pine, that reached the
sky--very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in
the water. {53} Then, when she had shown him where the best
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Death of the Lion by Henry James: confide to you, did I. Let us perform our little act together.
These pages overflow with the testimony we want: let us read them
and taste them and interpret them. You'll of course have perceived
for yourself that one scarcely does read Neil Paraday till one
reads him aloud; he gives out to the ear an extraordinary full
tone, and it's only when you expose it confidently to that test
that you really get near his style. Take up your book again and
let me listen, while you pay it out, to that wonderful fifteenth
chapter. If you feel you can't do it justice, compose yourself to
attention while I produce for you - I think I can! - this scarcely
less admirable ninth."
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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 Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: to appear when needed, owes its summons to another instinct no less
strong, which we may call the instinct of individuality; for with
the same innate tenacity with which we severally cling to life do we
hold to the idea of our own identity. It is not for the philosophic
desire of preserving a very small fraction of humanity at large that
we take such pains to avoid destruction; it is that we insensibly
regard death as threatening to the continuance of the ego, in spite
of the theories of a future life which we have so elaborately
developed. Indeed, the psychical shrinking is really the
quintessence of the physical fear. We cleave to the abstract idea
closer even than to its concrete embodiment. Sooner would we forego
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