| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Parmenides by Plato: of rest as such, nor from the state of motion as such; but there is this
curious nature which we call the moment lying between rest and motion, not
being in any time; and into this and out of this what is in motion changes
into rest, and what is at rest into motion.
So it appears.
And the one then, since it is at rest and also in motion, will change to
either, for only in this way can it be in both. And in changing it changes
in a moment, and when it is changing it will be in no time, and will not
then be either in motion or at rest.
It will not.
And it will be in the same case in relation to the other changes, when it
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: he would remain at Blanquais at least as long as they.
He must have seemed to them wanting in civility, to spend
a whole bright Sunday without apparently troubling his head
about them, and if the unlucky fact of his being in love
with the girl were a reason for doing his duty, it was at least
not a reason for being rude. He had not yet come to that--
to accepting rudeness as an incident of virtue; it had always
been his theory that virtue had the best manners in the world,
and he flattered himself at any rate that he could guard his
integrity without making himself ridiculous. So, at what he
thought a proper hour, in the course of the morning, he retraced
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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 Timaeus by Plato: these qualities in them, are all termed pungent. But when these same
particles, refined by putrefaction, enter into the narrow veins, and are
duly proportioned to the particles of earth and air which are there, they
set them whirling about one another, and while they are in a whirl cause
them to dash against and enter into one another, and so form hollows
surrounding the particles that enter--which watery vessels of air (for a
film of moisture, sometimes earthy, sometimes pure, is spread around the
air) are hollow spheres of water; and those of them which are pure, are
transparent, and are called bubbles, while those composed of the earthy
liquid, which is in a state of general agitation and effervescence, are
said to boil or ferment--of all these affections the cause is termed acid.
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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 Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: "Oh, it is excellent!" replied the old minister, looking at the loom through
his spectacles. "This pattern, and the colors, yes, I will tell the Emperor
without delay, how very beautiful I think them."
"We shall be much obliged to you," said the impostors, and then they named the
different colors and described the pattern of the pretended stuff. The old
minister listened attentively to their words, in order that he might repeat
them to the Emperor; and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold, saying
that it was necessary to complete what they had begun. However, they put all
that was given them into their knapsacks; and continued to work with as much
apparent diligence as before at their empty looms.
The Emperor now sent another officer of his court to see how the men were
Fairy Tales |
