| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King James Bible: thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee.
SA1 9:24 And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it,
and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set
it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee
since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel
that day.
SA1 9:25 And when they were come down from the high place into the
city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.
SA1 9:26 And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of
the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up,
that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Human Drift by Jack London: me money in an envelope, should fail to do so.
"Send me, I pray of you, the money to remunerate the small boy for
his repeated visits to you. Please be discreet and send it in an
envelope by the bearer.
"Last night I came to the hotel with the boy. You were dining. I
waited more than an hour for you and then went to the theatre.
Give the boy some small amount, and send me a like offering of
larger proportions.
"Awaiting incessantly a slight attention on your part,
"CAPTAIN ERNESTO BECUCCI."
And here, like one of George Moore's realistic studies, ends this
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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 An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: refrained from staring but not from observing, she felt that she
must not make a scene; yet she knew he had not come there to hold
an ordinary conversation. Her doubt did not last long. He began
promptly, and went to the point at once.
"What do you think of this engagement of mine?"
This was more than she could bear calmly. "What is it to me?" she
said indignantly. "I have nothing to do with it."
"Nothing! You are a cold friend to me then. I thought you one of
the surest I possessed."
She moved as if about to look at him, but checked herself, closed
her lips, and fixed her eyes on the vacant seat before her. The
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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 A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: of development reached, from the blindest groping along the line of
least resistance to intellectual speculation, with its practical
sequel of hypothesis and experimental verification; or to observation,
induction, and deduction; or even into so rapid and intuitive an
integration of all these processes in a single brain that we get the
inspired guess of the man of genius and the desperate resolution of
the teacher of new truths who is first slain as a blasphemous apostate
and then worshipped as a prophet.
Here the law for the child is the same as for the adult. The high
priest must not rend his garments and cry "Crucify him" when he is
shocked: the atheist must not clamor for the suppression of Law's
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