| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: years! Now turn to our richest geological museums, and what a paltry
display we behold!
On the poorness of our Palaeontological collections. -- That our
palaeontological collections are very imperfect, is admitted by every one.
The remark of that admirable palaeontologist, the late Edward Forbes,
should not be forgotten, namely, that numbers of our fossil species are
known and named from single and often broken specimens, or from a few
specimens collected on some one spot. Only a small portion of the surface
of the earth has been geologically explored, and no part with sufficient
care, as the important discoveries made every year in Europe prove. No
organism wholly soft can be preserved. Shells and bones will decay and
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: the last. And suppose Mr. Linton I were spared till he saw sixty,
that would be more years than you have counted, Miss. And would it
not be foolish to mourn a calamity above twenty years beforehand?'
'But Aunt Isabella was younger than papa,' she remarked, gazing up
with timid hope to seek further consolation.
'Aunt Isabella had not you and me to nurse her,' I replied. 'She
wasn't as happy as Master: she hadn't as much to live for. All
you need do, is to wait well on your father, and cheer him by
letting him see you cheerful; and avoid giving him anxiety on any
subject: mind that, Cathy! I'll not disguise but you might kill
him if you were wild and reckless, and cherished a foolish,
Wuthering Heights |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: Virgin's delivery," said Bianchon to himself, astonished beyond
measure. "If I had caught him holding one of the ropes of the
canopy on Corpus Christi day, it would be a thing to laugh at;
but at this hour, alone, with no one to see--it is surely a thing
to marvel at!"
Bianchon did not wish to seem as though he were spying the head
surgeon of the Hotel-Dieu; he went away. As it happened, Desplein
asked him to dine with him that day, not at his own house, but at
a restaurant. At dessert Bianchon skilfully contrived to talk of
the mass, speaking of it as mummery and a farce.
"A farce," said Desplein, "which has cost Christendom more blood
|
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 Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: a young child, if tickled by a strange man, would scream from fear.
The touch must be light, and an idea or event, to be ludicrous,
must not be of grave import. The parts of the body which are most easily
tickled are those which are not commonly touched, such as the armpits
or between the toes, or parts such as the soles of the feet, which are
habitually touched by a broad surface; but the surface on which we sit
offers a marked exception to this rule. According to Gratiolet,[7]
certain nerves are much more sensitive to tickling than others.
From the fact that a child can hardly tickle itself, or in a much less
degree than when tickled by another person, it seems that the precise point
to be touched must not be known; so with the mind, something unexpected--
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
