| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: not what to say; but when any one recites a strain of Homer you wake up in
a moment, and your soul leaps within you, and you have plenty to say; for
not by art or knowledge about Homer do you say what you say, but by divine
inspiration and by possession; just as the Corybantian revellers too have a
quick perception of that strain only which is appropriated to the God by
whom they are possessed, and have plenty of dances and words for that, but
take no heed of any other. And you, Ion, when the name of Homer is
mentioned have plenty to say, and have nothing to say of others. You ask,
'Why is this?' The answer is that you praise Homer not by art but by
divine inspiration.
ION: That is good, Socrates; and yet I doubt whether you will ever have
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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 Pupil by Henry James: not the fault of the conscious smile which seemed a reference to
the lady's expensive identity, it was not the fault of this
demonstration, which had, in a sort, both vagueness and point, if
the allusion didn't sound rather vulgar. This was exactly because
she became still more gracious to reply: "Oh I can assure you that
all that will be quite regular."
Pemberton only wondered, while he took up his hat, what "all that"
was to amount to - people had such different ideas. Mrs. Moreen's
words, however, seemed to commit the family to a pledge definite
enough to elicit from the child a strange little comment in the
shape of the mocking foreign ejaculation "Oh la-la!"
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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 The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: porters will be on the watch, and twenty persons might see us! It is
hard work to carry even twenty-five thousand francs of gold on one's
person."
Societies have two goals of perfection; the first is a state of
civilization in which morality equally infused and pervasive does not
admit even the idea of crime; the Jesuits reached that point, formerly
presented by the primitive Church. The second is the state of another
civilization in which the supervision of citizens over one another
makes crime impossible. The end which modern society has placed before
itself is the latter; namely, that in which a crime presents such
difficulties that a man must abandon all reasoning in order to commit
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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 Gambara by Honore de Balzac: virtuous resolve.
One day he called to note the progress of this singular cure. Though
the state of the patient at first gave him satisfaction, his joy was
dashed by Marianna's beauty, for an easy life had restored its
brilliancy. He called now every evening to enjoy calm and serious
conversation, to which he contributed lucid and well considered
arguments controverting Gambara's singular theories. He took advantage
of the remarkable acumen of the composer's mind as to every point not
too directly bearing on his manias, to obtain his assent to principles
in various branches of art, and apply them subsequently to music. All
was well so long as the patient's brain was heated with the fumes of
Gambara |
