| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: them to him, and if you have forgotten anything, ask me again the next time
that you see me.
I will be sure to do so, Socrates; but go on telling him something new, and
let me hear, as long as I am allowed to stay.
I certainly cannot refuse, I said, since you ask me; but then, as you know,
Menexenus is very pugnacious, and therefore you must come to the rescue if
he attempts to upset me.
Yes, indeed, he said; he is very pugnacious, and that is the reason why I
want you to argue with him.
That I may make a fool of myself?
No, indeed, he said; but I want you to put him down.
Lysis |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: house in a low place, where funguses grew, and the trees met, and
the steaming of the marsh arose about it like a smoke. It was a
fine house, and a very rambling; some parts of it were ancient like
the hills, and some but of yesterday, and none finished; and all
the ends of it were open, so that you could go in from every side.
Yet it was in good repair, and all the chimneys smoked.
Jack went in through the gable; and there was one room after
another, all bare, but all furnished in part, so that a man could
dwell there; and in each there was a fire burning, where a man
could warm himself, and a table spread where he might eat. But
Jack saw nowhere any living creature; only the bodies of some
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: a high-bred horse that needs exercise to keep it in good condition."
"He hasn't grown rich at his work, either," said Horn.
"No, there's not much chance for a police detective to get rich.
I've often wondered why Muller never had the energy to set up in
business for himself. He might have won fame and fortune as a
private detective. But he's gone on plodding along as a police
subordinate, and letting the department get all the credit for his
most brilliant achievements. It's a sort of incorrigible humbleness
of nature - and then, you know, he had the misfortune to be unjustly
sentenced to a term in prison in his early youth."
"No, I did not know that."
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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 Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: speaker of the House according to program. His speech of
acceptance was the most eloquent that had ever been heard in the
assembly hall. The most radical of his party felt that the
committees appointed by him were in their personnel a little too
friendly to the vested interests of Verden, but the _World_ took
the high ground that he could render his party no higher service
than absolute fair play, that the bills for the rights of the
people ought to pass on their merits and not by tricky politics.
Never before had there been seen at the State House a lobby like
the one that filled it now. The barrel was tapped so that the
glint of gold flowed through the corridors, into committee rooms,
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