| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: obstruction, the air passes, but there is no smell. They have no names,
but are distinguished as pleasant and unpleasant, and their influence
extends over the whole region from the head to the navel.
Hearing is the effect of a stroke which is transmitted through the ears by
means of the air, brain, and blood to the soul, beginning at the head and
extending to the liver. The sound which moves swiftly is acute; that which
moves slowly is grave; that which is uniform is smooth, and the opposite is
harsh. Loudness depends on the quantity of the sound. Of the harmony of
sounds I will hereafter speak.
Colours are flames which emanate from all bodies, having particles
corresponding to the sense of sight. Some of the particles are less and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: most harmless of maniacs, and this, in the long run--since it
covered so much ground--was his easiest description of their
friendship. He had a screw loose for her but she liked him in
spite of it and was practically, against the rest of the world, his
kind wise keeper, unremunerated but fairly amused and, in the
absence of other near ties, not disreputably occupied. The rest of
the world of course thought him queer, but she, she only, knew how,
and above all why, queer; which was precisely what enabled her to
dispose the concealing veil in the right folds. She took his
gaiety from him--since it had to pass with them for gaiety--as she
took everything else; but she certainly so far justified by her
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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 Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: Vincula took out, from almost the bottom of the trunk, the little
white night-gown that had ``Bessie Bell'' written on it with linen
thread.
And Sister Helen Vincula laid the little white night-gown across the
lady's lap.
Then the lady read the name written with the linen thread.
The lady said: ``I worked this name with my own hands.''
She drew Bessie Bell closer to her, and she said: ``Sister Helen
Vincula, can you doubt?''
Bessie Bell stood contentedly where the lady held her, and she
looked first at the night-gown and then at the lady, then at Sister
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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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: troubled you; but it couldn't be helped."
The Prince had listened with attention. Said he:
"This child, who is from the crust of the earth, like yourself, called
you a Wizard. Is not a Wizard something like a Sorcerer?"
"It's better," replied Oz, promptly. "One Wizard is worth
three Sorcerers."
"Ah, you shall prove that," said the Prince. "We Mangaboos have, at
the present time, one of the most wonderful Sorcerers that ever was
picked from a bush; but he sometimes makes mistakes. Do you ever
make mistakes?"
"Never!" declared the Wizard, boldly.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
