| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: of the tall window that presided over the great turn of the staircase.
At this point I precipitately found myself aware of three things.
They were practically simultaneous, yet they had flashes of succession.
My candle, under a bold flourish, went out, and I perceived, by the uncovered
window, that the yielding dusk of earliest morning rendered it unnecessary.
Without it, the next instant, I saw that there was someone on the stair.
I speak of sequences, but I required no lapse of seconds to stiffen
myself for a third encounter with Quint. The apparition had reached
the landing halfway up and was therefore on the spot nearest the window,
where at sight of me, it stopped short and fixed me exactly as it had fixed
me from the tower and from the garden. He knew me as well as I knew him;
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: Howth surely had enough to think of, what with his--his
misfortune, and the starvation waiting for them, and poor
Margret's degradation, (she sighed here,) without bothering his
head about the theocratic principle, or the Battle of Armageddon.
She had hinted as much to Dr. Knowles one day, and he had
muttered out something about its being "the life of the dog,
Ma'am." She wondered what he meant by that! She looked over at
his bearish figure, snuff-drabbled waistcoat, and shock of black
hair. Well, poor man, he could not help it, if he were coarse,
and an Abolitionist, and a Fourierite, and----She was getting a
little muddy now, she was conscious, so turned her mind back to
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: who formerly were forced to bow the knee to brutal governors now
honoured by their former tyrants, while those who had claimed to enjoy
divine honours were so humbled by him that they scarce dared to look a
Hellene in the face. Everywhere he saved the territory of his friends
from devastation, and reaped the fruits of the enemy's soil to such
good effect that within two years he was able to dedicate as a tithe
to the god at Delphi more than one hundred talents.[14]
[14] = 25,000 pounds nearly.
It was then that the Persian king, believing that Tissaphernes was to
blame for the ill success of his affairs, sent down Tithraustes and
cut off the satrap's head. After this the fortunes of the barbarians
|
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 King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: BASSET.
And I with him; for he hath done me wrong.
KING.
What is that wrong whereof you both complain?
First let me know, and then I'll answer you.
BASSET.
Crossing the sea from England into France,
This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,
Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
Saying, the sanguine colour of the leaves
Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
|
