| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: lifetime; and then he will be off.[22]
[22] Lit. "to get from the tyrant all in a moment many times more than
he will earn from all the rest of mankind in a whole lifetime, and
depart."
To which Simonides: Well, granted you have the worst of it in sights
and sightseeing; yet, you must admit you are large gainers through the
sense of hearing; you who are never stinted of that sweetest of all
sounds,[23] the voice of praise, since all around you are for ever
praising everything you do and everything you say. Whilst, conversely,
to that most harsh and grating of all sounds, the language of abuse,
your ears are sealed, since no one cares to speak evil against a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Glasses by Henry James: the event was to show, couldn't have been bettered as a means of
securing him. She hadn't calculated, but she had said "Never!" and
that word had made a bed big enough for his long-legged patience.
He became from this moment to my mind the interesting figure in the
piece.
Now that he had acted without my aid I was free to show him this,
and having on his own side something to show me he repeatedly
knocked at my door. What he brought with him on these occasions
was a simplicity so huge that, as I turn my ear to the past, I seem
even now to hear it bumping up and down my stairs. That was really
what I saw of him in the light of his behaviour. He had fallen in
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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 Octopus by Frank Norris: enclosing walls, and passed overhead, spreading everywhere the
delicious, mingled perfume of magnolia blossoms, of mignonette,
of moss, of grass, and all the calm green life silently teeming
within the enclosure of the walls.
From where he sat, Vanamee, turning his head, could look out
underneath the pear trees to the north. Close at hand, a little
valley lay between the high ground on which the Mission was
built, and the line of low hills just beyond Broderson Creek on
the Quien Sabe. In here was the Seed ranch, which Angele's
people had cultivated, a unique and beautiful stretch of five
hundred acres, planted thick with roses, violets, lilies, tulips,
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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: sure we need fear them no longer."
Once in a while they would come to a deep crack in the floor, which
made the way quite dangerous; but there was still enough oil in the
lanterns to give them light, and the cracks were not so wide but that
they were able to jump over them. Sometimes they had to climb over
heaps of loose rock, where Jim could scarcely drag the buggy. At such
times Dorothy, Zeb and the Wizard all pushed behind, and lifted the
wheels over the roughest places; so they managed, by dint of hard
work, to keep going. But the little party was both weary and
discouraged when at last, on turning a sharp corner, the wanderers
found themselves in a vast cave arching high over their heads and
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
