| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: clambered up. It was the mate of the steamer. He
gave one look, and cried, 'O boys--you had better quit.'
"We were silent. He talked apart with the captain
for a time,--seemed to argue with him. Then they went
away together to the steamer.
"When our skipper came back we learned that the
steamer was the Sommerville, Captain Nash, from West
Australia to Singapore via Batavia with mails, and that
the agreement was she should tow us to Anjer or Ba-
tavia, if possible, where we could extinguish the fire by
scuttling, and then proceed on our voyage--to Bankok!
Youth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: Till they might open to adorn the day.
Her hair, like golden threads, play'd with her breath;
O modest wantons! wanton modesty!
Showing life's triumph in the map of death,
And death's dim look in life's mortality:
Each in her sleep themselves so beautify,
As if between them twain there were no strife,
But that life liv'd in death, and death in life.
Her breasts, like ivory globes circled with blue,
A pair of maiden worlds unconquered,
Save of their lord no bearing yoke they knew,
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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 Tanach: Joshua 7: 18 And he brought near his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Joshua 7: 19 And Joshua said unto Achan: 'My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide nothing from me.'
Joshua 7: 20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said: 'Of a truth I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.
Joshua 7: 21 When I saw among the spoil a goodly Shinar mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.'
Joshua 7: 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7: 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel; and they laid them down before the LORD.
Joshua 7: 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up unto the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7: 25 And Joshua said: 'Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day.' And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7: 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones, unto this day; and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called The valley of Achor, un 
The Tanach |
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 Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: about one mile to the south-westward of the former station,
and there let go the best bower anchor and cable in twenty
fathoms water, to ride until the swell of the sea should fall,
when it might be practicable to grapple for the moorings, and
find a better anchorage for the ship.
[Tuesday, 15th Sept.]
This morning, at five a.m., the bell rung as a signal for
landing upon the rock, a sound which, after a lapse of ten
days, it is believed was welcomed by every one on board.
There being a heavy breach of sea at the eastern creek, we
landed, though not without difficulty, on the western side,
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