| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: already quite gilded. Iron Hans came, and already knew what had
happened. 'You have let a hair fall into the well,' said he. 'I will
allow you to watch by it once more, but if this happens for the third
time then the well is polluted and you can no longer remain with me.'
On the third day, the boy sat by the well, and did not stir his
finger, however much it hurt him. But the time was long to him, and he
looked at the reflection of his face on the surface of the water. And
as he still bent down more and more while he was doing so, and trying
to look straight into the eyes, his long hair fell down from his
shoulders into the water. He raised himself up quickly, but the whole
of the hair of his head was already golden and shone like the sun. You
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: constrained to love with increasing strength the friend who endeavored
to be her second soul. Her hand unresistingly met mine at the least
solicitation; my eyes were permitted to follow with delight the lines
of her beauty during the long hours when we listened to the count's
breathing, without driving her from their sight. The meagre pleasures
which we allowed ourselves--sympathizing looks, words spoken in
whispers not to wake the count, hopes and fears repeated and again
repeated, in short, the thousand incidents of the fusion of two hearts
long separated--stand out in bright array upon the sombre background
of the actual scene. Our souls knew each other to their depths under
this test, which many a warm affection is unable to bear, finding life
The Lily of the Valley |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx: called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing
another. If the proletariat during its contest with the
bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to
organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it
makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force
the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these
conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of
class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have
abolished its own supremacy as a class.
In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and
class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the
The Communist Manifesto |
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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: make you walk without any assistance.'
"But she did not give any signs of having heard him, and remained
quite motionless. Then he got furious, taking that calm silence
for a mark of supreme contempt; so he added: 'If you do not come
downstairs to-morrow--' And then he left the room.
"The next day the terrified old servant wished to dress her, but
the mad woman began to scream violently, and resisted with all
her might. The officer ran upstairs quickly, and the servant
threw herself at his feet and cried: 'She will not come down,
Monsieur, she will not. Forgive her, for she is so unhappy.'
"The soldier was embarrassed, as in spite of his anger, he did
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