| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: and much to yourself.
R. L. S.
Letter: TO CHARLES BAXTER
YACHT 'CASCO,' AT SEA, NEAR THE PAUMOTUS, 7 A.M., SEPTEMBER 6TH,
1888, WITH A DREADFUL PEN.
MY DEAR CHARLES, - Last night as I lay under my blanket in the
cockpit, courting sleep, I had a comic seizure. There was nothing
visible but the southern stars, and the steersman there out by the
binnacle lamp; we were all looking forward to a most deplorable
landfall on the morrow, praying God we should fetch a tuft of palms
which are to indicate the Dangerous Archipelago; the night was as
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: ab Suebis premerentur; vel, si id facere occupationibus rei publicae
prohiberetur, exercitum modo Rhenum transportaret: id sibi auxilium
spemque reliqui temporis satis futurum. Tantum esse nomen atque opinionem
eius exercitus Ariovisto pulso et hoc novissimo proelio facto etiam ad
ultimas Germanorum nationes, uti opinione et amicitia populi Romani tuti
esse possint. Navium magnam copiam ad transportandum exercitum
pollicebantur.
Caesar his de causis quas commemoravi Rhenum transire decrevat; sed
navibus transire neque satis tutum esse arbitrabatur neque suae neque
populi Romani dignitatis esse statuebat. Itaque, etsi summa difficultas
faciendi pontis proponebatur propter latitudinem, rapiditatem
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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 Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: his dressing-glass, and complacently conceives himself to be a very
different appearing person from what he is, forgetting that his
right side has become his left, and vice versa? Yet who, when by
chance he catches sight in like manner of the face of a friend,
can keep from smiling at the caricatures which the mirror's
left-for-right reversal makes of the asymmetry of that friend's
features,--caricatures all the more grotesque for being utterly
unsuspected by their innocent original? Perhaps, could we once see
ourselves as others see us, our surprise in the case of foreign
peoples might be less pronounced.
Regarding, then, the Far Oriental as a man, and not simply as a
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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 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: be but a few miles from the Spanish coast. It is cloudy.
The wind blows freely. I have your word, M. Aronnax, and I
rely upon you."
As I was silent, the Canadian approached me.
"To-night, at nine o'clock," said he. "I have warned Conseil.
At that moment Captain Nemo will be shut up in his room, probably in bed.
Neither the engineers nor the ship's crew can see us.
Conseil and I will gain the central staircase, and you, M. Aronnax,
will remain in the library, two steps from us, waiting my signal.
The oars, the mast, and the sail are in the canoe. I have even succeeded
in getting some provisions. I have procured an English wrench,
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
