| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: robes, coats and the dress-suit case in his hand.
He walked with quick, firm step, threw the coats
and robes on the couch and placed the suit-case at its
head. He hadn't turned toward her and his face was
still in profile while he removed the gloves from his
pockets, threw them on the robes, and drew the scarlet
woolen neckpiece from his throat.
She was studying him now with new terror-stricken
eyes. Never had she seen his jaw look so big and
brutal. Never had the droop of his eyelids suggested
such menace. Never had the contrast of his slender
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: should have a chance to see them, when she would, on file; and she
was divided, as the day went on, between the two impressions of all
that was lost and all that was re-asserted. What beset her above
all, and as she had almost never known it before, was the desire to
bound straight out, to overtake the autumn afternoon before it
passed away for ever and hurry off to the Park and perhaps be with
him there again on a bench. It became for an hour a fantastic
vision with her that he might just have gone to sit and wait for
her. She could almost hear him, through the tick of the sounder,
scatter with his stick, in his impatience, the fallen leaves of
October. Why should such a vision seize her at this particular
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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 Parmenides by Plato: becomes many and not one. And therefore if the one is the same with
itself, the one is not one with itself; and therefore one and not one. And
therefore one is neither other than other, nor the same with itself.
Neither will the one be like or unlike itself or other; for likeness is
sameness of affections, and the one and the same are different. And one
having any affection which is other than being one would be more than one.
The one, then, cannot have the same affection with and therefore cannot be
like itself or other; nor can the one have any other affection than its
own, that is, be unlike itself or any other, for this would imply that it
was more than one. The one, then, is neither like nor unlike itself or
other. This being the case, neither can the one be equal or unequal to
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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 The Odyssey by Homer: fowl from the yard, and men and women followed shouting.
But the bird drew near them and flew off to the right,
across the horses, and they that saw it were glad, and
their hearts were all comforted within them. And
Peisistratus, son of Nestor, first spake among them:
'Consider, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the
people, whether god hath showed forth this sign for us
twain, or for thee thyself.'
So spake he, and the warrior Menelaus pondered thereupon,
how he should take heed to answer, and interpret it aright.
And long-robed Helen took the word and spake, saying: 'Hear
The Odyssey |
