| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare: Then, thou fair sun, that on this earth doth shine,
Exhale this vapour vow; in thee it is:
If broken, then it is no fault of mine.
If by me broke, what fool is not so wise
To break an oath, to win a paradise?
IV.
Sweet Cytherea, sitting by a brook
With young Adonis, lovely, fresh, and green,
Did court the lad with many a lovely look,
Such looks as none could look but beauty's queen,
She told him stories to delight his ear;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: our hares and rabbits and belonging to the same order of Rodents, but they
plainly display an American type of structure. We ascend the lofty peaks
of the Cordillera and we find an alpine species of bizcacha; we look to the
waters, and we do not find the beaver or musk-rat, but the coypu and
capybara, rodents of the American type. Innumerable other instances could
be given. If we look to the islands off the American shore, however much
they may differ in geological structure, the inhabitants, though they may
be all peculiar species, are essentially American. We may look back to
past ages, as shown in the last chapter, and we find American types then
prevalent on the American continent and in the American seas. We see in
these facts some deep organic bond, prevailing throughout space and time,
On the Origin of Species |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: Princess had been a paralytic for years and was far better out of
her misery.
The Princess frequently sent her cart for me during these days.
Once when I was going through the court where there were vast
quantities of things to be burned for the spirit, all made of
paper, I noticed some that were so natural that I was unable to
distinguish between them and the real things. Especially was this
true of the furniture and flowers like that which had been in her
apartments. There were great ebony chairs with fantastically
marked marble seats, cabinets, and all the furniture necessary
for her use. Among these things I noticed on the table a pack of
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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 Purse by Honore de Balzac: the most muddy part of the Rue de Suresnes, almost opposite the
Church of the Madeleine, and quite close to his rooms in the Rue
des Champs-Elysees. The fame his talent had won him having made
him one of the artists most dear to his country, he was beginning
to feel free from want, and to use his own expression, was
enjoying his last privations. Instead of going to his work in one
of the studios near the city gates, where the moderate rents had
hitherto been in proportion to his humble earnings, he had
gratified a wish that was new every morning, by sparing himself a
long walk, and the loss of much time, now more valuable than
ever.
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