| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: about that time from their infinitesimal Tuscan sovereignty. They are
distantly related to the house of Este, and connected by marriage to
the Guises. On the day of Saint-Bartholomew they slew a goodly number
of Protestants, and Charles IX. bestowed the hand of the heiress of
the Comte de la Palferine upon the Rusticoli of that time. The Comte,
however, being a part of the confiscated lands of the Duke of Savoy,
was repurchased by Henri IV. when that great king so far blundered as
to restore the fief; and in exchange, the Rusticoli--who had borne
arms long before the Medici bore them to-wit, /argent/ a cross flory
/azure/ (the cross flower-de-luced by letters patent granted by
Charles IX.), and a count's coronet, with two peasants for supporters
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: light fell (it seemed to come through her eyelids). And it all looked,
Mr Carmichael thought, shutting his book, falling asleep, much as it
used to look.
Indeed the voice might resume, as the curtains of dark wrapped
themselves over the house, over Mrs Beckwith, Mr Carmichael, and Lily
Briscoe so that they lay with several folds of blackness on their eyes,
why not accept this, be content with this, acquiesce and resign? The
sigh of all the seas breaking in measure round the isles soothed them;
the night wrapped them; nothing broke their sleep, until, the birds
beginning and the dawn weaving their thin voices in to its whiteness, a
cart grinding, a dog somewhere barking, the sun lifted the curtains,
To the Lighthouse |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: village. All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he
was a proud Ass that day. In his delight he lifted up his voice
and brayed, but then every one knew him, and his owner came up and
gave him a sound cudgelling for the fright he had caused. And
shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: "Ah, I knew you
by your voice."
Fine clothes may disguise, but
silly words will disclose a fool.
The Two Fellows and the Bear
Two Fellows were travelling together through a wood, when a
Bear rushed out upon them. One of the travellers happened to be
Aesop's Fables |
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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: student.
"They came to the high priest's," he went on; "they began to
question Jesus, and meantime the labourers made a fire in the
yard as it was cold, and warmed themselves. Peter, too, stood
with them near the fire and warmed himself as I am doing. A
woman, seeing him, said: 'He was with Jesus, too' -- that is as
much as to say that he, too, should be taken to be questioned.
And all the labourers that were standing near the fire must have
looked sourly and suspiciously at him, because he was confused
and said: 'I don't know Him.' A little while after again someone
recognized him as one of Jesus' disciples and said: 'Thou, too,
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