| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: desparate god Cuprit, with one of his vengible birdbolts,
hath shot me unto the heel: so not only, but also, oh
fine phrase, I burn, I burn, and I burn a, in love, in love,
and in love a. Ah, Strumbo, what hast thou seen? not
Dina with the Ass Tom? Yea, with these eyes thou hast
seen her, and therefore pull them out, for they will work
thy bale. Ah, Strumbo, hast thou heard? not the voice
of the Nightingale, but a voice sweeter than hers. Yea,
with these ears hast thou heard it, and therefore cut them
off, for they have caused thy sorrow. Nay, Strumbo, kill
thy self, drown thy self, hang thy self, starve thy self. Oh,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: we ought always to add the flea--and put him at the head of the procession.
--Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar
Judge Driscoll was in bed and asleep by ten o'clock on Friday night,
and he was up and gone a-fishing before daylight in the morning with
his friend Pembroke Howard. These two had been boys together in
Virginia when that state still ranked as the chief and most imposing
member of the Union, and they still coupled the proud and affectionate
adjective "old" with her name when they spoke of her.
In Missouri a recognized superiority attached to any person who
hailed from Old Virginia; and this superiority was exalted to
supremacy when a person of such nativity could also prove descent
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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 Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: more perhaps like the toys of a century or two ago. Nevertheless
they are toys, and in the hands of boys and girls,
the drum goes "rub-a-dub," the horn "toots," and the
whistle squeaks. The "gingham dog and calico cat," besides
a score of other animals more nearly related to the soil
of their native place--being made of clay--express themselves
in the language of the particular whistle which happens
to have been placed within them. All this is to the
entire satisfaction of "little Miss Muffet" and "little boy
Blue," just as they do in other lands.
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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 Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: she obeyeth with all her love.
Obey, must the woman, and find a depth for her surface. Surface, is
woman's soul, a mobile, stormy film on shallow water.
Man's soul, however, is deep, its current gusheth in subterranean caverns:
woman surmiseth its force, but comprehendeth it not.--
Then answered me the old woman: "Many fine things hath Zarathustra said,
especially for those who are young enough for them.
Strange! Zarathustra knoweth little about woman, and yet he is right about
them! Doth this happen, because with women nothing is impossible?
And now accept a little truth by way of thanks! I am old enough for it!
Swaddle it up and hold its mouth: otherwise it will scream too loudly, the
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
