| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: wouldst have better learnt to know how to distinguish the accents
of truth. To that Saxon lord, and to the Knight of Ardenvohr, I
will yield such proofs of what I have spoken, that incredulity
shall stand convinced. Meantime, withdraw--I loved thine
infancy, I hate not thy youth--no eye hates the rose in its
blossom, though it groweth upon a thorn, and for thee only do I
something regret what is soon to follow. But he that would
avenge him of his foe must not reck though the guiltless be
engaged in the ruin."
"He advises well, Annot," said Lord Menteith; "in God's name
retire! if--if there be aught in this, your meeting with Sir
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: an oven, too. I took a peep at my double, and discovered that he
had not moved, his arm was still over his eyes; but his chest
heaved; his hair was wet; his chin glistened with perspiration. I
reached over him and opened the port.
"I must show myself on deck," I reflected.
Of course, theoretically, I could do what I liked, with no one to
say nay to me within the whole circle of the horizon; but to lock
my cabin door and take the key away I did not dare. Directly I put
my head out of the companion I saw the group of my two officers,
the second mate barefooted, the chief mate in long india-rubber
boots, near the break of the poop, and the steward half-way down
'Twixt Land & Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: consider and determine.
ION: And you are quite right, Socrates, in saying so.
SOCRATES: Yes, Ion, and you are right also. And as I have selected from
the Iliad and Odyssee for you passages which describe the office of the
prophet and the physician and the fisherman, do you, who know Homer so much
better than I do, Ion, select for me passages which relate to the rhapsode
and the rhapsode's art, and which the rhapsode ought to examine and judge
of better than other men.
ION: All passages, I should say, Socrates.
SOCRATES: Not all, Ion, surely. Have you already forgotten what you were
saying? A rhapsode ought to have a better memory.
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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 Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: as much as possible after the separation forced upon her by her
husband's inexplicable caprice.
In 1820 the Marquise roused herself from her lethargy; she went to
Court, appeared at parties, and entertained in her own house. From
1821 to 1827 she lived in great style, and made herself remarked for
her taste and her dress; she had a day, an hour, for receiving visits,
and ere long she had seated herself on the throne, occupied before her
by Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauseant, the Duchesse de Langeais, and
Madame Firmiani--who on her marriage with M. de Camps had resigned the
sceptre in favor of the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, from whom Madame
d'Espard snatched it. The world knew nothing beyond this of the
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