| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: have run such a risk of doing wrong in the sight of the gods, and you would
have had too much respect for the opinions of men. I am sure, therefore,
that you know the nature of piety and impiety. Speak out then, my dear
Euthyphro, and do not hide your knowledge.
EUTHYPHRO: Another time, Socrates; for I am in a hurry, and must go now.
SOCRATES: Alas! my companion, and will you leave me in despair? I was
hoping that you would instruct me in the nature of piety and impiety; and
then I might have cleared myself of Meletus and his indictment. I would
have told him that I had been enlightened by Euthyphro, and had given up
rash innovations and speculations, in which I indulged only through
ignorance, and that now I am about to lead a better life.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moral Emblems by Robert Louis Stevenson: To use their stone, to spite their neighbours,
Not for a profit on their labours.
They built to edify or bewilder;
I build because I am a builder.
Crescent and street and square I build,
Plaster and paint and carve and gild.
Around the city see them stand,
These triumphs of my shaping hand,
With bulging walls, with sinking floors,
With shut, impracticable doors,
Fickle and frail in every part,
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: nearly twelve hours later, in just the same position." Johann
shivered at the thought that he might have seen his master sitting
at his desk, already a corpse.
"He must have been dead when you came home. Don't you think the
sound of that shot would have wakened you?"
"Yes, sir, I think likely, sir," murmured Johann. "But if the
murderer could get into the house, how could he get into the
apartment?"
"There must have been a third key of which you knew nothing,"
answered Horn, turning to Muller again. "It's stranger still how
Fellner could have been shot, for the window-shutters were fastened
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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 Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: "Oh I don't care what comes now! Besides," Marcher added, "it
seems to me I liked it better present, as you say, than I can like
it absent with YOUR absence."
"Oh mine!"--and her pale hands made light of it.
"With the absence of everything." He had a dreadful sense of
standing there before her for--so far as anything but this proved,
this bottomless drop was concerned--the last time of their life.
It rested on him with a weight he felt he could scarce bear, and
this weight it apparently was that still pressed out what remained
in him of speakable protest. "I believe you; but I can't begin to
pretend I understand. NOTHING, for me, is past; nothing WILL pass
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