| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: un peu de vin avec moi. J'ai un vin ici qui est exquis. C'est
Cesar lui-meme qui me l'a envoye. Trempez le-dedans vos petites
levres rouges et ensuite je viderai la coupe.
SALOME. Je n'ai pas soif, tetrarque.
HERODE. Vous entendez comme elle me repond, votre fille.
HERODIAS. Je trouve qu'elle a bien raison. Pourquoi la regardez-
vous toujours?
HERODE. Apportez des fruits. [On apporte des fruits.] Salome,
venez manger du fruit avec moi. J'aime beaucoup voir dans un fruit
la morsure de tes petites dents. Mordez un tout petit morceau de ce
fruit, et ensuite je mangerai ce qui reste.
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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 Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: which the Romans call /fulva, flava/--the woman of fire. And in chief,
what struck me the most, what I am still taken with, are her two
yellow eyes, like a tiger's, a golden yellow that gleams, living gold,
gold which thinks, gold which loves, and is determined to take refuge
in your pocket."
"My dear fellow, we are full of her!" cried Paul. "She comes here
sometimes--/the girl with the golden eyes/! That is the name we have
given her. She is a young creature--not more than twenty-two, and I
have seen her here in the time of the Bourbons, but with a woman who
was worth a hundred thousand of her."
"Silence, Paul! It is impossible for any woman to surpass this girl;
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: about the old place."
Mr. Sam looked at me and winked.
"Of course," said Mr. Dick, "I expect to retain control, you
understand that, I suppose, Pierce? You can come out every day
for instructions. I dare say sanatoriums are hardly your line."
Mr. Pierce was looking at Miss Patty and she knew it. When a
woman looks as unconscious as she did it isn't natural.
"Eh--oh, well no, hardly," he said, coming to himself; "I've
tried everything else, I believe. It can't be worse than
carrying a bunch of sweet peas from garden to garden."
Mr. Dick stopped walking and turned suddenly to stare at Mr.
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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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: other eyes, they were apparent to those of Lord Lewin. In speaking
to me of our poor friend, he used the word /chiffonait/,--meaning
that he picked up rubbish as he walked, bits of straw, scraps of
paper, rusty nails, and put them carefully into his pocket. That,
he informed me, is a marked symptom well known to those who study
the first stages of insanity. Enticing him to the subject of their
conversations in Florence, he obtained the fact that the poor
fellow meditated suicide, and the reason for it. Every night,
Gaston told him, his wife appeared to him, and he had now resolved
to /rejoin/ her, to use his own expression. Instead of opposing
this idea, Lord Lewin took a tone of approval. "But," he said,
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