| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King James Bible: thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
MAR 14:69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood
by, This is one of them.
MAR 14:70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood
by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a
Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
MAR 14:71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this
man of whom ye speak.
MAR 14:72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind
the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Chronicles of the Canongate by Walter Scott: Continent, and she had more than once embraced the opportunity of
accompanying him. This furnished a great addition to the
information which she could supply, especially during the last
war, when the Continent was for so many years hermetically sealed
against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs. Bethune Baliol
visited different countries, not in the modern fashion, when
English travel in caravans together, and see in France and Italy
little besides the same society which they might have enjoyed at
home. On the contrary, she mingled when abroad with the natives
of those countries she visited, and enjoyed at once the advantage
of their society, and the pleasure of comparing it with that of
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: with the tail upright and rigid. So familiar is this appearance
to us, that an angry man is sometimes said "to have his back up."
Of the above points, the stiff gait and upright tail alone
require further discussion. Sir C. Bell remarks[1] that,
when a tiger or wolf is struck by its keeper and is suddenly
roused to ferocity, every muscle is in tension, and the limbs
are in an attitude of strained exertion, prepared to spring.
This tension of the muscles and consequent stiff gait may be
accounted for on the principle of associated habit, for anger
has continually led to fierce struggles, and consequently
to all the muscles of the body having been violently exerted.
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
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 War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: to relieve the congestion of the home counties. There was
also a placard in Chipping Ongar announcing that large
stores of flour were available in the northern towns and that
within twenty-four hours bread would be distributed among
the starving people in the neighbourhood. But this intelli-
gence did not deter him from the plan of escape he had
formed, and the three pressed eastward all day, and heard
no more of the bread distribution than this promise. Nor, as
a matter of fact, did anyone else hear more of it. That night
fell the seventh star, falling upon Primrose Hill. It fell while
Miss Elphinstone was watching, for she took that duty alter-
War of the Worlds |
