| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: increased intellectual activity. The perpetual stream of human
faces, the innumerable objects of interest in every shop-window,
are enough to excite the mind to action, which is increased by the
simple fact of speaking to fifty different human beings in the day
instead of five. Now in the city-bred youth this excited state of
mind is chronic, permanent. It is denoted plainly enough by the
difference between the countryman's face and that of the townsman.
The former in its best type (and it is often very noble) composed,
silent, self-contained, often stately, often listless; the latter
mobile, eager, observant, often brilliant, often self-conscious.
Now if you keep this rapid and tense mind in a powerful and
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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 Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: fellow, of course, but sometimes these Inferences of his--"
"Tchak!" said Phipps, suddenly.
"What is it?" said Mrs. Milton.
"Something I've forgotten. I went right out from here, went to
every other hotel in the place, and never thought--But never
mind. I'll ask when the waiter comes."
"You don't mean--" A tap, and the door opened. "Tea, m'm? yes,
m'm," said the waiter.
"One minute," said Phipps. "Was a lady in grey, a cycling lady--"
"Stopped here yesterday? Yessir. Stopped the night. With her
brother, sir--a young gent."
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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 Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: d'Arthez extremely uneasy.
The conversation changed; the hour was late, and the poor man of
genius went away contrite for having seemed curious, and for wounding
the sensitive heart of that rare woman who had so strangely suffered.
As for her, she had passed her life in amusing herself with men, and
was another Don Juan in female attire, with this difference: she would
certainly not have invited the Commander to supper, and would have got
the better of any statue.
It is impossible to continue this tale without saying a word about the
Prince de Cadignan, better known under the name of the Duc de
Maufrigneuse, otherwise the spice of the princess's confidences would
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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 Economist by Xenophon: its way through unbroken soil into the solid ground?
Soc. Clearly it will shoot through soil which has been worked more
quickly than through unworked soil.
Isch. Well then, a bed of earth must be laid beneath the plant?
Soc. I quite agree; so let it be.
Isch. And how do you expect your cutting to root best?--if set
straight up from end to end, pointing to the sky?[12] or if you set it
slantwise under its earthy covering, so as to lie like an inverted
gamma?[13]
[12] Lit. "if you set the whole cutting straight up, facing
heavenwards."
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