| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: Parisian life.
"His old friend was delighted to have a young man to guide through the
labyrinth into which I had entered. He was one of those men whose
natures lead them to docket their thoughts, feelings, and opinions
every whit as carefully as their papers. He would turn up last year's
memorandum book, and could tell in a moment what he had been doing a
twelvemonth since in this very month, day, and hour of the present
year. Life, for him, was a business enterprise, and he kept the books
after the most approved business methods. There was real worth in him
though he might be punctilious, shrewd, and suspicious, and though he
never lacked specious excuses for the precautionary measures that he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: lines, since capital letters are wholly made up of straight lines and
curves, in which it is impossible to detect any trick of the hand, as
in what is called running-hand.
The supper was absolutely devoid of spirit. Peyrade was visibly
absent-minded. Of the men about town who give life to a supper, only
Rastignac and Lucien were present. Lucien was gloomy and absorbed in
thought; Rastignac, who had lost two thousand francs before supper,
ate and drank with the hope of recovering them later. The three women,
stricken by this chill, looked at each other. Dulness deprived the
dishes of all relish. Suppers, like plays and books, have their good
and bad luck.
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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 Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: misers, who on great occasions come out of their habits and their
nature, the old maid now thought nothing too good for her purpose; and
she flung her money about so lavishly that until the day appointed for
the signing of the contract, the jeweller, dressmaker, milliner,
lingere, etc. (all chosen from the best establishments in Paris),
seemed to occupy the house.
"It is like a procession," said Josephine, the cook, admiringly, to
Francoise, the Minards' maid; "the bell never stops ringing from
morning till night."
CHAPTER XII
A STAR
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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 Odyssey by Homer: Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king
Neptune, standing round his altar; and at the same time {118}
Ulysses woke up once more upon his own soil. He had been so long
away that he did not know it again; moreover, Jove's daughter
Minerva had made it a foggy day, so that people might not know
of his having come, and that she might tell him everything
without either his wife or his fellow citizens and friends
recognising him {119} until he had taken his revenge upon the
wicked suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to
him--the long straight tracks, the harbours, the precipices, and
the goodly trees, appeared all changed as he started up and
The Odyssey |
