| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: mind and reason. For the authors of our being, remembering the command of
their father when he bade them create the human race as good as they could,
that they might correct our inferior parts and make them to attain a
measure of truth, placed in the liver the seat of divination. And herein
is a proof that God has given the art of divination not to the wisdom, but
to the foolishness of man. No man, when in his wits, attains prophetic
truth and inspiration; but when he receives the inspired word, either his
intelligence is enthralled in sleep, or he is demented by some distemper or
possession. And he who would understand what he remembers to have been
said, whether in a dream or when he was awake, by the prophetic and
inspired nature, or would determine by reason the meaning of the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: They rolled in the dew, they cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass,
they kicked up clods of the black earth and snuffed its rich scent. Then
they made a tour of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with
speechless admiration the ploughland, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool,
the spinney. It was as though they had never seen these things before, and
even now they could hardly believe that it was all their own.
Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside
the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too, but they were frightened
to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon butted the
door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file,
walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed
Animal Farm |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: Then quoth the man of law in a trembling voice, "This is surely an ill way
to talk of matters appertaining to business; let us be mild in speech.
What wilt thou pay this knight, Sir Prior, to give thee release of his land?"
"I would have given him two hundred pounds," quoth the Prior,
"but since he hath spoken so vilely to my teeth, not one groat
over one hundred pounds will he get."
"Hadst thou offered me a thousand pounds, false prior,"
said the Knight, "thou wouldst not have got an inch of my land."
Then turning to where his men-at-arms stood near the door, he called,
"Come hither," and beckoned with his finger; whereupon the tallest
of them all came forward and handed him a long leathern bag.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
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 When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: dragging me in." It was not pleasant, but if she was suffering,
so was I. "Jim is as well as he ever was. He's upstairs
somewhere. I'll send for him."
She gripped me again, and held on while her color came back.
"You'll do nothing of the kind," she said, and she had quite got
hold of herself again. "I do not want to see him: I hope you
don't think, Kit, that I came here to see James Wilson. Why, I
have forgotten that there IS such a person, and you know it."
Somebody upstairs laughed, and I was growing nervous. What if
Aunt Selina should come down, or Mr. Harbison come out of the
den?
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