| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: to count them, he could not remember why. He knew only that it was
impossible to count them, and that this was somehow due to the mysterious
identity between five and four. The pain died down again. When he opened
his eyes it was to find that he was still seeing the same thing.
Innumerable fingers, like moving trees, were still streaming past in
either direction, crossing and recrossing. He shut his eyes again.
'How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'
'I don't know. I don't know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four,
five, six--in all honesty I don't know.'
'Better,' said O'Brien.
A needle slid into Winston's arm. Almost in the same instant a blissful,
 1984 |
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 Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: or of any other thing, always he must make it of the number of
nine. And so then be the presents of greater pleasure to him; and
more benignly he will receive them than though he were presented
with an hundred or two hundred. For him seemeth the number of nine
so holy, because the messenger of God Immortal devised it.
Also, when the Chan of Cathay had won the country of Cathay, and
put in subjection and under foot many countries about, he fell
sick. And when he felt well that he should die, he said to his
twelve sons, that everych of them should bring him one of his
arrows. And so they did anon. And then he commanded that men
should bind them together in three places. And then he took them
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