| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: guide us to the place we are seeking,' the Captain answered
drily. 'The whip, if it cannot find a man a tongue, can find him
wits. What is more, I think that he will keep his word,' he
continued, with a hideous scowl. 'For I warn him that if he does
not, all your heroics shall not save him. He is a rebel dog, and
known to us of old; and I will flay his back to the bones, ay,
until we can see his heart beating through his ribs, but I will
have what I want--in your teeth, too, you d--d meddler.'
'Steady, steady!' I said, sobered. I saw that he was telling
the truth. 'Is he going to take you to M. de Cocheforet's
hiding-place?'
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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 Odyssey by Homer: town councillors of the Phaeacians, come to the assembly all of
you and listen to the stranger who has just come off a long
voyage to the house of King Alcinous; he looks like an immortal
god."
With these words she made them all want to come, and they
flocked to the assembly till seats and standing room were alike
crowded. Every one was struck with the appearance of Ulysses,
for Minerva had beautified him about the head and shoulders,
making him look taller and stouter than he really was, that he
might impress the Phaeacians favourably as being a very
remarkable man, and might come off well in the many trials of
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: That barren tender of a poet's debt:
And therefore have I slept in your report,
That you yourself, being extant, well might show
How far a modern quill doth come too short,
Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.
This silence for my sin you did impute,
Which shall be most my glory being dumb;
For I impair not beauty being mute,
When others would give life, and bring a tomb.
There lives more life in one of your fair eyes
Than both your poets can in praise devise.
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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 Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: obscurity where he lurks, detect him by the light of those stars
he has so impudently traduced, and shew there's not a monster in
the skies so pernicious and malevolent to mankind, as an ignorant
pretender to physick and astrology. I shall not directly fall on
the many gross errors, nor expose the notorious absurdities of
this prostituted libeller, till I have let the learned world
fairly into the controversy depending, and then leave the
unprejudiced to judge of the merits and justice of the cause.
It was towards the conclusion of the year 1707, when an impudent
pamphlet crept into the world, intituled, 'Predictions, etc.' by
Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq; -- Amongst the many arrogant assertions
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