| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: loveliest little private apartments, and who made them the scene of
such delightful fetes, now lived in a small apartment of five rooms,--
an antechamber, dining-room, salon, one bed-chamber, and a dressing-
room, with two women-servants only.
"Ah! she is devoted to her son," said that clever creature, Madame
d'Espard, "and devoted without ostentation; she is happy. Who would
ever have believed so frivolous a woman was capable of such persistent
resolution! Our good archbishop has, consequently, greatly encouraged
her; he is most kind to her, and has just induced the old Comtesse de
Cinq-Cygne to pay her a visit."
Let us admit a truth! One must be a queen to know how to abdicate, 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 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: Prometheus up in Spaceland was bound for bringing down fire
for mortals, but I -- poor Flatland Prometheus -- lie here in prison
for bringing down nothing to my countrymen. Yet I exist in the hope
that these memoirs, in some manner, I know not how, may find their way
to the minds of humanity in Some Dimension, and may stir up a race
of rebels who shall refuse to be confined to limited Dimensionality.
That is the hope of my brighter moments. Alas, it is not always so.
Heavily weighs on me at times the burdensome reflection that I cannot
honestly say I am confident as to the exact shape of the once-seen,
oft-regretted Cube; and in my nightly visions the mysterious precept,
"Upward, not Northward", haunts me like a soul-devouring Sphinx.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: hill."
This, Trenchard told him, was his own purpose; for to leave their
concealment earlier would be to reveal themselves to any of the troopers
who might happen to glance over his shoulder.
And so they waited some ten minutes or so, and then walked their horses
slowly and carefully forward through the trees towards the road. Wilding
was alongside and slightly ahead of Trenchard; Vallancey followed close
upon their tails. Suddenly, as Wilding was about to put his mare at the
low stone wall, Trenchard leaned forward and caught his bridle.
"Ss!" he hissed. "Horses!"
And now that they halted they heard the hoofbeats clear and close at
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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 A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: On this coast we landed, with an intention of travelling on foot to
Jubo, a journey of much greater length and difficulty than we
imagined. We durst not go far from our bark, and therefore were
obliged to a toilsome march along the windings of the shore,
sometimes clambering up rocks, and sometimes wading through the
sands, so that we were every moment in the utmost danger of falling
from the one, or sinking in the other. Our lodging was either in
the rocks or on the sands, and even that incommoded by continual
apprehensions of being devoured by lions and tigers. Amidst all
these calamities our provisions failed us; we had little hopes of a
supply, for we found neither villages, houses, nor any trace of a
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