| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: 'I guessed he uttered those words, at least, though his voice was
hardly intelligible.
'"I beg your pardon," I replied. "But I loved Catherine too; and
her brother requires attendance, which, for her sake, I shall
supply. Now, that she's dead, I see her in Hindley: Hindley has
exactly her eyes, if you had not tried to gouge them out, and made
them black and red; and her - "
'"Get up, wretched idiot, before I stamp you to death!" he cried,
making a movement that caused me to make one also.
'"But then," I continued, holding myself ready to flee, "if poor
Catherine had trusted you, and assumed the ridiculous,
Wuthering Heights |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: motion is confined within very restricted limits, and that a
proportional diminution of speed will be certain to succeed it.
So, then, the stability of the solar system would not be deranged
in ages to come.
There remains but the third class, the superstitious.
These worthies were not content merely to rest in ignorance;
they must know all about things which had no existence whatever,
and as to the moon, they had long known all about her. One set
regarded her disc as a polished mirror, by means of which people
could see each other from different points of the earth and
interchange their thoughts. Another set pretended that out of
From the Earth to the Moon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: shade one side of the face darker than the other; and because you draw
now and then from a nude woman standing on a table, you think you can
copy nature; you fancy yourselves painters, and imagine that you have
got at the secret of God's creations! Pr-r-r-r!--To be a great poet it
is not enough to know the rules of syntax and write faultless grammar.
Look at your saint, Porbus. At first sight she is admirable; but at
the very next glance we perceive that she is glued to the canvas, and
that we cannot walk round her. She is a silhouette with only one side,
a semblance cut in outline, an image that can't turn nor change her
position. I feel no air between this arm and the background of the
picture; space and depth are wanting. All is in good perspective; the
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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 Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: 2. (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its
grasp is firm. It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet
its virile member may be excited;--showing the perfection of its
physical essence. All day long it will cry without its throat
becoming hoarse;--showing the harmony (in its constitution).
3. To him by whom this harmony is known,
(The secret of) the unchanging (Tao) is shown,
And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne.
All life-increasing arts to evil turn;
Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn,
(False) is the strength, (and o'er it we should mourn.)
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