| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: riverside road to Great Haverham, at the gallop of the carrier's
horse. The lights of the houseboat flashed upon the flying waggon
as it passed; the beat of hoofs and the rattle of the vehicle
gradually coalesced and died away; and presently, to the trio on
the riverside, silence had redescended.
'It's the most extraordinary thing,' cried the slimmer of the two
gentlemen, 'but that's the cart.'
'And I know I saw a piano,' said the girl.
'O, it's the cart, certainly; and the extraordinary thing is,
it's not the man,' added the first.
'It must be the man, Gid, it must be,' said the portly one.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: another horse: and still more clearly did I seem to perceive that ten is
two more than eight, and that two cubits are more than one, because two is
the double of one.
And what is now your notion of such matters? said Cebes.
I should be far enough from imagining, he replied, that I knew the cause of
any of them, by heaven I should; for I cannot satisfy myself that, when one
is added to one, the one to which the addition is made becomes two, or that
the two units added together make two by reason of the addition. I cannot
understand how, when separated from the other, each of them was one and not
two, and now, when they are brought together, the mere juxtaposition or
meeting of them should be the cause of their becoming two: neither can I
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: fear or concern whatsoever. But he had come to consider the air a
veritable refuge. Experience had given him implicit confidence in the
powers of the electrical instrument whose unseen forces carried him so
swiftly and surely, and while the tiny, watch-like machine was clasped
to his wrist he felt himself to be absolutely safe.
Having slipped away from the Turk and attained a fair altitude, he set
the indicator at zero and paused long enough to consult his map and
decide what direction it was best for him to take. The mischance that
had swept him unwittingly over the countries of Europe had also
carried him more than half way around the world from his home.
Therefore the nearest way to reach America would be to continue
The Master Key |
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 Animal Farm by George Orwell: when the sails were turning and the dynamos running--when they thought of
all this, their tiredness forsook them and they gambolled round and round
the windmill, uttering cries of triumph. Napoleon himself, attended by his
dogs and his cockerel, came down to inspect the completed work; he
personally congratulated the animals on their achievement, and announced
that the mill would be named Napoleon Mill.
Two days later the animals were called together for a special meeting in
the barn. They were struck dumb with surprise when Napoleon announced that
he had sold the pile of timber to Frederick. Tomorrow Frederick's wagons
would arrive and begin carting it away. Throughout the whole period of his
seeming friendship with Pilkington, Napoleon had really been in secret
Animal Farm |
