| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 1492 by Mary Johntson: of Teneriffe.
This day, passing on some errand the open door of the
great cabin, I saw the Admiral seated at the table. Looking
up, he saw me, gazed an instant, then lifted his voice.
Come in here!''
He sat with a great chart spread upon the table before
him. Beside it the log lay open, and he had under his hand
a book in which he was writing. Door framed blue sky
and sea, a pleasant wind was singing in a pleasant warmth,
the great cabin which, with the rest of the ship, he made
to be kept very clean, was awash with light and fineness of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: A neighbour of ours, Dr. Skinner, was here for his health
last winter, and came away quite stout."
"That circumstance must give great encouragement."
"Yes, sir--and Dr. Skinner and his family were here
three months; so I tell Mr. Allen he must not be in a hurry
to get away."
Here they were interrupted by a request from Mrs. Thorpe
to Mrs. Allen, that she would move a little to accommodate
Mrs. Hughes and Miss Tilney with seats, as they had
agreed to join their party. This was accordingly done,
Mr. Tilney still continuing standing before them;
Northanger Abbey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: Ferao practising and repractising his song against the
Springtime of New Talk, as they say.
In an Indian Jungle the seasons slide one into the other
almost without division. There seem to be only two--the wet
and the dry; but if you look closely below the torrents of
rain and the clouds of char and dust you will find all four
going round in their regular ring. Spring is the most wonderful,
because she has not to cover a clean, bare field with new leaves
and flowers, but to drive before her and to put away the
hanging-on, over-surviving raffle of half-green things which
the gentle winter has suffered to live, and to make the
The Second Jungle Book |
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 Phaedo by Plato: alive;--see, there is the coat which he himself wove and wore, and which
remains whole and undecayed. And then he proceeds to ask of some one who
is incredulous, whether a man lasts longer, or the coat which is in use and
wear; and when he is answered that a man lasts far longer, thinks that he
has thus certainly demonstrated the survival of the man, who is the more
lasting, because the less lasting remains. But that, Simmias, as I would
beg you to remark, is a mistake; any one can see that he who talks thus is
talking nonsense. For the truth is, that the weaver aforesaid, having
woven and worn many such coats, outlived several of them, and was outlived
by the last; but a man is not therefore proved to be slighter and weaker
than a coat. Now the relation of the body to the soul may be expressed in
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