| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: to be feared on now.' Nancy's eyes were better, but still far from
well: she had been trying to make a Sunday shirt for her son, but
told me she could only bear to do a little bit at it now and then,
so that it progressed but slowly, though the poor lad wanted it
sadly. So I proposed to help her a little, after I had read to
her, for I had plenty of time that evening, and need not return
till dusk. She thankfully accepted the offer. 'An' you'll be a
bit o' company for me too, Miss,' said she; 'I like as I feel
lonesome without my cat.' But when I had finished reading, and
done the half of a seam, with Nancy's capacious brass thimble
fitted on to my finger by means of a roll of paper, I was disturbed
Agnes Grey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: the united republics to resume their independence. The central
power, successively stripped of all its prerogatives, and reduced
to impotence by tacit consent, would become incompetent to fulfil
its purpose; and the second Union would perish, like the first,
by a sort of senile inaptitude. The gradual weakening of the
federal tie, which may finally lead to the dissolution of the
Union, is a distinct circumstance, that may produce a variety of
minor consequences before it operates so violent a change. The
confederation might still subsist, although its Government were
reduced to such a degree of inanition as to paralyze the nation,
to cause internal anarchy, and to check the general prosperity of
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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 Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: the Terror, in order to carry its laws into effect; but the terror was
the fear of man, and it has passed away.
"When a peasant is ill, when he is forced to lie on his pallet, and
while he is recovering, he cannot help himself, he is forced to listen
to logical reasoning, which he can understand quite well if it is put
clearly before him. This thought made a doctor of me. My calculations
for the peasants were made along with them. I never gave advice unless
I was quite sure of the results, and in this way compelled them to
admit the wisdom of my views. The people require infallibility.
Infallibility was the making of Napoleon; he would have been a god if
he had not filled the world with the sound of his fall at Waterloo. If
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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 Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: Let me give an instance of how a fragment of ancient
ritual which has survived from the far Past and is still
celebrated, but with little intelligence or understanding, in
the Catholic Church of to-day, might be adopted in such
a Church as I have spoken of, interpreted, and made eloquent
of meaning to modern humanity. When I was in Ceylon
nearly 30 years ago I was fortunate enough to witness a
night-festival in a Hindu Temple--the great festival of
Taipusam, which takes place every year in January. Of
course, it was full moon, and great was the blowing up of
trumpets in the huge courtyard of the Temple. The
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
