| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: and lions with gleaming eyes; there was also war, battle, and
death. The man who made that belt, do what he might, would
never be able to make another like it. Hercules knew me at once
when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying, 'My poor Ulysses,
noble son of Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry kind of
life that I did when I was above ground? I was son of Jove, but
I went through an infinity of suffering, for I became bondsman
to one who was far beneath me--a low fellow who set me all
manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch the
hell-hound--for he did not think he could find anything harder
for me than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Aspern Papers by Henry James: inevitably alternated to say she thought she had better go in.
It was almost as if she were waiting for something--something I
might say to her--and intended to give me my opportunity.
I was the more struck by this as she told me that her aunt
had been less well for a good many days and in a way that was
rather new. She was weaker; at moments it seemed as if she
had no strength at all; yet more than ever before she wished
to be left alone. That was why she had told her to come out--
not even to remain in her own room, which was alongside;
she said her niece irritated her, made her nervous.
She sat still for hours together, as if she were asleep;
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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 Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: I could not have credited had I not witnessed it. I am indeed
the Master of Ravenswood, Alice,--the son of your old master."
"You!" said the old woman, with almost a scream of surprise--
"you the Master of Ravenswood--here--in this place, and thus
accompanied! I cannot believe it. let me pass my old hand over
your face, that my touch may bear witness to my ears."
The Master sate down beside her on the earthen bank, and
permitted her to touch his features with her trembling hand.
"It is indeed!" she said--"it is the features as well as the
voice of Ravenswood--the high lines of pride, as well as the bold
and haughty tone. But what do you here, Master of Ravenwsood?--
The Bride of Lammermoor |
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 Study of a Woman by Honore de Balzac: sealed it, and laid it before him without adding the address. The
second letter, begun at eleven o'clock, was not finished till mid-day.
The four pages were closely filled.
"That woman keeps running in my head," he muttered, as he folded this
second epistle and laid it before him, intending to direct it as soon
as he had ended his involuntary revery.
He crossed the two flaps of his flowered dressing-gown, put his feet
on a stool, slipped his hands into the pockets of his red cashmere
trousers, and lay back in a delightful easy-chair with side wings, the
seat and back of which described an angle of one hundred and twenty
degrees. He stopped drinking tea and remained motionless, his eyes
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