| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 2 by Alexis de Toqueville: gone further than in any other European country, these opinions
have got complete hold of the public mind. If we listen
attentively to the language of the various parties in France, we
shall find that there is not one which has not adopted them.
Most of these parties censure the conduct of the government, but
they all hold that the government ought perpetually to act and
interfere in everything that is done. Even those which are most
at variance are nevertheless agreed upon this head. The unity,
the ubiquity, the omnipotence of the supreme power, and the
uniformity of its rules, constitute the principal characteristics
of all the political systems which have been put forward in our
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: proached with almost contemptuous indifference, so that all
the jungle about him knew that he was passing -- all but the
men he stalked.
From the dense foliage of a great tree he watched them
pass -- a disreputable mob of blacks, some garbed in the uni-
form of German East African native troops, others wearing a
single garment of the same uniform, while many had reverted
to the simple dress of their forbears -- approximating nudity.
There were many black women with them, laughing and talk-
ing as they kept pace with the men, all of whom were armed
with German rifles and equipped with German belts and am-
Tarzan the Untamed |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to have been a center of commerce and culture known as
Korad. It had been built upon a beautiful, natural harbor,
landlocked by magnificent hills. The little valley on the west
front of the city, she explained, was all that remained of the
harbor, while the pass through the hills to the old sea bottom
had been the channel through which the shipping passed up
to the city's gates.
The shores of the ancient seas were dotted with just such
cities, and lesser ones, in diminishing numbers, were to be
found converging toward the center of the oceans, as the
people had found it necessary to follow the receding waters
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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 King Lear by William Shakespeare: Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master.
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life,
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up!
And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.
Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps.
This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,
Stand in hard cure. [To the Fool] Come, help to bear thy
master.
King Lear |
