| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: paper it had contained, which was seized by the wind in falling
from Knight's hand. It was blown to the right, blown to the left--
it floated to the edge of the cliff and over the sea, where it
was hurled aloft. It twirled in the air, and then flew back over
his head.
Knight followed the paper, and secured it. Having done so, he
looked to discover if it had been worth securing.
The troublesome sheet was a banker's receipt for two hundred
pounds, placed to the credit of Miss Swancourt, which the
impractical girl had totally forgotten she carried with her.
Knight folded it as carefully as its moist condition would allow,
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: Iron ever stood; and for yet the third, he'd have to be kept from
Cold Iron all his days till we let him find his fortune. No, it's not
easy," he said, and he rode off, thinking. You see, Sir Huon had
been a man once.
'I happened to attend Lewes Market next Woden's Day even,
and watched the slaves being sold there - same as pigs are sold at
Robertsbridge Market nowadays. Only, the pigs have rings on
their noses, and the slaves had rings round their necks.'
'What sort of rings?' said Dan.
'A ring of Cold Iron, four fingers wide, and a thumb thick, just
like a quoit, but with a snap to it for to snap round the slave's
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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 Alcibiades I by Plato: ALCIBIADES: Indeed I cannot.
SOCRATES: Then let me put the matter in another way: what do you call the
Goddesses who are the patronesses of art?
ALCIBIADES: The Muses do you mean, Socrates?
SOCRATES: Yes, I do; and what is the name of the art which is called after
them?
ALCIBIADES: I suppose that you mean music.
SOCRATES: Yes, that is my meaning; and what is the excellence of the art
of music, as I told you truly that the excellence of wrestling was
gymnastic--what is the excellence of music--to be what?
ALCIBIADES: To be musical, I suppose.
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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 The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: situation of the house, in a street on a steep hill, as its name
indicates, secured these ground-floor rooms against ever being damp.
M. d'Espard had taken them, no doubt, for a very moderate price, rents
being low at the time when he settled in that quarter, in order to be
among the schools and to superintend his boys' education. Moreover,
the state in which he found the place, with everything to repair, had
no doubt induced the owner to be accommodating. Thus M. d'Espard had
been able to go to some expense to settle himself suitably without
being accused of extravagance. The loftiness of the rooms, the
paneling, of which nothing survived but the frames, the decoration of
the ceilings, all displayed the dignity which the prelacy stamped on
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