| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: without knowledge?
3. (The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces
them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not
boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them.
This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).
11. The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty
space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is
fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that
their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls)
to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its
use depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for
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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 Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: She was rather afraid of the situation. She might get hysterical.
"I thought I'd get here before the others--won't they say I'm deep!
Now shut your eyes---" she said.
"And open your mouth, and see what God sends you," he continued,
suiting action to words, and expecting a piece of chocolate.
He heard the rustle of the apron, and a faint clink of metal.
"I'm going to look," he said.
He opened his eyes. Fanny, her long cheeks flushed,
her blue eyes shining, was gazing at him. There was a little
bundle of paint-tubes on the bench before him. He turned pale.
"No, Fanny," he said quickly.
 Sons and Lovers |