| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: in the yard and in the whole house; and some must have been consumed
that deserved preservation in everlasting archives, but their fate and
the laziness of the examiner did not permit it, and so in them was
verified the proverb that the innocent suffer for the guilty.
One of the remedies which the curate and the barber immediately
applied to their friend's disorder was to wall up and plaster the room
where the books were, so that when he got up he should not find them
(possibly the cause being removed the effect might cease), and they
might say that a magician had carried them off, room and all; and this
was done with all despatch. Two days later Don Quixote got up, and the
first thing he did was to go and look at his books, and not finding
Don Quixote |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: unspeakably awful! The king lifted his manacles and
brought them down with a deadly force; but my lord
was out of the way when they arrived. A dozen of
the rascal's servants sprang forward, and in a moment
we were helpless, with our hands bound behind us.
We so loudly and so earnestly proclaimed ourselves
freemen, that we got the interested attention of that
liberty-mouthing orator and his patriotic crowd, and
they gathered about us and assumed a very determined
attitude. The orator said:
"If, indeed, ye are freemen, ye have nought to
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: reproving her. If he says it's wrong to be pessimistic probably it is
wrong, she thought; the marriage will turn out all right.
"No," she said, flattening the stocking out upon her knee, "I shan't
finish it."
And what then? For she felt that he was still looking at her, but that
his look had changed. He wanted something--wanted the thing she always
found it so difficult to give him; wanted her to tell him that she
loved him. And that, no, she could not do. He found talking so much
easier than she did. He could say things--she never could. So
naturally it was always he that said the things, and then for some
reason he would mind this suddenly, and would reproach her. A
To the Lighthouse |
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 Lady Susan by Jane Austen: evenings before. He now and then addressed Frederica, but more frequently
her mother. The poor girl sat all this time without opening her lips--her
eyes cast down, and her colour varying every instant; while Reginald
observed all that passed in perfect silence. At length Lady Susan, weary, I
believe, of her situation, proposed walking; and we left the two gentlemen
together, to put on our pelisses. As we went upstairs Lady Susan begged
permission to attend me for a few moments in my dressing-room, as she was
anxious to speak with me in private. I led her thither accordingly, and as
soon as the door was closed, she said: "I was never more surprized in my
life than by Sir James's arrival, and the suddenness of it requires some
apology to you, my dear sister; though to ME, as a mother, it is highly
Lady Susan |
