| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: ship making a very sorry exhibition of himself. The possession of the art
will make the coward rash, and subject the courageous, if he chance to make
a slip, to invidious remarks. And now let Socrates be taken into counsel.
As they differ he must decide.
Socrates would rather not decide the question by a plurality of votes: in
such a serious matter as the education of a friend's children, he would
consult the one skilled person who has had masters, and has works to show
as evidences of his skill. This is not himself; for he has never been able
to pay the sophists for instructing him, and has never had the wit to do or
discover anything. But Nicias and Laches are older and richer than he is:
they have had teachers, and perhaps have made discoveries; and he would
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells: had attributed to him were not there at all!
Of course I ought to have expected that, only I didn't. It came to me as
an absolute, for a moment an overwhelming shock. It seemed as though it
wasn't a face, as though it must needs be a mask, a horror, a deformity,
that would presently be disavowed or explained. There was no nose, and the
thing had dull bulging eyes at the side - in the silhouette I had supposed
they were ears. There were no ears. ... I have tried to draw one of these
heads, but I cannot. There was a mouth, downwardly curved, like a human
mouth in a face that stares ferociously. ...
The neck on which the head was poised was jointed in three places, almost
like the short joints in the leg of a crab. The joints of the limbs I
The First Men In The Moon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: about, is the worst enemy of good order; one must stand up and
look sharp, and not stir a hair! There's no time for whimpering
and busying oneself with trifles. When you have to deal with
elemental forces you must put out force against them, be firm and
as unyielding as a stone. Isn't that right, grandfather?" He
turned to Ivan Ivanitch and laughed. "I am no better than a woman
myself; I am a limp rag, a flabby creature, so I hate flabbiness.
I can't endure petty feelings! One mopes, another is frightened,
a third will come straight in here and say: 'Fie on you! Here
you've guzzled a dozen courses and you talk about the starving!'
That's petty and stupid! A fourth will reproach you, Eccellenza,
|
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 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: is wholly on our side. We apprehend his imperial highness, the
heir to the crown, to have some tendency towards the high heels;
at least we can plainly discover that one of his heels is higher
than the other, which gives him a hobble in his gait. Now, in
the midst of these intestine disquiets, we are threatened with an
invasion from the island of Blefuscu, which is the other great
empire of the universe, almost as large and powerful as this of
his majesty. For as to what we have heard you affirm, that there
are other kingdoms and states in the world inhabited by human
creatures as large as yourself, our philosophers are in much
doubt, and would rather conjecture that you dropped from the
Gulliver's Travels |
