| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: cannot, I will not endure it. Already my native land is convulsed by
internal strife, and do I perish abjectly amid the tumult? I will not endure
it! When the trumpet sounds, when a shot falls, it thrills through my bone
and marrow! But, alas, it does not rouse me! It does not summon me to
join the onslaught, to rescue, to dare.--Wretched, degrading position!
Better end it at once! Not long ago, I threw myself into the water; I sank --
but nature in her agony was too strong for me; I felt that I could swim, and
saved myself against my will. Could I but forget the time when she loved
me, seemed to love me!--Why has this happiness penetrated my very bone
and marrow? Why have these hopes, while disclosing to me a distant
paradise, consumed all the enjoyment of life?--And that first, that only
Egmont |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: with steadfast looks the intruders, who were making their way into
their forest domain.
"Well met, Brothers!" said one of the strange beasts, coming to a halt
beside the group, while his comrade with hesitation lagged behind.
"We are not brothers," returned the Gray Ape, sternly. "Who are
you, and how came you in the forest of Gugu?"
"We are two Li-Mon-Eags," said Ruggedo, inventing the name. "Our
home is in Sky Island, and we have come to earth to warn the forest
beasts that the people of Oz are about to make war upon them and
enslave them, so that they will become beasts of burden forever after
and obey only the will of their two-legged masters."
The Magic of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: which is my proper name in my own country -- if he manifest himself
at all to an inhabitant of Flatland -- must needs manifest himself
as a Circle.
Do you not remember -- for I, who see all things, discerned last night
the phantasmal vision of Lineland written upon your brain --
do you not remember, I say, how, when you entered the realm
of Lineland, you were compelled to manifest yourself to the King,
not as a Square, but as a Line, because that Linear Realm had not
Dimensions enough to represent the whole of you, but only a slice
or section of you? In precisely the same way, your country
of Two Dimensions is not spacious enough to represent me,
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
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 Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: it was a face set in anger, with eyes on fire.
"Mon Dieu!" laughed Rhodomont, recovering from the real scare that
had succeeded his histrionic terror, "but you have a great trick
of tickling them in the right place, Scaramouche."
Scaramouche looked up at him and smiled. "It can be useful upon
occasion," said he, and went off to his dressing-room to change.
But a reprimand awaited him. He was delayed at the theatre by
matters concerned with the scenery of the new piece they were to
mount upon the morrow. By the time he was rid of the business the
rest of the company had long since left. He called a chair and
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