| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: head resting on the back of an armchair, two men tell each other
their secrets. At last, seven years later, after the Revolution
of 1830, when the mob invaded the Archbishop's residence, when
Republican agitators spurred them on to destroy the gilt crosses
which flashed like streaks of lightning in the immensity of the
ocean of houses; when Incredulity flaunted itself in the streets,
side by side with Rebellion, Bianchon once more detected Desplein
going into Saint-Sulpice. The doctor followed him, and knelt down
by him without the slightest notice or demonstration of surprise
from his friend. They both attended this mass of his founding.
"Will you tell me, my dear fellow," said Bianchon, as they left
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: complures Caesarem secuti una iter facerent, quidam ex his, ut postea ex
captivis cognitum est, eorum dierum consuetudine itineris nostri exercitus
perspecta, nocte ad Nervios pervenerunt atque his demonstrarunt inter
singulas legiones impedimentorum magnum numerum intercedere, neque esse
quicquam negotii, cum prima legio in castra venisset reliquaeque legiones
magnum spatium abessent, hanc sub sarcinis adoriri; qua pulsa
impedimentisque direptis, futurum ut reliquae contra consistere non
auderent. Adiuvabat etiam eorum collsilium qui rem deferebant quod Nervii
antiquitus, cum equitatu nihil possent (neque enim ad hoc tempus ei rei
student, sed quicquid possunt, pedestribus valent copiis), quo facilius
finitimorum equitatum, si praedandi causa ad eos venissent, impedirent,
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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 Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: "The wood is so lovely now," she said. "I wanted you to see it."
He followed her slowly across the road to the white gate.
"They grumble so if I'm late," he said.
"But you're not doing anything wrong," she answered impatiently.
He followed her across the nibbled pasture in the dusk.
There was a coolness in the wood, a scent of leaves, of honeysuckle,
and a twilight. The two walked in silence. Night came wonderfully there,
among the throng of dark tree-trunks. He looked round, expectant.
She wanted to show him a certain wild-rose bush she
had discovered. She knew it was wonderful. And yet,
till he had seen it, she felt it had not come into her soul.
Sons and Lovers |
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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: that I do remember that Epiphany supper, during the war!
"At the time I was quarter-master of cavalry, and for a fort
night, I had been lurking about as a scout in front of the German
advanced guard. The evening before we had cut down a few Uhlans
and had lost three men, one of whom was that poor little
Raudeville. You remember Joseph de Raudeville well, of course.
"Well, on that day my captain ordered me to take six troopers and
occupy the village of Porterin, where there had been five fights
in three weeks, and to hold it all night. There were not twenty
houses left standing, nay, not a dozen, in that wasp's nest. So I
took ten troopers, and set out at about four o'clock; at five
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