| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King James Bible: people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth
out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
JOS 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the
wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of
Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD:
unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the
LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth
with milk and honey.
JOS 5:7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them
Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not
circumcised them by the way.
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pericles by William Shakespeare: BOULT.
An if she were a thornier piece of ground than she is, she shall
be ploughed.
MARINA.
Hark, hark, you gods!
BAWD.
She conjures: away with her! Would she had never come within my
doors! Marry, hang you! She's born to undo us. Will you not go
the way of women-kind? Marry, come up, my dish of chastity with
rosemary and bays!
[Exit.]
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: Having shaken several pinches into the palm of his hand the Breton
inhaled the tobacco like a man who is making ready for serious
business.
"It is cold," said Pille-Miche, rising to shut the upper half of the
door.
The daylight, already dim with fog, now entered only through the
little window, and feebly lighted the room and the two seats; the
fire, however, gave out a ruddy glow. Galope-Chopine refilled the
beakers, but his guests refused to drink again, and throwing aside
their large hats looked at him solemnly. Their gestures and the look
they gave him terrified Galope-Chopine, who fancied he saw blood in
The Chouans |
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 Aeneid by Virgil: Two palaces, and was from each expell'd:
Of all the mighty man, the last remains
A little spot of foreign earth contains.
And now both hosts their broken troops unite
In equal ranks, and mix in mortal fight.
Seresthus and undaunted Mnestheus join
The Trojan, Tuscan, and Arcadian line:
Sea-born Messapus, with Atinas, heads
The Latin squadrons, and to battle leads.
They strike, they push, they throng the scanty space,
Resolv'd on death, impatient of disgrace;
Aeneid |
