| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: - for here, in cold, incontrovertible realism, there stood out
against a background of sand certain worn-down, water-ridged,
storm-weathered blocks of stone whose slightly convex tops and
slightly concave bottoms told their own story.
And when I studied
them with a magnifying glass I could see all too plainly, amidst
the batterrings and pittings, the traces of those vast curvilinear
designs and occasional hieroglyphs whose significance had become
so hideous to me. But here is the letter, which speaks for itself.
49, Dampier St.,
Pilbarra, W. Australia,
Shadow out of Time |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: never forget it; and pray that their children may never see its
like. For two days this formidable host marched the long stretch
of Pennsylvania Avenue, starting from the shadow of the Capitol
and filling the wide street as far as Georgetown, its serried
ranks moving with the easy yet rapid pace of veterans in cadence
step. As a mere spectacle this march of the mightiest host the
continent has ever seen was grand and imposing, but it was not as
a spectacle alone that it affected the beholder. It was no
holiday parade. It was an army of citizens on their way home
after a long and terrible war. Their clothes were worn, and
pierced with bullets, their banners had been torn with shot and
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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 The Memorabilia by Xenophon: Cri. Good! and when we have discovered a man whose friendship is worth
having, how ought we to make him our friend?
Soc. First we ought to ascertain the will of Heaven whether it be
advisable to make him our friend.
Cri. Well! and how are we to effect the capture of this friend of our
choice, whom the gods approve? will you tell me that?
Not, in good sooth (replied Socrates), by running him down like a
hare, nor by decoying him like a bird, or by force like a wild
boar.[7] To capture a friend against his will is a toilsome business,
and to bind him in fetters like a slave by no means easy. Those who
are so treated are apt to become foes instead of friends.[8]
The Memorabilia |
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 Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: always with them; no one else, not even Mary, is allowed to take care
of my children. But the calling of a mother, if taxing, has so many
compensating joys! To see a child leave its play and run to hug one,
out of the fulness of its heart, what could be sweeter?
Then it is only in being constantly with them that one can study their
characters. It is the duty of a mother, and one which she can depute
to no hired teacher, to decipher the tastes, temper, and natural
aptitudes of her children from their infancy. All home-bred children
are distinguished by ease of manner and tact, two acquired qualities
which may go far to supply the lack of natural ability, whereas no
natural ability can atone for the loss of this early training. I have
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