| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: from a total disuse of it, for the three years he lay confined at my
father's house in town; but it was plump and muscular, and in all other
respects as good and promising a leg as the other.
I declare, I do not recollect any one opinion or passage of my life, where
my understanding was more at a loss to make ends meet, and torture the
chapter I had been writing, to the service of the chapter following it,
than in the present case: one would think I took a pleasure in running
into difficulties of this kind, merely to make fresh experiments of getting
out of 'em--Inconsiderate soul that thou art! What! are not the
unavoidable distresses with which, as an author and a man, thou art hemm'd
in on every side of thee--are they, Tristram, not sufficient, but thou must
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: the inner court at the doors of the room wherein I lay; but when
the darkness of the tenth night came, I broke through the closed
doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer court after
passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the
women servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to fertile
Phthia, mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me welcome
and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to
all his wealth. He made me rich and set me over much people,
establishing me on the borders of Phthia where I was chief ruler
over the Dolopians.
"It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with
The Iliad |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: come and he is to teach us to fly."
John rubbed his eyes. "Then I shall get up," he said. Of
course he was on the floor already. "Hallo," he said, "I am up!"
Michael was up by this time also, looking as sharp as a knife
with six blades and a saw, but Peter suddenly signed silence.
Their faces assumed the awful craftiness of children listening
for sounds from the grown-up world. All was as still as salt.
Then everything was right. No, stop! Everything was wrong.
Nana, who had been barking distressfully all the evening, was
quiet now. It was her silence they had heard.
"Out with the light! Hide! Quick!" cried John, taking command
Peter Pan |
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 Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: [Then speaking to Saillard, Godard, and Baudoyer, who were talking
together in a low voice.] "We are going to stir up the neighbors."
[Goes with Dutocq into the Rabourdin bureau. Fleury, Thuillier, and
Vimeux are there, talking excitedly.] "What's the matter, gentlemen?
All that I told you turns out to be true; you can go and see for
yourselves the work of this infamous informer; for it is in the hands
of the virtuous, honest, estimable, upright, and pious Baudoyer, who
is indeed utterly incapable of doing any such thing. Your chief has
got every one of you under the guillotine. Go and see; follow the
crowd; money returned if you are not satisfied; execution GRATIS! The
appointments are postponed. All the bureaus are in arms; Rabourdin has
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