| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jolly Corner by Henry James: There was the whole of the rest of the house to traverse, and how
should he screw himself to that if the door he had seen closed were
at present open? He could hold to the idea that the closing had
practically been for him an act of mercy, a chance offered him to
descend, depart, get off the ground and never again profane it.
This conception held together, it worked; but what it meant for him
depended now clearly on the amount of forbearance his recent
action, or rather his recent inaction, had engendered. The image
of the "presence" whatever it was, waiting there for him to go -
this image had not yet been so concrete for his nerves as when he
stopped short of the point at which certainty would have come to
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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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: falling down on the floor. I stood up and fell down by the
bedside. And tell me, grandfather, why a little thing should be
tormented before his death? When a grown-up person, a man or
woman, are in torment their sins are forgiven, but why a little
thing, when he has no sins? Why?"
"Who can tell?" answered the old man.
They drove on for half an hour in silence.
"We can't know everything, how and wherefore," said the old man.
"It is ordained for the bird to have not four wings but two
because it is able to fly with two; and so it is ordained for man
not to know everything but only a half or a quarter. As much as
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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 On Horsemanship by Xenophon: enraging a spirited horse by not annoying him. Thus, from the first
instant, in the act of mounting him, you should take pains to minimise
the annoyance; and once on his back you should sit quiet for longer
than the ordinary time, and so urge him forward by the gentlest signs
possible; next, beginning at the slowest pace, gradually work him into
a quicker step, but so gradually that he will find himself at full
speed without noticing it.[1] Any sudden signal will bewilder a
spirited horse, just as a man is bewildered by any sudden sight or
sound or other experience. [I say one should be aware that any
unexpected shock will produce disturbance in a horse.][2]
[1] Or, "so that the horse may insensibly fall into a gallop."
On Horsemanship |
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 Camille by Alexandre Dumas: which we bear. No one would consider whether Armand loves you,
whether you love him, whether this mutual love means happiness to
him and redemption to you; they would see only one thing, that
Armand Duval allowed a kept woman (forgive me, my child, for what
I am forced to say to you) to sell all she had for him. Then the
day of reproaches and regrets would arrive, be sure, for you or
for others, and you would both bear a chain that you could not
sever. What would you do then? Your youth would be lost, my son's
future destroyed; and I, his father, should receive from only one
of my children the recompense that I look for from both.
"You are young, beautiful, life will console you; you are noble,
Camille |
