| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: Gods and men.'
But he refused, and they told him his road, and said, 'Take
with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will
not hunger for seven days. For you must go eastward and
eastward ever, over the doleful Lybian shore, which Poseidon
gave to Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the
Hellespont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land. And Zeus
took that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground
for a little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert
with shingle, and rock, and sand.'
Then they kissed Perseus, and wept over him, and he leapt
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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 Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: the mind of man?-- Nay, expect it not, even though I bade you!"
XL
Epaphroditus had a shoemaker whom he sold as being good-for-nothing.
This fellow, by some accident, was afterwards
purchased by one of Caesar's men, and became a shoemaker to
Caesar. You should have seen what respect Epaphroditus paid him
then. "How does the good Felicion? Kindly let me know!" And if
any of us inquired, "What is Epaphroditus doing?" the answer was,
"He is consulting about so and so with Felicion."-- Had he not
sold him as good-for-nothing? Who had in a trice converted him
into a wiseacre?
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: been in vain. No sun shone there, and nothing grew.
The gardener who reigned supreme in those days had given
me this big piece for that sole reason, because he could
do nothing with it himself. He was no doubt of opinion
that it was quite good enough for a child to experiment upon,
and went his way, when I had thanked him with a profuseness
of gratitude I still remember, with an unmoved countenance.
For more than a year I worked and waited, and watched the career
of the flourishing orchard opposite with puzzled feelings.
The orchard was only a few yards away, and yet, although my
garden was full of manure, and water, and attentions that were
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: "H'm," I said. "It's a thing you either see or don't see."
"I'd like to know what sort of trading isn't a swindle in its
way. Everybody who does a large advertised trade is selling
something common on the strength of saying it's uncommon. Look
at Chickson--they made him a baronet. Look at Lord Radmore, who
did it on lying about the alkali in soap! Rippin' ads those were
of his too!"
"You don't mean to say you think doing this stuff up in bottles
and swearing it's the quintessence of strength and making poor
devils buy it at that, is straight?"
"Why not, George? How do we know it mayn't be the quintessence
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