| 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: besides, that we might enquire of him?
KI1 22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one
man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I
hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And
Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
KI1 22:9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten
hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
KI1 22:10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat
each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the
entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before
them.
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: expect he's one of those bloody fellows we hit the day we cleared the bush
out yonder; but how he got down that bank with his leg in the state it must
have been, I don't know. He didn't try to fight when they caught him; just
stared in front of him--fright, I suppose. He must have been a big
strapping devil before he was taken down.
"Well, I tell you, we'd just got him fixed up, and the Captain was just
going into his tent to have a drink, and we chaps were all standing round,
when up steps Halket, right before the Captain, and pulls his front lock--
you know the way he has? Oh, my God, my God, if you could have seen it!
I'll never forget it to my dying day!" The Colonial seemed bursting with
internal laughter. "He begins, 'Sir, may I speak to you?' in a formal kind
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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 Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: other women, love to steep themselves in love; but they have a
mind to possess and not to be possessed. They have made a sort
of compromise with human nature. The code of their parish gives
them a pretty wide latitude short of the last transgression. The
sweets enjoyed by this fair Duchess of yours are so many venial
sins to be washed away in the waters of penitence. But if you
had the impertinence to ask in earnest for the moral sin to which
naturally you are sure to attach the highest importance, you
would see the deep disdain with which the door of the boudoir and
the house would be incontinently shut upon you. The tender
Antoinette would dismiss everything from her memory; you would be
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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 Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle: were lulled into entire security, and when Davis's band was
scattered about wherever each man could do the most good, it was
out pistol, up cutlass, and death if a finger moved. They tied
the soldiers back to back, and the governor to his own armchair,
and then rifled wherever it pleased them. After that they sailed
away, and though they had not made the fortune they had hoped to
glean, it was a good snug round sum that they shared among them.
Their courage growing high with success, they determined to
attempt the island of Del Principe--a prosperous Portuguese
settlement on the coast. The plan for taking the place was
cleverly laid, and would have succeeded, only that a Portuguese
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates |
