| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence: flowers hung over, limp on their stalks.
'They'll revive again!' she said, putting them before him in their
glass for him to smell.
'Sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes,' he quoted.
'I don't see a bit of connexion with the actual violets,' she said.
'The Elizabethans are rather upholstered.'
She poured him his tea.
'Do you think there is a second key to that little hut not far from
John's Well, where the pheasants are reared?' she said.
'There may be. Why?'
'I happened to find it today--and I'd never seen it before. I think
Lady Chatterley's Lover |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: offend a prince and afterwards trust him; nevertheless, persuaded by
Pagolo Orsini, whom the duke had corrupted with gifts and promises, he
agreed to wait.
Upon this the duke, before his departure from Fano, which was to be on
30th December 1502, communicated his designs to eight of his most
trusted followers, among whom were Don Michele and the Monsignor
d'Euna, who was afterwards cardinal; and he ordered that, as soon as
Vitellozzo, Pagolo Orsini, the Duke di Gravina, and Oliverotto should
arrive, his followers in pairs should take them one by one, entrusting
certain men to certain pairs, who should entertain them until they
reached Sinigalia; nor should they be permitted to leave until they
The Prince |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: knows but Monsieur de Mortsauf's old age may be a blessing to me? Ah,
believe me! those who stand before the Great Judge with palms in their
hands, leading comforted to Him the beings who cursed their lives,
they, they have turned their sorrows into joy. If my sufferings bring
about the happiness of my family, are they sufferings at all?"
"Yes," I said, "they are; but they were necessary, as mine have been,
to make us understand the true flavor of the fruit that has ripened on
our rocks. Now, surely, we shall taste it together; surely we may
admire its wonders, the sweetness of affection it has poured into our
souls, that inward sap which revives the searing leaves--Good God! do
you not understand me?" I cried, falling into the mystical language to
The Lily of the Valley |
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 Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: tenderness towards the accursed Teules, whom I could well bear to
see stretched upon the stone, but because it is your wish, and for
the sake of the friendship between us.'
Then he went, and presently I saw several men place themselves, as
though by chance, between the spot where the last of the line of
Indian prisoners, and the first of the Spaniards were made fast, in
such a fashion as to hide them from the sight of the maddened
women, engrossed as they were in their orgies.
Now I crept up to the Spaniards. They were squatted upon the
ground, bound by their hands and feet to the copper rings in the
pavement. There they sat silently awaiting the dreadful doom,
Montezuma's Daughter |
