| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: Not all of them reach it. I see some who, on attaining a certain
height, cease to go up and even lose ground, although moving their
legs forward with all the nimbleness of which they are capable.
The more they struggle upwards, the faster they come down. This
drifting, which neutralizes the distance covered and even converts
it into a retrogression, is easily explained.
The thread has not reached the platform; it floats, it is fixed
only at the lower end. As long as it is of a fair length, it is
able, although moving, to bear the minute animal's weight. But, as
the Spider climbs, the float becomes shorter in proportion; and the
time comes when a balance is struck between the ascensional force
The Life of the Spider |
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: would not have had the courage.
And if any one should say: "King Louis yielded the Romagna to
Alexander and the kingdom to Spain to avoid war, I answer for the
reasons given above that a blunder ought never to be perpetrated to
avoid war, because it is not to be avoided, but is only deferred to
your disadvantage. And if another should allege the pledge which the
king had given to the Pope that he would assist him in the enterprise,
in exchange for the dissolution of his marriage[*] and for the cap to
Rouen,[+] to that I reply what I shall write later on concerning the
faith of princes, and how it ought to be kept.
[*] Louis XII divorced his wife, Jeanne, daughter of Louis XI, and
The Prince |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: God to attempt all souls. There must be accessibilities I can only
suspect, and accessibilities of which I know nothing.
Yet here is a consideration pointing rather the other way. If you
think, as you must think, that you yourself can be lost to God and
damned, then I cannot see how you can avoid thinking that other
people can be damned. But that is not to believe that there are
people damned at the outset by their moral and intellectual
insufficiency; that is not to make out that there is a class of
essential and incurable spiritual defectives. The religious life
preceded clear religious understanding and extends far beyond its
range.
|
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 The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: like crimson foam in many directions which color
of cloth was winning.
His emaciated regiment bustled forth with
undiminished fierceness when its time came.
When assaulted again by bullets, the men burst
out in a barbaric cry of rage and pain. They
bent their heads in aims of intent hatred
behind the projected hammers of their guns.
Their ramrods clanged loud with fury as their
eager arms pounded the cartridges into the rifle
barrels. The front of the regiment was a smoke-
The Red Badge of Courage |
