| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: made them form a great circle, open at one end where he stationed
himself, and began to wish. Two hundred deer and more came running
inside the circle at once, and the huntsmen shot them. Then they were
all placed on sixty country carts, and driven home to the king, and
for once he was able to deck his table with game, after having had
none at all for years.
Now the king felt great joy at this, and commanded that his entire
household should eat with him next day, and made a great feast. When
they were all assembled together, he said to the huntsman: 'As you are
so clever, you shall sit by me.' He replied: 'Lord King, your majesty
must excuse me, I am a poor huntsman.' But the king insisted on it,
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: from one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded.
" 'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly,
while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply.
" 'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put
in my curl-papers myself.'--She scented disaster at the mere aspect of
her husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as
Rosalie was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few
minutes in the passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his
wife, and said coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!'
She looked at her husband calmly, and replied quite simply, 'No,
monsieur.'
La Grande Breteche |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: state to be loved of them because it is loved of them?
EUTHYPHRO: Certainly.
SOCRATES: Then that which is dear to the gods, Euthyphro, is not holy, nor
is that which is holy loved of God, as you affirm; but they are two
different things.
EUTHYPHRO: How do you mean, Socrates?
SOCRATES: I mean to say that the holy has been acknowledged by us to be
loved of God because it is holy, not to be holy because it is loved.
EUTHYPHRO: Yes.
SOCRATES: But that which is dear to the gods is dear to them because it is
loved by them, not loved by them because it is dear to them.
|
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 From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: earth to the moon, which give the appearance of completeness to
the lunar disc, while it presents itself under the crescent form
during its first and last phases.
Such was the state of knowledge acquired regarding the earth's
satellite, which the Gun Club undertook to perfect in all its
aspects, cosmographic, geological, political, and moral.
CHAPTER VI
PERMISSIVE LIMITS OF IGNORANCE AND BELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES
The immediate result of Barbicane's proposition was to place upon
the orders of the day all the astronomical facts relative to the
Queen of the Night. Everybody set to work to study assiduously.
From the Earth to the Moon |
