| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: merchants come not thither so commonly for to buy merchandises, as
they do in the land of the great Chan, for it is too far to travel
to. And on that other part, in the Isle of Cathay, men find all
manner thing that is need to man - cloths of gold, of silk, of
spicery and all manner avoirdupois. And therefore, albeit that men
have greater cheap in the Isle of Prester John, natheles, men dread
the long way and the great perils in the sea in those parts.
For in many places of the sea be great rocks of stones of the
adamant, that of his proper nature draweth iron to him. And
therefore there pass no ships that have either bonds or nails of
iron within them. And if there do, anon the rocks of the adamants
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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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: "Well," said Jacques Bricheteau, smiling, "no one has recognized my
talent, madame. Monsieur de Sallenauve and Monsieur Marie-Gaston have
only heard me once or twice. Apart from that I am the most obscure of
professors, and perhaps the dullest. But setting aside the question of
your daughter's master, I wish to speak of a far more important
interest, which has, in fact, brought me here. I mean Monsieur de
Sallenauve."
"Has Monsieur de Sallenauve," said Madame de l'Estorade, with marked
coldness of manner, "sent you here with a message to my husband?"
"No, madame," replied Jacques Bricheteau, "he has unfortunately given
me no message. I cannot find him. I went to Ville d'Avray this
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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 Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: problem of feeling, passing the highest inspirations of passion and
the most beautiful instances of self-sacrifice. That one should die
for the other is an almost vulgar form of devotion. To live faithful
to one love is a form of heroism that immortalized Mademoiselle
Dupuis. When the great Napoleon and Lord Byron could find successors
in the hearts of women they had loved, we may well admire
Bolingbroke's widow; but Mademoiselle Dupuis could feed on the
memories of many years of happiness, whereas Mademoiselle de
Villenoix, having known nothing of love but its first excitement,
seemed to me to typify love in its highest expression. If she were
herself almost crazy, it was splendid; but if she had understood and
Louis Lambert |
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 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest link:
His eyes not carrying to the equal beam,
That poises all above;"
and from the attributes of God, his infinite wisdom, goodness and power,
concluded that nothing could possibly be wrong in the world, and that
vice and virtue were empty distinctions, no such things existing,
appear'd now not so clever a performance as I once thought it;
and I doubted whether some error had not insinuated itself unperceiv'd
into my argument, so as to infect all that follow'd, as is common
in metaphysical reasonings.
I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
