| 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: ISA 39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt
beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of
the king of Babylon.
ISA 39:8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD
which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and
truth in my days.
ISA 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
ISA 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath
received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
ISA 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: Constantinople.
No man was better informed than he as to the rules of the Chamber. For
five years he had been reporter of the debates for a daily paper. He
spoke extempore and admirably, and could go on for a long time in that
deep, appealing voice which had struck us to the soul. Indeed, he
proved by the narrative of his life that he was a great orator, a
concise orator, serious and yet full of piercing eloquence; he
resembled Berryer in his fervor and in the impetus which commands the
sympathy of the masses, and was like Thiers in refinement and skill;
but he would have been less diffuse, less in difficulties for a
conclusion. He had intended to rise rapidly to power without burdening
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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 Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: Instead of basing his expenses, as Frenchmen do, upon his revenues, he
followed the old Dutch custom of spending only a fourth of his income.
Twelve hundred ducats a year put his costs of living at a level with
those of the richest men of the place. The promulgation of the Civil
Code proved the wisdom of this course. Compelling, as it did, the
equal division of property, the Title of Succession would some day
leave each child with limited means, and disperse the treasures of the
Claes collection. Balthazar, therefore, in concert with Madame Claes,
invested his wife's property so as to secure to each child a fortune
eventually equal to his own. The house of Claes still maintained its
moderate scale of living, and bought woodlands somewhat the worse for
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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 Parmenides by Plato: time than itself, but it must become, and be, and have become, and be about
to be, for the same time with itself?
That again is inevitable.
Then things which are in time, and partake of time, must in every case, I
suppose, be of the same age with themselves; and must also become at once
older and younger than themselves?
Yes.
But the one did not partake of those affections?
Not at all.
Then it does not partake of time, and is not in any time?
So the argument shows.
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