| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head,
looking about; then very slowly she crawled to the edge
of her throne and slid noiselessly into the water.
Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends
as you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks,
turning upon their backs and diving below the surface.
Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she
remained at rest before the largest, which was directly
opposite her throne. Raising her hideous head from the
water she fixed her great, round eyes upon the slaves.
They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought from
At the Earth's Core |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: that bears any resemblance. This tree, which the natives call
ensete, is wonderfully useful; its leaves, which are so large as to
cover a man, make hangings for rooms, and serve the inhabitants
instead of linen for their tables and carpets. They grind the
branches and the thick parts of the leaves, and when they are
mingled with milk, find them a delicious food. The trunk and the
roots are even more nourishing than the leaves or branches, and the
meaner people, when they go a journey, make no provision of any
other victuals. The word ensete signifies the tree against hunger,
or the poor's tree, though the most wealthy often eat of it. If it
be cut down within half a foot of the ground and several incisions
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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 Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: the mind. Behind, there remains a legacy of traces and blisters:
and unless these are effectually erased, subsequent blows on the
same spot will produce no longer mere blisters, but sores. If you
do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it
nothing which may tend its increase. At first, keep quiet and
count the days when you were not angry: "I used to be angry every
day, then every other day: next every two, next every three
days!" and if you succeed in passing thirty days, sacrifice to
the Gods in thanksgiving.
LXXVI
How then may this be attained?--Resolve, now if never
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
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 Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: the Brazilian embassy. Monsieur de Funcal is a nobleman belonging to
both those countries. As for the convict, he is dead and buried. Your
persecutor, whoever he is, seems to me so powerful that it would be
well to take no decisive measures until you are sure of some way of
confounding and crushing him. Act prudently and with caution, my dear
monsieur. Had Monsieur de Maulincour followed my advice, nothing of
all this would have happened."
Jules coldly but politely withdrew. He was now at a total loss to know
how to reach Ferragus. As he passed into his own house, the porter
told him that Madame had just been out to throw a letter into the post
box at the head of the rue de Menars. Jules felt humiliated by this
Ferragus |
