| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: imperfection of our present state and yet of the progress which is
observable in the history of the world and of the human mind; of the depth
and power of our moral ideas which seem to partake of the very nature of
God Himself; when we consider the contrast between the physical laws to
which we are subject and the higher law which raises us above them and is
yet a part of them; when we reflect on our capacity of becoming the
'spectators of all time and all existence,' and of framing in our own minds
the ideal of a perfect Being; when we see how the human mind in all the
higher religions of the world, including Buddhism, notwithstanding some
aberrations, has tended towards such a belief--we have reason to think that
our destiny is different from that of animals; and though we cannot
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: "You tend to your business and I'll tend to mine," she said
indignantly. "And I don't want to talk about convicts any more.
Everybody's been hateful about them. My gang is my own business--
And you haven't told me yet what you do in New Orleans. You go
there so often that everybody says--" She paused. She had not
intended to say so much.
"What do they say?"
"Well--that you have a sweetheart there. That you are going to get
married. Are you, Rhett?"
She had been curious about this for so long that she could not
refrain from asking the point-blank question. A queer little pang
Gone With the Wind |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: the butler and ask. [Touches the bell.]
MRS. CHEVELEY. Oh, pray don't trouble, Lady Chiltern. I dare say I
lost it at the Opera, before we came on here.
LADY MARKBY. Ah yes, I suppose it must have been at the Opera. The
fact is, we all scramble and jostle so much nowadays that I wonder we
have anything at all left on us at the end of an evening. I know
myself that, when I am coming back from the Drawing Room, I always
feel as if I hadn't a shred on me, except a small shred of decent
reputation, just enough to prevent the lower classes making painful
observations through the windows of the carriage. The fact is that
our Society is terribly over-populated. Really, some one should
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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 Hiero by Xenophon: after Aphrodite. For in this field it is your privilege to consort
with whatever fairest fair your eyes may light on.
Hiero. Nay, now you have named that one thing of all others, take my
word for it, in which we princes are worse off than lesser people.[32]
[32] Reading {saph' isthi}, or if as Cobet conj. {saphestata}, transl.
"are at a disadvantage most clearly by comparison with ordinary
folk."
To name marriage first. I presume a marriage[33] which is contracted
with some great family, superior in wealth and influence, bears away
the palm, since it confers upon the bridegroom not pleasure only but
distinction.[34] Next comes the marriage made with equals; and last,
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