| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: following items--to wit, to own a saddle-horse and a tilbury, or a
cab, with a fresh, rosy-faced Toby Joby Paddy no bigger than your
fist, and to hire an unimpeachable brougham for twelve francs an
evening; to appear elegantly arrayed, agreeably to the laws that
regulate a man's clothes, at eight o'clock, at noon, four o'clock in
the afternoon, and in the evening; to be well received at every
embassy, and to cull the short-lived flowers of superficial,
cosmopolitan friendships; to be not insufferably handsome, to carry
your head, your coat, and your name well; to inhabit a charming little
entresol after the pattern of the rooms just described on the Quai
Malaquais; to be able to ask a party of friends to dine at the Rocher
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: To put the by-pass'd perils in her way?
Counsel may stop awhile what will not stay;
For when we rage, advice is often seen
By blunting us to make our wills more keen.
'Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood,
That we must curb it upon others' proof,
To be forbod the sweets that seems so good,
For fear of harms that preach in our behoof.
O appetite, from judgement stand aloof!
The one a palate hath that needs will taste,
Though reason weep, and cry It is thy last.
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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 Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: Night is worn,
And the morn
Rises from the slumbrous mass.
'Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor,
The watery shore,
Is given thee till the break of day.'
EARTH'S ANSWER
Earth raised up her head
From the darkness dread and drear,
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
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 Paz by Honore de Balzac: wanted to secure the future of my dear Paz before I launched into
dissipation. I had often noticed the sadness in his eyes--sometimes
tears were in them. I had had good reason to understand his soul,
which is noble, grand, and generous to the core. I thought he might
not like to be bound by benefits to a friend who was six years younger
than himself, unless he could repay them. I was careless and
frivolous, just as a young fellow is, and I knew I was certain to ruin
myself at play, or get inveigled by some woman, and Paz and I might
then be parted; and though I had every intention of always looking out
for him, I knew I might sometime or other forget to provide for him.
In short, my dear angel, I wanted to spare him the pain and
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