| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: Its energy so sinks, at last it makes
But brief contingencies: for so I name
Things generated, which the heav'nly orbs
Moving, with seed or without seed, produce.
Their wax, and that which molds it, differ much:
And thence with lustre, more or less, it shows
Th' ideal stamp impress: so that one tree
According to his kind, hath better fruit,
And worse: and, at your birth, ye, mortal men,
Are in your talents various. Were the wax
Molded with nice exactness, and the heav'n
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: 'And do you pray at home?'
'I do. But what sort of prayer is it? Only mechanical. I know
it should not be like that, but I lack real religious feeling.
The only thing is that I know how bad I am . . .'
'Yes, yes, that's right!' said Kasatsky, as if approvingly.
'I'm coming! I'm coming!' she replied to a call from her
son-in-law, and tidying her scanty plait she left the room.
But this time it was long before she returned. When she came
back, Kasatsky was sitting in the same position, his elbows
resting on his knees and his head bowed. But his wallet was
strapped on his back.
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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 Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: pretty tough--and have drawn the blood, and then there would be no
chance for me. So I just lay there and thought of my sins, and prayed
to the Almighty, and reflected that after all life was a very enjoyable
thing.
"Then of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and the shouting and
whistling of men, and there were the two boys coming back with the
cattle, which they had found trekking along all together. The lions
lifted their heads and listened, then bounded off without a sound--and I
fainted.
"The lions came back no more that night, and by the next morning my
nerves had got pretty straight again; but I was full of wrath when I
Long Odds |
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 Europeans by Henry James: Her kinsman from across the seas was looking at the pale,
high-hung engravings. When she came in he turned and smiled at her,
as if they had been old friends meeting after a separation.
"You wait upon me yourself?" he asked. "I am served like the gods!"
She had waited upon a great many people, but none of them had
ever told her that. The observation added a certain lightness
to the step with which she went to a little table where there were
some curious red glasses--glasses covered with little gold sprigs,
which Charlotte used to dust every morning with her own hands.
Gertrude thought the glasses very handsome, and it was a pleasure to her
to know that the wine was good; it was her father's famous madeira.
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