| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: child about life and conduct, subjects on which they have
themselves so few and such confused opinions? Indeed, I do
not know; the least said, perhaps, the soonest mended; and
yet the child keeps asking, and the parent must find some
words to say in his own defence. Where does he find them?
and what are they when found?
As a matter of experience, and in nine hundred and ninety-
nine cases out of a thousand, he will instil into his wide-
eyed brat three bad things: the terror of public opinion,
and, flowing from that as a fountain, the desire of wealth
and applause. Besides these, or what might be deduced as
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tanach: 1_Kings 3: 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour--so that there hath not been any among the kings like unto thee--all thy days.
1_Kings 3: 14 And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.'
1_Kings 3: 15 And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream; and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
1_Kings 3: 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1_Kings 3: 17 And the one woman said: 'Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
1_Kings 3: 18 And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
1_Kings 3: 19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlay it.
1_Kings 3: 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
1_Kings 3: 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked well at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear.'
The Tanach |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Macbeth by William Shakespeare: my Lord, no more o'that: you marre all with this starting
Doct. Go too, go too:
You haue knowne what you should not
Gent. She ha's spoke what shee should not, I am sure
of that: Heauen knowes what she ha's knowne
La. Heere's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes
of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
Oh, oh, oh
Doct. What a sigh is there? The hart is sorely charg'd
Gent. I would not haue such a heart in my bosome,
for the dignity of the whole body
Macbeth |
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 A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: enjoy a perpetual spring, more delicious and charming than that in
our country. The blacks here are not ugly like those of the
kingdoms I have spoken of, but have better features, and are not
without wit and delicacy; their apprehension is quick, and their
judgment sound. The heat of the sun, however it may contribute to
their colour, is not the only reason of it; there is some
peculiarity in the temper and constitution of their bodies, since
the same men, transported into cooler climates, produce children
very near as black as themselves.
They have here two harvests in the year, which is a sufficient
recompense for the small produce of each; one harvest they have in
|
