| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: on earth which was wholly superior to change, and because, for myself in
particular, I hoped gradually to perfect my judgments, and not to suffer
them to deteriorate, I would have deemed it a grave sin against good
sense, if, for the reason that I approved of something at a particular
time, I therefore bound myself to hold it for good at a subsequent time,
when perhaps it had ceased to be so, or I had ceased to esteem it such.
My second maxim was to be as firm and resolute in my actions as I was
able, and not to adhere less steadfastly to the most doubtful opinions,
when once adopted, than if they had been highly certain; imitating in this
the example of travelers who, when they have lost their way in a forest,
ought not to wander from side to side, far less remain in one place, but
Reason Discourse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: Later Stewart led them across a neck of the park, up a rather
steep climb between towering crags, to take them out upon a
grassy promontory that faced the great open west--a vast, ridged,
streaked, and reddened sweep of earth rolling down, as it seemed,
to the golden sunset end of the world. Castleton said it was a
jolly fine view; Dorothy voiced her usual languid enthusiasm;
Helen was on fire with pleasure and wonder; Mrs. Beck appealed to
Bobby to see how he liked it before she ventured, and she then
reiterated his praise; and Edith Wayne, like Madeline and
Florence, was silent. Boyd was politely interested; he was the
kind of man who appeared to care for things as other people cared
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: asleep. Look at the four of them, Wendy and Michael over there,
John here, and Mrs. Darling by the fire. There should have been
a fourth night-light.
While she slept she had a dream. She dreamt that the Neverland
had come too near and that a strange boy had broken through from
it. He did not alarm her, for she thought she had seen him
before in the faces of many women who have no children. Perhaps
he is to be found in the faces of some mothers also. But in her
dream he had rent the film that obscures the Neverland, and she
saw Wendy and John and Michael peeping through the gap.
The dream by itself would have been a trifle, but while she was
Peter Pan |
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 Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: Nikita. He strained his ears and heard Nikita breathing and
even slightly snoring. 'Nikita is alive, so I too am alive!'
he said to himself triumphantly.
And he remembered his money, his shop, his house, the buying
and selling, and Mironov's millions, and it was hard for him to
understand why that man, called Vasili Brekhunov, had troubled
himself with all those things with which he had been troubled.
'Well, it was because he did not know what the real thing was,'
he thought, concerning that Vasili Brekhunov. 'He did not
know, but now I know and know for sure. Now I know!' And again
he heard the voice of the one who had called him before. 'I'm
Master and Man |
