| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 1492 by Mary Johntson: poorly carved but golden. They traded freely; we gathered
gold. And there was more and more, they said, at Veragua,
wherever that might be, and south and east it seemed to be.
Veragua! We would go there. Again we hoisted sail
and in our ships, now all unseaworthy, crept again in a bad
wind along the coast of gold,--Costa Rico. At last we
saw many smokes from the land. That would be a large
Indian village. We beat toward it, found a river mouth and
entered. But Veragua must have heard of us from a swift
land traveler. When a boat from each ship would approach
the land--it was in the afternoon, the sun westering fast
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: of thirty-six francs as arrears for rent for the cock-loft in which
they lived resigned. The grocer would not give them credit for the
brandy with which Marianna plied her husband to enable him to play.
Gambara was, consequently, so unendurably bad that the ears of the
wealthy were irresponsive, and the tin bottle-stand remained empty.
It was nine o'clock in the evening. A handsome Italian, the
Principessa Massimilla De Varese, took pity on the poor creatures; she
gave them forty francs and questioned them, discerning from the
woman's thanks that she was a Venetian. Prince Emilio would know the
history of their woes, and Marianna told it, making no complaints of
God or men.
Gambara |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Rig Veda: three
hundred head of cattle.
HYMN XXXVII. Indra.
1. BEDEWED with holy oil and meetly worshipped, the Swift One
vies
with Surya's beam in splendour.
For him may mornings dawn without cessation who saith, Let
us press
The Rig Veda |
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 Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: its opening.]
CROFTS [panting with fury] Do you think I'll put up with this
from you, you young devil?
VIVIE [unmoved] Be quiet. Some one will answer the bell.
[Without flinching a step she strikes the bell with the back of
her hand. It clangs harshly; and he starts back involuntarily.
Almost immediately Frank appears at the porch with his rifle].
FRANK [with cheerful politeness] Will you have the rifle, Viv; or
shall I operate?
VIVIE. Frank: have you been listening?
FRANK [coming down into the garden] Only for the bell, I assure
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