| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: disease, which are produced by the action of external forces. And as he
was to contain all things, he was made in the all-containing form of a
sphere, round as from a lathe and every way equidistant from the centre, as
was natural and suitable to him. He was finished and smooth, having
neither eyes nor ears, for there was nothing without him which he could see
or hear; and he had no need to carry food to his mouth, nor was there air
for him to breathe; and he did not require hands, for there was nothing of
which he could take hold, nor feet, with which to walk. All that he did
was done rationally in and by himself, and he moved in a circle turning
within himself, which is the most intellectual of motions; but the other
six motions were wanting to him; wherefore the universe had no feet or
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: by. And then there came another boat with a fat Chinaman sitting
in it, eating rice with little sticks.
Languidly the water heaved, languidly the white seagulls floated
over it.
"I should like to give that fat fellow one in the neck," thought
Gusev, gazing at the stout Chinaman, with a yawn.
He dozed off, and it seemed to him that all nature was dozing,
too. Time flew swiftly by; imperceptibly the day passed,
imperceptibly the darkness came on. . . . The steamer was no
longer standing still, but moving on further.
IV
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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 The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: suffer till morning. Balthazar, who had forgotten the hour at which
the gates closed, would come tranquilly home next day, quite unmindful
of the tortures his absence had inflicted on his family; and the
happiness of getting him back proved as dangerous an excitement of
feeling to his wife as her fears of the preceding night. She kept
silence and dared not question him, for when she did so on the
occasion of his first absence, he answered with an air of surprise:--
"Well, what of it? Can I not take a walk?"
Passions never deceive. Madame Claes's anxieties corroborated the
rumors she had taken so much pains to deny. The experience of her
youth had taught her to understand the polite pity of the world.
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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 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: up to Henry, saying, at the same time, if he did not
cross his hands, they would blow his damned heart
out. "Shoot me, shoot me!" said Henry; "you can't
kill me but once. Shoot, shoot,--and be damned! ~I
won't be tied!~" This he said in a tone of loud defi-
ance; and at the same time, with a motion as quick
as lightning, he with one single stroke dashed the
pistols from the hand of each constable. As he did
this, all hands fell upon him, and, after beating
him some time, they finally overpowered him, and
got him tied.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
