| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: hand, and only occasionally looking up to snuff the
candle which stood beside him. At length he looked
at the clock, seemed surprised at the lateness of the
hour, closed his book, and arose. He was going to bed,
she knew, and if she tapped it must be done at once.
Alas for her resolve! She felt she could not do it,
Not for worlds now could she give a hint about her
misery to him, much less ask him plainly for information
on the cause of Fanny's death. She must suspect, and
guess, and chafe, and bear it all alone.
Like a homeless wanderer she lingered by the bank,
Far From the Madding Crowd |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: and still the beating? In the cold and the dark, who will warm my freezing
heart?"
And Love cried out, "Better let me die! Without Joy I can live; without
this I cannot. Let me rather die, not lose it!"
And the wise old woman answered, "O fools and blind! What you once had is
that which you have now! When Love and Life first meet, a radiant thing is
born, without a shade. When the roads begin to roughen, when the shades
begin to darken, when the days are hard, and the nights cold and long--then
it begins to change. Love and Life WILL not see it, WILL not know it--till
one day they start up suddenly, crying, 'O God! O God! we have lost it!
Where is it?' They do not understand that they could not carry the
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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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: much so that they forget their oranges for a moment. Nor am I, on
my part, indifferent. A splendid spectacle indeed is that of our
Spider's labyrinth, heavy with the tears of the night and lit up by
the first rays of the sun. Accompanied as it is by the Thrushes'
symphony, this alone is worth getting up for.
Half an hour's heat; and the magic jewels disappear with the dew.
Now is the moment to inspect the webs. Here is one spreading its
sheet over a large cluster of rock-roses; it is the size of a
handkerchief. A profusion of guy-ropes, attached to any chance
projection, moor it to the brushwood. There is not a twig but
supplies a contact-point. Entwined on every side, surrounded and
The Life of the Spider |
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 Poems of William Blake by William Blake: Thel answerd, O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.
Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o'er tired
The breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells the milky garments
He crops thy flowers while thou sittest smiling in his face,
Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.
Thy wine doth purify the golden honey; thy perfume.
Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs
Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.
But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.
Queen of the vales the Lily answered, ask the tender cloud,
Poems of William Blake |
