| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: The Horticultural Society of Haarlem had shown itself worthy
of its fame by giving a hundred thousand guilders for the
bulb of a tulip. The town, which did not wish to be outdone,
voted a like sum, which was placed in the hands of that
notable body to solemnise the auspicious event.
And indeed on the Sunday fixed for this ceremony there was
such a stir among the people, and such an enthusiasm among
the townsfolk, that even a Frenchman, who laughs at
everything at all times, could not have helped admiring the
character of those honest Hollanders, who were equally ready
to spend their money for the construction of a man-of-war --
The Black Tulip |
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 Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: warning you. Monseigneur is furious against your father and against
you; he suspects you of having seduced his son, and he would rather
see him dead than see him marry you; so much for his son. As for your
father, this is the decision monseigneur has made about him. Nine
years ago your father was implicated in a criminal affair. The matter
related to the secretion of a child of rank at the time of its birth
which he attended. Monseigneur, knowing that your father was innocent,
guaranteed him from prosecution by the parliament; but now he intends
to have him arrested and delivered up to justice to be tried for the
crime. Your father will be broken on the wheel; though perhaps, in
view of some services he has done to his master, he may obtain the
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