| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: comprehend such trials. To gain a true idea of the struggle between
that cold, calculating, ambitious woman and a daughter abounding in
the tender natural kindness that never faileth, you must imagine a
lily, to which my heart has always compared her, bruised beneath the
polished wheels of a steel car. That mother had nothing in common with
her daughter; she was unable even to imagine the real difficulties
which hindered her from taking advantage of the Restoration and forced
her to continue a life of solitude. Though families bury their
internal dissensions with the utmost care, enter behind the scenes,
and you will find in nearly all of them deep, incurable wounds, which
lessen the natural affections. Sometimes these wounds are given by
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: that is only natural. But Henriette has such qualities; she is
so much better than I, that I love her, really, as people love in
novels. My greatest grief--it is not to give up the practice I
have bought--although, indeed, it would be a bitter blow to me;
my greatest grief would be to lose Henriette. If you could only
see her, if you only knew her--then you would understand. I have
her picture here--"
The young fellow took out his card-case. And offered a photograph
to the doctor, who gently refused it. The other blushed with
embarrassment.
"I beg your pardon," he said, "I am ridiculous. That happens to
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: Achilles is true he is also false, and so the two men are not opposed to
one another, but they are alike.
HIPPIAS: O Socrates, you are always weaving the meshes of an argument,
selecting the most difficult point, and fastening upon details instead of
grappling with the matter in hand as a whole. Come now, and I will
demonstrate to you, if you will allow me, by many satisfactory proofs, that
Homer has made Achilles a better man than Odysseus, and a truthful man too;
and that he has made the other crafty, and a teller of many untruths, and
inferior to Achilles. And then, if you please, you shall make a speech on
the other side, in order to prove that Odysseus is the better man; and this
may be compared to mine, and then the company will know which of us is the
|
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 Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: with its bald scarlet head, formed to wallow in putridity, is
very common on the west coast, and their attendance on the
seals shows on what they rely for their food. We found the
water (probably only that of the surface) nearly fresh: this
was caused by the number of torrents which, in the form
of cascades, came tumbling over the bold granite mountains
into the sea. The fresh water attracts the fish, and these
bring many terns, gulls, and two kinds of cormorant. We
saw also a pair of the beautiful black-necked swans, and
several small sea-otters, the fur of which is held in such
high estimation. In returning, we were again amused by the
The Voyage of the Beagle |
