| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: Before him he saw an empty seat. The question was so immense
and conclusive, it was so clearly a choice for all the rest of
his life between God and the dear things of this world, that he
felt he could not decide it upon his legs. He sat down, threw an
arm along the back of the seat and drummed with his fingers.
If the answer was "yes" then it was decidedly a pity that he
had not stayed in the church. It was ridiculous to strain at the
cathedral gnat and then swallow Lady Sunderbund's decorative
Pantechnicon.
For the first time, Scrope definitely regretted his apostasy.
A trivial matter, as it may seem to the reader, intensified
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: Witness myself, at this present hour. Because I am
to hope for the satisfaction of seeing you at Woodston
on Wednesday, which bad weather, or twenty other causes,
may prevent, I must go away directly, two days before I
intended it."
"Go away!" said Catherine, with a very long face.
"And why?"
"Why! How can you ask the question? Because no time
is to be lost in frightening my old housekeeper out of
her wits, because I must go and prepare a dinner for you,
to be sure."
Northanger Abbey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Richard III by William Shakespeare: Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes!
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,
A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatt'red in the bottom of the sea;
Some lay in dead men's skulls, and in the holes
Richard III |
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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: this moment Rudolph emerged from the hole a mass of grass and dirt stains,
and both Mabel and Tattine thought he had been pretty plucky, though quite too
much preoccupied to tell him so, but Rudolph happily felt himself repaid for
hardships endured, in the delight of his discovery.
"It will be a month before they'll have sense enough to crawl out," he
remarked to Joseph, "and they're wedged in between some old planks in very
uncomfortable fashion. They look like fine little fellows too. I think we
ought to manage in some way to get them out."
"And it would be bad if any of them died there," said Joseph,rubbing his head
and still ruminating on the subject; "very bad. Well, we'll have to see what
we` can do about it."
|
