| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs: about the same length; so that he knew that though considerable
time had elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four
hundred yards when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness,
and at the next turn of the stream his surroundings became
vaguelydiscernible. Above him was an arched roof and on either
hand walls pierced at intervals by apertures covered with
wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of the aqueduct
was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter.
His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward
from it to the water below the naked body of a human being which
almost immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down
Out of Time's Abyss |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: square? I think a man should look very, very strong, and that his
chin should be quite, quite square.
MRS. ALLONBY. Then you should certainly know Ernest, Lady
Stutfield. It is only fair to tell you beforehand he has got no
conversation at all.
LADY STUTFIELD. I adore silent men.
MRS. ALLONBY. Oh, Ernest isn't silent. He talks the whole time.
But he has got no conversation. What he talks about I don't know.
I haven't listened to him for years.
LADY STUTFIELD. Have you never forgiven him then? How sad that
seems! But all life is very, very sad, is it not?
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: At five o'clock in the morning he said good-bye to them all
affectionately, and even shed tears. As he passed his father's
room, he glanced in at the door. Yevgraf Ivanovitch, who had not
taken off his clothes or gone to bed, was standing by the window,
drumming on the panes.
"Good-bye; I am going," said his son.
"Good-bye . . . the money is on the round table . . ." his father
answered, without turning round.
A cold, hateful rain was falling as the labourer drove him to the
station. The sunflowers were drooping their heads still lower,
and the grass seemed darker than ever.
|
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 Koran: before God.
And if ye fear, then afoot or on horseback; but when ye are in
safety remember God, how He taught you while yet ye did not know.
Those of you who die and leave wives, should bequeath to their wives
maintenance for a year, without expulsion (from their home); but if
they go out, there is no crime in you for what they do of
themselves, in reason; but God is mighty and wise.
And divorced women should have a maintenance in reason,- a duty this
on those that fear. Thus does God explain to you His signs; haply ye
may understand.
Dost thou not look at those who left their homes by thousands, for
The Koran |
