| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: That every recollection of things done
Is fallen away, at no o'erlong remove
Is that, I trow, from what we mean by death.
Wherefore 'tis sure that what hath been before
Hath died, and what now is is now create.
Moreover, if after the body hath been built
Our mind's live powers are wont to be put in,
Just at the moment that we come to birth,
And cross the sills of life, 'twould scarcely fit
For them to live as if they seemed to grow
Along with limbs and frame, even in the blood,
Of The Nature of Things |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: so easy, and so perfect, that it spread over all races in Europe and
America, and no substitute could be found for it till the latter
part of the fifteenth century. Yes, a great genius was he, and the
consequent founder of a great aristocracy and conquering race, who
first invented for himself and his children after him a--bow and
arrow.
The next--whether before or after the first in time, it suits me to
speak of him in second place--was the man who was the potential
ancestor of the whole Ritterschaft, Chivalry, and knightly caste of
Europe; the man who first, finding a foal upon the steppe, deserted
by its dam, brought it home, and reared it; and then bethought him
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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 Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton: longer believed in the personal supervision of Providence; and had
she been compelled to steal the money instead of borrowing it, she
would have felt that her conscience was the only tribunal before
which she had to answer. Nevertheless, the actual humiliation of
having to ask for the money was no less bitter; and she could
hardly hope that Miss Mellins would view the case with the same
detachment as herself. Miss Mellins was very kind; but she not
unnaturally felt that her kindness should be rewarded by according
her the right to ask questions; and bit by bit Ann Eliza saw
Evelina's miserable secret slipping into the dress-maker's
possession.
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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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: and in a few hours they had built them every one a new hut or tent
for their lodging apart; for those they had already were crowded
with their tools, household stuff, and provisions. The three
wicked ones had pitched farthest off, and the two honest ones
nearer, but both on the north shore of the island, so that they
continued separated as before; and thus my island was peopled in
three places, and, as I might say, three towns were begun to be
built.
And here it is very well worth observing that, as it often happens
in the world (what the wise ends in God's providence are, in such a
disposition of things, I cannot say), the two honest fellows had
Robinson Crusoe |
