| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: 'You fools!' cried he, 'what are you crying about? If you are cold,
come and take a seat by the fire and warm yourselves.' And when he had
said that, two great black cats came with one tremendous leap and sat
down on each side of him, and looked savagely at him with their fiery
eyes. After a short time, when they had warmed themselves, they said:
'Comrade, shall we have a game of cards?' 'Why not?' he replied, 'but
just show me your paws.' Then they stretched out their claws. 'Oh,'
said he, 'what long nails you have! Wait, I must first cut them for
you.' Thereupon he seized them by the throats, put them on the
cutting-board and screwed their feet fast. 'I have looked at your
fingers,' said he, 'and my fancy for card-playing has gone,' and he
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: SOCRATES: And there will cease to be any need of distinguishing the kinds
of pleasures, as I am inclined to think, but this will appear more clearly
as we proceed.
PROTARCHUS: Capital, Socrates; pray go on as you propose.
SOCRATES: But, let us first agree on some little points.
PROTARCHUS: What are they?
SOCRATES: Is the good perfect or imperfect?
PROTARCHUS: The most perfect, Socrates, of all things.
SOCRATES: And is the good sufficient?
PROTARCHUS: Yes, certainly, and in a degree surpassing all other things.
SOCRATES: And no one can deny that all percipient beings desire and hunt
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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 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: it, for he had slipped into his glass at lunch a few drops of something,
which accounted, the children thought, for the vivid streak of
canary-yellow in moustache and beard that were otherwise milk white. No,
nothing, he murmured.
He should have been a great philosopher, said Mrs Ramsay, as they went
down the road to the fishing village, but he had made an unfortunate
marriage. Holding her black parasol very erect, and moving with an
indescribable air of expectation, as if she were going to meet some one
round the corner, she told the story; an affair at Oxford with some girl;
an early marriage; poverty; going to India; translating a little poetry
"very beautifully, I believe," being willing to teach the boys Persian or
To the Lighthouse |
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 Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: thou,--but speak unto me! Zarathustra calleth thee, Zarathustra the
godless!
I, Zarathustra, the advocate of living, the advocate of suffering, the
advocate of the circuit--thee do I call, my most abysmal thought!
Joy to me! Thou comest,--I hear thee! Mine abyss SPEAKETH, my lowest
depth have I turned over into the light!
Joy to me! Come hither! Give me thy hand--ha! let be! aha!--Disgust,
disgust, disgust--alas to me!
2.
Hardly, however, had Zarathustra spoken these words, when he fell down as
one dead, and remained long as one dead. When however he again came to
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
