| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted
from the Lion without much ceremony.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
The Lion and the Statue
A Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men
and lions in general. The Man contended that he and his fellows
were stronger than lions by reason of their greater intelligence.
"Come now with me," he cried, "and I will soon prove that I am
right." So he took him into the public gardens and showed him a
statue of Hercules overcoming the Lion and tearing his mouth in
two.
Aesop's Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in
her sharp bill. For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and
they usually must be caught quickly, before they can hop away. It
might easily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real
grasshopper instead of an emerald one. But Billina found the
grasshopper hard and lifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat
she quickly dropped it instead of letting it slide down her throat.
"I might have known better," she muttered to herself, "for where there
is no grass there can be no live grasshoppers. This is probably one
of the King's transformations."
A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and while
Ozma of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: Marechal de Clarimbault, Mme. de Beauseant's grandfather on the
mother's side. We are the younger branch of the family, and the
younger branch is all the poorer because my great-uncle, the
Vice-Admiral, lost all that he had in the King's service. The
Government during the Revolution refused to admit our claims when
the Compagnie des Indes was liquidated."
"Was not your great-uncle in command of the Vengeur before 1789?"
"Yes."
"Then he would be acquainted with my grandfather, who commanded
the Warwick."
Maxime looked at Mme. de Restaud and shrugged his shoulders, as
Father Goriot |
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 Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy: Just ten years after this letter, my father married, and
almost all his dreams were realized, just as he had wished. Only
the big house, with his grandmother's room, was missing, and his
brother Nikólenka, with the dirty hands, for he died two
years before, in 1860. In his family life my father witnessed a
repetition of the life of his parents, and in us children he sought
to find a repetition of himself and his brothers. We were brought
up as regular gentlefolk, proud of our social position and holding
aloof from all the outer world. Everything that was not us was
below us, and therefore unworthy of imitation. I knew that my
father felt very earnestly about the chastity of young
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