| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: Did Poseidon smite thee in thy ships, raising the dolorous
blast of contrary winds, or did unfriendly men do thee hurt
upon the land, whilst thou wert cutting off their oxen and
fair flocks of sheep, or fighting to win a city and the
women thereof?"
'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me:
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, it was not Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and
raised the dolorous blast of contrary winds, nor did
unfriendly men do me hurt upon the land, but Aegisthus it
was that wrought me death and doom and slew me, with the
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: "Nay!" said the collar. "I never did see anything so slender and so fine, so
soft and so neat. May I not ask your name?"
"That I shall not tell you!" said the garter.
"Where do you live?" asked the collar.
But the garter was so bashful, so modest, and thought it was a strange
question to answer.
"You are certainly a girdle," said the collar; "that is to say an inside
girdle. I see well that you are both for use and ornament, my dear young
lady."
"I will thank you not to speak to me," said the garter. "I think I have not
given the least occasion for it."
Fairy Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: occupation than that of spending their lives agreeably and innocently,
study to sever pleasure from vice, and who, that they may enjoy their
leisure without ennui, have recourse to such pursuits as are honorable, I
was nevertheless prosecuting my design, and making greater progress in the
knowledge of truth, than I might, perhaps, have made had I been engaged in
the perusal of books merely, or in holding converse with men of letters.
These nine years passed away, however, before I had come to any
determinate judgment respecting the difficulties which form matter of
dispute among the learned, or had commenced to seek the principles of any
philosophy more certain than the vulgar. And the examples of many men of
the highest genius, who had, in former times, engaged in this inquiry,
Reason Discourse |
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 1492 by Mary Johntson: house after me, and in his son's!''
Alonso de Villejo visited him. ``The tempest is over,
senor. I take it for good augury in your affair!''
Juan Lepe upon the deck found beside him a man whom
he knew. ``What d'ye think? At the worst, in the middle
night, there came to Don Alonso and the master the old
seamen and would have him freed so that he might save us!
They said that they had seen his double upon the poop,
looking at the sea and waving his arm. Then it vanished!
They wanted the whole man, they wanted the Admiral! The
master roared at them and sent them back, but if it had come
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