| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: be endeavouring to raise themselves on these hands, but of
course, with the increased weight of terrestrial conditions,
this was impossible. There is reason to suppose that on Mars
they may have progressed upon them with some facility.
The internal anatomy, I may remark here, as dissection
has since shown, was almost equally simple. The greater
part of the structure was the brain, sending enormous nerves
to the eyes, ear, and tactile tentacles. Besides this were the
bulky lungs, into which the mouth opened, and the heart
and its vessels. The pulmonary distress caused by the denser
atmosphere and greater gravitational attraction was only too
War of the Worlds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: circumstances require.[1] He must take in the situation at a glance,
and carry out unflinchingly whatever is expedient for the moment. To
set down in writing everything that he must do, is not a whit more
possible than to know the future as a whole.[2] But of all hints and
suggestions the most important to my mind is this: whatever you
determine to be right, with diligence endeavour to perform. For be it
tillage of the soil, or trading, or seafaring, or the art of ruling,
without pains applied to bring the matter to perfection, the best
theories in the world, the most correct conclusions, will be
fruitless.
[1] {pros to paratugkhanon}, lit. "to meet emergencies." Cf. Thuc. i.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: nothing but my salary and that I'd always lived a lap ahead of
it."
"But what do you do now?" was Daylight's query. "You must need
cash to buy clothes and magazines?"
"A week's work or a month's work, now and again, ploughing in the
winter, or picking grapes in the fall, and there's always odd
jobs with the farmers through the summer. I don't need much, so
I don't have to work much. Most of my time I spend fooling
around the place. I could do hack work for the magazines and
newspapers; but I prefer the ploughing and the grape picking.
Just look at me and you can see why. I'm hard as rocks. And I
|
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 Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: a moment has passed without being enriched by the play of fancy. So
far are we from dreading the canker of monotony in our life, that our
only fear is lest it should not be long enough to contain all the
poetic creations of a love as rich and varied in its development as
Nature herself. Of disappointment not a trace! We find more pleasure
in being together than on the first day, and each hour as it goes by
discloses fresh reason for our love. Every day as we take our evening
stroll after dinner, we tell each other that we really must go and see
what is doing in Paris, just as one might talk of going to
Switzerland.
"Only think," Gaston will exclaim, "such and such a boulevard is being
|
