| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: dedicated by the ancient Athenians is an evidence to other ages that men
and women had in those days, as they ought always to have, common virtues
and pursuits. There were various classes of citizens, including
handicraftsmen and husbandmen and a superior class of warriors who dwelt
apart, and were educated, and had all things in common, like our guardians.
Attica in those days extended southwards to the Isthmus, and inland to the
heights of Parnes and Cithaeron, and between them and the sea included the
district of Oropus. The country was then, as what remains of it still is,
the most fertile in the world, and abounded in rich plains and pastures.
But in the course of ages much of the soil was washed away and disappeared
in the deep sea. And the inhabitants of this fair land were endowed with
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: Deep under ground, materials dark and crude,
Of spiritous and fiery spume, till touched
With Heaven's ray, and tempered, they shoot forth
So beauteous, opening to the ambient light?
These in their dark nativity the deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame;
Which, into hollow engines, long and round,
Thick rammed, at the other bore with touch of fire
Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth
From far, with thundering noise, among our foes
Such implements of mischief, as shall dash
Paradise Lost |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: swore that was honest Dr. Partridge, my old friend; but poor man,
he is gone. I beg your pardon, says another, you look so like my
old acquaintance that I used to consult on some private
occasions; but, alack, he's gone the way of all flesh ---- Look,
look, look, cries a third, after a competent space of staring at
me, would not one think our neighbour the almanack-maker, was
crept out of his grave to take t'other peep at the stars in this
world, and shew how much he is improv'd in fortune-telling by
having taken a journey to the other?
Nay, the very reader, of our parish, a good sober, discreet
person, has sent two or three times for me to come and be buried
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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 The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: going in the kitchen and warm up a bit."
Down the hall they went, Bridge leading with the
boy and girl close at his heels while the two yeggs
brought up the rear. Their footsteps echoed through the
deserted house; but brought forth no answering clank-
ing from the cellar. The stairs creaked beneath the
unaccustomed weight of so many bodies as they de-
scended toward the lower floor. Near the bottom Bridge
came to a questioning halt. The front room lay entirely
within his range of vision, and as his eyes swept it he
gave voice to a short exclamation of surprise.
The Oakdale Affair |
