| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: the good to thy self: but, if it be a stone of stumbling and rock
of offence to thy soul, why put it in my pathway and seek to trip
me up?" When Ioasaph perceived that he spake thus, and that his
purpose was fixed, he ceased from communing with him. And now,
at about the dead of night, he wrote his people a letter, full of
much wisdom, expounding to them all godliness; telling them what
they should think concerning God, what life, what hymns and what
thanksgiving they should offer unto him. Next, he charged them
to receive none other than Barachias to be ruler of the kingdom.
Then left he in his bed-chamber the roll containing his letter,
and, unobserved of all, went forth from his palace. But he might
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: this vortex of intrigue, egotism, conflict of views and feelings,
and the diversity of race among these people- this eighth and
largest party of those preoccupied with personal interests imparted
great confusion and obscurity to the common task. Whatever question
arose, a swarm of these drones, without having finished their
buzzing on a previous theme, flew over to the new one and by their hum
drowned and obscured the voices of those who were disputing honestly.
From among all these parties, just at the time Prince Andrew reached
the army, another, a ninth party, was being formed and was beginning
to raise its voice. This was the party of the elders, reasonable men
experienced and capable in state affairs, who, without sharing any
War and Peace |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: the result, we think of the expansion of the air inside, which,
heated by the sun, causes this rupture. The signs of pressure from
within are manifest: the tatters of the torn fabric are turned
outwards; also, a wisp of the russet eiderdown that fills the
wallet invariably straggles through the breach. In the midst of
the protruding floss, the Spiderlings, expelled from their home by
the explosion, are in frantic commotion.
The balloons of the Banded Epeira are bombs which, to free their
contents, burst under the rays of a torrid sun. To break they need
the fiery heat-waves of the dog-days. When kept in the moderate
atmosphere of my study, most of them do not open and the emergence
The Life of the Spider |
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 A Horse's Tale by Mark Twain: wouldn't hang himself till after the race; and wouldn't do it at
all if she won it, which made her happy, and she said she would win
it or die in the saddle; so then everything was pleasant again and
both of them content. He can't help playing jokes on her, he is so
fond of her and she is so innocent and unsuspecting; and when she
finds it out she cuffs him and is in a fury, but presently forgives
him because it's him; and maybe the very next day she's caught with
another joke; you see she can't learn any better, because she
hasn't any deceit in her, and that kind aren't ever expecting it in
another person.
"It was a grand race. The whole post was there, and there was such
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