| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tanach: 1_Samuel 4: 18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
1_Samuel 4: 19 And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came suddenly upon her.
1_Samuel 4: 20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her: 'Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son.' But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
1_Samuel 4: 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying: 'The glory is departed from Israel'; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
1_Samuel 4: 22 And she said: 'The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.'
1_Samuel 5: 1 Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.
1_Samuel 5: 2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
1_Samuel 5: 3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
The Tanach |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: songs upon the shore. But when Medeia heard it, she started,
and cried, 'Beware, all heroes, for these are the rocks of
the Sirens. You must pass close by them, for there is no
other channel; but those who listen to that song are lost.'
Then Orpheus spoke, the king of all minstrels, 'Let them
match their song against mine. I have charmed stones, and
trees, and dragons, how much more the hearts of men!' So he
caught up his lyre, and stood upon the poop, and began his
magic song.
And now they could see the Sirens on Anthemousa, the flowery
isle; three fair maidens sitting on the beach, beneath a red
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: swayed. And all the time the sands in the hour-glass of my
uncle's fortunes were streaming out. Misery! Amidst it all I
remember only one thing brightly, one morning of sunshine in the
Bay of Biscay and a vision of frothing waves, sapphire green, a
bird following our wake and our masts rolling about the sky.
Then wind and rain close in on us again.
You must not imagine they were ordinary days, days, I mean, of an
average length; they were not so much days as long damp slabs of
time that stretched each one to the horizon, and much of that
length was night. One paraded the staggering deck in a borrowed
sou'-wester hour after hour in the chilly, windy, splashing and
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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 La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative.
The best tales are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at
table. No one ever told a story well standing up, or fasting.
"If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence, a whole
volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave
me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's
gossip and that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a
rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third, I have only to
relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief.
"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on
the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep,
La Grande Breteche |
