| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: antimacassar thrown across her breast. The gentlemen wore black coats,
white silk ties and ferny buttonholes tickling the chin.
The floor of the salon was freshly polished, chairs and benches arranged,
and a row of little flags strung across the ceiling--they flew and jigged
in the draught with all the enthusiasm of family washing. It was arranged
that I should sit beside Frau Godowska, and that the Herr Professor and
Sonia should join us when their share of the concert was over.
"That will make you feel quite one of the performers," said the Herr
Professor genially. "It is a great pity that the English nation is so
unmusical. Never mind! To-night you shall hear something--we have
discovered a nest of talent during the rehearsals."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: liked to stroke the velvet of his mantle, to touch the lace of his
broad collar. As for Etienne he was transformed under the creative
glance of those earnest eyes; they infused into his being a fruitful
sap, which sparkled in his eyes, shone on his brow, remade him
inwardly, so that he did not suffer from this new play of his
faculties; on the contrary they were strengthened by it. Happiness is
the mother's milk of a new life.
As nothing came to distract them from each other, they stayed together
not only this day but all days; for they belonged to one another from
the first hour, passing the sceptre from one to the other and playing
with themselves as children play with life. Sitting, happy and
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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 Alcibiades I by Plato: spurious character. For who always does justice to himself, or who writes
with equal care at all times? Certainly not Plato, who exhibits the
greatest differences in dramatic power, in the formation of sentences, and
in the use of words, if his earlier writings are compared with his later
ones, say the Protagoras or Phaedrus with the Laws. Or who can be expected
to think in the same manner during a period of authorship extending over
above fifty years, in an age of great intellectual activity, as well as of
political and literary transition? Certainly not Plato, whose earlier
writings are separated from his later ones by as wide an interval of
philosophical speculation as that which separates his later writings from
Aristotle.
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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 Lady Susan by Jane Austen: or two I remained in the same spot, overpowered by wonder of a most
agreeable sort indeed; yet it required some consideration to be tranquilly
happy. In about ten minutes after my return to the parlour Lady Susan
entered the room. I concluded, of course, that she and Reginald had been
quarrelling; and looked with anxious curiosity for a confirmation of my
belief in her face. Mistress of deceit, however, she appeared perfectly
unconcerned, and after chatting on indifferent subjects for a short time,
said to me, "I find from Wilson that we are going to lose Mr. De Courcy--is
it true that he leaves Churchhill this morning?" I replied that it was. "He
told us nothing of all this last night," said she, laughing, "or even this
morning at breakfast; but perhaps he did not know it himself. Young men are
Lady Susan |
