| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: the eagle had killed my geese. Then he came back again, and
perching on a projecting rafter spoke to me with human voice,
and told me to leave off crying. 'Be of good courage,' he said,
'daughter of Icarius; this is no dream, but a vision of good
omen that shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors,
and I am no longer an eagle, but your own husband, who am come
back to you, and who will bring these suitors to a disgraceful
end.' On this I woke, and when I looked out I saw my geese at
the trough eating their mash as usual."
"This dream, Madam," replied Ulysses, "can admit but of one
interpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: into the custom of pursuit in occasionally deviating only for
gentlemen from her high rigour about the stamps. She had early in
the day made up her mind, in fine, that they had the best manners;
and if there were none of them she noticed when Captain Everard was
there, there were plenty she could place and trace and name at
other times, plenty who, with their way of being "nice" to her, and
of handling, as if their pockets were private tills loose mixed
masses of silver and gold, were such pleasant appearances that she
could envy them without dislike. THEY never had to give change--
they only had to get it. They ranged through every suggestion,
every shade of fortune, which evidently included indeed lots of bad
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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 The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: vices are our vices, gazed upon, envied, and imitated; and if
they come back with all their weight upon us, it is but just.
2. A sense of the friendly continuity of the ideal power with
our own life, and a willing self-surrender to its control.
3. An immense elation and freedom, as the outlines of the
confining selfhood melt down.
4. A shifting of the emotional centre towards loving and
harmonious affections, towards "yes, yes," and away from "no,"
where the claims of the non-ego are concerned. These fundamental
inner conditions have characteristic practical consequences, as
follows:--
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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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: long!'
"A head was put out of the litter:
" 'What is the matter?' she asked; 'you are fighting?'
" 'It is nothing, Mademoiselle,' I replied; 'we have got rid of a
dozen Prussians!'
" 'Poor fellows!' she said. But as she was cold, she quickly
disappeared beneath the cloaks again, and we started off once
more. We marched on for a long time, and at last the sky began to
grow pale. The snow became quite clear, luminous, and bright, and
a rosy tint appeared in the east. Suddenly a voice in the
distance cried:
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