| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: the lesson, not his own, that brought the truth home to him. His
surprises began here; when once they had begun they multiplied;
they came rather with a rush: it was as if, in the oddest way in
the world, they had all been kept back, sown in a thick cluster,
for the late afternoon of life, the time at which for people in
general the unexpected has died out.
One of them was that he should have caught himself--for he HAD so
done--REALLY wondering if the great accident would take form now as
nothing more than his being condemned to see this charming woman,
this admirable friend, pass away from him. He had never so
unreservedly qualified her as while confronted in thought with such
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: My unused strength demands a task;
Travel, and toil, and full exertion,
Are the last, only boon I ask.
"Whence, then, this vain and barren dreaming
Of death, and dubious life to come?
I see a nearer beacon gleaming
Over dejection's sea of gloom.
"The very wildness of my sorrow
Tells me I yet have innate force;
My track of life has been too narrow,
Effort shall trace a broader course.
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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 Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: I will soon make warm legs to thee, thou evil magician: I know well how--
to make it hot for such as thou!"
--"Leave off," said the old man, and sprang up from the ground, "strike me
no more, O Zarathustra! I did it only for amusement!
That kind of thing belongeth to mine art. Thee thyself, I wanted to put to
the proof when I gave this performance. And verily, thou hast well
detected me!
But thou thyself--hast given me no small proof of thyself: thou art HARD,
thou wise Zarathustra! Hard strikest thou with thy 'truths,' thy cudgel
forceth from me--THIS truth!"
--"Flatter not," answered Zarathustra, still excited and frowning, "thou
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
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 Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: the pump.
'Now then, now then, you rascal!' Nikita called out, well
knowing how carefully Mukhorty threw out his hind leg just to
touch his greasy sheepskin coat but not to strike him--a trick
Nikita much appreciated.
After a drink of the cold water the horse sighed, moving his
strong wet lips, from the hairs of which transparent drops fell
into the trough; then standing still as if in thought, he
suddenly gave a loud snort.
'If you don't want any more, you needn't. But don't go asking
for any later,' said Nikita quite seriously and fully
Master and Man |
