| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: SOCRATES: You see, Hippias, as I have already told you, how pertinacious I
am in asking questions of wise men. And I think that this is the only good
point about me, for I am full of defects, and always getting wrong in some
way or other. My deficiency is proved to me by the fact that when I meet
one of you who are famous for wisdom, and to whose wisdom all the Hellenes
are witnesses, I am found out to know nothing. For speaking generally, I
hardly ever have the same opinion about anything which you have, and what
proof of ignorance can be greater than to differ from wise men? But I have
one singular good quality, which is my salvation; I am not ashamed to
learn, and I ask and enquire, and am very grateful to those who answer me,
and never fail to give them my grateful thanks; and when I learn a thing I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: wore no sword, he exclaimed: "Bring on your bowmen,
then, or come with us as my prisoner until we have
safely passed the outer portals of thy ghostly city."
"You have killed Tario!" exclaimed Jav, ignoring the
other's challenge. "You have killed Tario! I see his blood
upon the floor--real blood--real death. Tario was, after
all, as real as I. Yet he was an etherealist. He would
not materialize his sustenance. Can it be that they are
right? Well, we, too, are right. And all these ages we
have been quarrelling--each saying that the other was wrong!
"However, he is dead now. Of that I am glad. Now shall Jav
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle,
and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne
countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their
attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the
essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous
upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always
reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium,
however far it is pushed one way or the other.
The aims of these groups are entirely irreconcilable...
Winston stopped reading, chiefly in order to appreciate the fact that he
was reading, in comfort and safety. He was alone: no telescreen, no ear at
1984 |
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 Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: of the candy sellers, and they walked together till they came to
an unfrequented court, which they entered. Katy could hear enough
of their conversation, as she followed them, to ascertain that
they were talking about the tricks Ann had practiced. In the
court they seated themselves on a door-stone, and as they talked
and laughed about the deceit, they ate the pieces of candy.
"There," said Ann, "I have made a dollar and ten cents this
afternoon. You don't catch me walking all over the city for
twenty-four cents, when I don't get but eight of that."
"I ain't so smart as you," modestly replied Julia Morgan, the
other girl.
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