| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: wicked enchantress; for she was now the king's wife, and wanted
to give the kingdom to her son Medus, instead of letting it be
given to the son of Aethra, whom she hated.
It so happened that the king's nephews met Theseus, and found
out who he was, just as he reached the entrance of the royal
palace. With all their evil designs against him, they pretended
to be their cousin's best friends, and expressed great joy at
making his.acquaintance. They proposed to him that he should
come into the king's presence as a stranger, in order to try
whether Aegeus would discover in the young man's features any
likeness either to himself or his mother Aethra, and thus
Tanglewood Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: study of ancient writings.
Considering the great and fundamental differences which exist in ancient
and modern philosophy, it seems best that we should at first study them
separately, and seek for the interpretation of either, especially of the
ancient, from itself only, comparing the same author with himself and with
his contemporaries, and with the general state of thought and feeling
prevalent in his age. Afterwards comes the remoter light which they cast
on one another. We begin to feel that the ancients had the same thoughts
as ourselves, the same difficulties which characterize all periods of
transition, almost the same opposition between science and religion.
Although we cannot maintain that ancient and modern philosophy are one 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 The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: with your company, we will follow them, and assist in the
search."
The efforts of the party were totally unsuccessful, probably
because Ellieslaw directed the pursuit to proceed in the
direction of Earnscliff Tower, under the supposition that the
owner would prove to be the author of the violence, so that they
followed a direction diametrically opposite to that in which the
ruffians had actually proceeded. In the evening they returned,
harassed and out of spirits. But other guests had, in the
meanwhile, arrived at the castle; and, after the recent loss
sustained by the owner had been related, wondered at, 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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: Karl was on his knees, his gun to his shoulder watching it
eagerly, until it should be within shot. "You have killed the
duck," he said, "and the drake will not fly away."
He certainly did not fly away; he circled over our heads
continually, and continued his cries. Never have any groans of
suffering pained me so much as that desolate appeal, as that
lamentable reproach of this poor bird which was lost in space.
Occasionally he took flight under the menace of the gun which
followed his movements, and seemed ready to continue his flight
alone, but as he could not make up his mind to this, he returned
to find his mate.
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