| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: For, lo, each thing is quicker marred than made;
And so whate'er the long infinitude
Of days and all fore-passed time would now
By this have broken and ruined and dissolved,
That same could ne'er in all remaining time
Be builded up for plenishing the world.
But mark: infallibly a fixed bound
Remaineth stablished 'gainst their breaking down;
Since we behold each thing soever renewed,
And unto all, their seasons, after their kind,
Wherein they arrive the flower of their age.
Of The Nature of Things |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: A Man of Business
Cousin Betty
Beatrix
The Imaginary Mistress
Lousteau, Etienne
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
A Daughter of Eve
Beatrix
The Muse of the Department
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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 Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: Cardinal, flung the edict in my teeth, and said with glee that
the guard were coming--they would see me hanged yet.
'His blood is on your head!' one cried furiously. 'He will be
dead in an hour. And you will swing for him! Hurrah!'
'Begone,' I said.
'Ay, to Montfaucon,' he answered, mocking me.
'No; to your kennel!' I replied, with a look which sent him a
yard backwards, though the railings were between us. And I wiped
my blade carefully, standing a little apart. For--well, I could
understand it--it was one of those moments when a man is not
popular. Those who had come with me from the eating-house eyed
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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 The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: our desires, flowed together; our heads were always bent over one book
when we read, our feet walked in equal step. Life was one long kiss,
our home was a nest.
" 'One day, for the first time, Teresa turned pale and said, "I am in
pain!"--And I was not in pain!
" 'She never rose again. I saw her sweet face change, her golden hair
fade--and I did not die! She smiled to hide her sufferings, but I
could read them in her blue eyes, of which I could interpret the
slightest trembling. "Honorino, I love you!" said she, at the very
moment when her lips turned white, and she was clasping my hand still
in hers when death chilled them. So I killed myself that she might not
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