| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: He pulled out his watch.
"He kept you, sir, just under three hours. I don't think this
ever happened with any of the gentlemen before."
It was only when I got out of the building that I began to walk
on air. And the human animal being averse from change and timid
before the unknown, I said to myself that I would not mind really
being examined by the same man on a future occasion. But when
the time of ordeal came round again the doorkeeper let me into
another room, with the now familiar paraphernalia of models of
ships and tackle, a board for signals on the wall, a big long
table covered with official forms, and having an unrigged mast
Some Reminiscences |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: next, and they have gotten worship even as the gods.
'And after her I beheld Iphimedeia, bed-fellow of Aloeus,
who said that she had lain with Poseidon, and she bare
children twain, but short of life were they, godlike Otus
and far-famed Ephialtes. Now these were the tallest men
that earth, the graingiver, ever reared, and far the
goodliest after the renowned Orion. At nine seasons old
they were of breadth nine cubits, and nine fathoms in
height. They it was who threatened to raise even against
the immortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They strove
to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion with the
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: mighty shout went up from the hearts of the people.
In the midst of these rejoicings Charles II. landed, and the
gallant General Monk, who had been mainly instrumental in
bringing his royal master to the throne without loss of blood,
now fell upon his knees to greet his majesty. The king raised
the general from the ground, embraced and kissed him. Then the
nobility hastened to pay their duty likewise, and the Mayor and
Aldermen of Dover presented him with a most loyal address. And
presently, with the roar of cannon, the clangour of bells, the
sound of music, and the shouts of a great multitude ringing in
his ears, the king advanced on his way towards Canterbury. At
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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 Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: into the ground himself, so strangely, so long forgotten. The rare
luck of his having again just stumbled on the spot made him
indifferent to any other question; he would doubtless have devoted
more time to the odd accident of his lapse of memory if he hadn't
been moved to devote so much to the sweetness, the comfort, as he
felt, for the future, that this accident itself had helped to keep
fresh. It had never entered into his plan that any one should
"know", and mainly for the reason that it wasn't in him to tell any
one. That would have been impossible, for nothing but the
amusement of a cold world would have waited on it. Since, however,
a mysterious fate had opened his mouth betimes, in spite of him, he
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