| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, 10
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
The Waste Land |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: on the human countenance; and they explain to us the meaning of
certain movements, which we involuntarily and unconsciously perform,
whenever certain transitory emotions pass through our minds.
CHAPTER VIII.
Joy, HIGH SPIRITS, LOVE, TENDER FEELINGS, DEVOTION.
Laughter primarily the expression of joy--Ludicrous ideas--
Movements of the features during laughter--Nature of the
sound produced--The secretion of tears during loud laughter--
Gradation from loud laughter to gentle smiling--High spirits--
The expression of love--Tender feelings--Devotion.
JOY, when intense, leads to various purposeless movements--
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: honor to be a doctor?" added the Breton nobleman. "Ah, my young
friend, such a man as you----"
"Monsieur le Comte, I respect every profession that has a useful
purpose."
"Well, in that we agree. You respect those professions, I imagine, as
a young man respects a dowager."
Monsieur Longueville made his visit neither too long nor too short. He
left at the moment when he saw that he had pleased everybody, and that
each one's curiosity about him had been roused.
"He is a cunning rascal!" said the Count, coming into the drawing-room
after seeing him to the door.
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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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: was the sole indication of the proprietor being still on board.
There was nothing to prevent him, if he chose, from partaking
gratuitously of the volcanic light and heat which were being
enjoyed by all besides; but rather than abandon his close
and personal oversight of his precious cargo, he preferred
to sacrifice his own slender stock of fuel.
Both the schooner and the tartan had been carefully moored in the way
that seemed to promise best for withstanding the rigor of the winter.
After seeing the vessels made secure in the frozen creek.
Lieutenant Procope, following the example of many Arctic explorers,
had the precaution to have the ice beveled away from the keels,
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