| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: accompanied with showers of snow. In the morning the snow
showers were so thick that it was with difficulty the landing-
master, who always steered the leading boat, could make his
way to the rock through the drift. But at the Bell Rock
neither snow nor rain, nor fog nor wind, retarded the progress
of the work, if unaccompanied by a heavy swell or breach of
the sea.
The weather during the months of April and May had been
uncommonly boisterous, and so cold that the thermometer seldom
exceeded 40 degrees, while the barometer was generally about
29.50. We had not only hail and sleet, but the snow on the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: my endeavours for contentment. I have one secret, Elizabeth, a dreadful one;
when revealed to you, it will chill your frame with horror, and then,
far from being surprised at my misery, you will only wonder that
I survive what I have endured. I will confide this tale of misery
and terror to you the day after our marriage shall take place,
for, my sweet cousin, there must be perfect confidence between us.
But until then, I conjure you, do not mention or allude to it.
This I most earnestly entreat, and I know you will comply."
In about a week after the arrival of Elizabeth's letter we
returned to Geneva. The sweet girl welcomed me with warm affection,
yet tears were in her eyes as she beheld my emaciated frame and
Frankenstein |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: this youth, besides being regularly handsome and accompanied by a
fine person, was animated and striking in a degree that seemed to
speak at once the firmness of a decided and the fire of an
enterprising character, the power of reflection, and the
promptitude of determination.
Both these gentlemen reclined nearly in the same posture on
benches near each other; but each seeming engaged in his own
meditations, looked straight upon the wall which was opposite to
them, without speaking to his companion. The looks of the elder
were of that sort which convinced the beholder that, in looking
on the wall, he saw no more than the side of an old hall hung
Kenilworth |
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 Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: what the soldier said was true: and when they saw that they were
discovered, and that it was of no use to deny what had happened, they
confessed it all. And the king asked the soldier which of them he
would choose for his wife; and he answered, 'I am not very young, so I
will have the eldest.'--And they were married that very day, and the
soldier was chosen to be the king's heir.
THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE
There was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a pigsty, close
by the seaside. The fisherman used to go out all day long a-fishing;
and one day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the
sparkling waves and watching his line, all on a sudden his float was
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
