| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: to you and to my journal. . . . The next day was Sunday but the
weather being fine we concluded to continue our journey, and
followed the Tay seeing Birnam Wood and Dunsinane on our way up to
Dunkeld, near to which is the fine seat of the Duke of Athol. We
took a delightful walk in the beautiful grounds, and went on to
Blair Athol to sleep. This is the chief residence of the Duke of
Athol and he has here another house and grounds very pretty though
not as extensive as those at Dunkeld. . . . When the innkeeper found
who we were he insisted on sending a message to the Duke who sent
down an order to us to drive up Glen Tilt and met us there himself.
We entered through the Park and followed up the Tilt. Nothing could
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: her a strange look, and made no more comment. The kindly
Stillwell then began to talk.
"Miss Majesty, you're seein' the life of the cattleman an,
cowboy--the real thing--same as it was in the early days. The
ranchers in Texas an' some in Arizona hev took on style,
new-fangled idees thet are good, an' I wish we could follow them.
But we've got to stick to the old-fashioned, open-range
round-tip. It looks cruel to you, I can see thet. Wal, mebbe
so, mebbe so. Them Greasers are cruel, thet's certain. Fer thet
matter, I never seen a Greaser who wasn't cruel. But I reckon
all the strenuous work you've seen to-day ain't any tougher than
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: subtle and complex.
If for example, when my Father, the Triangle, approaches me,
he happens to present his side to me instead of his angle, then,
until I have asked him to rotate, or until I have edged my eye
round him, I am for the moment doubtful whether he may not be
a Straight Line, or, in other words, a Woman. Again, when I am
in the company of one of my two hexagonal Grandsons, contemplating one
of his sides (AB) full front, it will be evident from
the accompanying diagram that I shall see one whole line (AB)
in comparative brightness (shading off hardly at all at the ends)
and two smaller lines (CA and BD) dim throughout and shading away
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
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 Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: courtesy arising out of that belief, they would frequently turn the
discourse to that subject,--and from that subject the discourse would
generally roll on to the siege itself.
These conversations were infinitely kind; and my uncle Toby received great
relief from them, and would have received much more, but that they brought
him into some unforeseen perplexities, which, for three months together,
retarded his cure greatly; and if he had not hit upon an expedient to
extricate himself out of them, I verily believe they would have laid him in
his grave.
What these perplexities of my uncle Toby were,--'tis impossible for you to
guess;--if you could,--I should blush; not as a relation,--not as a man,--
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