| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: manifest contradiction to the spirit of Jesus' teaching, as shown
in the very same chapter, and throughout a great part of the same
gospel. He who taught in his own name and not as the scribes, who
proclaimed himself Lord over the Sabbath, and who manifested from
first to last a more than Essenian contempt for rites and
ceremonies, did not come to fulfil the law of Mosaism, but to
supersede it. Nor can any inference adverse to this conclusion be
drawn from the injunction to the disciples (Matt. x. 5-7) not to
preach to Gentiles and Samaritans, but only "to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel"; for this remark is placed before the
beginning of Jesus' Messianic career, and the reason assigned for
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: at meal times.
At seven months, Billy was the most adorable, smiling, cuddly
baby imaginable, with dimples, four teeth and a tantalizing hint
of curl in his soft, surprisingly thick, fawn-colored hair.
Already, it was quite evident that he had his mother's sensitive,
affectionate nature. If only his father had picked him up,
occasionally, had talked to him now and then, he scarcely could
have resisted the little fellow's crowing, sweet-tempered,
responsive charm, but resentment at the annoyance of his presence
was now excessive. For the present, Martin's only concern in his
son consisted in seeing to it that his effacement was as nearly
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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 In the Cage by Henry James: must have her!" Then she went on with indifference: "They're TOO
real! They're selfish brutes."
Mrs. Jordan, turning it over, adopted at last the plan of treating
it with a smile. She wished to be liberal. "Well, of course, they
do lay it out."
"They bore me to death," her companion pursued with slightly more
temperance.
But this was going too far. "Ah that's because you've no
sympathy!"
The girl gave an ironic laugh, only retorting that nobody could
have any who had to count all day all the words in the dictionary;
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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 War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: tion. Moreover, I was concealed and motionless, and under
no urgency of action.
They were, I now saw, the most unearthly creatures it
is possible to conceive. They were huge round bodies--or,
rather, heads--about four feet in diameter, each body having
in front of it a face. This face had no nostrils--indeed, the
Martians do not seem to have had any sense of smell, but
it had a pair of very large dark-coloured eyes, and just
beneath this a kind of fleshy beak. In the back of this head or
body--I scarcely know how to speak of it--was the single
tight tympanic surface, since known to be anatomically an ear,
War of the Worlds |
