| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: purchase that field for thyself. The Lord give thee the eternal
for the temporal, the things that are incorruptible and wax not
old for the corruptible!
"But tell me, dearly beloved, how thou camest hither? How did
thy matters speed after my departure? And hath thy father
learned to know God, or is he still carried away with his former
foolishness, still under the bondage of devilish deceits? "
Thus questioned Barlaam, and Ioasaph answered, telling him piece
by piece all that had befallen him since he went away; and in how
many ways the Lord had prospered him, until they were come
together again.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: The Apology 1
On Revenues 1
The Hiero 1
The Agesilaus 1
The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2
Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into
English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The
diacritical marks have been lost.
Hiero
by Xenophon
Translation by H. G. Dakyns
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: jacket. This is no way to behave."
My uncle seemed to make a great effort upon himself. "Dod man,
David," he said, "ye should-nae speak to me about your father.
That's where the mistake is." He sat awhile and shook, blinking
in his plate: "He was all the brother that ever I had," he added,
but with no heart in his voice; and then he caught up his spoon
and fell to supper again, but still shaking.
Now this last passage, this laying of hands upon my person and
sudden profession of love for my dead father, went so clean
beyond my comprehension that it put me into both fear and hope.
On the one hand, I began to think my uncle was perhaps insane and
Kidnapped |
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 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: another consideration. Perhaps, if particularly questioned,
she might just give an idea--just distantly hint at
it--but not more. To expose a friend, such a friend
as Isabella had been to her--and then their own brother
so closely concerned in it! She believed she must waive
the subject altogether. Henry and Eleanor were by themselves
in the breakfast-room; and each, as she entered it,
looked at her anxiously. Catherine took her place at
the table, and, after a short silence, Eleanor said, "No bad
news from Fullerton, I hope? Mr. and Mrs. Morland--your
brothers and sisters--I hope they are none of them ill?"
Northanger Abbey |
