| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: error; because it regards and treats men as that which they are not,
as things; and not as that which they are, as persons. If the
bureaucracy were a mere Briareus giant, with a hundred hands,
helping the weak throughout the length and breadth of the empire,
the system might be at least tolerable. But what if the Government
were not a Briareus with a hundred hands, but a Hydra with a hundred
heads and mouths, each far more intent on helping itself than on
helping the people? What if sub-delegates and other officials,
holding office at the will of the intendant, had to live, and even
provide against a rainy day? What if intendants, holding office at
the will of the Comptroller-General, had to do more than live, and
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: "I'm not lonely----"
"Don't fib! I know better. Your birds and kitten
occupy daily about thirty minutes of the time that's
your own. What do you do with the rest of it?"
"Sit by my window, watch the crowds stream through
the streets below, read and dream and think----"
"Yes--read love stories and dream about your
Knight."
"Well?"
"It's morbid and unhealthy. You've hedged
yourself about with the old conventions and imagine
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: clutched a shining ornament that he had torn from one
of the holy statues.
After Quail, an expert in such matters, had examined
Manteca's treasure covetously, he uttered a solemn
guffaw.
"Hell, Your ornament is nothing but tin!"
"Why in hell are you hanging on to that poison?"
Pancracio asked Blondie who appeared dragging a pris-
oner.
"Do you want to know why? Because it's a long time
since I've had a good look at a man's face when a rope
The Underdogs |
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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: enemy gone, he came back from the bough, where he stood, but did it
very cautiously, looking behind him every step, and coming backward
till he got into the body of the tree, then, with the same hinder
end foremost, he came down the tree, grasping it with his claws,
and moving one foot at a time, very leisurely. At this juncture,
and just before he could set his hind foot on the ground, Friday
stepped up close to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece into his
ear, and shot him dead. Then the rogue turned about to see if we
did not laugh; and when he saw we were pleased by our looks, he
began to laugh very loud. "So we kill bear in my country," says
Friday. "So you kill them?" says I; "why, you have no guns." -
Robinson Crusoe |
