| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: man might feel who had fallen into a pit: my concern was with
the pit and how to get out of it. Now I felt like a beast in a
trap, whose enemy would come upon him soon.
`The enemy I dreaded may surprise you. It was the darkness of
the new moon. Weena had put this into my head by some at first
incomprehensible remarks about the Dark Nights. It was not now
such a very difficult problem to guess what the coming Dark
Nights might mean. The moon was on the wane: each night there
was a longer interval of darkness. And I now understood to some
slight degree at least the reason of the fear of the little
Upper-world people for the dark. I wondered vaguely what foul
The Time Machine |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: of the sun. He then asked where I was. He was
told by one of the hands. He came to the spot, and,
after looking at me awhile, asked me what was
the matter. I told him as well as I could, for I scarce
had strength to speak. He then gave me a savage
kick in the side, and told me to get up. I tried to
do so, but fell back in the attempt. He gave me
another kick, and again told me to rise. I again
tried, and succeeded in gaining my feet; but, stoop-
ing to get the tub with which I was feeding the
fan, I again staggered and fell. While down in this
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: supper which they had provided, and I ate it rather to encourage my
maids than to comply with any appetite of my own. When the meat
was taken away, they spread the carpets for repose. I was weary,
and hoped to find in sleep that remission of distress which nature
seldom denies. Ordering myself, therefore, to be undressed, I
observed that the women looked very earnestly upon me, not
expecting, I suppose, to see me so submissively attended. When my
upper vest was taken off, they were apparently struck with the
splendour of my clothes, and one of them timorously laid her hand
upon the embroidery. She then went out, and in a short time came
back with another woman, who seemed to be of higher rank and
|
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 In Darkest England and The Way Out by General William Booth: only sympathy and compassion. In so far as they are endeavouring to
give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and above all, work to
the workless, they are to that extent endeavouring to do the will of
our Father which is in Heaven, and woe be unto all those who say them
nay! But to be orphaned of all sense of the Fatherhood of God is surely
not a secret source of strength. It is in most cases--it would be in
my own--the secret of paralysis. If I did not feel my Father's hand
in the darkness, and hear His voice in the silence of the night watches
bidding me put my hand to this thing, I would shrink back dismayed;--
but as it is I dare not.
How many are there who have made similar attempts and have failed, and
In Darkest England and The Way Out |
