| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: god for your antagonist. Dare devil that you are, full of
guile, unwearying in deceit, can you not drop your tricks and
your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are in your own
country again? We will say no more, however, about this, for we
can both of us deceive upon occasion--you are the most
accomplished counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I
for diplomacy and subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did
you not know Jove's daughter Minerva--me, who have been ever
with you, who kept watch over you in all your troubles, and who
made the Phaeacians take so great a liking to you? And now,
again, I am come here to talk things over with you, and help you
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Works of Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson: indispensibly necessary, as might confer ability to draw
a lease and read the court hands; and the old
chambermaid declared loudly her contempt of books,
and her opinion that they only took the head off!
the main chance.
To unite, as well as we could, all their systems,
I was bred at home. Each was taught to believe,
that I followed his directions, and I gained likewise,
as my mother observed, this advantage, that
I was always in the way; for she had known many
favourite children sent to schools or academies, and
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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 Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Thar Ban, jed among the hordes of Torquas, rode
swiftly across the ochre vegetation of the dead sea-
bottom toward the ruins of ancient Aaanthor.
He had ridden far that night, and fast, for he had but
come from the despoiling of the incubator of a neighbouring
green horde with which the hordes of Torquas were
perpetually warring.
His giant thoat was far from jaded, yet it would be
well, thought Thar Ban, to permit him to graze upon
the ochre moss which grows to greater height within the
protected courtyards of deserted cities, where the soil is
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
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 The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: meant, and drop out her moose-like nose into Purun Bhagat's lap,
coming and going with the shadows of the fire. Purun Bhagat
called them all "my brothers," and his low call of "Bhai! Bhai!"
would draw them from the forest at noon if they were within ear
shot. The Himalayan black bear, moody and suspicious--Sona, who
has the V-shaped white mark under his chin--passed that way more
than once; and since the Bhagat showed no fear, Sona showed no
anger, but watched him, and came closer, and begged a share of
the caresses, and a dole of bread or wild berries. Often, in the
still dawns, when the Bhagat would climb to the very crest of
the pass to watch the red day walking along the peaks of the
The Second Jungle Book |
