| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: aye,- an entertainment from God; and that which is with God is best
for the righteous.
Verily, of the people of the Book are some who do believe in God,
and in what has been revealed to you, and what was revealed to them,
humbling themselves before God, and selling not the signs of God for a
little price. These shall have their reward with their Lord; verily,
God is quick at reckoning up.
O ye who believe! be patient and vie in being patient, and be on the
alert, and fear God, that haply ye may prosper.
THE CHAPTER OF WOMEN
(IV. Medinah.)
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: but stated my reasons for quitting Boston fully and in such a light
as to convince him I was not so wrong as he had apprehended.
Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was then at Newcastle,
and Captain Holmes, happening to be in company with him when my
letter came to hand, spoke to him of me, and show'd him the letter.
The governor read it, and seem'd surpris'd when he was told my age.
He said I appear'd a young man of promising parts, and therefore
should be encouraged; the printers at Philadelphia were wretched ones;
and, if I would set up there, he made no doubt I should succeed;
for his part, he would procure me the public business, and do me
every other service in his power. This my brother-in-law afterwards
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: Bastille. The PLANS stop there; then Circumstance comes in,
quite unexpectedly, and turns these modest riots into a revolution.
And there was poor Columbus. He elaborated a deep plan to
find a new route to an old country. Circumstance revised his
plan for him, and he found a new WORLD. And HE gets the credit
of it to this day. He hadn't anything to do with it.
Necessarily the scene of the real turning-point of my life
(and of yours) was the Garden of Eden. It was there that the
first link was forged of the chain that was ultimately to lead to
the emptying of me into the literary guild. Adam's TEMPERAMENT
was the first command the Deity ever issued to a human being on
What is Man? |
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 Charmides and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde: The only God-anointed king,
And hear the silver trumpets ring
A triumph as he passes by!
Or at the brazen-pillared shrine
Holds high the mystic sacrifice,
And shows his God to human eyes
Beneath the veil of bread and wine.
IV.
For lo, what changes time can bring!
The cycles of revolving years
May free my heart from all its fears,
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