| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: of me he sent me ambassadors. The two Kings of Libya who are
brothers brought me gifts of amber.
I took the minion of Caesar from Caesar and made him my playfellow.
He came to me at night in a litter. He was pale as a narcissus, and
his body was like honey.
The son of the Praefect slew himself in my honour, and the Tetrarch
of Cilicia scourged himself for my pleasure before my slaves.
The King of Hierapolis who is a priest and a robber set carpets for
me to walk on.
Sometimes I sit in the circus and the gladiators fight beneath me.
Once a Thracian who was my lover was caught in the net. I gave the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: conception optimistic enough to be congenial with its needs.
In all this I say nothing of any mystical insight or persuasion
that the total frame of things absolutely must be good. Such
mystical persuasion plays an enormous part in the history of the
religious consciousness, and we must look at it later with some
care. But we need not go so far at present. More ordinary
non-mystical conditions of rapture suffice for my immediate
contention. All invasive moral states and passionate enthusiasms
make one feelingless to evil in some direction. The common
penalties cease to deter the patriot, the usual prudences are
flung by the lover to the winds. When the passion is extreme,
|
