| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: gently she turns and returns it, so as to present every side to the
life-giving rays. And this goes on for half the day, so long as
the temperature is high; and it is repeated daily, with exquisite
patience, during three or four weeks. To hatch its eggs, the bird
covers them with the quilt of its breast; it strains them to the
furnace of its heart. The Lycosa turns hers in front of the hearth
of hearths, she gives them the sun as an incubator.
In the early days of September, the young ones, who have been some
time hatched, are ready to come out. The pill rips open along the
middle fold. We read of the origin of this fold in an earlier
chapter. {24} Does the mother, feeling the brood quicken inside
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: But do such men seriously consider, how difficult the task is, and how
dangerous it may prove, should the Continent divide thereon. Do they
take within their view, all the various orders of men whose situation
and circumstances, as well as their own, are to be considered therein.
Do they put themselves in the place of the sufferer whose ALL
is ALREADY gone, and of the soldier, who hath quitted ALL for the defence
of his country. If their ill judged moderation be suited to their own
private situations only, regardless of others, the event will convince them,
that "they are reckoning without their Host."
Put us, says some, on the footing we were on in sixty-three:
To which I answer, the request is not now in the power of Britain
Common Sense |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: live."
"Yes, I know that, but still--" I stopped with a shudder.
"What is life after all but one long death?" he went on, with
sudden violence. "Our pleasures, our hopes, our youth are all
dying; ambition dies, and even desire at last; our passions and
tastes will die, or will live only to mourn their dead opportunity.
The happiness of love dies with the loss of the loved, and, worst
of all, love itself grows old in our hearts and dies. Why should
we shrink only from the one death which can free us from all the
others?"
"It is not true, Alan!" I cried, hotly. "What you say is not true.
|
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 Call of the Canyon by Zane Grey: "Sure. Been back several days. I reckoned Hoyle told you. Mebbe he didn't
know, though. For nobody's been to town."
"How is--how are they all?" faltered Carley. There was a strange wall here
between her thought and her utterance.
"Everybody satisfied, I reckon," replied Charley.
"Flo--how is she?" burst out Carley.
"Aw, Flo's loony over her husband," drawled Charley, his clear eyes on
Carley's.
"Husband!" she gasped.
"Sure. Flo's gone an' went an' done what I swore on."
"Who?" whispered Carley, and the query was a terrible blade piercing her
The Call of the Canyon |
