| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe: which had been formerly some cottage or little habitation but was so
out of repair as scarce habitable; and by the consent of a farmer to
whose farm it belonged, they got leave to make what use of it they could.
The ingenious joiner, and all the rest, by his directions went to work
with it, and in a very few days made it capable to shelter them all in
case of bad weather; and in which there was an old chimney and old
oven, though both lying in ruins; yet they made them both fit for use,
and, raising additions, sheds, and leantos on every side, they soon
made the house capable to hold them all.
They chiefly wanted boards to make window-shutters, floors, doors,
and several other things; but as the gentlemen above favoured them,
A Journal of the Plague Year |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: honest bows of the same satin, hands virtuously red, and the feet of
her mother. The faces of these three beings wore, as they looked round
the studio, an air of happiness which bespoke in them a respectable
enthusiasm for Art.
"So it is you, monsieur, who are going to take our likenesses?" said
the father, assuming a jaunty air.
"Yes, monsieur," replied Grassou.
"Vervelle, he has the cross!" whispered the wife to the husband while
the painter's back was turned.
"Should I be likely to have our portraits painted by an artist who
wasn't decorated?" returned the former bottle-dealer.
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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 From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: certain that though the tongue be all mere natural English, yet
those that are but a little acquainted with them cannot understand
one-half of what they say. It is not possible to explain this
fully by writing, because the difference is not so much in the
orthography of words as in the tone and diction--their abridging
the speech, "cham" for "I am," "chil" for "I will," "don" for "put
on," and "doff" for "put off," and the like. And I cannot omit a
short story here on this subject. Coming to a relation's house,
who was a school-master at Martock, in Somersetshire, I went into
his school to beg the boys a play-day, as is usual in such cases (I
should have said, to beg the master a play-day. But that by the
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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 Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: And that is how our Claus became Santa Claus. It is possible for any
man, by good deeds, to enshrine himself as a Saint in the hearts of
the people.
10. Christmas Eve
The day that broke as Claus returned from his night ride with Glossie
and Flossie brought to him a new trouble. Will Knook, the chief
guardian of the deer, came to him, surly and ill-tempered, to complain
that he had kept Glossie and Flossie beyond daybreak, in opposition to
his orders.
"Yet it could not have been very long after daybreak," said Claus.
"It was one minute after," answered Will Knook, "and that is as bad as
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
