| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: in Egyptian linen with costly spices and perfumes as though he had
been a king's son. When one contemplates all this from the point
of view of art alone one cannot but be grateful that the supreme
office of the Church should be the playing of the tragedy without
the shedding of blood: the mystical presentation, by means of
dialogue and costume and gesture even, of the Passion of her Lord;
and it is always a source of pleasure and awe to me to remember
that the ultimate survival of the Greek chorus, lost elsewhere to
art, is to be found in the servitor answering the priest at Mass.
Yet the whole life of Christ - so entirely may sorrow and beauty be
made one in their meaning and manifestation - is really an idyll,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: conversation concerned him.
Mardokhai waved his hands, listened, interrupted, spat frequently to
one side, and, pulling up the skirts of his caftan, thrust his hand
into his pocket and drew out some jingling thing, showing very dirty
trousers in the operation. Finally all the Jews set up such a shouting
that the Jew who was standing guard was forced to make a signal for
silence, and Taras began to fear for his safety; but when he
remembered that Jews can only consult in the street, and that the
demon himself cannot understand their language, he regained his
composure.
Two minutes later the Jews all entered the room together. Mardokhai
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: At the worst they can but scratch my beautiful nickel-plate," he said. "But
there will be no 'worst,' for I think I can manage to frighten these absurd
soldiers very easily. Follow me closely, all of you!"
Then, swinging his axe in a great circle to right and left before him, he
advanced upon the gate, and the others followed him without hesitation.
The girls, who had expected no resistance whatever, were terrified by the
sweep of the glittering axe and fled screaming into the city; so that our
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travelers passed the gates in safety and marched down the green marble
pavement of the wide street toward the royal palace.
"At this rate we will soon have your Majesty upon the throne again," said
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
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 Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: to the Head of the COWGATE, and turned up to the Church-
yard, where they were interred closs to the Martyrs Tomb,
with the greatest Multitude of People Old and Young, Men
and Women, Ministers and others, that ever I saw
together.'
And so there they were at last, in 'their resting
graves.' So long as men do their duty, even if it be
greatly in a misapprehension, they will be leading
pattern lives; and whether or not they come to lie beside
a martyrs' monument, we may be sure they will find a safe
haven somewhere in the providence of God. It is not well
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