| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: Royal Society on November 30, 1837. We here find him face to face
with an idea which beset his mind throughout his whole subsequent
life,--the idea of action at a distance. It perplexed and
bewildered him. In his attempts to get rid of this perplexity, he
was often unconsciously rebelling against the limitations of the
intellect itself. He loved to quote Newton upon this point; over
and over again he introduces his memorable words, 'That gravity
should be innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one
body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum and without
the mediation of anything else, by and through which this action and
force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Backward one only is seen, mournfully fix'd near the mast,
While on the blue tinged mountains, which fast are receding, he gazeth,
And as they sink in the sea, joy from his bosom departs.
Vanish'd from thee, too, oh Dora, is now the vessel that robs thee
Of thine Alexis, thy friend,--ah, thy betrothed as well!
Thou, too, art after me gazing in vain. Our hearts are still throbbing,
Though, for each other, yet ah! 'gainst one another no more.
Oh, thou single moment, wherein I found life! thou outweighest
Every day which had else coldly from memory fled.
'Twas in that moment alone, the last, that upon me descended
Life, such as deities grant, though thou perceived'st it not.
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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 Aesop's Fables by Aesop: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse The Dog and the Wolf
The Fox and the Crow The Belly and the Members
The Sick Lion The Hart in the Ox-Stall
The Ass and the Lapdog The Fox and the Grapes
The Lion and the Mouse The Horse, Hunter, and Stag
The Swallow and the Other Birds The Peacock and Juno
The Frogs Desiring a King The Fox and the Lion
The Mountains in Labour The Lion and the Statue
The Hares and the Frogs The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Wolf and the Kid The Tree and the Reed
The Woodman and the Serpent The Fox and the Cat
Aesop's Fables |
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: some incalculable and mysterious strength. What were the trivial, sordid,
and selfish feelings that kept her in tumult compared to this welling
emotion? Had she the secret in her arms? Babies and Carley had never become
closely acquainted in those infrequent meetings that were usually the
result of chance. But Elsie's baby nestled to her breast and cooed to her
and clung to her finger. When at length the youngster was laid in his crib
it seemed to Carley that the fragrance and the soul of him remained with
her.
"A real American boy!" she murmured.
"You can just bet he is," replied Elsie. "Carley, you ought to see his dad."
"I'd like to meet him," said Carley, thoughtfully. "Elsie, was he in the
The Call of the Canyon |
