| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: Roman Pontiff or to the Emperor of the French.
But as the millenarism of the primitive Church gradually died out
during the second century, the essential principles involved in
it lost none of their hold on men's minds. As the generation
contemporary with Paul died away and was gathered into Sheol, it
became apparent that the original theory must be somewhat
modified, and to this question the author of the second epistle
to the Thessalonians addresses himself. Instead of literal
preservation from death, the doctrine of a resurrection from the
grave was gradually extended to the case of the new believers,
who were to share in the same glorious revival with the righteous
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: appointed. They carry you out, just as they carry a
sun-struck man to the drug store, and put you on, and
help get you to rights, and fix your feet in the stirrups;
and all the while you do feel so strange and stuffy and
like somebody else -- like somebody that has been mar-
ried on a sudden, or struck by lightning, or something
like that, and hasn't quite fetched around yet, and is sort
of numb, and can't just get his bearings. Then they
stood up the mast they called a spear, in its socket by
my left foot, and I gripped it with my hand; lastly
they hung my shield around my neck, and I was all
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: not old enough to comprehend this sudden bouleversement of
sentiment, did not immediately desist from sticking out their
tongues: whereupon they were dismissed with a box on the ear. By
the middle of the afternoon all Kinesma was eating, drinking, and
singing; and every song was sung, and every glass emptied in honor
of the dear, good Prince Boris, and the dear, beautiful Princess
Helena. By night all Kinesma was drunk.
XI.
In the castle a superb banquet was improvised. Music, guests, and
rare dishes were brought together with wonderful speed, and the
choicest wines of the cellar were drawn upon. Prince Boris,
|
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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Torn than they might be in the King's palace."
"Right he is," spoke up Lady Mary, "Norman of Torn
accorded my mother, my sister, and myself the utmost
respect; though I cannot say as much for his treatment
of my father," she added, half smiling.
"I have no quarrel with you, Richard de Tany," said
Norman of Torn. "Ride on."
The next day a young man hailed the watch upon
the walls of the castle of Richard de Tany telling him
to bear word to Joan de Tany that Roger de Conde, a
friend of her guest Lady Mary de Stutevill, was without.
The Outlaw of Torn |
