| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: the Egyptians, such a fire in every temple;
while the Mexicans, Natches, Peruvians and
Mayas kept their ``national fires'' burning
upon great pyramids. Eventually the keeping
of such fires became a sacred rite, and the
``Eternal Lamps'' kept burning in synagogues
and in Byzantine and Catholic churches may
be a survival of these customs.
There is a theory that all architecture,
public and private, sacred and profane, began with
the erection of sheds to protect the sacred fire.
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Land of Footprints by Stewart Edward White: there, and the rude way I had startled them. Their remarks were
neither complimentary nor refined. The old men, in especial, got
quite profane, and screamed excited billingsgate. Finally they
all stopped at once, dropped on all fours, and loped away, their
ridiculous long tails curved in a half arc. Then for the first
time I noticed that, under cover of the insults, the women and
children had silently retired. Once more I was left to the
familiar gentle bird calls, and the vast silence of the
wilderness beyond.
The second picture, also, was a view from a height, but of a
totally different character. It was also, perhaps, more typical
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