| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to the principal chieftain, whose name, by the way, was,
as nearly as I can translate it into English, Lorquas Ptomel,
Jed; jed being his title.
I was soon appraised of the subject of their conversation, as,
calling to Sola, Tars Tarkas signed for her to send me to him.
I had by this time mastered the intricacies of walking under
Martian conditions, and quickly responding to his command
I advanced to the side of the incubator where the warriors
stood.
As I reached their side a glance showed me that all but a
very few eggs had hatched, the incubator being fairly alive
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: from their heated rooms.
Let them sympathise with me and sigh with me on account of my chilblains:
"At the ice of knowledge will he yet FREEZE TO DEATH!"--so they mourn.
Meanwhile do I run with warm feet hither and thither on mine olive-mount:
in the sunny corner of mine olive-mount do I sing, and mock at all pity.--
Thus sang Zarathustra.
LI. ON PASSING-BY.
Thus slowly wandering through many peoples and divers cities, did
Zarathustra return by round-about roads to his mountains and his cave. And
behold, thereby came he unawares also to the gate of the GREAT CITY. Here,
however, a foaming fool, with extended hands, sprang forward to him and
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: and donkeys roped together. As soon as his officers and men saw
that there was nothing for it but to conquer or die, their
spirits rose to an extraordinary pitch of exaltation, and they
charged with such desperate ferocity that the opposing ranks
broke and crumbled under their onslaught.]
On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the
hopelessness of saving their lives.
Tu Yu says: "Burn your baggage and impedimenta, throw away
your stores and provisions, choke up the wells, destroy your
cooking-stoves, and make it plain to your men that they cannot
survive, but must fight to the death." Mei Yao-ch`en says: "The
The Art of War |
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 Hiero by Xenophon: you then experienced, no horrors to compare with those that crowd upon
the despot, who sees or seems to see fierce eyes of enemies glare at
him, not face to face alone, but from every side.
[9] Or, "in the van of battle, opposite the hostile lines."
He had spoken so far, when Simonides took up the thread of the
discourse, replying: Excellently put. A part I must admit, of what you
say; since war is terrible. Yet, Hiero, you forget. When we, at any
rate, are out campaigning, we have a custom; we place sentinels at the
outposts, and when the watch is set, we take our suppers and turn in
undauntedly.
And Hiero answered: Yes, I can well believe you, for the laws are the
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