| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: into giants and magicians; they are remarkably swift and
enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very probably they
may have a mythical origin in modes of thought akin to those
which begot the Panis of the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The
parallelism is perhaps the most remarkable one which can be
found in comparing barbaric with Aryan folk-lore. Like the
Panis and Trolls, the cannibals are represented as the foes of
the solar hero Uthlakanyana, who is almost as great a
traveller as Odysseus, and whose presence of mind amid trying
circumstances is not to be surpassed by that of the
incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as precocious as Herakles
Myths and Myth-Makers |
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 On Horsemanship by Xenophon: particularly with mares, you will see him rear his head aloft to the
full height, and arch his neck with nervous vigour,[2] pawing the air
with pliant legs[3] and waving his tail on high. By training him to
adopt the very airs and graces which he naturally assumes when showing
off to best advantage, you have got what you are aiming at--a horse
that delights in being ridden, a splendid and showy animal, the joy of
all beholders.
[1] Al. "the animals are so scared that, the chances are, they are
thrown into disorder."
[2] {gorgoumenos}, with pride and spirit, but with a suggestion of
"fierceness and rage," as of Job's war-horse.
On Horsemanship |
