| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: conscientious treatment of fallacies and meningitis--of that wonderful
in-door sport known as personal magnetism.'
"'Can you work it, doc?' asks the Mayor.
"'I'm one of the Sole Sanhedrims and Ostensible Hooplas of the Inner
Pulpit,' says I. 'The lame talk and the blind rubber whenever I make a
pass at 'em. I am a medium, a coloratura hypnotist and a spirituous
control. It was only through me at the recent seances at Ann Arbor
that the late president of the Vinegar Bitters Company could revisit
the earth to communicate with his sister Jane. You see me peddling
medicine on the street,' says I, 'to the poor. I don't practice
personal magnetism on them. I do not drag it in the dust,' says I,
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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 Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: several important secrets of magic with him. Hav-
17
ing in this way secured three new recipes, four magical powders and a
selection of herbs of wonderful power and potency, she hobbled home as fast
as she could, in order to test her new sorceries.
So intent was Mombi on the treasures she had gained that when she turned the
bend in the road and caught a glimpse of the man, she merely nodded and
said:
"Good evening, sir."
But, a moment after, noting that the person did not move or reply, she cast
a shrewd glance into his face and discovered his pumpkin head elaborately
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain: house there, and the gov'ment officers comes and rum-
mages among your things and charges a big tax, which
they call a duty because it's their duty to bust you if
they can, and if you don't pay the duty they'll hog
your sand. They call it confiscating, but that don't
deceive nobody, it's just hogging, and that's all it is.
Now if we try to carry this sand home the way we're
pointed now, we got to climb fences till we git tired --
just frontier after frontier -- Egypt, Arabia, Hindostan,
and so on, and they'll all whack on a duty, and so you
see, easy enough, we CAN'T go THAT road."
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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 Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: on the hair. A lady "who is subject to attacks of what is called
nervous headache, always finds in the morning after such an one,
that some patches of her hair are white, as if powdered with starch.
The change is effected in a night, and in a few days after,
the hairs gradually regain their dark brownish colour.[43]
[40] Dr. Maudsley has given (`The Physiology and Pathology of Mind,'
2nd edit. 1868, p. 105), on good authority, some curious statements with
respect to the improvement of the sense of touch by practice and attention.
It is remarkable that when this sense has thus been rendered more acute
at any point of the body, for instance, in a finger, it is likewise improved
at the corresponding point on the opposite side of the body.
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
