| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: courtesy that thou wouldst see a true knight kneel for all this time,
or see him come into thy hall and never offer him meat or drink?"
Then quoth the man of law in a trembling voice, "This is surely an ill way
to talk of matters appertaining to business; let us be mild in speech.
What wilt thou pay this knight, Sir Prior, to give thee release of his land?"
"I would have given him two hundred pounds," quoth the Prior,
"but since he hath spoken so vilely to my teeth, not one groat
over one hundred pounds will he get."
"Hadst thou offered me a thousand pounds, false prior,"
said the Knight, "thou wouldst not have got an inch of my land."
Then turning to where his men-at-arms stood near the door, he called,
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: each branch. Then he struck a light, and lit the first candle.
Instantly there appeared a little old man, clad in a long white
robe, who began dancing and spinning around and around like a
top. He lit the second candle, and a second old man appeared, and
round and round he went, spinning like his brother. He lit the
third candle, and a third old man appeared. Around and around and
around they spun and whirled, until the head spun and whirled to
look at them. Then the old graybeard gripped the cudgel in his
hand. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"We are ready, and waiting," answered the three. Thereupon,
without another word, the graybeard fetched each of the dancers a
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: all the complaints of their insufficient equipment, of their
obsolete rules, of failure (they say) in the matter of quick
despatch, no ship need ever issue from their gates in a half-
fainting condition. London is a general cargo port, as is only
proper for the greatest capital of the world to be. General cargo
ports belong to the aristocracy of the earth's trading places, and
in that aristocracy London, as it is its way, has a unique
physiognomy.
The absence of picturesqueness cannot be laid to the charge of the
docks opening into the Thames. For all my unkind comparisons to
swans and backyards, it cannot be denied that each dock or group of
The Mirror of the Sea |
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 Master Key by L. Frank Baum: Having at length satisfied his curiosity as to Japanese life and
customs Rob prepared for his long flight across the Pacific Ocean.
By consulting his map he discovered that should he maintain his course
due east, as before, he would arrive at a point in America very near
to San Francisco, which suited his plans excellently.
Having found that he moved more swiftly when farthest from the earth's
surface, because the air was more rarefied and offered less
resistance, Rob mounted upwards until the islands of Japan were mere
specks visible through the clear, sunny atmosphere.
Then he began his eastward flight, the broad surface of the Pacific
seeming like a blue cloud far beneath him.
The Master Key |
