| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: back. "You, boy," he said, addressing John, "you look as if you
had a little pluck in you. Didst never want to be a pirate, my
hearty?"
Now John had sometimes experienced this hankering at maths.
prep.; and he was struck by Hook's picking him out.
"I once thought of calling myself Red-handed Jack," he said
diffidently.
"And a good name too. We'll call you that here, bully, if you
join."
"What do you think, Michael?" asked John.
"What would you call me if I join?" Michael demanded.
Peter Pan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: the pure truth, look at us on that day before the
judgment-seat of Christ? Christ, the Lord and Judge of us all,
knows well that they lie and have [always] lied, His sentence
they in turn, must hear; that I know certainly. God convert to
repentance those who can be converted! Regarding the rest it
will be said, Woe, and, alas! eternally.
But to return to the subject. I verily desire to see a truly
Christian Council [assembled some time], in order that many
matters and persons might be helped. Not that we need It, for
our churches are now, through God's grace, so enlightened and
equipped with the pure Word and right use of the Sacraments,
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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 When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: souls were more important than their bodies, to which Bickley
replied that as there was no such thing as a soul except in the
stupid imagination of priests, he differed entirely on the point.
As it was quite impossible for either to convince the other,
there the conversation would end, or drift into something in
which they were mutually interested, such as natural history and
the hygiene of the neighbourhood.
Here I may state that Bickley's keen professional eye was not
mistaken when he diagnosed Mrs. Bastin's state of health as
dangerous. As a matter of fact she was suffering from heart
disease that a doctor can often recognise by the colour of the
When the World Shook |
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 Heroes by Charles Kingsley: So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians, round Hydrea and
Sunium, past Marathon and the Attic shore, and through
Euripus, and up the long Euboean sea, till he came to the
town of Larissa, where the wild Pelasgi dwelt.
And when he came there, all the people were in the fields,
and there was feasting, and all kinds of games; for
Teutamenes their king wished to honour Acrisius, because he
was the king of a mighty land.
So Perseus did not tell his name, but went up to the games
unknown; for he said, 'If I carry away the prize in the
games, my grandfather's heart will be softened toward me.'
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