| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Horse's Tale by Mark Twain: Seventh Cavalry and Flag-Lieutenant of the Ninth Dragoons, U.S.A.,
- on whom be peace!"
"Amen. I listen - tell me more."
"She set to work and organized the Sixteen, and called it the First
Battalion Rocky Mountain Rangers, U.S.A., and she wanted to be
bugler, but they elected her Lieutenant-General and Bugler. So she
ranks her uncle the commandant, who is only a Brigadier. And
doesn't she train those little people! Ask the Indians, ask the
traders, ask the soldiers; they'll tell you. She has been at it
from the first day. Every morning they go clattering down into the
plain, and there she sits on my back with her bugle at her mouth
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: no game, and the Lady Frasers were not in the country.
And it all ended, at last, in his telling Henry one morning
that when he next went to Woodston, they would take him
by surprise there some day or other, and eat their mutton
with him. Henry was greatly honoured and very happy,
and Catherine was quite delighted with the scheme.
"And when do you think, sir, I may look forward to this
pleasure? I must be at Woodston on Monday to attend the
parish meeting, and shall probably be obliged to stay two
or three days."
"Well, well, we will take our chance some one
Northanger Abbey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: as an inheritance for that which ye have done!' And the fellows of
Paradise will call out to the fellows of the Fire, 'We have now
found that what our Lord promised us is true; have ye found that
what your Lord promised you is true?' They will say, 'Yea!' And a
crier from amongst them will cry out, 'The curse of God is on the
unjust who turn from the way of God and crave to make it crooked,
while in the hereafter they do disbelieve!'
And betwixt the two there is a veil, and on al Aaraf are men who
know each by marks; and they shall cry out to the fellows of Paradise,
'Peace] be upon you!' they cannot enter it although they so desire.
But when their sight is turned towards the fellows of the Fire, they
The Koran |
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 Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: the higher reaches of the air without a moment's hesitation. His
aim was deadly, since both bombs found their mark, and the
Zeppelin docked within was blown up. The intrepid airman
experienced several narrow escapes, for his aeroplane was struck
twenty times, and one or two of the control wires were cut by
passing bullets.
The raid carried out by Commanders Briggs and Babington in
company with Lieutenant Sippe upon the Zeppelin workshops at
Friedrichshafen was even more daring. Leaving the Allies' lines
they ascended to an altitude of 4,500 feet, and at this height
held to the pre-arranged course until they encountered a mist,
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