| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: dagger, then taking the precautions to provide himself with a sack of
dried dates, oats, and powder and shot, and to fasten a scimiter to
his waist, he leaped on to a horse, and spurred on vigorously in the
direction where he thought to find the French army. So impatient was
he to see a bivouac again that he pressed on the already tired courser
at such speed, that its flanks were lacerated with his spurs, and at
last the poor animal died, leaving the Frenchman alone in the desert.
After walking some time in the sand with all the courage of an escaped
convict, the soldier was obliged to stop, as the day had already
ended. In spite of the beauty of an Oriental sky at night, he felt he
had not strength enough to go on. Fortunately he had been able to find
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: of absolute crime. He should put his pride in his
pocket; he may accept confidences; explain his in-
nocence as if it were a sin; he may take advantage
of misconceptions, of desires and of weaknesses; he
ought to conceal his horror and other emotions,
and, if the fate of a human being, and that human
being a magnificent young girl, is strangely in-
volved--why, he should contemplate that fate
(whatever it might seem to be) without turning a
hair. And all these things I have done; the ex-
plaining, the listening, the pretending--even to
Falk |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: mouth. [Crofts sulkily obeys].
PRAED. I think, you know--if you dont mind my saying so--that we
had better get out of the habit of thinking of her as a little
girl. You see she has really distinguished herself; and I'm not
sure, from what I have seen of her, that she is not older than
any of us.
MRS WARREN [greatly amused] Only listen to him, George! Older
than any of us! Well she h a s been stuffing you nicely with her
importance.
PRAED. But young people are particularly sensitive about being
treated in that way.
|
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 Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: supposed to be the transubstantiated body and blood of
Christ, is from the Latin Hostia which the dictionary
interprets as "an animal slain in sacrifice, a sin-offering." It
takes us far far back to the Totem stage of folk-life,
when the tribe, as I have already explained, crowned a
victim-bull or bear or other animal with flowers, and
honoring it with every offering of food and worship,
sacrificed the victim to the Totem spirit of the tribe, and
consumed it in an Eucharistic feast--the medicine-man
or priest who conducted the ritual wearing a skin of the
same beast as a sign that he represented the Totem-
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
