| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: whirled at the end of a string, seems to be known, or
to have been known, all over the world. It is described
with some care by Mr. Andrew Lang in his Custom and
Myth (pp. 29-44), where he says "it is found always as a
sacred instrument employed in religious mysteries, in New
Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, ancient Greece, and
Africa."
[1] See Catlin's North American Indians, Letter 19.
[2] Themis, p. 61.
Sometimes, of course, the rain-maker was successful; but
of the inner causes of rain he knew next to nothing;
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: Besides, there is a quiet modesty about the sketch which is itself
taking. To attempt the complete even in a fractional bit of the
cosmos, like a picture, has in it a difficulty akin to the logical
one of proving a universal negative. The possibilities of failure
are enormously increased, and failure is less forgiven for the
assumption. Art might perhaps not unwisely follow the example of
science in such matters where an exhaustive work, which takes the
better part of a lifetime to produce, is invariably entitled by its
erudite author an Elementary Treatise on the subject in hand.
To aid the effect due to simplicity of conception steps in the Far
Oriental's wonderful technique. His brush-strokes are very few in
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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 Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "and I'm glad of it. This is a queer country, and we may as well
take people as we find them."
"If we did, we'd leave these folks scattered," she returned, and this
retort made everybody laugh good-naturedly.
Just then Omby Amby found a hand with a knitting needle in it, and
they decided to put Grandmother Gnit together. She proved an easier
puzzle than old Larry, and when she was completed they found her a
pleasant old lady who welcomed them cordially. Dorothy told her how
the kangaroo had lost her mittens, and Grandmother Gnit promised to
set to work at once and make the poor animal another pair.
Then the cook came to call them to dinner, and they found an inviting
The Emerald City of Oz |
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 Dreams & Dust by Don Marquis: That rose in gradual splendor,
Paused,
Flooding the firmament with mystic light,
And dropped upon the breathing hills
A sudden music
Like a distillation from its gleams;
A rain of spirit and a dew of song!
A MOOD OF PAVLOWA
THE soul of the Spring through its body of earth
Bursts in a bloom of fire,
And the crocuses come in a rainbow riot of mirth....
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