| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: courteous and unruffled: "If it be thy pleasure, O king, to
converse with me, remove thine enemies out of mid court; which
done, I will answer thee concerning whatsoever thou mayest desire
to learn; for while these are here, I cannot speak with thee.
But, without speech, torment me, kill me, do as thou wilt, for
"the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world,' as saith
my divine teacher." The king said, "And who are these enemies
whom thou biddest me turn out of court?" The saintly man
answered and said, "Anger and Desire. For at the beginning these
twain were brought into being by the Creator to be fellow-workers
with nature; and such they still are to those `who walk not after
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: glass caused the beam within it to reach his eye first direct, and
then after two, four, and six reflections. These corresponded to
the passage of the ray once, three times, five times, and seven
times through the glass. He thus established with numerical
accuracy the exact proportionality of the rotation to the distance
traversed by the polarized beam. Thus in one series of experiments
where the rotation required by the direct beam was 12degrees, that
acquired by three passages through the glass was 36degrees, while that
acquired by five passages was 60degrees. But even when this method of
magnifying was applied, he failed with various solid substances to
obtain any effect; and in the case of air, though he employed to the
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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 Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: Spirit, who is charged to watch over him--a Guardian who sleeps
not nor is deceived. For to what better or more watchful Guardian
could He have committed wach of us? So when you have shut the
doors and made a darkness within, remember never to say that you
are alone; for you are not alone, but God is within, and your
Guardian Spirit, and what light do they need to behold what you
do? To this God you also should have sworn allegiance, even as
soliders unto Caesar. They, when their service is hired, swear to
hold the life of Caesar dearer than all else: and will you not
swear your oath, that are deemed worthy of so many and great
gifts? And will you not keep your oath when you have sworn it?
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
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 Hermione's Little Group of Serious Thinkers by Don Marquis: IT is not enough to be merely unworldly.
One must be OTHER-WOR as well, if you
get what I mean.
For what does all Modern Thought amount
to if it does not minister to the Beautiful and the
Spiritual?
Isn't Materialism simply FRIGHTFUL?
For the undisciplined mind, I mean. Of course,
the right sort of mind will get good even out of
Materialism, and the wrong sort will get harm out
of it.
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