| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: reasons which I have not fathomed, the site chosen is some way up
in the tuft of rosemary. But, when the nest touches the ground,
the clay rampart is never missing.
Are we to see in this fact proof of an instinct capable of
modification, either making for decadence and gradually neglecting
what was the ancestors' safeguard, or making for progress and
advancing, hesitatingly, towards perfection in the mason's art? No
inference is permissible in either direction. The Labyrinth Spider
has simply taught us that instinct possesses resources which are
employed or left latent according to the conditions of the moment.
Place sand under her legs and the spinstress will knead concrete;
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: To wall thee from the liberty of flight;
And no way canst thou turn thee for redress,
But death doth front thee with apparent spoil,
And pale destruction meets thee in the face.
Ten thousand French have ta'en the sacrament
To rive their dangerous artillery
Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot.
Lo, there thou stand'st, a breathing valiant man,
Of an invincible unconquer'd spirit!
This is the latest glory of thy praise
That I, thy enemy, due thee withal;
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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 Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: tufa, and destroyed the few meager skeletons of trees which had withstood
the first eruption. The stream, flowing this time towards the southwest
shore of Lake Grant, stretched beyond Creek Glycerine, and invaded the
plateau of Prospect Heights. This last blow to the work of the colonists
was terrible. The mill, the buildings of the inner court, the stables, were
all destroyed. The affrighted poultry fled in all directions. Top and Jup
showed signs of the greatest alarm, as if their instinct warned them of an
impending catastrophe. A large number of the animals of the island had
perished in the first eruption. Those which survived found no refuge but
Tadorn Marsh, save a few to which the plateau of Prospect Heights afforded
asylum. But even this last retreat was now closed to them, and the lava-
The Mysterious Island |
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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: parlor, behind this plot, instead of behind that meager
assemblage of curiosities, that poor apology for a Nature and
Art, which I call my front yard? It is an effort to clear up and
make a decent appearance when the carpenter and mason have
departed, though done as much for the passer-by as the dweller
within. The most tasteful front-yard fence was never an agreeable
object of study to me; the most elaborate ornaments, acorn tops,
or what not, soon wearied and disgusted me. Bring your sills up
to the very edge of the swamp, then (though it may not be the
best place for a dry cellar), so that there be no access on that
side to citizens. Front yards are not made to walk in, but, at
Walking |
