| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: I once bewail'd, disposes me not less
For weeping, when I see It thus transform'd.
Say then, by Heav'n, what blasts ye thus? The whilst
I wonder, ask not Speech from me: unapt
Is he to speak, whom other will employs.
He thus: "The water and tee plant we pass'd,
Virtue possesses, by th' eternal will
Infus'd, the which so pines me. Every spirit,
Whose song bewails his gluttony indulg'd
Too grossly, here in hunger and in thirst
Is purified. The odour, which the fruit,
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: CHAPTER VIII
BRIDE AND GROOM
And so the bridegroom, in all his wedding finery, made his way with
Trenchard to the Bell Inn, in the High Street, whilst his bride,
escorted by Lord Gervase, was being driven to Zoyland Chase, of which
she was now the mistress.
But she was not destined just yet to cross its threshold. For scarcely
were they over the river when a horseman barred their way, and called
upon the driver to pull up. Lady Horton, in a panic, huddled herself
in the great coach and spoke of tobymen, whilst Lord Gervase thrust
his head from the window to discover that the rider who stayed their
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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 Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: months' time the war was over and Abdallah marched back again--the greatest general in the world.
But it was no longer as
Abdallah that he was known, but as the Emperor of India, for the
former emperor had been killed in the war, and Abdallah had set
the crown upon his own head.
The little taste that he had had of conquest had given him an
appetite for more, so that with the armies the Genie provided him
he conquered all the neighboring countries and brought them under
his rule. So he became the greatest emperor in all the world;
kings and princes kneeled before him, and he, Abdallah, the
fagot-maker, looking about him, could say: "No one in all the
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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 What is Man? by Mark Twain: also appears that to please your mother gives YOU a strong
pleasure. Is not that the profit which you get out of the
investment? Isn't that the REAL profits and FIRST profit?
Y.M. Oh, well? Go on.
O.M. In ALL transactions, the Interior Master looks to it
that YOU GET THE FIRST PROFIT. Otherwise there is no
transaction.
Y.M. Well, then, if I was so anxious to get that profit and
so intent upon it, why did I threw it away by losing my temper?
O.M. In order to get ANOTHER profit which suddenly
superseded it in value.
What is Man? |
