| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: particular seasons. But the Mothers-Elect do not work; and they most accept
husbands. A worker could not even dream of keeping company with a male,--
not merely because such association would signify the most frivolous waste
of time, nor yet because the worker necessarily regards all males with
unspeakable contempt; but because the worker is incapable of wedlock. Some
workers, indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth to children
who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is truly
feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the
patience, and the foresight that we call "maternal;" but her sex has
disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend.
For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: She smiled squarely into the face of a boy who was hurrying by
with his hands buried in his overcoat, his blonde locks bobbing on
his youthful temples, and a cheery smile of unconcern upon his
lips. He turned his head and smiled back at her, waving his hands.
him. "He's all right! He didn't mean anything! Let it go!
He's a good fellah!"
"Din' he insul' me?" asked the man earnestly.
"No," said they. "Of course he didn't! He's all right!"
"Sure he didn' insul' me?" demanded the man, with deep anxiety
in his voice.
"No, no! We know him! He's a good fellah. He didn't mean anything."
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Othello by William Shakespeare: Iago. There's none so foule and foolish thereunto,
But do's foule pranks, which faire, and wise-ones do
Desde. Oh heauy ignorance: thou praisest the worst
best. But what praise could'st thou bestow on a deseruing
woman indeed? One, that in the authorithy of her
merit, did iustly put on the vouch of very malice it
selfe
Iago. She that was euer faire, and neuer proud,
Had Tongue at will, and yet was neuer loud:
Neuer lackt Gold, and yet went neuer gay,
Fled from her wish, and yet said now I may.
Othello |
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 The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: epidemic of suicide which for the last month has prevailed in
the West End. Mr. Sidney Crashaw, of Stoke House, Fulham, and
King's Pomeroy, Devon, was found, after a prolonged search,
hanging dead from the branch of a tree in his garden at one
o'clock today. The deceased gentleman dined last night at the
Carlton Club and seemed in his usual health and spirits. He
left the club at about ten o'clock, and was seen walking
leisurely up St. James's Street a little later. Subsequent to
this his movements cannot be traced. On the discovery of the
body medical aid was at once summoned, but life had evidently
been long extinct. So far as is known, Mr. Crashaw had no
The Great God Pan |
