| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tanach: Numbers 7: 24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun:
Numbers 7: 25 his offering was one silver dish, the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering;
Numbers 7: 26 one golden pan of ten shekels, full of incense;
Numbers 7: 27 one young bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt-offering;
Numbers 7: 28 one male of the goats for a sin-offering;
Numbers 7: 29 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.
Numbers 7: 30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben:
Numbers 7: 31 his offering was one silver dish, the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering;
Numbers 7: 32 one golden pan of ten shekels, full of incense;
The Tanach |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: unconquerable prayer, that we pray it and bring it before God as
a truly common prayer.
XIII. The power of this prayer we see in the fact that in olden
times Abraham prayed for the five cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, etc.,
Genesis xviii, and accomplished so much, that if there had been
ten righteous people in them, two in each city, God would not
have destroyed them. What then could many men do, if they united
in calling upon God earnestly and with sincere confidence?
St. James also says: "Dear brethren, pray for one another, that
ye may be saved. For the prayer of a righteous man availeth much,
a prayer that perseveres and does not cease" (that is, which does
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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 Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare: She told him stories to delight his ear;
She show'd him favours to allure his eye;
To win his heart, she touch'd him here and there, --
Touches so soft still conquer chastity.
But whether unripe years did want conceit,
Or he refused to take her figured proffer,
The tender nibbler would not touch the bait,
But smile and jest at every gentle offer:
Then fell she on her back, fair queen, and toward:
He rose and ran away; ah, fool too froward!
V.
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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 Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: as the brink of the river of death, but not being allowed to
cross has come back and re-entered him. And acting upon a
similar notion the ailing Fiji will sometimes lie down and
raise a hue and cry for his soul to be brought back. Thus,
continues Mr. Tylor, "in various countries the bringing back
of lost souls becomes a regular part of the sorcerer's or
priest's profession."[164] On Aryan soil we find the notion of
a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date in
the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath
while her earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The
primeval conception reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm,
Myths and Myth-Makers |
