| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: science which we call chemistry, and at which he worked, wandering,
he says, among mines and forges, as a practical metallurgist.
He tells us--what sounds startling enough--that magic is the only
preceptor which can teach the art of healing; but he means, it seems
to me, only an understanding of the invisible processes of nature,
in which sense an electrician or a biologist, a Faraday or a Darwin,
would be a magician; and when he compares medical magic to the
Cabalistic science, of which I spoke just now (and in which he seems
to have believed), he only means, I think, that as the Cabala
discovers hidden meaning and virtues in the text of Scripture, so
ought the man of science to find them in the book of nature. But
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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 To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: mind; but these Gambucinos wandered alone.
They knew that country before anybody had ever
heard of it. They had a sort of gift for prospect-
ing, and the fever of it was on them too; and they
did not seem to want the gold very much. They
would find some rich spot, and then turn their backs
on it; pick up perhaps a little--enough for a
spree--and then be off again, looking for more.
They never stopped long where there were houses;
they had no wife, no chick, no home, never a chum.
You couldn't be friends with a Gambucino; they
To-morrow |
