| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: that it needed but little effort of imagination to think that
the spirits of those lost at sea were touching their living
brethren with the clammy hands of death, and many a one shuddered
at the wreaths of sea-mist swept by.
At times the mist cleared, and the sea for some distance could
be seen in the glare of the lightning, which came thick and fast,
followed by such peals of thunder that the whole sky overhead seemed
trembling under the shock of the footsteps of the storm.
Some of the scenes thus revealed were of immeasurable grandeur
and of absorbing interest. The sea, running mountains high,
threw skywards with each wave mighty masses of white foam,
Dracula |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: work, and been making their following ever smaller and ours
greater, and by their lies has caused and still causes them to
be brought to shame.
I must tell a story. There was a doctor sent here to
Wittenberg from France, who said publicly before us that his
king was sure and more than sure, that among us there is no
church, no magistrate, no married life, but all live
promiscuously as cattle, and each one does as he pleases.
Imagine now, how will those who by their writings have
instilled such gross lies into the king and other countries as
the pure truth, look at us on that day before the
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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 Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll: THE BARRISTER'S DREAM
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap.
But the Barrister, weary of proving in vain
That the Beaver's lace-making was wrong,
Fell asleep, and in dreams saw the creature quite plain
That his fancy had dwelt on so long.
He dreamed that he stood in a shadowy Court,
Where the Snark, with a glass in its eye,
The Hunting of the Snark |
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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: had happened to mar their perfection. The rainbow tints from the
colored suns fell upon the glass city softly and gave to the buildings
many delicate, shifting hues which were very pretty to see.
But not a sound had broken the stillness since the strangers had arrived,
except that of their own voices. They began to wonder if there were
no people to inhabit this magnificent city of the inner world.
Suddenly a man appeared through a hole in the roof next to the one
they were on and stepped into plain view. He was not a very large man,
but was well formed and had a beautiful face--calm and serene as the face
of a fine portrait. His clothing fitted his form snugly and was gorgeously
colored in brilliant shades of green, which varied as the sunbeams
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
