| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: sensuous delight; and the beauty of the world, more subtly still, flowing upon
them and bathing them in the delight that is of the spirit and is personal and
holy, that is inexpressible yet communicable by the flash of an eye and the
dissolving of the veils of the soul.
So looked they at each other, the horses bounding beneath them, the spring of
the world and the spring of their youth astir in their blood, the secret of
being trembling in their eyes to the brink of disclosure, as if about to
dispel, with one magic word, all the irks and riddles of existence.
The road curved before them, so that the upper reaches of the canyon could be
seen, the distant bed of it towering high above their heads. They were
rounding the curve, leaning toward the inside, gazing before them at the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: cattle, but for the dominion of the universe. Ormuzd creates
the world pure and beautiful, but Ahriman comes after him and
creates everything that is evil in it. He not only keeps the
earth covered with darkness during half of the day, and
withholds the rain and destroys the crops, but he is the
author of all evil thoughts and the instigator of all wicked
actions. Like his progenitor Vritra and his offspring Satan,
he is represented under the form of a serpent; and the
destruction which ultimately awaits these demons is also in
reserve for him. Eventually there is to be a day of reckoning,
when Ahriman will be bound in chains and rendered powerless,
Myths and Myth-Makers |
