| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: "I'd go the short cut by the ford," advised Patrick; "it looks like we might
get a shower by sunset."
"Yes, I think we would better," said Rudolph, glancing toward the clouds in
the west Rudolph prided himself on his ability to forecast the weather, and
was generally able to tell correctly when a shower was pretty sure to come and
when it was likely to "go round."
So Barney was coaxed into a good gait, which he was ready as a rule to take
towards home, and the little ford by way of a farm-lane, and which saved a
good mile on the road home, was soon reached. Barney knew the place well and,
always enjoying it, picked his way carefully to the middle of the ford, and
then he took it into his stubborn little head to stand stock still, and to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: it is a short white worm, like to and bigger than a gentle; or a cod-
worm; or a case-worm; any of these will do very well to fish in such a
manner.
And after this manner you may catch a Trout in a hot evening: when, as
you walk by a brook, and shall see or hear him leap at flies, then, if you
get a grasshopper, put it on your hook, with your line about two yards
long; standing behind a bush or tree where his hole is: and make your
bait stir up and down on the top of the water. You may, if you stand
close, be sure of a bite, but not sure to catch him, for he is not a leather-
mouthed fish. And after this manner you may fish for him with almost
any kind of live fly, but especially with a grasshopper.
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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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: wheels and the top, and then they put the buggy edgewise, so it would
take up the smallest space. In this position they managed, with the
aid of the patient cab-horse, to drag the vehicle through the narrow
part of the passage. It was not a great distance, fortunately, and
when the path grew broader they put the buggy together again and
proceeded more comfortably. But the road was nothing more than a
series of rifts or cracks in the mountain, and it went zig-zag in
every direction, slanting first up and then down until they were
puzzled as to whether they were any nearer to the top of the earth
than when they had started, hours before.
"Anyhow," said Dorothy, "we've 'scaped those awful Gurgles, and that's
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
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 Apology by Xenophon: Socrates in the case of Phaedo (his beloved disciple). "He stroked
my head and pressed the hair upon my neck--he had a way of playing
with my air; and then he said: 'To-morrow, Phaedo, I suppose that
these fair locks of yours will be severed.'"
It is also said that, seeing Anytus[55] pass by, Socrates remarked:
"How proudly the great man steps; he thinks, no doubt, he has
performed some great and noble deed in putting me to death, and all
because, seeing him deemed worthy of the highest honours of the state,
I told him it ill became him to bring up his so in a tan-yard.[56]
What a scamp the fellow is! he appears not to know that of us two
whichever has achieved what is best and noblest for all future time is
The Apology |
