| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose Chinese verses and
Japanese verses about butterflies.
"And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright
prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is nothing
more comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy you;-- there
is not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do insects alone
regard you with envy: men also both envy and admire you. Soshu of China, in
a dream, assumed your shape;-- Sakoku of Japan, after dying, took your
form, and therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the envy that you inspire
shared only by insects and mankind: even things without soul change their
form into yours;-- witness the barley-grass, which turns into a butterfly.
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma by Jane Austen: have had the charge of her, it does not appear to have been any part
of their plan to introduce her into what you would call good society.
After receiving a very indifferent education she is left in
Mrs. Goddard's hands to shift as she can;--to move, in short,
in Mrs. Goddard's line, to have Mrs. Goddard's acquaintance.
Her friends evidently thought this good enough for her; and it was
good enough. She desired nothing better herself. Till you chose
to turn her into a friend, her mind had no distaste for her own set,
nor any ambition beyond it. She was as happy as possible with the
Martins in the summer. She had no sense of superiority then.
If she has it now, you have given it. You have been no friend to
Emma |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: letter, he burnt the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Feredia's
wish, we announced that he had escaped.
" 'The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw!
he was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned
himself. I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary,
that he had something to do with the business about Madame de Merret,
seeing that Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond
of that she had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now
in the early days of his stay here, Monsieur Feredia had one of ebony
and silver which I never saw later.--And now, monsieur, do not you say
that I need have no remorse about the Spaniard's fifteen thousand
La Grande Breteche |
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 Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: charities, to form the greater part of the population of to-morrow. As
Dr. Karl Pearson has stated: ``Degenerate stocks under present social
conditions are not short-lived; they live to have more than the normal
size of family.''
Reports of charitable organizations; the famous ``one hundred neediest
cases'' presented every year by the New York Times to arouse the
sentimental generosity of its readers; statistics of public and
private hospitals, charities and corrections; analyses of pauperism in
town and country--all tell the same tale of uncontrolled and
irresponsible fecundity. The facts, the figures, the appalling truth
are there for all to read. It is only in the remedy proposed, the
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