| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: radically dead; he thinks a form can be outlived: a strange
immersion in his own history; a strange forgetfulness of the
history of the race! Meanwhile, by a glance at his own works
(could he see them with the eager eyes of his readers) much of this
illusion would be dispelled. For while he holds all the poor
little orthodoxies of the day - no poorer and no smaller than those
of yesterday or to-morrow, poor and small, indeed, only so far as
they are exclusive - the living quality of much that he has done is
of a contrary, I had almost said of a heretical, complexion. A
man, as I read him, of an originally strong romantic bent - a
certain glow of romance still resides in many of his books, and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Protagoras by Plato: setting himself in an attitude of war. Seeing this, I minded my business,
and gently said:--
When you say, Protagoras, that things inexpedient are good, do you mean
inexpedient for man only, or inexpedient altogether? and do you call the
latter good?
Certainly not the last, he replied; for I know of many things--meats,
drinks, medicines, and ten thousand other things, which are inexpedient for
man, and some which are expedient; and some which are neither expedient nor
inexpedient for man, but only for horses; and some for oxen only, and some
for dogs; and some for no animals, but only for trees; and some for the
roots of trees and not for their branches, as for example, manure, which is
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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 Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: glance.
Mannaeus descended from the pavilion, took the charger from the woman,
and exhibited the head to the Roman captains, then to all the guests
on that side of the hall.
They looked at it curiously.
The sharp blade of the sword had cut into the jaw with a swift
downward stroke. The corners of the mouth were drawn, as if by a
convulsion. Clots of blood besprinkled the beard. The closed eyelids
had a shell-like transparency, and the candelabra on every side
lighted up the gruesome object with terrible distinctness.
Mannaeus arrived at the table where the priests were seated. One of
Herodias |
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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: you girls."
It was that which made Madeline hesitate then and go forward
slowly. She had given no thought at all to what Stewart might
feel when suddenly surprised by her presence.
"Florence, you wait also," said Madeline, at the doorway, and
turned in alone.
And she had stepped into a broken-down patio littered with
alfalfa straw and debris, all clear in the sunlight. Upon a
bench, back toward her, sat a man looking out through the rents
in the broken wall. He had not heard her. The place was not
quite so filthy and stifling as the passages Madeline had come
The Light of Western Stars |
