| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: to rule; though it may be vigorously to exhort and rebuke: it is
the king's office to rule; the bishop's office is to OVERSEE the
flock; to number it, sheep by sheep; to be ready always to give full
account of it. Now it is clear he cannot give account of the souls,
if he has not so much as numbered the bodies, of his flock. The
first thing, therefore, that a bishop has to do is at least to put
himself in a position in which, at any moment, he can obtain the
history, from childhood, of every living soul in his diocese, and of
its present state. Down in that back street, Bill, and Nancy,
knocking each other's teeth out!--Does the bishop know all about it?
Has he his eye upon them? Has he HAD his eye upon them? Can he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: in the world can equal the excitement of the first time you cast
anchor in some bay of a tropical island, and the boats begin to
surround you, and the tattooed people swarm aboard. Tell
Tomarcher, with my respex, that hide-and-seek is not equal to it;
no, nor hidee-in-the-dark; which, for the matter of that, is a game
for the unskilful: the artist prefers daylight, a good-sized
garden, some shrubbery, an open paddock, and - come on, Macduff.
TOMARCHER, I am now a distinguished litterytour, but that was not
the real bent of my genius. I was the best player of hide-and-seek
going; not a good runner, I was up to every shift and dodge, I
could jink very well, I could crawl without any noise through
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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 Chance by Joseph Conrad: was lying to me. It was their plot, their conspiracy! These
conspiracies are the devil. She has been leading me on, till she
has fairly put my head under the heel of that jailer, of that
scoundrel, of her husband . . . Treachery! Bringing me low. Lower
than herself. In the dirt. That's what it means. Doesn't it?
Under his heel!"
He paused in his restless shuffle and again, seizing his cap with
both hands, dragged it furiously right down on his ears. Powell had
lost himself in listening to these broken ravings, in looking at
that old feverish face when, suddenly, quick as lightning, Mr. Smith
spun round, snatched up the captain's glass and with a stifled,
Chance |
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 Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: "She can't sleep except when she's sleepy. It is the only
other thing fairies can't do."
"Seems to me," growled John, "these are the only two things
worth doing."
Here he got a pinch, but not a loving one.
"If only one of us had a pocket," Peter said, "we could carry
her in it." However, they had set off in such a hurry that there
was not a pocket between the four of them.
He had a happy idea. John's hat!
Tink agreed to travel by hat if it was carried in the hand.
John carried it, though she had hoped to be carried by Peter.
Peter Pan |
