| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: 'And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him, saying: "Helios,
do thou, I say, shine on amidst the deathless gods, and
amid mortal men upon the earth, the grain-giver. But as for
me, I will soon smite their swift ship with my white bolt,
and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the wine-dark
deep."
'This I heard from Calypso of the fair hair; and she said
that she herself had heard it from Hermes the Messenger.
'But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea, I
went up to my companions and rebuked them one by one; but
we could find no remedy, the cattle were dead and gone. And
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: back into their own hands, and make it appear to
the world, that the decrees and final directions
(which, because they come forth, with prudence
and power, are resembled to Pallas armed) pro-
ceeded from themselves; and not only from their
authority, but (the more to add reputation to them-
selves) from their head and device.
Let us now speak of the inconveniences of coun-
sel, and of the remedies. The inconveniences that
have been noted, in calling and using counsel, are
three. First, the revealing of affairs, whereby they
Essays of Francis Bacon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And woe to him that comes short, and woe to him that delayed!"
So spoke on the beach the mother, and counselled the wiser thing.
For Rahero stirred in the country and secretly mined the king.
Nor were the signals wanting of how the leaven wrought,
In the cords of obedience loosed and the tributes grudgingly brought.
And when last to the temple of Oro the boat with the victim sped,
And the priest uncovered the basket and looked on the face of the dead,
Trembling fell upon all at sight of an ominous thing,
For there was the aito (1) dead, and he of the house of the king.
So spake on the beach the mother, matter worthy of note,
And wattled a basket well, and chose a fish from the boat;
Ballads |
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 Wyoming by William MacLeod Raine: could get it. I see now that wasn't kind or fair to you. I am
sorry I didn't tell y'u all about it. May I tell y'u the story
now?"
"If you wish."
It was a long story, but the main points can be told in a
paragraph. The grandfather of the two cousins, General Edward
Bannister, had worn the Confederate gray for four years, and had
lost an arm in the service of the flag with the stars and bars.
After the war he returned to his home in Virginia to find it in
ruins, his slaves freed and his fields mortgaged. He had pulled
himself together for another start, and had practiced law in the
|
