| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: that modern prophetic child, beheld a Tree full of angels;
the Central Australian native believes bushes to be the
abode of spirits which leap into the bodies of passing
women and are the cause of the conception of children; Moses
saw in the desert a bush (perhaps the mimosa) like a flame
of fire, with Jehovah dwelling in the midst of it, and he put
off his shoes for he felt that the place was holy; Osiris
was at times regarded as a Tree-spirit[1]; and in inscriptions
is referred to as "the solitary one in the acacia"--
which reminds us curiously of the "burning bush." The
same is true of others of the gods; in the old Norse
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: ever stirring from home.
OMNES. Ay, ay.
HARDCASTLE. When company comes you are not to pop out and stare, and
then run in again, like frightened rabbits in a warren.
OMNES. No, no.
HARDCASTLE. You, Diggory, whom I have taken from the barn, are to make
a show at the side-table; and you, Roger, whom I have advanced from the
plough, are to place yourself behind my chair. But you're not to stand
so, with your hands in your pockets. Take your hands from your
pockets, Roger; and from your head, you blockhead you. See how Diggory
carries his hands. They're a little too stiff, indeed, but that's no
She Stoops to Conquer |
