| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: is to calm the fury of the hounds, without touching them, by soothing,
encouraging tones. He is also to signal to the huntsman with a shout,
that the quarry is taken, or has escaped this side or that, or that he
has not seen it, or where he last caught sight of it.[16]
[16] Or, "'caught,' 'escaped,' (this side or that), 'not seen,'
'marked.'"
The sportsman himself should sally forth in a loose, light hunting
dress,[17] and footgear[18] to match; he should carry a stout stick in
his hand, the net-keeper following. They should proceed to the
hunting-field in silence, to prevent the hare, if by chance there
should be one close by, from making off at the sound of voices. When
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: Louisette went home drearily, the one leaning upon the other.
Ah, that was a great day when the first letter came from Chicago!
Louisette came running in breathlessly from the post-office, and
together they read it again and again. Chicago was such a
wonderful city, said Sylves'. Why, it was always like New
Orleans at Mardi Gras with the people. He had seen Joseph
Lascaud, and he had a place to work promised him. He was well,
but he wanted, oh, so much, to see maman and Louisette. But
then, he could wait.
Was ever such a wonderful letter? Louisette sat for an hour
afterwards building gorgeous air-castles, while Ma'am Mouton
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: and is getting back some of her color, Van Helsing and I are not satisfied.
We talk of her often. We have not, however, said a word to the others.
It would break poor Harker's heart, certainly his nerve, if he knew that we
had even a suspicion on the subject. Van Helsing examines, he tells me,
her teeth very carefully, whilst she is in the hypnotic condition,
for he says that so long as they do not begin to sharpen there is
no active danger of a change in her. If this change should come,
it would be necessary to take steps! We both know what those steps
would have to be, though we do not mention our thoughts to each other.
We should neither of us shrink from the task, awful though it be
to contemplate. "Euthanasia" is an excellent and a comforting word!
Dracula |
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 Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche: without a shudder. But if one would realize how characteristic is
this fear of the "man" in the German spirit which awakened Europe
out of its "dogmatic slumber," let us call to mind the former
conception which had to be overcome by this new one--and that it
is not so very long ago that a masculinized woman could dare,
with unbridled presumption, to recommend the Germans to the
interest of Europe as gentle, goodhearted, weak-willed, and
poetical fools. Finally, let us only understand profoundly enough
Napoleon's astonishment when he saw Goethe it reveals what had
been regarded for centuries as the "German spirit" "VOILA UN
HOMME!"--that was as much as to say "But this is a MAN! And I
Beyond Good and Evil |
