| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: diminishing velocity, until at last objects about me began
to take definite shape.
Far ahead, miles and miles away, I saw a great valley
and mighty woods, and beyond these a broad expanse
of water. In the nearer foreground I discerned a small,
dark blob of color upon the shimmering whiteness of the
snow.
"A bear," thought I, and thanked the instinct that had
impelled me to cling tenaciously to my rifle during the
moments of my awful tumble.
At the rate I was going it would be but a moment
Pellucidar |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: his armour and his battle, in the mother-tongue, so that all
can understand it."
The boy hesitated, blushed, stammered; then he came around
to Winfried's seat, bringing the book. "Take the book, my
father," he cried, "and read it for me. I cannot see the
meaning plain, though I love the sound of the words. Religion
I know, and the doctrines of our faith, and the life of
priests and nuns in the cloister, for which my grandmother
designs me, though it likes me little. And fighting I know,
and the life of warriors and heroes, for I have read of it in
Virgil and the ancients, and heard a bit from the soldiers at
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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 Alcibiades I by Plato: they do not necessarily know themselves. Self-knowledge can be obtained
only by looking into the mind and virtue of the soul, which is the diviner
part of a man, as we see our own image in another's eye. And if we do not
know ourselves, we cannot know what belongs to ourselves or belongs to
others, and are unfit to take a part in political affairs. Both for the
sake of the individual and of the state, we ought to aim at justice and
temperance, not at wealth or power. The evil and unjust should have no
power,--they should be the slaves of better men than themselves. None but
the virtuous are deserving of freedom.
And are you, Alcibiades, a freeman? 'I feel that I am not; but I hope,
Socrates, that by your aid I may become free, and from this day forward I
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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 A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: Sullenbode laughed outright. "It assuredly does not mean the
approach of night."
Corpang, who had been staring steadily along the ridge, here abruptly
broke in. "The road is plain now, Maskull. If you wish it, I'll go
on alone."
"No, we'll go on together. Sullenbode will accompany us."
"A little way," said the woman, "but not to Adage, to pit my strength
against unseen powers. That light is not for me. I know how to
renounce love, but I will never be a traitor to it."
"Who knows what we shall find on Adage, or what will happen? Corpang
is as ignorant as myself."
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