| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: Mester Howth some time in Poke Run, atop o' 't. I hed my
suspicions,--so'd he; lay low, though, frum all women-folks. So
's I tuk a bottle down, unbeknown, to Squire More, an' it's
oil!"--jumping like a wild Indian,--"thank the Lord fur his
marcies, it's oil!"
"Well, Joel," she said, calmly, "very disagreeably smelling oil
it is, I must say."
"Good save the woman!" he broke out, sotto voce, "she's a born
natural! Did ye never hear of a shaft? or millions o' gallons a
day? It's better nor a California ranch, I tell ye. Mebbe,"
charitably, "ye didn't know Poke Run's the mester's?"
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: sound or other experience. [I say one should be aware that any
unexpected shock will produce disturbance in a horse.][2]
[1] Or, "so that the horse may insensibly fall into a gallop."
[2] L. Dindorf and others bracket, as spurious.
So if you wish to pull up a spirited horse when breaking off into a
quicker pace than requisite, you must not suddenly wrench him, but
quietly and gently bring the bit to bear upon him, coaxing him rather
than compelling him to calm down. It is the long steady course rather
than the frequent turn which tends to calm a horse.[3] A quiet pace
sustained for a long time has a caressing,[4] soothing effect, the
reverse of exciting. If any one proposes by a series of fast and oft-
On Horsemanship |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence
among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number
perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator."
"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan.
A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long
moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I
read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of
a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls
have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered.
It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the
fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before
The Chessmen of Mars |
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 The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "No," replied the dog.
"I can't understand," said Hank, "why dogs bark at the moon. They
can't scare the moon, and the moon doesn't pay any attention to the
bark. So why do dogs do it?"
"Were you ever a dog?" asked Toto.
"No indeed," replied Hank. "I am thankful to say I was created a
mule--the most beautiful of all beasts--and have always remained one."
The Woozy sat upon his square haunches to examine Hank with care.
"Beauty," he said, "must be a matter of taste. I don't say your
judgment is bad, friend Hank, or that you are so vulgar as to be
conceited. But if you admire big, waggy ears and a tail like a
The Lost Princess of Oz |
