| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: known to eat sheep as well as hares." The Hare then applied, as a
last hope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help
her, as he did not like to take the responsibility upon himself,
as so many older persons than himself had declined the task. By
this time the hounds were quite near, and the Hare took to her
heels and luckily escaped.
He that has many friends, has no friends.
The Lion in Love
A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed
marriage to her parents. The old people did not know what to say.
They did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did
Aesop's Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: hoping in time to see some ships at sea, and therefore resolved to
place myself as near the coast as I could.
At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to
which with great pain and difficulty I guided my raft, and at last
got so near that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her
directly in. But here I had like to have dipped all my cargo into
the sea again; for that shore lying pretty steep - that is to say
sloping - there was no place to land, but where one end of my
float, if it ran on shore, would lie so high, and the other sink
lower, as before, that it would endanger my cargo again. All that
I could do was to wait till the tide was at the highest, keeping
Robinson Crusoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: the result of his labors and placed the wooden cat, now completed,
upon the hearth opposite the real one.
Puss thereupon glared at her image, raised her hair in anger, and
uttered a defiant mew. The wooden cat paid no attention, and Claus,
much amused, laughed again.
Then Blinkie advanced toward the wooden image to eye it closely and
smell of it intelligently: Eyes and nose told her the creature was
wood, in spite of its natural appearance; so puss resumed her seat and
her purring, but as she neatly washed her face with her padded paw she
cast more than one admiring glance at her clever master. Perhaps she
felt the same satisfaction we feel when we look upon good photographs
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
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 Desert Gold by Zane Grey: "We'll have need of him. Dear, there's bad news and no time to
break it gently. the priest did not come. He must have been
detained. And listen--be brave, dear Mercedes--Rojas is here!"
She uttered an inarticulate cry, the poignant terror of which
shook Gale's nerve, and swayed as if she would faint. Thorne
caught her, and in husky voice importuned her to bear up.
"My darling! For God's sake don't faint--don't go to pieces!
We'd be lost! We've got a chance. We'll think of something. Be
strong! Fight!"
It was plain to Gale that Thorne was distracted. He scarcely knew
what he was saying. Please and shaking, he clasped Mercedes to him.
Desert Gold |
