| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: perceptions of it, suited to their weakness.
Were it not so, the thunder of the LIVING WORD, whose far-off tones
now reached their ears, and whose meaning entered their souls as life
unites with body,--one echo of that Word would have consumed their
being as a whirlwind of fire laps up a fragile straw.
Therefore they saw only that which their nature, sustained by the
strength of the SPIRIT, permitted them to see; they heard that only
which they were able to hear.
And yet, though thus protected, they shuddered when the Voice of the
anguished soul broke forth above them--the prayer of the SPIRIT
awaiting Life and imploring it with a cry.
Seraphita |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: see my meaning," said their father.
Union gives strength.
The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts
The Lion once gave out that he was sick unto death and
summoned the animals to come and hear his last Will and Testament.
So the Goat came to the Lion's cave, and stopped there listening
for a long time. Then a Sheep went in, and before she came out a
Calf came up to receive the last wishes of the Lord of the Beasts.
But soon the Lion seemed to recover, and came to the mouth of his
cave, and saw the Fox, who had been waiting outside for some time.
"Why do you not come to pay your respects to me?" said the Lion to
Aesop's Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Walking by Henry David Thoreau: Columbus felt the westward tendency more strongly than any
before. He obeyed it, and found a New World for Castile and Leon.
The herd of men in those days scented fresh pastures from afar,
"And now the sun had stretched out all the hills,
And now was dropped into the western bay;
At last HE rose, and twitched his mantle blue;
Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new."
Where on the globe can there be found an area of equal extent
with that occupied by the bulk of our States, so fertile and so
rich and varied in its productions, and at the same time so
habitable by the European, as this is? Michaux, who knew but part
Walking |
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 Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift: Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of
their own, which by law may be made liable to a distress, and
help to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being
already seized, and money a thing unknown.
Thirdly, Whereas the maintainance of an hundred thousand
children, from two years old, and upwards, cannot be computed at
less than ten shillings a piece per annum, the nation's stock
will be thereby encreased fifty thousand pounds per annum,
besides the profit of a new dish, introduced to the tables of all
gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom, who have any refinement in
taste. And the money will circulate among our selves, the goods
A Modest Proposal |
