| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means
of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.
It is repugnant to reason, to the universal order of things,
to all examples from former ages, to suppose, that this
continent can longer remain subject to any external power.
The most sanguine in Britain does not think so. The utmost
stretch of human wisdom cannot, at this time, compass a plan
short of separation, which can promise the continent even
a year's security. Reconciliation is NOW a fallacious dream.
Nature hath deserted the connection, and Art cannot supply
her place. For, as Milton wisely expresses, "never can true
Common Sense |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: but never else wilt thou conquer me."
There was a tone of desperation in his voice that made all look
serious.
"Nay," said Blunt; "I will fight thee no more, Myles Falworth;
thou hast had enough."
"By heavens!" cried Myles, grinding his teeth, "thou shalt fight
me, thou coward! Thou hast brought this fight upon us, and either
thou or I get our quittance here. Let go, Gascoyne!" he cried,
shaking loose his friend's hold; "I tell thee he shall fight me!"
From that moment Blunt began to lose his head. No doubt he had
not thought of such a serious fight as this when he had given his
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Night and Day by Virginia Woolf: parent's sorrow to rest.
Katharine wished to comfort her mother, but it was difficult to do
this satisfactorily when the facts themselves were so much of a
legend. The house in Russell Square, for example, with its noble
rooms, and the magnolia-tree in the garden, and the sweet-voiced
piano, and the sound of feet coming down the corridors, and other
properties of size and romance--had they any existence? Yet why should
Mrs. Alardyce live all alone in this gigantic mansion, and, if she did
not live alone, with whom did she live? For its own sake, Katharine
rather liked this tragic story, and would have been glad to hear the
details of it, and to have been able to discuss them frankly. But this
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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 U. S. Project Trinity Report by Carl Maag and Steve Rohrer: individuals received exposures greater than 2 but less than 4
roentgens; another 22 individuals received between 4 and 15 roentgens.
PREFACE
From 1945 to 1962, the U.S. Government, through the Manhattan Engineer
District (MED) and its successor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC), conducted 235 tests of nuclear devices at sites in the United
States and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In all, an estimated
220,000 Department of Defense (DOD)* participants, both military and
civilian, were present at the tests. Project TRINITY, the war-time
effort to test-fire a nuclear explosive device, was the first
atmospheric nuclear weapons test.
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