| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: weak men and women subsisting under the covert of thy patience. Be
patient still; suffer us yet awhile longer; - with our broken
purposes of good, with our idle endeavours against evil, suffer us
awhile longer to endure, and (if it may be) help us to do better.
Bless to us our extraordinary mercies; if the day come when these
must be taken, brace us to play the man under affliction. Be with
our friends, be with ourselves. Go with each of us to rest; if any
awake, temper to them the dark hours of watching; and when the day
returns, return to us, our sun and comforter, and call us up with
morning faces and with morning hearts - eager to labour - eager to
be happy, if happiness shall be our portion - and if the day be
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: Soc. Just so!--to throw the quitch grass down to wither on the
surface, and to turn the soil up, so that the crude earth may have its
turn of baking.
XVII
You see, Socrates (he said, continuing the conversation), we hold the
same opinion, both of us, concerning fallow.
Why, so it seems (I said)--the same opinion.
Isch. But when it comes to sowing, what is your opinion? Can you
suggest a better time for sowing than that which the long experience
of former generations, combined with that of men now living,
recognises as the best? See, so soon as autumn time has come, the
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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 In Darkest England and The Way Out by General William Booth: gave him to the police. They took him to St George's Hospital, where
he died. It appeared that he had, according to his own tale, walked up
from Liverpool, and had been without food for five days. The doctor,
however, said he had gone longer than that. The jury returned a
verdict of "Death from Starvation."
Without food for five days or longer! Who that has experienced the
sinking sensation that is felt when even a single meal has been
sacrificed may form some idea of what kind of slow torture killed that
man!
In 1888 the average daily number of unemployed in London was estimated
by the Mansion House Committee at 20,000. This vast reservoir of
In Darkest England and The Way Out |
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 Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs: that he had come here to kill the white-haired man,
and with a bound stood in the center of the room--
an unarmed giant towering above the battling four.
The parang of the Dyak who sought Professor Maxon's
life was already falling as a mighty hand grasped the
wrist of the head hunter; but even then it was too late
to more than lessen the weight of the blow, and the
sharp edge of the blade bit deep into the forehead of
the white man. As he sank to his knees his other
antagonist freed an arm from the embrace which had
pinioned it to his side, but before he could deal the
The Monster Men |
