| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: CHAPTER IX.
COLLECTORS.
AFTER all, two-legged depredators, who ought to have known better,
have perhaps done as much real damage in libraries as any other enemy.
I do not refer to thieves, who, if they injure the owners, do no harm
to the books themselves by merely transferring them from one set of
bookshelves to another. Nor do I refer to certain readers who frequent
our public libraries, and, to save themselves the trouble of copying,
will cut out whole articles from magazines or encyclopaedias.
Such depredations are not frequent, and only occur with books easily
replaced, and do not therefore call for more than a passing mention;
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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 Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: said. "It is enough for me to know that they are not dishonourable
and that anybody can see they are not the motives of an adventurer
seeking some sordid advantage."
He had listened patiently and when he saw that there was nothing
more to come he ended the discussion.
"Senor, we should reflect upon our motives. It is salutary for our
conscience and is recommended (he crossed himself) by our Holy
Mother the Church. I have here certain letters from Paris on which
I would consult your young sagacity which is accredited to us by
the most loyal Dona Rita."
The sound of that name on his lips was simply odious. I was
The Arrow of Gold |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: world looks upon us as ravagers of religion and insurgents against
constituted authority? We confess Christ and our conscience approves of it.
Then, too, we live in the fear of God. If we sin, we sin not on purpose, but
unwittingly, and we are sorry for it. Sin sticks in our flesh, and the flesh
gets us into sin even after we have been imbued by the Holy Ghost. Outwardly
there is no great difference between a Christian and any honest man. The
activities of a Christian are not sensational. He performs his duty according
to his vocation. He takes good care of his family, and is kind and helpful to
others. Such homely, everyday performances are not much admired. But the
setting-up exercises of the monks draw great applause. Holy works, you
know. Only the acts of a Christian are truly good and acceptable to God,
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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 The Cavalry General by Xenophon: readiness to strike a blow, and without exposing himself, to play
sentinel, waiting for any false move on the part of the hostile
armament. And it is a way with soldiers, bear in mind, the more
numerous they are, the more blunders they commit. They must needs
scatter of set purpose[9] in search of provisions; or through the
disorder incidental to a march, some will advance and others lag
behind, beyond a proper limit. Blunders like these, then, our hipparch
must not let pass unpunished (unless he wishes the whole of Attica to
become a gigantic camp);[10] keeping his single point steadily in
view, that when he strikes a blow he must be expeditious and retire
before the main body has time to rally to the rescue.
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