| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: the many might well stop short. The teacher only needed to proceed
further, not into a higher region, but into a lower one, namely, into
the region of the logical understanding, and there make deductions from,
and illustrations of, those higher truths which he held in common with
every slave, and held on the same ground as they.
And the consequence of this method of philosophising was patent. They
were enabled to produce, in the lives of millions, generation after
generation, a more immense moral improvement than the world had ever
seen before. Their disciples did actually become righteous and good
men, just in proportion as they were true to the lessons they learnt.
They did, for centuries, work a distinct and palpable deliverance on the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: the ear: "Better for thee to rear up thy devil! Even for thee there is
still a path to greatness!"--
Ah, my brethren! One knoweth a little too much about every one! And many
a one becometh transparent to us, but still we can by no means penetrate
him.
It is difficult to live among men because silence is so difficult.
And not to him who is offensive to us are we most unfair, but to him who
doth not concern us at all.
If, however, thou hast a suffering friend, then be a resting-place for his
suffering; like a hard bed, however, a camp-bed: thus wilt thou serve him
best.
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: manner, but briefly and with the greatest simplicity, so as to enter
the mind readily and be fixed in the memory. Therefore we shall now
take up the above mentioned articles one by one and in the plainest
manner possible say about them as much as is necessary.
Part First. The Ten Commandments.
The First Commandment.
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
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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 An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: Gertrude, but then all men were asses in their dealings with
women, and since he had transferred his weakness to her own
account it no longer seemed to need justification. And now, as
her concern for Erskine, whom she pitied, wore off, she began to
resent Trefusis's journey with Gertrude as an attack on her
recently acquired monopoly of him. There was an air of
aristocratic pride about Gertrude which Agatha had formerly
envied, and which she still feared Trefusis might mistake for an
index of dignity and refinement. Agatha did not believe that her
resentment was the common feeling called jealousy, for she still
deemed herself unique, but it gave her a sense of meanness that
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