| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: that having no help, they found they should be starved; but if the
Spaniards would give them leave to take one of the canoes which
they came over in, and give them arms and ammunition proportioned
to their defence, they would go over to the main, and seek their
fortunes, and so deliver them from the trouble of supplying them
with any other provisions.
The Spaniards were glad enough to get rid of them, but very
honestly represented to them the certain destruction they were
running into; told them they had suffered such hardships upon that
very spot, that they could, without any spirit of prophecy, tell
them they would be starved or murdered, and bade them consider of
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: muttered. 'There is no one here.' And then I let my head fall
on my breast, and I stood before her, the statue of despair. Had
she felt a grain of suspicion, a grain of doubt, my bearing must
have opened her eyes; but her mind was cast in so noble a mould
that, having once thought ill of me and been converted, she could
feel no doubt again. She must trust all in all. A little
recovered from her fright, she stood looking at me in great
wonder; and at last she had a thought--
'You are not well?' she said suddenly. 'It is your old wound,
Monsieur. Now I have it?'
'Yes, Mademoiselle,' I muttered faintly, 'it is.'
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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 Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: That the eating of the flesh of an animal or a man conveys
to you some of the qualities, the life-force, the
mana, of that animal or man, is an idea which one often
meets with among primitive folk. Hence the common
tendency to eat enemy warriors slain in battle against
your tribe. By doing so you absorb some of their valor
and strength. Even the enemy scalps which an Apache
Indian might hang from his belt were something magical
to add to the Apache's power. As Gilbert Murray says,[1]
"you devoured the holy animal to get its mana, its swiftness,
its strength, its great endurance, just as the savage now
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
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 God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: less of such loss the better. The servant of God must keep his mind
as wide and sound and his motives as clean as he can, just as an
operating surgeon must keep his nerves and muscles as fit and his
hands as clean as he can. Neither may righteously evade exercise
and regular washing--of mind as of hands. An incessant watchfulness
of one's self and one's thoughts and the soundness of one's
thoughts; cleanliness, clearness, a wariness against indolence and
prejudice, careful truth, habitual frankness, fitness and steadfast
work; these are the daily fundamental duties that every one who
truly comes to God will, as a matter of course, set before himself.
5. THE INCREASING KINGDOM
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