| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: spirit also faithfully worship and salute the emblem of the life-
giving and venerable Cross, for the sake of him that hung thereon
in the flesh, for the salvation of our race, Christ the God and
Saviour of the world, who gave it to us as the sign of victory
over the devil; for the devil trembleth and quaketh at the virtue
thereof, and endureth not to behold it. In such doctrines and in
such faith shalt thou be baptized, keeping thy faith unwavering
and pure of all heresy until thy latest breath. But all teaching
and every speech of doctrine contrary to this blameless faith
abhor, and consider it an alienation from God. For, as saith the
Apostle, `Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: waxed pale and wasted away, but in the presence of his father,
whenever he chanced to come to him, he made as though he were
cheerful and without trouble, unwilling that his cares should
come to his father's knowledge. But he longed with an
unrestrainable yearning, to meet with the man that might
accomplish his heart's desire, and fill his ears with the sound
of good tidings.
Again he enquired of the tutor of whom we have spoken, whether he
knew of anybody able to help him towards his desire, and to
establish a mind, dazed and shuddering at its cogitations, and
unable to throw off its burden. He, recollecting their former
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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 Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx: extremes--Capital and Wage-slavery--, but in order to weaken their
antagonism and transform them into a harmonious whole. However
different the methods may be that are proposed for the accomplishment of
this object, however much the object itself may be festooned with more
or less revolutionary fancies, the substance remains the same. This
substance is the transformation of society upon democratic lines, but a
transformation within the boundaries of the small traders' class. No
one must run away with the narrow notion that the small traders' class
means on principle to enforce a selfish class interest. It believes
rather that the special conditions for its own emancipation are the
general conditions under which alone modern society can be saved and the
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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 Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and then, scarce stirring a leaf in his descent, dropped
to the ground once again outside the palisade, and, with the
speed of a deer, ran quickly round to the village gate.
Here he beat upon the fibre-bound saplings of which the
barrier was constructed, shouting to the natives in their own
tongue that he was a friend who wished food and shelter for
the night.
Tarzan knew well the nature of the black man. He was
aware that the grunting and screaming of Sheeta in the tree
above them would set their nerves on edge, and that his
pounding upon their gate after dark would still further add
The Beasts of Tarzan |
