| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: or lost. Those who retreat after a battle have lost it is what we say;
and according to that it is we who lost the battle of Pultusk. In
short, we retreat after the battle but send a courier to Petersburg
with news of a victory, and General Bennigsen, hoping to receive
from Petersburg the post of commander in chief as a reward for his
victory, does not give up the command of the army to General
Buxhowden. During this interregnum we begin a very original and
interesting series of maneuvers. Our aim is no longer, as it should
be, to avoid or attack the enemy, but solely to avoid General
Buxhowden who by right of seniority should be our chief. So
energetically do we pursue this aim that after crossing an
War and Peace |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: No wonder the primitives worshiped him, or that they
devised rituals which should convey his power and vitality
by mere contact, or that in sacramental feasts
they ate his flesh and drank his blood as a magic symbol and
means of salvation.
[1] Four Stages, p. 34.
VI. MAGICIANS, KINGS AND GODS
It is perhaps necessary, at the commencement of this chapter,
to say a, few more words about the nature and origin of
the belief in Magic. Magic represented on one side, and
clearly enough, the beginnings of Religion--i.e. the instinctive
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: love you, else you'd have no doubts. But it's natural you
shouldn't, for I'm not so good as you. I can't doubt it's right
for me to love the best thing God's ever given me to know."
"Nay, Adam. It seems to me that my love for you is not weak, for
my heart waits on your words and looks, almost as a little child
waits on the help and tenderness of the strong on whom it depends.
If the thought of you took slight hold of me, I should not fear
that it would be an idol in the temple. But you will strengthen
me--you will not hinder me in seeking to obey to the uttermost."
"Let us go out into the sunshine, Dinah, and walk together. I'll
speak no word to disturb you."
Adam Bede |
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 Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: visiting the Louvre, they would do well to have heard Bazin by way
of antidote. He had delighted in the museums in his youth. 'One
sees there little miracles of work,' he said; 'that is what makes a
good workman; it kindles a spark.' We asked him how he managed in
La Fere. 'I am married,' he said, 'and I have my pretty children.
But frankly, it is no life at all. From morning to night I pledge
a pack of good enough fellows who know nothing.'
It faired as the night went on, and the moon came out of the
clouds. We sat in front of the door, talking softly with Bazin.
At the guard-house opposite, the guard was being for ever turned
out, as trains of field artillery kept clanking in out of the
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