| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: time and, sighing, repeated:
"Tenderfoot certainly knows how to pull the strings
all right!"
"What I can't get into my head," observed Anastasio
Montanez, "is why we keep on fighting. Didn't we finish
off this man Huerta and his Federation?"
Neither the General nor Venancio answered; but the
same thought kept beating down on their dull brains like
a hammer on an anvil.
They ascended the steep hill, their heads bowed, pen-
sive, their horses walking at a slow gait. Stubbornly
The Underdogs |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: minute of six would he lay aside spade or hoe and turn his steps towards his
old horse tied under the tree, behind the barn. But the most attractive thing
about Patrick was his genial kindly smile, a smile that said as plainly as
words, that he had found life very comfortable and pleasant, and that he was
still more than content with it notwithstanding that his back was bowed with
work month in and month out, and the years were hurrying him fast on into old
age.
And so Tattine was fond of Patrick, for what (child though she was) she knew
him to be, and they spent many a delightful hour in each other's company.
"Patrick," said Tattine, on this particular morning, when they were raking
away side by side, "does Mrs. Kirk ever have a day at home?" and she glanced
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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 The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: deeper into the shadows of an opposite doorway as Tarzan
emerged from the brilliantly lighted amusement hall.
Had Tarzan but known it, he had been followed many times
from this and other places of amusement, but seldom if
ever had he been alone. Tonight D'Arnot had had another
engagement, and Tarzan had come by himself.
As he turned in the direction he was accustomed to taking
from this part of Paris to his apartments, the watcher across
the street ran from his hiding-place and hurried on ahead
at a rapid pace.
Tarzan had been wont to traverse the Rue Maule on his
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: for now we can understand them. Note the difference between Milton
and Dante in their interpretation of this power: for once, the
latter is weaker in thought; he supposes BOTH the keys to be of the
gate of heaven; one is of gold, the other of silver: they are given
by St. Peter to the sentinel angel; and it is not easy to determine
the meaning either of the substances of the three steps of the gate,
or of the two keys. But Milton makes one, of gold, the key of
heaven; the other, of iron, the key of the prison in which the
wicked teachers are to be bound who "have taken away the key of
knowledge, yet entered not in themselves."
We have seen that the duties of bishop and pastor are to see, and
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