| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: frightened Rube on the bag.
Vane wasted a ball, then another. Ashwell
could not be coaxed. Wearily Vane swung; the
shortstop raced out to get in line for a possible
hit through the wide space to his right,
and the second baseman got on his toes as both
base runners started.
Crack! The old story of the hit and run game!
Ashwell's hit crossed sharply where a moment
before the shortstop had been standing. With
gigantic strides Rube rounded the corner and
The Redheaded Outfield |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: declared purpose of the Union that it WILL Constitutionally
defend and maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there
shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority.
The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess
the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect
the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects,
there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people
anywhere. Where hostility to the United States, in any interior locality,
shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens
from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force
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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 Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'This man - this lord,' he shouted, 'who is he? He was born
with a gold spoon in his mouth, and I with a dirty straw. He
rolled in his coach when he was a baby. I have dug and
toiled and laboured since I was that high - that high.' And
he shouted again. 'I'm bent and broke, and full of pains.
D' ye think I don't know the taste of sweat? Many's the
gallon I've drunk of it - ay, in the midwinter, toiling like
a slave. All through, what has my life been? Bend, bend,
bend my old creaking back till it would ache like breaking;
wade about in the foul mire, never a dry stitch; empty belly,
sore hands, hat off to my Lord Redface; kicks and ha'pence;
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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 A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: overheard the foolish--or propagandist--slur upon England in front of
the bulletin board. After we were fighting by England's side for our
existence, you might have supposed such talk would cease. It did not. And
after the Armistice, it continued. On the day we celebrated as "British
Day," a man went through the crowd in Wanamaker's shop, asking, What had
England done in the War, anyhow? Was he a German, or an Irishman, or an
American in pay of Berlin?, I do not know. But this I know: perfectly
good Americans still talk like that. Cowboys in camp do it. Men and women
in Eastern cities, persons with at least the external trappings of
educated intelligence, play into the hands of the Germany of to-morrow,
do their unconscious little bit of harm to the future of freedom and
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