| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tanach: Jeremiah 44: 12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
Jeremiah 44: 13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
Jeremiah 44: 14 so that none of the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return save such as shall escape.'
Jeremiah 44: 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives offered unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great assembly, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:
Jeremiah 44: 16 'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
Jeremiah 44: 17 But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to offer unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
The Tanach |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Georgics by Virgil: And o'er the mountains urge into the toils
Some antlered monster to their chiming cry.
Learn also scented cedar-wood to burn
Within the stalls, and snakes of noxious smell
With fumes of galbanum to drive away.
Oft under long-neglected cribs, or lurks
A viper ill to handle, that hath fled
The light in terror, or some snake, that wont
'Neath shade and sheltering roof to creep, and shower
Its bane among the cattle, hugs the ground,
Fell scourge of kine. Shepherd, seize stakes, seize stones!
Georgics |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: there came to his ears the sound of naked feet moving
stealthily upon stone--approaching nearer and nearer to
where he lay, unarmed and defenceless.
Minutes passed--minutes that seemed hours--during which
time periods of sepulchral silence would be followed
by a repetition of the uncanny scraping of naked
feet slinking warily upon him.
At last he heard a sudden rush of unshod soles
across the empty blackness, and at a little distance a
scuffling sound, heavy breathing, and once what he
thought the muttered imprecation of a man battling
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
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 Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: It will be easy to please my customers.
The reputation that trout enjoy as a food-fish is partly due to the
fact that they are usually cooked over an open fire. In the city
they never taste as good. It is not merely a difference in
freshness. It is a change in the sauce. If the truth must be told,
even by an angler, there are at least five salt-water fish which are
better than trout,--to eat. There is none better to catch.
IV
THE SMUDGE-FIRE
But enough of the cooking-fire. Let us turn now to the subject of
the smudge, known in Lower Canada as LA BOUCANE. The smudge owes
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