| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: sacrifice something--everything, even himself--to prove his
complete devotion. And the Emperor Nicholas was conscious of
evoking this rapture and deliberately aroused it. He played with
the cadets, surrounded himself with them, treating them sometimes
with childish simplicity, sometimes as a friend, and then again
with majestic solemnity. After that affair with the officer,
Nicholas Pavlovich said nothing to Kasatsky, but when the latter
approached he waved him away theatrically, frowned, shook his
finger at him, and afterwards when leaving, said: 'Remember that
I know everything. There are some things I would rather not
know, but they remain here,' and he pointed to his heart.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: Soc. No, when we pause a while.
Her. Then you have not observed that, as to any interval between your
talk, a man would find it hard to insert a hair, much more one grain
of sense.
Then Socrates: O Callias, to the rescue! help a man severely handled
by his cross-examiner.
Call. With all my heart (and as he spoke he faced Hermogenes). Why,
when the flute is talking, we are as silent as the grave.
Her. What, would you have me imitate Nicostratus[1] the actor,
reciting his tetrameters[2] to the music of the fife? Must I discourse
to you in answer to the flute?
The Symposium |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons
of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able
to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a
desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a
|
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 Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Clarinda, Frisco to Yokohama with dynamite. We disabled our
rudder yesterday, an' this afternoon fire started in the hold.
It's makin' headway fast now, an'll reach the dynamite most
any time. You'd better take us aboard, an' get away from
here as quick as you can. 'Tain't safe nowhere within five
hun'erd fathom of her."
"You'd better make haste, Captain, hadn't you?" suggested
Mr. Harding.
"I don't like the looks of things, sir," replied that officer.
"She ain't flyin' any dynamite flag, an' if she was an' had a
hold full there wouldn't be any particular danger to us, an'
The Mucker |
