| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Koran: Verily, those who turn their backs after the guidance that has
been manifested to them-Satan induces them,- but (God) lets them go
'On for a time!
That is for that they say to those who are averse from what God
has revealed, 'We will obey you in part of the affair!' but God
knows their secrets! How will it be when the angels take their
souls, smiting their faces and their backs?
This is because they follow what angers God and are averse from
His goodwill; and their works are void.
Do those in whose hearts is sickness reckon that God will not
bring their malice forth?
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: of theurgy and magic, as material means of compelling them to appear, or
alluring them to favour man. The answer of Abamnon, Anebos, Iamblichus,
or whoever the real author may have been, is worthy of perusal by every
metaphysical student, as a curious phase of thought, not confined to
that time, but rife, under some shape or other, in every age of the
world's history, and in this as much as in any. There are many passages
full of eloquence, many more full of true and noble thought: but on the
whole, it is the sewing of new cloth into an old garment; the attempt to
suit the old superstition to the new one, by eclectically picking and
choosing, and special pleading, on both sides; but the rent is only made
worse. There is no base superstition which Abamnon does not
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: the life which has been often celebrated for its innocence and
quiet; let us pass the heat of the day among the shepherds' tents,
and know whether all our searches are not to terminate in pastoral
simplicity."
The proposal pleased them; and they induced the shepherds, by small
presents and familiar questions, to tell the opinion of their own
state. They were so rude and ignorant, so little able to compare
the good with the evil of the occupation, and so indistinct in
their narratives and descriptions, that very little could be
learned from them. But it was evident that their hearts were
cankered with discontent; that they considered themselves as
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