The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: religion put too early into their mouths may become a cant,
something worse than blasphemy.
Yet children are sometimes very near to God. Creative passion stirs
in their play. At times they display a divine simplicity. But it
does not follow that therefore they should be afflicted with
theological formulae or inducted into ceremonies and rites that they
may dislike or misinterpret. If by any accident, by the death of a
friend or a distressing story, the thought of death afflicts a
child, then he may begin to hear of God, who takes those that serve
him out of their slain bodies into his shining immortality. Or if
by some menial treachery, through some prowling priest, the whisper
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Where is the Truth Pond?" asked the shaggy man, earnestly.
"Somewhere in the Land of Oz; but just the exact location of it I
can not tell," was the answer.
"Don't worry, Shaggy Man," said Dorothy, smiling because her friend
wagged his new ears so comically. "If the Truth Pond is in Oz, we'll
be sure to find it when we get there."
"Oh! Are you going to the Land of Oz?" asked King Kik-a-bray.
"I don't know," she replied, "but we've been told we are nearer the
Land of Oz than to Kansas, and if that's so, the quickest way for me
to get home is to find Ozma."
"Haw-haw! Do you know the mighty Princess Ozma?" asked the King, his
 The Road to Oz |