| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: it is to lose forever the heaven above for a perishable and changeful
moment here below? Unhappy wretch! I see thee precipitated for ever in
the gulfs of hell unless thou payest to God in this world that which
thou owest him for such offence."
Thereupon the good old abbot, who was of that flesh of which saints
are made, and who had great authority in the country of Touraine,
terrified the young man by a heap of representations, Christian
discourses, remembrances of the commandments of the Church, and a
thousand eloquent things--as many as a devil could say in six weeks to
seduce a maiden--but so many that Rene, who was in the loyal fervour
of innocence, made his submission to the good abbot. The said abbot,
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: perhaps, quite as much to the mental state at the time, as to the
outward circumstances.
- Here is another of these curiously recurring remarks. I have
said it, and heard it many times, and occasionally met with
something like it in books, - somewhere in Bulwer's novels, I
think, and in one of the works of Mr. Olmsted, I know.
MEMORY, IMAGINATION, OLD SENTIMENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS, ARE MORE
READILY REACHED THROUGH THE SENSE OF SMELL THAN BY ALMOST ANY OTHER
CHANNEL.
Of course the particular odors which act upon each person's
susceptibilities differ. - O, yes! I will tell you some of mine.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: Write up his title with usurping blood.
[He stamps, and the soldiers show themselves.]
KING HENRY.
My Lord of Warwick, hear but one word:
Let me for this my lifetime reign as king.
YORK.
Confirm the crown to me, and to mine heirs,
And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou liv'st.
KING HENRY.
I am content; Richard Plantagenet,
Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.
|
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 Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: floated so perfectly that from his knees up the boy was entirely dry. As for
the Pumpkinhead, every stitch of his gorgeous clothing dripped water.
"The sun will soon dry us," said Tip "and, anyhow, we are now safely across,
in spite of the ferryman, and can continue our journey.
"I didn't mind swimming, at all," remarked the horse.
"Nor did I," added Jack.
They soon regained the road of yellow brick, which proved to be a
continuation of the road they had left on the other side, and then Tip once
more mounted the Pumpkinhead upon the back of the Saw-Horse.
63
"If you ride fast," said he, "the wind will help to dry your clothing. I
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
