| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King James Bible: tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make
Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
HOS 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up
your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and
rain righteousness upon you.
HOS 10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have
eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the
multitude of thy mighty men.
HOS 10:14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy
fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of
battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: here for you. He has been shot."
"Is there any other wound beside this one in his arm?" asked Mrs. Zane,
examining it.
"I do not think so, and that injury is not serious. It is lose of blood,
exposure and starvation. Clarke, will you please run over to Captain Boggs and
tell Betty to hurry home! Sam, you get a blanket and warm it by the fire.
That's right, Bessie, bring the whiskey," and Colonel Zane went on giving
orders.
Alfred did not know in the least who Betty was, but, as he thought that
unimportant, he started off on a run for the fort. He had a vague idea that
Betty was the servant, possibly Sam's wife, or some one of the Colonel's
Betty Zane |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: `But let me tell thee now another tale:
For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say,
Died but of late, and sent his cry to me,
To hear him speak before he left his life.
Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage;
And when I entered told me that himself
And Merlin ever served about the King,
Uther, before he died; and on the night
When Uther in Tintagil past away
Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two
Left the still King, and passing forth to breathe,
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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 Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: a son!" he said, after a long pause.
Though the expression of despair on the duke's face was truly awful,
the bonesetter could not repress a smile. At that instant a song,
fresh as the evening breeze, pure as the sky, equable as the color of
the ocean, rose above the murmur of the waves, to cast its charm over
Nature herself. The melancholy of that voice, the melody of its tones
shed, as it were, a perfume rising to the soul; its harmony rose like
a vapor filling the air; it poured a balm on sorrows, or rather it
consoled them by expressing them. The voice mingled with the gurgle of
the waves so perfectly that it seemed to rise from the bosom of the
waters. That song was sweeter to the ears of those old men than the
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