| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: Nor knows that band of crystals bright,
Her hasty touch untied.
It slips adown her silken dress,
Falls glittering at her feet;
Unmarked it falls, for she no less
Pursues her labour sweet.
The very loveliest hour that shines,
Is in that deep blue sky;
The golden sun of June declines,
It has not caught her eye.
The cheerful lawn, and unclosed gate,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: of gaining military degrees by trial of strength with stone
weights, agility with the sword, or marksmanship with the bow on
foot or on horseback, ARE OF NO USE TO MEN IN THE ARMY, WHERE
STRATEGY AND MILITARY SCIENCE ARE THE SINE QUA NON TO OFFICE, and
hence they should be done away with forever." It is, as it was
with Kuang Hsu, the strengthening of the army she has in mind in
her first efforts at reform, that she may be able to back up with
war-ships and cannon, if necessary, her refusal to allow Italy or
any other European power to filch, without reason or excuse, the
territory of her ancestors.
September 12, 1901, she issued another edict commanding that "all
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: down the stream. Now the earthenware pot tried its best to keep
aloof from the brass one, which cried out: "Fear nothing, friend,
I will not strike you."
"But I may come in contact with you," said the other, "if I
come too close; and whether I hit you, or you hit me, I shall
suffer for it."
The strong and the weak cannot keep company.
The Four Oxen and the Lion
A Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to
dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came
near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way
Aesop's Fables |
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 Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Green Monkey could run over the ground very swiftly,
and he carried with him the bird-cage containing
Polychrome the Rain-bow's Daughter. Also the Tin Owl
could skip and fly along at a good rate of speed, his
feathers rattling against one another with a tinkling
sound as he moved. But the little Brown Bear, being
stuffed with straw, was a clumsy traveler and the
others had to wait for him to follow.
However, they were not very long in reaching the
ridge that led out of Mrs. Yoop's Valley, and when they
had passed this ridge and descended into the next
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
