| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: was confident that they had ceased to place the watchers about
them the moment that he had left them, and now he planned
not only to have a little fun at their expense but to teach
them a lesson in preparedness, which, by the way, is even
a more vital issue in the jungle than in civilized places.
That you and I exist today must be due to the preparedness
of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of course
the apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own
way--Tarzan had merely suggested a new and additional safeguard.
Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing.
He squatted in the fork of a tree from where he might
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: economize; for Harpagon is a mere novice compared to them. The
princess still retained some of her past relations with the exiled
royal family; and it was in her house that the marshal to whom we owe
the conquest of Africa had conferences, at the time of "Madame's"
attempt in La Vendee, with the principal leaders of legitimist
opinion,--so great was the obscurity in which the princess lived, and
so little distrust did the government feel for her in her present
distress.
Beholding the approach of that terrible fortieth year, the bankruptcy
of love, beyond which there is so little for a woman as woman, the
princess had flung herself into the kingdom of philosophy. She took to
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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 Wyoming by William MacLeod Raine: bought in Gimlet Butte, also such gala attire as was usually
reserved only for events of importance. Sitting his horse
carelessly in the plainsman's indolent fashion, he asked his
question of McWilliams in front of the Lazy D bunkhouse.
"Nope. When does the shindig come off?"
"Friday night. Big thing. Y'u want to be there. All y'u lads."
"Mebbe some of us will ride over."
He of the polka dot kerchief did not appear quite satisfied. His
glance wandered toward the house, as it had been doing
occasionally since the moment of his arrival.
"Y'u bet this dance is ace high, Mac. Fancy costumes and masks.
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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 Common Sense by Thomas Paine: will in a little time fall into a relapse more wretched than the first.
But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask,
Hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before
your face! Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on,
or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands,
and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor! If you have not,
then are you not a judge of those who have. But if you have,
and still can shake hands with the murderers, then are you unworthy
the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever
may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward,
and the spirit of a sycophant.
Common Sense |
