| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: satisfied with that, and the war broke loose. Study, practice,
experience in handling my end of the matter presently enabled me
to take my new position almost seriously; a little bit later,
utterly seriously; a little later still, lovingly, gratefully,
devotedly; finally: fiercely, rabidly, uncompromisingly. After
that I was welded to my faith, I was theoretically ready to die
for it, and I looked down with compassion not unmixed with scorn
upon everybody else's faith that didn't tally with mine. That
faith, imposed upon me by self-interest in that ancient day,
remains my faith today, and in it I find comfort, solace, peace,
and never-failing joy. You see how curiously theological it is.
What is Man? |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: as they could in the direction of Mount Munch.
"I don't like this invisible country," said Woot with
a shudder. "We can't tell how many dreadful, invisible
beasts are roaming around us, or what danger we'll come
to next."
"Quit thinking about danger, please," said the
Scarecrow, warningly.
"Why?" asked the boy.
"If you think of some dreadful thing, it's liable to
happen, but if you don't think of it, and no one else
thinks of it, it just can't happen. Do you see?"
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: sleep had come; and when I remember, I am not surprised that I made
my escape into the court with somewhat whirling fancies, and stood
like a man bewildered in the windy starry night.
But I was weary; and when I had quieted my spirits with Elizabeth
Seton's memoirs - a dull work - the cold and the raving of the wind
among the pines (for my room was on that side of the monastery
which adjoins the woods) disposed me readily to slumber. I was
wakened at black midnight, as it seemed, though it was really two
in the morning, by the first stroke upon the bell. All the
brothers were then hurrying to the chapel; the dead in life, at
this untimely hour, were already beginning the uncomforted labours
|
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 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: awful talk, than with "t' little maister" and his staunch
supporter, that odious old man! When Heathcliff is in, I'm often
obliged to seek the kitchen and their society, or starve among the
damp uninhabited chambers; when he is not, as was the case this
week, I establish a table and chair at one corner of the house
fire, and never mind how Mr. Earnshaw may occupy himself; and he
does not interfere with my arrangements. He is quieter now than he
used to be, if no one provokes him: more sullen and depressed, and
less furious. Joseph affirms he's sure he's an altered man: that
the Lord has touched his heart, and he is saved "so as by fire."
I'm puzzled to detect signs of the favourable change: but it is
Wuthering Heights |
