| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: SOCRATES: I want to know whether by his countrymen they are regarded as
one or two; or do they, as the names are three, distinguish also three
kinds, and assign one to each name?
THEODORUS: I dare say that the Stranger will not object to discuss the
question. What do you say, Stranger?
STRANGER: I am far from objecting, Theodorus, nor have I any difficulty in
replying that by us they are regarded as three. But to define precisely
the nature of each of them is by no means a slight or easy task.
THEODORUS: You have happened to light, Socrates, almost on the very
question which we were asking our friend before we came hither, and he
excused himself to us, as he does now to you; although he admitted that the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: communities, the teachings of the churches concerning chastity and
sexual purity, the prohibitions of the laws, and the hypocritical
conventions of society, have all demonstrated their failure as
safeguards against the chaos produced and the havoc wrought by the
failure to recognize sex as a driving force in human nature,--as great
as, if indeed not greater than, hunger. Its dynamic energy is
indestructible. It may be transmuted, refined, directed, even
sublimated, but to ignore, to neglect, to refuse to recognize this
great elemental force is nothing less than foolhardy.
Out of the unchallenged policies of continence, abstinence,
``chastity'' and ``purity,'' we have reaped the harvests of
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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 The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: ether and ordinary matter are alike composed of vortex-rings in a
quasi-frictionless fluid; but whatever be the fate of this subtle
hypothesis, we may be sure that no theory will ever be
entertained in which the analysis of ether shall require
different symbols from that of ordinary matter. In our authors'
theory, therefore, the putting on of immortality is in no wise
the passage from a material to a spiritual state. It is the
passage from one kind of materially conditioned state to another.
The theory thus appeals directly to our experiences of the
behaviour of matter; and in deriving so little support as it does
from these experiences, it remains an essentially weak
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
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 Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: horrible discord between my whole life and my
conscience.
"If I had gone away openly there would have
been entreaties, discussions: I should have wa-
vered, and perhaps failed to act on my decision,
whereas it must be so. I pray of you to forgive
me if my action grieves you. And do you, Sophie,
in particular let me go, neither seeking me out,
nor bearing me ill-will, nor blaming me . . .
the fact that I have left you does not mean that I
have cause of complaint against you . . . I
The Forged Coupon |
