| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: was in dreadful danger of her life because of some intended attack of
the Zulus, and that all the Boers among whom she dwelt were also in
danger of their lives.
Therefore he suggested to Henri Marais that as the General Retief was
besotted and would not listen to his story, the best thing they could do
was to ride away and warn the Boers. This then they did secretly,
without the knowledge of Retief, but being delayed upon their journey by
one accident and another, which he set out in detail, they only reached
the Bushman's River too late, after the massacre had taken place.
Subsequently, as the commandant knew, hearing a rumour that Marie Marais
and other Boers had trekked to this place before the slaughter, they
Marie |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: pointed to a struggle. There remained only to prove whether there
had been a robbery as well as a murder.
"Judging from the man's position the bullet must have come from
that direction," said the commissioner, pointing towards the
cottages down the lane.
"People who are killed by bullets may turn several times before
they fall," said a gentle voice behind the police officer. The
voice seemed to suit the thin little man who stood there meekly,
his hat in his hand.
The commissioner turned quickly. "Ah, are you there already,
Muller?" he said, as if greatly pleased, while the physician broke
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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 Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: surprise. Whether it was his studies or his military exercises,
he took them up and worked at them till he was praised and held
up as an example to others. Mastering one subject he took up
another, and obtained first place in his studies. For example,
while still at College he noticed in himself an awkwardness in
French conversation, and contrived to master French till he spoke
it as well as Russian, and then he took up chess and became an
excellent player.
Apart from his main vocation, which was the service of his Tsar
and the fatherland, he always set himself some particular aim,
and however unimportant it was, devoted himself completely to it
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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 Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: leadership, whether of thought or action, grew
year by year, so that in his own household he was
veritably "in it but not of it."
At times his loneliness weighed upon him, as
when he wrote: "You would find it difficult to
imagine how isolated I am, to what an extent my
true self is despised by those who surround me."
But he must, none the less, have realised, as all
prophets and seers have done, that solitariness
of soul and freedom from the petty complexities
of social life are necessary to the mystic whose
The Forged Coupon |
