| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: "There has been too much talk of killing. We will go now.
I take the thorn-pointed thing, Thuu, because I have fought
and worsted thee."
"See, then, that the thing does not kill thee at last. It is
Death! Remember, it is Death! There is enough in that thing to
kill the men of all my city. Not long wilt thou hold it, Jungle
Man, nor he who takes it from thee. They will kill, and kill,
and kill for its sake! My strength is dried up, but the ankus
will do my work. It is Death! It is Death! It is Death!"
Mowgli crawled out through the hole into the passage again, and
the last that he saw was the White Cobra striking furiously with
The Second Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Research Magnificent by H. G. Wells: an arm of the sea, amazingly beautiful on either shore, that wound
its way into the wild mountains and ended in a deep blue bay under
the tremendous declivity of Montenegro. The quay, with its trees
and lateen craft, ran along under the towers and portcullised gate
of the old Venetian wall, within clustered the town, and then the
fortifications zigzagged up steeply to a monstrous fantastic
fortress perched upon a great mountain headland that overhung the
town. Behind it the rocks, slashed to and fro with the road to
Cettinje, continued to ascend into blue haze, upward and upward
until they became a purple curtain that filled half the heavens.
The paved still town was squalid by day, but in the evening it
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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 Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: excitement, by which the blood is heated."
Thereupon, he said in an undertone to Rosa --
"My child, I am innocent, and I shall await my trial with
tranquillity and an easy mind."
"Hush," said Rosa.
"Why hush?"
"My father must not suppose that we have been talking to
each other."
"What harm would that do?"
"What harm? He would never allow me to come here any more,"
said Rosa.
The Black Tulip |
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 Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: inherited certain elements of the eternal feminine.
"But there was a woman and you did lie to me," she kept
repeating, after he had explained.
"What of that? Bess, I'll get angry at you in a moment. Remember
you've been pent up all your life. I venture to say that if you'd
been out in the world you d have had a dozen sweethearts and have
told many a lie before this."
"I wouldn't anything of the kind," declared Bess,
indignantly.
"Well--perhaps not lie. But you'd have had the sweethearts--You
couldn't have helped that--being so pretty."
Riders of the Purple Sage |
