| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: CHASUBLE. [Raising his hand.] Charity, dear Miss Prism, charity!
None of us are perfect. I myself am peculiarly susceptible to
draughts. Will the interment take place here?
JACK. No. He seems to have expressed a desire to be buried in
Paris.
CHASUBLE. In Paris! [Shakes his head.] I fear that hardly points
to any very serious state of mind at the last. You would no doubt
wish me to make some slight allusion to this tragic domestic
affliction next Sunday. [JACK presses his hand convulsively.] My
sermon on the meaning of the manna in the wilderness can be adapted
to almost any occasion, joyful, or, as in the present case,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: else it will smoulder and discourage the fire. The best wood for it
is the body of a yellow birch, and, next to that, a green balsam.
It should be five or six feet long, and at least two and a half feet
in diameter. If you cannot find a tree thick enough, cut two or
three lengths of a smaller one; lay the thickest log on the ground
first, about ten or twelve feet in front of the tent; drive two
strong stakes behind it, slanting a little backward; and lay the
other logs on top of the first, resting against the stakes.
Now you are ready for the hand-chunks, or andirons. These are
shorter sticks of wood, eight or ten inches thick, laid at right
angles to the backlog, four or five feet apart. Across these you
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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 Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: condition of its existence, it ceases to be a force, and is
pulled down at once by the populace. The people always wish to
see money, power, and initiative in their leaders, hands, hearts,
and heads; they must be the spokesmen, they must represent the
intelligence and the glory of the nation. Nations, like women,
love strength in those who rule them; they cannot give love
without respect; they refuse utterly to obey those of whom they
do not stand in awe. An aristocracy fallen into contempt is a
roi faineant, a husband in petticoats; first it ceases to be
itself, and then it ceases to be.
And in this way the isolation of the great, the sharply marked
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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 Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: Education. You are this Evening to enter a World in which you
will meet with many wonderfull Things; Yet let me warn you
against suffering yourselves to be meanly swayed by the Follies
and Vices of others, for beleive me my beloved Children that if
you do--I shall be very sorry for it." They both assured me
that they would ever remember my advice with Gratitude, and
follow it with attention; That they were prepared to find a World
full of things to amaze and to shock them: but that they trusted
their behaviour would never give me reason to repent the Watchful
Care with which I had presided over their infancy and formed
their Minds--" "With such expectations and such intentions
Love and Friendship |
