| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: confusion, the glen resounded with the approbation of his younger
friends.
"Ay, ay!" exclaimed Simon of Hackburn, "that's the gate to take
it, Hobbie. Let women sit and greet at hame, men must do as they
have been done by; it's the Scripture says't."
"Haud your tongue, sir," said one of the seniors, sternly; "dinna
abuse the Word that gate, ye dinna ken what ye speak about."
"Hae ye ony tidings?--Hae ye ony speerings, Hobbie?--O, callants,
dinna be ower hasty," said old Dick of the Dingle.
"What signifies preaching to us, e'enow?" said Simon; "if ye
canna make help yoursell, dinna keep back them that can."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: indulgence-fairs. God have pity on such blindness.
VI. On the other hand, parents cannot earn eternal punishment in
any way more easily than by neglecting their own children in
their own home, and not teaching them the things which have been
spoken of above. Of what help is it, that they kill themselves
with fasting, praying, making pilgrimages, and do all manner of
good works? God will, after all, not ask them about these things
at their death and in the day of judgment, but will require of
them the children whom He entrusted to them. This is shown by
that word of Christ, Luke xxiii, "Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not for me, but for yourselves and for your children. The days
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "It's metal, sure enough," answered the child, gazing thoughtfully at
the curious thing she had found. "I think it is pure gold, and it must
have lain hidden in the sand for a long time. How do you suppose it came
there, Billina? And what do you suppose this mysterious key unlocks?"
"I can't say," replied the hen. "You ought to know more about locks
and keys than I do."
Dorothy glanced around. There was no sign of any house in that part
of the country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a lock and
every lock must have a purpose. Perhaps the key had been lost by
somebody who lived far away, but had wandered on this very shore.
Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her dress
Ozma of Oz |
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 Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: as no eye can follow the motion of a snake's head when it strikes,
this makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb.
Rikki-tikki knew he was a young mongoose, and it made him all the
more pleased to think that he had managed to escape a blow from
behind. It gave him confidence in himself, and when Teddy came
running down the path, Rikki-tikki was ready to be petted.
But just as Teddy was stooping, something wriggled a little in
the dust, and a tiny voice said: "Be careful. I am Death!" It
was Karait, the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the
dusty earth; and his bite is as dangerous as the cobra's. But he
is so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he does the more
The Jungle Book |
