| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: think I'd be safe with Dick, even if it is wild out there."
"All right, I'll let you go. When you return we'll see about the college."
Then he surprised me by drawing a letter from his pocket and handing it to
me. "My friend, Mr. White, got this letter from the department at
Washington. It may be of use to you out there."
So it was settled, and when father drove off homeward Hal and I went back
to camp. It would have been hard to say which of us was the more excited.
Hal did a war dance round the campfire. I was glad, however, that he did
not have the little twinge of remorse which I experienced, for I had not
told him or father all that Dick had written about the wilderness of
Penetier. I am afraid my mind was as much occupied with rifles and mustangs
The Young Forester |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: shelves down from the shallow foot to the deep head of the pool.
The boy wonders how far he dare wade out along that slippery floor.
The water is within an inch of his boot-tops now. But the slope
seems very even, and just beyond his reach a good fish is rising.
Only one step more, and then, like the wicked man in the psalm, his
feet begin to slide. Slowly, and standing bolt upright, with the
rod held high above his head, as if it must on no account get wet,
he glides forward up to his neck in the ice-cold bath, gasping with
amazement. There have been other and more serious situations in
life into which, unless I am mistaken, you have made an equally
unwilling and embarrassed entrance, and in which you have been
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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 Art of War by Sun Tzu: 7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you
only attack places which are undefended.
[Wang Hsi explains "undefended places" as "weak points; that
is to say, where the general is lacking in capacity, or the
soldiers in spirit; where the walls are not strong enough, or the
precautions not strict enough; where relief comes too late, or
provisions are too scanty, or the defenders are variance amongst
themselves."]
You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold
positions that cannot be attacked.
[I.e., where there are none of the weak points mentioned
The Art of War |
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 Before Adam by Jack London: to the extent that she was. She whimpered and cried
and was restless all that night. In the morning she
took the child in her arms, and by sharp cries,
gestures, and example, started me on our second long
flight. There were eight of the Folk (all that was left
of the horde) that remained behind in the caves. There
was no hope for them. Without doubt, even if the Fire
People did not return, they must soon have perished.
It was a bad climate down there by the sea. The Folk
were not constituted for the coast-dwelling life.
We travelled south, for days skirting the great swamp
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