| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: Here, in the evenings, they studied blacksmithing, carpentering, and other
necessary arts from books which they had brought out of the farmhouse.
Snowball also busied himself with organising the other animals into what
he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the
Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the
cows, the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee (the object of this was to
tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep, and
various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing. On the
whole, these projects were a failure. The attempt to tame the wild
creatures, for instance, broke down almost immediately. They continued to
behave very much as before, and when treated with generosity, simply took
Animal Farm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: transferred to me by revolting malice, still that my life had been
full of perverse pleasures, and that unless he accepted that as a
fact about me and realised it to the full I could not possibly be
friends with him any more, or ever be in his company. It was a
terrible shock to him, but we are friends, and I have not got his
friendship on false pretences.
Emotional forces, as I say somewhere in INTENTIONS, are as limited
in extent and duration as the forces of physical energy. The
little cup that is made to hold so much can hold so much and no
more, though all the purple vats of Burgundy be filled with wine to
the brim, and the treaders stand knee-deep in the gathered grapes
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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 Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: "In my humble way I am a student of man, and some years ago I made
the discovery that he is most intimately to be studied in the
reflections of him provided for the theatre."
"That is a very original and profound discovery," said Pantaloon,
quite seriously. "It had never occurred to me. Yet is it true.
Sir, it is a truth that dignifies our art. You are a man of parts,
that is clear to me. It has been clear since first I met you. I
can read a man. I knew you from the moment that you said
'good-morning.' Tell me, now: Do you think you could assist me
upon occasion in the preparation of a scenario? My mind, fully
engaged as it is with a thousand details of organization, is not
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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 Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: the future where it would grow and spread; His sight pierced into
the understanding of others. The perfection of the inner eye gives
rise to the gift of Specialism. Specialism brings with it
Intuition. Intuition is one of the faculties of the Inner Man, of
which Specialism is an attribute. Intuition acts by an
imperceptible sensation of which he who obeys it is not conscious:
for instance, Napoleon instinctively moving from a spot struck
immediately afterwards by a cannon ball.
XVII
Between the sphere of Abstraction and that of Specialism, as
between those of Abstraction and Instinct, there are beings in
Louis Lambert |
