| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: he did not. He only growled softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting
my head a little I got a full view of him. He was about the biggest
lion I ever saw, and I have seen a great many, and he had a most
tremendous black mane. What his teeth were like you can see--look
there, pretty big ones, ain't they? Altogether he was a magnificent
animal, and as I lay sprawling on the fore-tongue of the waggon, it
occurred to me that he would look uncommonly well in a cage. He stood
there by the carcass of poor Kaptein, and deliberately disembowelled him
as neatly as a butcher could have done. All this while I dared not
move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping an eye on me as he licked
his bloody chops. When he had cleaned Kaptein out he opened his mouth
Long Odds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: We live, as we dream--alone. . . ."
He paused again as if reflecting, then added:
"Of course in this you fellows see more than I could then.
You see me, whom you know. . . ."
It had become so pitch dark that we listeners could hardly see
one another. For a long time already he, sitting apart, had been
no more to us than a voice. There was not a word from anybody.
The others might have been asleep, but I was awake.
I listened, I listened on the watch for the sentence, for the word,
that would give me the clue to the faint uneasiness inspired
by this narrative that seemed to shape itself without human
Heart of Darkness |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: Deep solemn, tranquil, the gloaming hour brought him no ordinary fullness of
joy and clearness of perception.
"Do you ever feel this stillness?" he asked Wetzel one evening, as they sat
near their flickering fire.
The hunter puffed his pipe, and, like an Indian, seemed to let the question
take deep root.
"I've scalped redskins every hour in the day, 'ceptin' twilight," he replied.
Joe wondered no longer whether the hunter was too hardened to feel this
beautiful tranquillity. That hour which wooed Wetzel from his implacable
pursuit was indeed a bewitching one
There was never a time, when Joe lay alone in camp waiting for Wetzel, that he
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Tanach: Genesis 44: 15 And Joseph said unto them: 'What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I will indeed divine?'
Genesis 44: 16 And Judah said: 'What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.'
Genesis 44: 17 And he said: 'Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the goblet is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.'
Genesis 44: 18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said: 'Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.
Genesis 44: 19 My lord asked his servants, saying: Have ye a father, or a brother?
Genesis 44: 20 And we said unto my lord: We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
Genesis 44: 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants: Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
Genesis 44: 22 And we said unto my lord: The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
The Tanach |
