| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: curred. A new Russian corps, hastily raised in the govern-
ment of Yeniseisk, had marched to Tomsk to endeavor to
retake the town. But, being too weak to withstand the
Emir's troops, now concentrated there, they had been forced
to effect a retreat. Feofar-Khan, including his own sol-
diers, and those of the Khanats of Khokhand and Koun-
douze, had now under his command two hundred and fifty
thousand men, to which the Russian government could not
as yet oppose a sufficient force. The invasion could not,
therefore, be immediately stopped, and the whole Tartar
army might at once march upon Irkutsk. The battle of
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ruling Passion by Henry van Dyke: who changed my mind about the smoking. But not in a moment, you
understand; it was a work of four days, and she spoke much.
"The first day it was at the Island House; we were trolling for
ouananiche, and she was not pleased, for she lost many of the fish.
I was smoking at the stern of the canoe, and she said that the
tobacco was a filthy weed, that it grew in the devil's garden, and
that it smelled bad, terribly bad, and that it made the air sick,
and that even the pig would not eat it."
I could imagine Patrick's dismay as he listened to this
dissertation; for in his way he was as sensitive as a woman, and he
would rather have been upset in his canoe than have exposed himself
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: And is not your whole social economy summed up in terms of Power and
Pleasure?
" 'There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters
of your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money?
Know this for certain--methods are always confounded with results; you
will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from
matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.--The ten of
us are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days
of the week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in
conclave, we reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive
us; we are in possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep
Gobseck |
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 Koran: see your acts, and ye shall be brought back to Him who knows the
seen and 'the unseen, and He shall inform you of that which ye have
done.
And others are in hopes of God's bidding; whether He will torment
them, or whether He turn again towards them; for God is knowing, wise.
And there are those who have taken to a mosque for mischief, and for
misbelief, and to make a breach amongst the believers, and for an
ambush for him who made war against God and His Apostle before; they
surely swear, 'We only wished for what was good;' but God bears
witness that they are liars.
Never stand up therein!- there is a mosque founded on piety from the
The Koran |
