| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: the brush to-day, I wot. Nay, if you had meant to make a
footcloth of your mantle, better have kept Tracy's old drab-de-
bure, which despises all colours."
"This cloak," said the youth, taking it up and folding it, "shall
never be brushed while in my possession."
"And that will not be long, if you learn not a little more
economy; we shall have you in CUERPO soon, as the Spaniard says."
Their discourse was here interrupted by one of the band of
Pensioners.
"I was sent," said he, after looking at them attentively, "to a
gentleman who hath no cloak, or a muddy one.--You, sir, I think,"
Kenilworth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: of his passion, and farther on down the moon track and the glittering
stretches that vanished in the cold, blue horizon. The moon soared
radiant and calm, the white stars shone serene. The vault of heaven
seemed illimitable and divine. The desert surrounded him, silver-streaked
and black-mantled, a chaos of rock and sand, silent, austere,
ancient, always waiting. It spoke to Cameron. It was a naked
corpse, but it had a soul. In that wild solitude the white stars
looked down upon him pitilessly and pityingly. They had shone
upon a desert that might once have been alive and was now dead,
and might again throb with life, only to die. It was a terrible
ordeal for him to stand along and realize that he was only a man
Desert Gold |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: "An excellent illustration," said Bertie. "That is subjective in me.
Similar to your dislike of water as a beverage. That is subjective in
you. But here comes the twist. I can think of my own anger and judge
it, just as if it were an outside thing, like a table. I can compare it
with itself on different mornings or with other people's anger. And I
trust that you can do the same with your thirst."
"Yes," said Billy; "I recognize that it is greater at times and less at
others."
"Very well, There you are. Duality of the ego."
"Subject and object," said Billy. "Perfectly true, and very queer when
you try to think of it. Wonder how far it goes? Of course, one can
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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 Lin McLean by Owen Wister: sprang from your scarce-halted car at the summons of a gong. You
discerned by instinct the right direction, and, passing steadily through
doorways, had taken, before you knew it, one of some sixty chairs in a
room of tables and catsup bottles. Behind the chairs, standing attention,
a platoon of Amazons, thick-wristed, pink-and-blue, began immediately a
swift chant. It hymned the total bill-of-fare at a blow. In this
inexpressible ceremony the name of every dish went hurtling into the
next, telescoped to shapelessness. Moreover, if you stopped your Amazon
in the middle, it dislocated her, and she merely went back and took a
fresh start. The chant was always the same, but you never learned it. As
soon as it began, your mind snapped shut like the upper berth in a
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