| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: the shadow of death, the indestructible to the fleeting? Wilt
thou not escape from the grievous bondage of the cruel prince of
this world, I mean the evil one, the devil, and become the
servant of the good, tenderhearted, and all merciful Lord? Wilt
thou not break away from serving thy many gods, falsely so
called, and serve the one, true and living God? Though thou hast
sinned against him often times by blaspheming him, and often
times by slaying his servants with dread torments, yet, I know
well, that if thou turn again, he shall in his kindness receive
thee, and no more remember thine offences: because he willeth not
the death of a sinner but rather that he may turn and live -- he,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: that one, to bring the roses into your cheeks. We shall
be good Kameraden, as you and this little Griffith are--
what is it they say--good fellows? That is it--good
fellows, yes? So, shall we shake hands on it? "
But I snatched my hand away. "I don't
want to be a good fellow," I cried. "I'm tired of being
a good fellow. I've been a good fellow for years and
years, while every other married woman in the world has
been happy in her own home, bringing up her babies. When
I am old I want some sons to worry me, too, and to stay
awake nights for, and some daughters to keep me young,
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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 Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: The house roared that one too. As the last note died, Jack
Halliday's voice rose high and clear, freighted with a final line -
"But the Symbols are here, you bet!"
That was sung, with booming enthusiasm. Then the happy house
started in at the beginning and sang the four lines through twice,
with immense swing and dash, and finished up with a crashing three-
times-three and a tiger for "Hadleyburg the Incorruptible and all
Symbols of it which we shall find worthy to receive the hall-mark
to-night."
Then the shoutings at the Chair began again, all over the place:
"Go on! go on! Read! read some more! Read all you've got!"
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: for the race left before it arrives on the banks of the Styx; and
that is in the Lethe of the Pacific, which is three times as
wide.
I know not how significant it is, or how far it is an evidence of
singularity, that an individual should thus consent in his
pettiest walk with the general movement of the race; but I know
that something akin to the migratory instinct in birds and
quadrupeds--which, in some instances, is known to have affected
the squirrel tribe, impelling them to a general and mysterious
movement, in which they were seen, say some, crossing the
broadest rivers, each on its particular chip, with its tail
Walking |
