| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: downhill and uphill and on sloping ground; times, also, when he will
need to leap across an obstacle; or, take a flying leap from off a
bank;[1] or, jump down from a height, the rider must teach and train
himself and his horse to meet all emergencies. In this way the two
will have a chance of saving each the other, and may be expected to
increase their usefulness.
[1] {ekpedan} = exsilire in altum (Sturz, and so Berenger); "to leap
over ditches, and upon high places and down from them."
And here, if any reader should accuse us of repeating ourselves, on
the ground that we are only stating now what we said before on the
same topics,[2] we say that this is not mere repetition. In the former
On Horsemanship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: the middle of it he could see a bright red streak. When he got up to it he
saw that it was a human hand severed at the wrist. Apart from the bloody
stump, the hand was so completely whitened as to resemble a plaster cast.
He kicked the thing into the gutter, and then, to avoid the crowd, turned
down a side-street to the right. Within three or four minutes he was out
of the area which the bomb had affected, and the sordid swarming life of
the streets was going on as though nothing had happened. It was nearly
twenty hours, and the drinking-shops which the proles frequented ('pubs',
they called them) were choked with customers. From their grimy swing doors,
endlessly opening and shutting, there came forth a smell of urine, sawdust,
and sour beer. In an angle formed by a projecting house-front three men
1984 |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: but ever since this Palace was built, I have shut myself up
and would not see any of them.
"One of my greatest fears was the Witches, for while I had no
magical powers at all I soon found out that the Witches were
really able to do wonderful things. There were four of them in
this country, and they ruled the people who live in the North and
South and East and West. Fortunately, the Witches of the North
and South were good, and I knew they would do me no harm; but the
Witches of the East and West were terribly wicked, and had they
not thought I was more powerful than they themselves, they would
surely have destroyed me. As it was, I lived in deadly fear of
The Wizard of Oz |
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 Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: old actor said. One must take things philosophically. How did you get
on without me?"
"Schmucke nursed me," said the invalid; "but our poor money-box and
our lessons have suffered. I do not know how he managed."
"Calm yourself, Bons," exclaimed Schmucke; "ve haf in Zipod ein
panker--"
"Do not speak of it, my lamb. You are our children, both of you,"
cried La Cibot. "Our savings will be well invested; you are safer than
the Bank. So long as we have a morsel of bread, half of it is yours.
It is not worth mentioning--"
"Boor Montame Zipod!" said Schmucke, and he went.
|
