| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: These methods of indirect defence I have called _penal
substitutes_. But whereas the food substitutes are as a rule only
secondary products, brought into temporary use, penal substitutes
should become the main instruments of the function of social
defence, for which punishments will come to be secondary means,
albeit permanent. For in this connection we must not forget the
law of criminal saturation, which in every social environment
makes a minimum of crime inevitable, on account of the natural
factors inseparable from individual and social imperfection.
Punishments in one form or another will always be, for this
minimum, the ultimate though not very profitable remedy against
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: Not surmising that the notion of flight would occur to their prisoner,
they contented themselves with binding his hands, and after eating a
few dates, and giving provender to their horses, went to sleep.
When the brave Provencal saw that his enemies were no longer watching
him, he made use of his teeth to steal a scimiter, fixed the blade
between his knees, and cut the cords which prevented him from using
his hands; in a moment he was free. He at once seized a rifle and a
dagger, then taking the precautions to provide himself with a sack of
dried dates, oats, and powder and shot, and to fasten a scimiter to
his waist, he leaped on to a horse, and spurred on vigorously in the
direction where he thought to find the French army. So impatient was
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: "Oh that doesn't make any difference." Mrs. Jordan was not
philosophic; she was just evidently determined it SHOULDN'T make
any. "They're awfully interested in my ideas, and it's inevitable
they should meet me over them."
Her interlocutress was sturdy enough. "What do you call your
ideas?"
Mrs. Jordan's reply was fine. "If you were to see me some day with
a thousand tulips you'd discover."
"A thousand?"--the girl gaped at such a revelation of the scale of
it; she felt for the instant fairly planted out. "Well, but if in
fact they never do meet you?" she none the less pessimistically
|
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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: down and saddled his horse, he set forth to Mucklestane-Moor. He
avoided the company of either of his brothers, from an idea that
the Dwarf was most propitious to those who visited him alone.
"The creature," said he to himself, as he went along, "is no
neighbourly; ae body at a time is fully mair than he weel can
abide. I wonder if he's looked out o' the crib o' him to gather
up the bag o' siller. If he hasna done that, it will hae been a
braw windfa' for somebody, and I'll be finely flung.--Come,
Tarras," said he to his horse, striking him at the same time with
his spur, "make mair fit, man; we maun be first on the field if
we can."
|
