| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: They lifted their heads in supplication. The angel was gone.
While they marveled and wept he came again; and bending low,
he whispered the decree.
CHAPTER X
Was it Heaven? Or Hell?
***
A CURE FOR THE BLUES
By courtesy of Mr. Cable I came into possession of a singular book
eight or ten years ago. It is likely that mine is now the only copy
in existence. Its title-page, unabbreviated, reads as follows:
"The Enemy Conquered; or, Love Triumphant. By G. Ragsdale McClintock,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: doctrines and mysteries. But the whole discourse should be
read by those who wish to understand the Gnostic philosophy
of the period contemporary with and anterior to the
birth of Christianity. A translation of the discourse, carefully
analyzed and annotated, is given in G. R. S. Mead's
Thrice-greatest Hermes[1] (vol. i); and Mead himself, speaking
of it, says (p. 141): "The claim of these Gnostics was
practically that the good news of the Christ [the Christos]
was the consummation of the inner doctrine of the Mystery-
institutions of all the nations; the end of them all being
the revelation of the Mystery of Man." Further, he explains
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: Bird's gay voices echoed far and wide, and the little brook went
singing by, beneath the arching ferns that bent above it; green
leaves rustled in the summer wind, and the air was full of music.
But the fairest sight was Lily-Bell, as she lay on the couch of
velvet moss that Fairy hands had spread. The golden flower lay
beside her, and the glittering robe was folded round her little form.
The warmest sunlight fell upon her, and the softest breezes lifted
her shining hair.
Happy tears fell fast, as Thistle folded his arms around her,
crying, "O Lily-Bell, dear Lily-Bell, awake! I have been true to you,
and now my task is done."
Flower Fables |
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 Cromwell by William Shakespeare: Of our King Henry. What is this but treason?
BEDFORD.
If it be so, my heart doth bleed with sorrow.
SUFFOLK.
How say you friends? what, did you hear these words?
FIRST WITNESS.
We did, and like your grace.
NORFOLK.
In what place was Lord Cromwell when he spake them?
SECOND WITNESS.
In his Garden, where we did attend a suit,
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