| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: GRASPETH the abyss: he hath courage.--
5.
"Man is evil"--so said to me for consolation, all the wisest ones. Ah, if
only it be still true to-day! For the evil is man's best force.
"Man must become better and eviler"--so do _I_ teach. The evilest is
necessary for the Superman's best.
It may have been well for the preacher of the petty people to suffer and be
burdened by men's sin. I, however, rejoice in great sin as my great
CONSOLATION.--
Such things, however, are not said for long ears. Every word, also, is not
suited for every mouth. These are fine far-away things: at them sheep's
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: Unbind Ixion, cruel Rhadamanth,
And lay proud Humber on the whirling wheel.
Back will I post to hell mouth Taenarus,
And pass Cocitus, to the Elysian fields,
And tell my father Brutus of these news.
[Exit.]
ACT V. PROLOGUE.
[Enter Ate as before. Jason, leading Creon's
daughter. Medea, following, hath a garland in
her hand, and putting it on Creon's daughter's
head, setteth it on fire, and then, killing Jason
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: All that day the ship lay within the shelter of the mouth of the river;
for, though night witnessed a lessening of the wind, it was thought
safer to wait for daylight before attempting the navigation of
the winding channel to the sea.
Upon the deck of the steamer the pack wandered without
let or hindrance by day, for they had soon learned through
Tarzan and Mugambi that they must harm no one upon the
Kincaid; but at night they were confined below.
Tarzan's joy had been unbounded when he learned from
his wife that the little child who had died in the village of
M'ganwazam was not their son. Who the baby could have
The Beasts of Tarzan |
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 Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: issued from them. Ravenswood stopped; and as, after a moment's
pause, he again advanced towards her, Alice, or her apparition,
moved or glided backwards towards the thicket, still keeping her
face turned towards him. The trees soon hid the form from his
sight; and, yielding to the strong and terrific
impression that the being which he had seen was not of this
world, the Master of Ravenswood remained rooted to the ground
whereon he had stood when he caught his last view of her. At
length, summoning up his courage, he advanced to the spot on
which the figure had seemed to be seated; but neither was there
pressure of the grass nor any other circumstance to induce him to
The Bride of Lammermoor |
