| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: plight and are more erring from the level path. When they come to
you they say, 'We believe;' but they entered in with unbelief, and
they went out therewith, and God knows best what they did hide.
Thou wilt see many of them vieing in sin and enmity, and in eating
unlawful things,- evil is it that they have done. The masters and
their doctors prohibit them from speaking sin and eating unlawful
things,- evil is what they have performed.
The Jews say, 'God's hand is fettered;' their hands are fettered and
they are cursed for what they said; nay! His hands are outspread, He
expends how He pleases! and that which has been sent down to thee from
thy Lord will surely increase many of them in their rebellion and
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: wooden head."
The urchin raised his voice in defiance to his parent and
continued his attacks. The babe bawled tremendously, protesting
with great violence. During his sister's hasty manoeuvres, he was
dragged by the arm.
Finally the procession plunged into one of the gruesome doorways.
They crawled up dark stairways and along cold, gloomy halls.
At last the father pushed open a door and they entered a lighted room
in which a large woman was rampant.
She stopped in a career from a seething stove to a pan-covered table.
As the father and children filed in she peered at them.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: Plato (for example, the Republic), there is a progress from unconscious
morality, illustrated by the friendship of the two youths, and also by the
sayings of the poets ('who are our fathers in wisdom,' and yet only tell us
half the truth, and in this particular instance are not much improved upon
by the philosophers), to a more comprehensive notion of friendship. This,
however, is far from being cleared of its perplexity. Two notions appear
to be struggling or balancing in the mind of Socrates:--First, the sense
that friendship arises out of human needs and wants; Secondly, that the
higher form or ideal of friendship exists only for the sake of the good.
That friends are not necessarily either like or unlike, is also a truth
confirmed by experience. But the use of the terms 'like' or 'good' is too
Lysis |
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 Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Now then, Mr. Crab," said the zebra, "here are the people I told you
about; and they know more than you do, who lives in a pool, and more
than I do, who lives in a forest. For they have been travelers all
over the world, and know every part of it."
"There is more of the world than Oz," declared the crab,
in a stubborn voice.
"That is true," said Dorothy; "but I used to live in Kansas, in the
United States, and I've been to California and to Australia and so
has Uncle Henry."
"For my part," added the Shaggy Man, "I've been to Mexico and Boston
and many other foreign countries."
The Emerald City of Oz |
