| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: difficulty which had not, in her state of mental perturbation,
occurred to her.
CHAPTER XXVII--ON THE TURRET ROOF
The storm which was coming was already making itself manifest, not
only in the wide scope of nature, but in the hearts and natures of
human beings. Electrical disturbance in the sky and the air is
reproduced in animals of all kinds, and particularly in the highest
type of them all--the most receptive--the most electrical. So it
was with Edgar Caswall, despite his selfish nature and coldness of
blood. So it was with Mimi Salton, despite her unselfish,
unchanging devotion for those she loved. So it was even with Lady
Lair of the White Worm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: camp. There we found a thousand people, perhaps, dwelling
in rude shelters, and living upon the fruits of the chase
and such sea food as is obtainable close to shore, for they
had no boats, nor any knowledge of such things.
Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears
tipped with pieces of metal pounded roughly into shape.
They had no literature, no religion, and recognized no law
other than the law of might. They produced fire by striking
a bit of flint and steel together, but for the most part
they ate their food raw. Marriage is unknown among them,
and while they have the word, mother, they did not know what
Lost Continent |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: about five o'clock, as I should judge, along the blackened
road to Sunbury.
In Sunbury, and at intervals along the road, were dead
bodies lying in contorted attitudes, horses as well as men,
overturned carts and luggage, all covered thickly with black
dust. That pall of cindery powder made me think of what I
had read of the destruction of Pompeii. We got to Hampton
Court without misadventure, our minds full of strange and
unfamiliar appearances, and at Hampton Court our eyes were
relieved to find a patch of green that had escaped the suf-
focating drift. We went through Bushey Park, with its deer
War of the Worlds |
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 Euthydemus by Plato: concluding remark of Crito, that he has a difficulty in educating his two
sons, and the advice of Socrates to him that he should not give up
philosophy because he has no faith in philosophers, seems to be a
preparation for the more peremptory declaration of the Meno that 'Virtue
cannot be taught because there are no teachers.'
The reasons for placing the Euthydemus early in the series are: (1) the
similarity in plan and style to the Protagoras, Charmides, and Lysis;--the
relation of Socrates to the Sophists is still that of humorous antagonism,
not, as in the later Dialogues of Plato, of embittered hatred; and the
places and persons have a considerable family likeness; (2) the Euthydemus
belongs to the Socratic period in which Socrates is represented as willing
|
