| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: creature thrusting his way up from the beast to divinity, from
the blindness of individuality to the knowledge of a common end.
We stand deep in the engagements of our individual lives looking
up to God, and only realizing in our moments of exaltation that
through God we can escape from and rule and alter the whole
world-wide scheme of individual lives. Only in phases of
illumination do we realize the creative powers that lie ready to
man's hand. Personal affections, immediate obligations,
ambitions, self-seeking, these are among the natural and
essential things of our individual lives, as intimate almost as
our primordial lusts and needs; God, the true God, is a later
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to his side and placed my hand upon his shoulder.
"Xodar," I said, "you have heard the commands of Issus,
but you need not fear that I shall attempt to put them
into execution. You are a brave man, Xodar. It is your own
affair if you wish to be persecuted and humiliated; but
were I you I should assert my manhood and defy my enemies."
"I have been thinking very hard, John Carter," he said,
"of all the new ideas you gave me a few hours since. Little
by little I have been piecing together the things that you
said which sounded blasphemous to me then with the things
that I have seen in my past life and dared not even think
The Gods of Mars |
