| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: a mission and a future to minerals, plants, and animals. Bible in
hand, after thus spiritualizing Matter and materializing Spirit, after
pointing to the Will of God in all things, and enjoining respect for
His smallest works, he suggested the possibility of rising by faith
from sphere to sphere.
This was the first portion of his discourse, and by adroit digressions
he applied the doctrine of his system to feudalism. The poetry--
religious and profane--and the abrupt eloquence of that period had a
grand opening in this vast theory, wherein the Doctor had amalgamated
all the philosophical systems of the ancients, and from which he
brought them out again classified, transfigured, purified. The false
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: "Not the first coward I've seen grow valiant at a table," put in
Trenchard by way of explanation, and might have come to words with
Blake on that same score, but that in that moment Wilding spoke again.
"Reluctant to do what?" he questioned amiably, looking Westmacott
so straightly between the eyes that the boy shifted uneasily on his
high-backed chair.
Nevertheless, still full of confidence in the unassailability of his
position, the mad youth answered, "To cleanse yourself of what I threw
at you."
"Fan me, ye winds!" gasped Nick Trenchard, and looked with expectancy
at his friend Wilding.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the trail, searching for some trace of the missing
pouch or its contents; but he found nothing, even
though he searched carefully the vicinity of his dead
horse, and for a few paces into the jungle on either
side. Puzzled, disappointed and angry, he at last
returned to the girl. "The wallet is gone," he
explained, crisply, "and I dare not delay longer in
search of it. We must reach the camp before the
returning raiders."
Unsuspicious of the man's true character, Jane Clayton
saw nothing peculiar in his plans, or in his specious
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar |
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 Koran: dust?- aye! evil is it that they judge!
For those who disbelieve in the future life is a similitude of evil:
but for God is the loftiest similitude; for He is the mighty, the
wise!
If God were to punish men for their wrong-doing He would not leave
upon the earth a single beast; but He respites them until a stated
time; and when their time comes they cannot put it off an hour, nor
can they bring it on.
They set down to God what they abhor themselves; and their tongues
describe the lie that good is to be theirs.' Without a doubt theirs is
the Fire, for, verily, they shall be sent on there!
The Koran |
