| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: with his black malvoisies, continued for long to tramp the
valley with his razor. Now, his place is the picture of
prosperity: stuffed birds in the verandah, cellars far dug
into the hillside, and resting on pillars like a bandit's
cave:- all trimness, varnish, flowers, and sunshine, among
the tangled wildwood. Stout, smiling Mrs. Schram, who has
been to Europe and apparently all about the States for
pleasure, entertained Fanny in the verandah, while I was
tasting wines in the cellar. To Mr. Schram this was a solemn
office; his serious gusto warmed my heart; prosperity had not
yet wholly banished a certain neophite and girlish
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: our precepts you will be received by us as friends, when the hour of
destiny brings you hither; but if you neglect our words and are disgraced
in your lives, no one will welcome or receive you. This is the message
which is to be delivered to our children.
'Some of us have fathers and mothers still living, and we would urge them,
if, as is likely, we shall die, to bear the calamity as lightly as
possible, and not to condole with one another; for they have sorrows
enough, and will not need any one to stir them up. While we gently heal
their wounds, let us remind them that the Gods have heard the chief part of
their prayers; for they prayed, not that their children might live for
ever, but that they might be brave and renowned. And this, which is the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: judgment of the Jinjin, which Ruggedo's own evil
deeds had brought upon him.
From this time on he was an outcast--a wanderer
upon the face of the earth--and he had even
forgotten to fill his pockets with gold and jewels
before he fled from his former Kingdom!
Chapter Nineteen
King Kaliko
After the King had made good his escape Files said
to the dragon, in a sad voice:
"Alas! why did you not come before? Because you
Tik-Tok of Oz |
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 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: on the air between me and him; whenever I spoke, they sounded in my
voice to his ear, and their echo toned every answer he gave me.
He did not abstain from conversing with me: he even called me as
usual each morning to join him at his desk; and I fear the corrupt
man within him had a pleasure unimparted to, and unshared by, the
pure Christian, in evincing with what skill he could, while acting
and speaking apparently just as usual, extract from every deed and
every phrase the spirit of interest and approval which had formerly
communicated a certain austere charm to his language and manner. To
me, he was in reality become no longer flesh, but marble; his eye
was a cold, bright, blue gem; his tongue a speaking instrument--
Jane Eyre |
