| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aeneid by Virgil: Orsilochus, who durst not press too near
Strong Remulus, at distance drove his spear,
And stuck the steel beneath his horse's ear.
The fiery steed, impatient of the wound,
Curvets, and, springing upward with a bound,
His helpless lord cast backward on the ground.
Catillus pierc'd Iolas first; then drew
His reeking lance, and at Herminius threw,
The mighty champion of the Tuscan crew.
His neck and throat unarm'd, his head was bare,
But shaded with a length of yellow hair:
Aeneid |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: and which you love to dance upon in summer time. Now the water of
all these springs is nothing but the rain, and mist, and dew,
which has sunk down first through the peaty soil, and then through
the gravel and sand, and there has stopped. And why? Because
under the gravel (about which I will tell you a strange story one
day) and under the sand, which is what the geologists call the
Upper Bagshot sand, there is an entirely different set of beds,
which geologists call the Bracklesham beds, from a place near the
New Forest; and in those beds there is a vein of clay, and through
that clay the water cannot get, as you have seen yourself when we
dug it out in the field below to puddle the pond-head; and very
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: way. Outward things are, to fools, half of life; and in that matter
more than one clever man is a fool, in spite of all his talent. But I
dare wager you never could refuse your Theodore anything!"
"How refuse anything, madame, if one loves a man?"
"Poor innocent, I could adore you for your simplicity. You should know
that the more we love the less we should allow a man, above all, a
husband, to see the whole extent of our passion. The one who loves
most is tyrannized over, and, which is worse, is sooner or later
neglected. The one who wishes to rule should----"
"What, madame, must I then dissimulate, calculate, become false, form
an artificial character, and live in it? How is it possible to live in
|
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 A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: to their own judgment, and they did not understand children as well as
did old Santa. So it is no wonder they made some laughable errors.
Mamie Brown, who wanted a doll, got a drum instead; and a drum is of
no use to a girl who loves dolls. And Charlie Smith, who delights to
romp and play out of doors, and who wanted some new rubber boots to
keep his feet dry, received a sewing box filled with colored worsteds
and threads and needles, which made him so provoked that he
thoughtlessly called our dear Santa Claus a fraud.
Had there been many such mistakes the Daemons would have accomplished
their evil purpose and made the children unhappy. But the little
friends of the absent Santa Claus labored faithfully and intelligently
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
