| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: So the old lady says:
"Betsy" (this was a nigger woman), you fly around
and get him something to eat as quick as you can, poor
thing; and one of you girls go and wake up Buck and
tell him -- oh, here he is himself. Buck, take this
little stranger and get the wet clothes off from him and
dress him up in some of yours that's dry."
Buck looked about as old as me -- thirteen or four-
teen or along there, though he was a little bigger than
me. He hadn't on anything but a shirt, and he was
very frowzy-headed. He came in gaping and digging
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: itself to the author of the fourth gospel (A. D. 170-180). As M.
Reville observes, "if the doctrine of the Logos were really to be
applied to the person of Jesus, it was necessary to remodel the
evangelical history." Tradition must be moulded so as to fit the
dogma, but the dogma must be restrained by tradition from running
into Docetic extravagance. It must be shown historically how "the
Word became flesh" and dwelt on earth (John i. 14), how the deeds
of Jesus of Nazareth were the deeds of the incarnate Logos, in
whom was exhibited the pleroma or fulness of the divine
attributes. The author of the fourth gospel is, like Justin, a
Philonian Gnostic; but he differs from Justin in his bold and
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: cloudy sky the day was fading rapidly. Muller knew that it would
not occur to the real electrician to begin any work as late as this,
and that he was perfectly safe in the examination he wanted to make.
"Well, what's the trouble here? Why did you write to our firm?"
asked the supposed electrician.
"The wires must cross somewhere, or there's something wrong with
the bells. When the housekeeper touches the button in her room to
ring for the cook or the upstairs girl, the bell rings in Mr. Thorne's
room. It starts ringing and it keeps up with a deuce of a noise.
Fortunately the family are away."
"Well, we'll fix it all right for you. First of all I want to look
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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 Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: boasted of his luck and lost it. It is tempting Providence to print
the record of your wonderful catches in the sporting newspapers; or
at least, if it must be done, there should stand at the head of the
column some humble, thankful motto, like "NON NOBIS, DOMINE." Even
Father Izaak, when he has a fish on his line, says, with a due sense
of human limitations, "There is a trout now, and a good one too, IF
I CAN BUT HOLD HIM!"
This reminds me that we left H. E. G----, a few sentences back,
playing his unexpected salmon, on a trout-rod, in the Saguenay.
Four times that great fish leaped into the air; twice he suffered
the pliant reed to guide him toward the shore, and twice ran out
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