| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: senses, not allow them to do what they attempt, lest Christendom
be destroyed thereby.
XI. Some think, this should be referred to a General Council. To
this I say: No! For we have had many councils in which this has
been proposed, namely, at Constance, Basel and the last Roman
Council; but nothing has been accomplished, and things have grown
ever worse, Moreover, such councils are entirely useless, since
Roman wisdom has contrived the device that the kings and princes
must beforehand take an oath to let the Romans remain what they
are and keep what they have, and so has put up a bar to ward off
all reformation, to retain protection and liberty for all their
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: father bade thy mother write and tell him."
"My father!" ejaculated Myles.
"Aye," said Sir James, twisting his mustaches more vigorously
than ever. "So soon as thy father heard of that prank, he wrote
straightway to my Lord that he should put a stop to what might in
time have bred mischief."
"Sir," said Myles, in an almost breathless voice, "I know not how
to believe all these things, or whether I be awake or
a-dreaming."
"Thou be'st surely enough awake," answered the old man; "but
there are other matters yet to be told. My Lord thinketh, as
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: [8] "Retrancher le merveilleux d'un mythe, c'est le
supprimer."--Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50.
That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men
are wont to regard natural phenomena was in early times
unknown. We have come to regard all events as taking place
regularly, in strict conformity to law: whatever our official
theories may be, we instinctively take this view of things.
But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of nature,
nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of
cause and effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of
things. There was a time in the history of mankind when these
Myths and Myth-Makers |
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 Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: threshold. He looked round him, breathing deep of earth's plain
fragrance; he looked up into the great array of heaven, and was
quieted. His little turgid life dwindled to its true proportions;
and he saw himself (that great flame-hearted martyr!) stand like a
speck under the cool cupola of the night. Thus he felt his careless
injuries already soothed; the live air of out-of-doors, the quiet of
the world, as if by their silent music, sobering and dwarfing his
emotions.
'Well, I forgive her,' he said. 'If it be of any use to her, I
forgive.'
And with brisk steps he crossed the garden, issued upon the Park,
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