| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx: property. This person must, indeed, be swept out of the way, and
made impossible.
Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the
products
of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to
subjugate the labour of others by means of such appropriation.
It has been objected that upon the abolition of private property
all work will cease, and universal laziness will overtake us.
According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone
to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those of its members who
work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything, do not
The Communist Manifesto |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: "You must maroon me as soon as ever you can get amongst these islands
off the Cambodge shore," he went on.
"Maroon you! We are not living in a boy's adventure tale," I protested.
His scornful whispering took me up.
"We aren't indeed! There's nothing of a boy's tale in this.
But there's nothing else for it. I want no more.
You don't suppose I am afraid of what can be done to me?
Prison or gallows or whatever they may please.
But you don't see me coming back to explain such things
to an old fellow in a wig and twelve respectable tradesmen,
do you? What can they know whether I am guilty or not--
The Secret Sharer |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: "For no reason, except that the wilderness called him more than love for you
or--me."
"No, no," returned Jim, his face white. "You do not understand. He really
loved you--I know it. He loved me, too. Ah, how well! He has gone because--I
can't tell you."
"Oh, Jim, I hope--he loved--me," sobbed Nell, bursting into tears. "His
coldness--his neglect those--last few days--hurt me--so. If he cared--as you
say--I won't be--so--miserable."
"We are both right--you when you say he will never return, and I when I say he
loved us both," said Jim sadly, as the bitter certainty forced itself into his
mind.
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Call of the Wild by Jack London: falling, never missing his grip. In fact, he seemed as much at
home among the trees as on the ground; and Buck had memories of
nights of vigil spent beneath trees wherein the hairy man roosted,
holding on tightly as he slept.
And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call
still sounding in the depths of the forest. It filled him with a
great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague,
sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings
for he knew not what. Sometimes he pursued the call into the
forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking
softly or defiantly, as the mood might dictate. He would thrust
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