| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: was as light as day, for in the centre of the room hung a great
lamp that shone with a bright light and lit up all the place as
bright as day. In the floor were set three great basins of
marble: one was nearly full of silver, one of gold, and one of
gems of all sorts.
"All this is mine," said the old man, "and after I am gone it
shall be yours. It was left to me as I will leave it to you, and
in the meantime you may come and go as you choose and fill your
pockets whenever you wish to. But there is one thing you must not
do: you must never open that door yonder at the back of the room.
Should you do so, Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: and it pays, I'll hand it back; if we don't, it's for our
trouble,--that's _far_, an't it, Marks?"
"Certainly, certainly," said Marks, with a conciliatory tone;
"it's only a retaining fee, you see,--he! he! he!--we lawyers,
you know. Wal, we must all keep good-natured,--keep easy, yer know.
Tom'll have the boy for yer, anywhere ye'll name; won't ye, Tom?"
"If I find the young un, I'll bring him on to Cincinnati,
and leave him at Granny Belcher's, on the landing," said Loker.
Marks had got from his pocket a greasy pocket-book, and taking
a long paper from thence, he sat down, and fixing his keen black
eyes on it, began mumbling over its contents: "Barnes--Shelby
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: trapped, and all the brute in him rose to the emergency. In a voice
which was raucous and brutal--much like that which is heard when a
wife is being beaten by her husband in a slum--he hissed out, his
syllables cutting through the roaring of the storm:
"You came of your own accord--without permission, or even asking it.
Now you can stay or go as you choose. But you must manage it for
yourself; I'll have nothing to do with it."
Her answer was spoken with dangerous suavity
"I am going. Blame yourself if you do not like the time and manner
of it. I daresay Adam--my husband--will have a word to say to you
about it!"
Lair of the White Worm |
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 Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: child's affectionate sympathy (if it has any), or it may run to
forcible expulsion from the room with plenty of unnecessary violence;
but the principle is the same: there are no false pretences involved:
the child learns in a straightforward way that it does not pay to be
inconsiderate. Also, perhaps, that Mamma, who made the child learn
the Sermon on the Mount, is not really a Christian.
The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
But there is another sort of answer in wide use which is neither
straightforward, instructive, nor harmless. In its simplest form it
substitutes for "Stop that noise," "Dont be naughty," which means that
the child, instead of annoying you by a perfectly healthy and natural
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