| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift: with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the
fourth day, especially in winter.
I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh
12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, encreaseth
to 28 pounds.
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very
proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of
the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.
Infant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more
plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are
told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish
A Modest Proposal |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: That might be undone. Can my love be undone? Ah, do I want
anything undone? He is gone. Gone! Could he have meant-- I
will not, dare not think of that. He will come back. No, he
never will come back. Oh, what shall I do?"
For Madeline Hammond the days following that storm of feeling
were leaden-footed, endless, hopeless--a long succession of weary
hours, sleepless hours, passionate hours, all haunted by a fear
slowly growing into torture, a fear that Stewart had crossed the
border to invite the bullet which would give her freedom. The
day came when she knew this to be true. The spiritual tidings
reached her, not subtly as so many divinations had come, but in a
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like
tinder."
The lady had now brought the water, which the soldier drank.
He thanked her ceremoniously, bowed to her husband and rode
away. An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the
plantation, going northward in the direction from which he
had come. He was a Federal scout.
III
As Peyton Fahrquhar fell straight downward through the
bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead.
From this state he was awakened -- ages later, it seemed to
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
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 Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: economical engine revolutions is a distinctive characteristic,
and contributes to the efficiency and reliability of the Parseval
dirigible to a very pronounced degree.
Steering in the vertical plane is also carried out upon
distinctive lines. There are no planes for vertical steering,
but movement is accomplished by tilting the craft and thus
driving the gas from one end of the balloon to the other. This
is effected by the manipulation of the air-ballonets, one of
which is placed at the prow and stem of the gas bag respectively.
If it is desired to descend the gas is driven from the forward to
the after end of the envelope, merely by inflating the bow
|
