| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: Down unto Mary, when the Son of God
Vouchsaf'd to clothe him in terrestrial weeds.
Now let thine eyes wait heedful on my words,
And note thou of this just and pious realm
The chiefest nobles. Those, highest in bliss,
The twain, on each hand next our empress thron'd,
Are as it were two roots unto this rose.
He to the left, the parent, whose rash taste
Proves bitter to his seed; and, on the right,
That ancient father of the holy church,
Into whose keeping Christ did give the keys
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Anthem by Ayn Rand: Men never enter the Uncharted Forest,
for there is no power to explore it
and no path to lead among its ancient
trees which stand as guards of fearful
secrets. It is whispered that once or
twice in a hundred years, one among
the men of the City escape alone and run to
the Uncharted Forest, without call or reason.
These men do not return. They perish from
hunger and from the claws of the wild
beasts which roam the Forest. But our
Anthem |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: once the horses take fright at something and bolt. . . .
Regardless of the road, the ditches, the ravines, they dash like
mad things, right through the village, over the pond by the
pottery works, out across the open fields. "Hold on," the pottery
hands and the peasants sho ut, meeting them. "Hold on." But why?
Let the keen, cold wind beat in one's face and bite one's hands;
let the lumps of snow, kicked up by the horses' hoofs, fall on
one's cap, on one's back, down one's collar, on one's chest; let
the runners ring on the snow, and the traces and the sledge be
smashed, deuce take them one and all! And how delightful when the
sledge upsets and you go flying full tilt into a drift, face
|
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 On Horsemanship by Xenophon: naturally of a nervous temperament. An over-timorous animal will not
only prevent the rider from using the vantage-ground of its back to
strike an enemy, but is as likely as not to bring him to earth
himself and plunge him into the worst of straits.
We must, also, find out of the horse shows any viciousness towards
other horses or towards human beings; also, whether he is skittish;[8]
such defects are apt to cause his owner trouble.
[8] Or, "very ticklish."
As to any reluctance on the horse's part to being bitted or mounted,
dancing and twisting about and the rest,[9] you will get a more exact
idea on this score, if, when he has gone through his work, you will
On Horsemanship |
