| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: the measure which the limit introduces.
PROTARCHUS: I understand.
SOCRATES: Still there was, as we said, a fourth class to be investigated,
and you must assist in the investigation; for does not everything which
comes into being, of necessity come into being through a cause?
PROTARCHUS: Yes, certainly; for how can there be anything which has no
cause?
SOCRATES: And is not the agent the same as the cause in all except name;
the agent and the cause may be rightly called one?
PROTARCHUS: Very true.
SOCRATES: And the same may be said of the patient, or effect; we shall
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: flight, the pursued and pursuer moved more swiftly yet, and within a few
moments were blotted out against the dim horizon.
"Let us continue to follow them, nevertheless," said the Scarecrow. "for the
Land of Oz is of small extent, and sooner or later they must both come to a
halt."
Old Mombi had thought herself very wise to choose the form of a Griffin, for
its legs were exceedingly fleet and its strength more enduring than that of
other animals. But she had not reckoned on the untiring energy of the Saw-
Horse, whose wooden limbs could run for days without slacking their speed.
Therefore, after an hour's hard running, the Griffin's breath began to fail,
and it panted and gasped painfully, and moved more slowly than before. Then
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
| 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: information concerning their early careers we must look, not
to history, but to linguistic archaeology, a science which can
help us to general results, but cannot enable us to fix dates,
save in the crudest manner.
We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest
period at which we can begin to study human society in general
and Greek society in particular, through the medium of
literature. But, strictly speaking, the epoch in question is
one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The earliest
ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad of
Koroibos, B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems
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 Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: all punita, or cotton-wood or eucalyptus, and bore no fruit or nuts at
all. But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the little girl
came upon two trees that promised to furnish her with plenty of food.
One was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters on
all the limbs, and upon the biggest and ripest boxes the word "Lunch"
could be read, in neat raised letters. This tree seemed to bear all
the year around, for there were lunch-box blossoms on some of the
branches, and on others tiny little lunch-boxes that were as yet quite
green, and evidently not fit to eat until they had grown bigger.
The leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented a
very pleasing appearance to the hungry little girl.
Ozma of Oz |
