| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ruling Passion by Henry van Dyke: by his emotion, tinged with his personality. Surely, if the spirits
of the dead are not extinguished, but only veiled and hidden, and if
it were possible by any means that their presence could flash for a
moment through the veil, it would be most natural that they should
come back again to hover around the work into which their experience
and passion had been woven. Here, if anywhere, they would "Revisit
the pale glimpses of the moon." Here, if anywhere, we might catch
fleeting sight, as in a glass darkly, of the visions that passed
before them while they worked.
This much of my train of reasoning along the edge of the dark, I
remember sharply. But after this, all was confused and misty. The
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: into which it is thrown.
By careful selection they rear only the hardiest specimens
of each species, and with almost supernatural foresight
they regulate the birth rate to merely offset the loss by death.
Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs
each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and specific
gravity tests are hidden in the recesses of some subterranean
vault where the temperature is too low for incubation. Every
year these eggs are carefully examined by a council of twenty
chieftains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect
are destroyed out of each yearly supply. At the end of five
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: Holy Ghost, Garter, and Golden Fleece, but more particularly
at the face of the messenger.
"I am not an Englishman, but a Frenchman, monsieur le
cardinal," replied Athos.
"It is remarkable that the king of England should choose a
Frenchman for his ambassador; it is an excellent augury.
Your name, monsieur, if you please."
"Comte de la Fere," replied Athos, bowing more slightly than
the ceremonial and pride of the all-powerful minister
required.
Mazarin bent his shoulders, as if to say: --
Ten Years Later |
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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: by his rays. The island of Atlantis, and the islands and gardens
of the Hesperides, a sort of terrestrial paradise, appear to have
been the Great West of the ancients, enveloped in mystery and
poetry. Who has not seen in imagination, when looking into the
sunset sky, the gardens of the Hesperides, and the foundation of
all those fables?
Columbus felt the westward tendency more strongly than any
before. He obeyed it, and found a New World for Castile and Leon.
The herd of men in those days scented fresh pastures from afar,
"And now the sun had stretched out all the hills,
And now was dropped into the western bay;
Walking |
