| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: and fringed with rotted and blackened seed-pearls; there were
helmets, crested and beaded with pigeon's-blood rubies; there
were shields of lacquer, of tortoise-shell and rhinoceros-hide,
strapped and bossed with red gold and set with emeralds at the
edge; there were sheaves of diamond-hilted swords, daggers, and
hunting-knives; there were golden sacrificial bowls and ladles,
and portable altars of a shape that never sees the light of day;
there were jade cups and bracelets; there were incense-burners,
combs, and pots for perfume, henna, and eye-powder, all in
embossed gold; there were nose-rings, armlets, head-bands,
finger-rings, and girdles past any counting; there were belts,
The Second Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: shelving cliff they picked their way cautiously, and turned a corner.
Lights twinkled in Hare's sight, a fresh breeze, coming from water,
dampened his cheek, and a hollow rumble, a long roll as of distant
thunder, filled his ears.
"What's that?" he asked.
"That, my lad, is what I always love to hear. It means I'm home. It's
the roar of the Colorado as she takes her first plunge into the Canyon."
IV
THE OASIS
August Naab's oasis was an oval valley, level as a floor, green with leaf
and white with blossom, enclosed by a circle of colossal cliffs of vivid
The Heritage of the Desert |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: "Big money doesn't mean anything to me any more,"
he said, wearily. "I'm too old and I'm too tired.
Why--four--five--yes, half a dozen times I've had enough money
to last me comfortably all my life--and every time I've used
it as bait to catch bigger money with, and lost it all.
I don't do that any more! I've got something the matter
with me internally that takes the nerve all out of me.
The doctors don't agree about it, but whatever its name
is I've got it for keeps. Probably I shan't live very
long"--Thorpe recalled that the old man had always taken
a gloomy view of his health after the third glass--"and
The Market-Place |
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: to mislead the airman or to escape his observation. At the
battle of Haelen, during which engagement the German warplanes
were exceptionally active, the Belgian soldiers covered their
heads with bundles of wheat snatched from the standing stooks,
and under this cover lurked in a field where the corn was still
standing. From aloft their forms defied detection: the
improvised headgear completely covered them and blended
effectively with the surrounding wheat. In another instance the
French misled a German airman somewhat effectively. What
appeared to be cavalry was seen to be retreating along the
country road, and the airman returned hurriedly to report. A
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