| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: stones are a better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies.
Does madame go to court?'
"While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after
another with delight which no words can describe.
" 'Flawless!' he said. 'Here is a speck! . . . here is a flaw! . . . A
fine stone that!'
"His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it
put me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns.
The glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light,
and a traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in
an apoplectic fit.
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: terrible mischief one single false statement can create.
The article of justification is fragile. Not in itself, of course, but in us. I
know how quickly a person can forfeit the joy of the Gospel. I know in
what slippery places even those stand who seem to have a good footing in
the matters of faith. In the midst of the conflict when we should be
consoling ourselves with the Gospel, the Law rears up and begins to rage
all over our conscience. I say the Gospel is frail because we are frail.
What makes matters worse is that one-half of ourselves, our own reason,
stands against us. The flesh resists the spirit, or as Paul puts it, "The
flesh lusteth against the Spirit." Therefore we teach that to know Christ
and to believe in Him is no achievement of man, but the gift of God. God
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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 Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: while each learned something of their kind little teacher; and the
love that made her own heart bright shone alike on all.
The ant and bee learned generosity, the butterfly and bird
contentment, the mole and worm confidence in the love of others;
and each went to their home better for the little time they had been
with Violet.
Evening came, and with it troops of Elves to counsel their good Queen,
who, seated on her mossy throne, looked anxiously upon the throng
below, whose glittering wings and rustling robes gleamed like
many-colored flowers.
At length she rose, and amid the deep silence spoke thus:--
Flower Fables |
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 Kenilworth by Walter Scott: not to purchase it, so why should I lie to you? I say not it
will cure a rooted affection of the mind, which only God and time
can do; but I say that this restorative relieves the black
vapours which are engendered in the body of that melancholy which
broodeth on the mind. I have relieved many with it, both in
court and city, and of late one Master Edmund Tressilian, a
worshipful gentleman in Cornwall, who, on some slight received,
it was told me, where he had set his affections, was brought into
that state of melancholy which made his friends alarmed for his
life."
He paused, and the lady remained silent for some time, and then
Kenilworth |
