| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: to it.
"I am sure I am very glad it never occurred to him," answered
Bastin, "for I am certain that we could not have made the journey
again without our guide, Yva."
I looked at him and he ceased. Somehow I could not bear, as
yet, to hear her beloved name spoken by other lips.
Then we entered the passage that she pointed out to us, and
began a most terrible journey which, so far as we could judge,
for we lost any exact count of time, took us about sixty hours.
The road, it is true, was smooth and unblocked, but the ascent
was fearfully steep and slippery; so much so that often we were
When the World Shook |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: this so domestic person hitherto!
By eight o'clock Passepartout had packed the modest carpet-bag,
containing the wardrobes of his master and himself; then,
still troubled in mind, he carefully shut the door of his room,
and descended to Mr. Fogg.
Mr. Fogg was quite ready. Under his arm might have been observed a red-bound
copy of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Steam Transit and General Guide,
with its timetables showing the arrival and departure of steamers and railways.
He took the carpet-bag, opened it, and slipped into it a goodly roll of
Bank of England notes, which would pass wherever he might go.
"You have forgotten nothing?" asked he.
Around the World in 80 Days |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: he will find none but you to love him. Modeste, promise me once more
never to leave him," she said in a fond maternal tone.
Modeste lifted her mother's hands to her lips and kissed them gently,
replying: "Need I say it again?"
"Ah, my child! I did this thing myself. I left my father to follow my
husband; and yet my father was all alone; I was all the child he had.
Is that why God has so punished me? What I ask of you is to marry as
your father wishes, to cherish him in your heart, not to sacrifice him
to your own happiness, but to make him the centre of your home. Before
losing my sight, I wrote him all my wishes, and I know he will execute
them. I enjoined him to keep his property intact and in his own hands;
Modeste Mignon |
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 The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: always avoid it.
If the light of truth dawns upon a Christian when he is already
married, or if, being a Christian, from weakness he enters into
marital relations with the ceremonies of the church, or without
them, he has no other alternative than to abide with his wife
(and the wife with her husband, if it is she who is a Christian)
and to aspire together with her to free themselves of their sin.
This is the Christian view of marriage; and there cannot be any
other for a man who honestly endeavors to shape his life in
accordance with the teachings of Christ.
To very many persons the thoughts I have uttered here and in "The
The Kreutzer Sonata |
