| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower: Tho fell this knyht in mochel thoght,
Now goth he forth, now comth ayein,
He wot noght what is best to sein, 1570
And thoghte, as he rod to and fro,
That chese he mot on of the tuo,
Or forto take hire to his wif
Or elles forto lese his lif.
And thanne he caste his avantage,
That sche was of so gret an age,
That sche mai live bot a while,
And thoghte put hire in an Ile,
Confessio Amantis |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: said he briefly.
"So, of course, I want to keep the thing dead secret," continued
Orde. "You're the only man who knows anything about it. I'm not
even going to buy directly under my own name. I'm going to
incorporate myself," he said, with a grin. "You know how those
things will get out, and how they always get back to the wrong
people."
"Count on me," Taylor assured him.
As Orde walked home that evening, after a hot day, his mind was full
of speculation as to the immediate future. He had a local
reputation for wealth, and no one knew better than himself how
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: friends of the absent Santa Claus labored faithfully and intelligently
to carry out their master's ideas, and they made fewer errors than
might be expected under such unusual circumstances.
And, although they worked as swiftly as possible, day had begun to
break before the toys and other presents were all distributed; so for
the first time in many years the reindeer trotted into the Laughing
Valley, on their return, in broad daylight, with the brilliant sun
peeping over the edge of the forest to prove they were far behind
their accustomed hours.
Having put the deer in the stable, the little folk began to wonder how
they might rescue their master; and they realized they must discover,
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
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 Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both
could not be answered--that of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because
of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe
to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued
through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he
gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due
to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a
Second Inaugural Address |
