| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: given from above. These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity.
Grace involves the remission of sins, peace, and a happy conscience. Sin is
not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law.
The Law reveals guilt, fills the conscience with terror, and drives men to
despair. Much less is sin taken away by man-invented endeavors. The fact is,
the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he
goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God. In actual
living, however, it is not so easy to persuade oneself that by grace alone, in
opposition to every other means, we obtain the forgiveness of our sins and
peace with God.
The world brands this a pernicious doctrine. The world advances free will, 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 The Underground City by Jules Verne: a regular settlement on the banks of Loch Malcolm. A chapel,
dedicated to St. Giles, overlooked it from the top of a huge rock,
whose foot was laved by the waters of the subterranean sea.
When this underground town was lighted up by the bright rays
thrown from the discs, hung from the pillars and arches,
its aspect was so strange, so fantastic, that it justified
the praise of the guide-books, and visitors flocked to see it.
It is needless to say that the inhabitants of Coal Town were
proud of their place. They rarely left their laboring village--
in that imitating Simon Ford, who never wished to go out again.
The old overman maintained that it always rained "up there,"
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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 The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: henchmen, and show himself in the Chamber, as he has elsewhere,
one of the firmest supporters of the policy of the /present order
of things/.
As Maxime finished reading the article, the colonel entered.
After serving the Empire for a very short time, Colonel Franchessini
had become one of the most brilliant colonels of the Restoration; but
in consequence of certain mists which had risen about the perfect
honorableness of his character he had found himself obliged to send in
his resignation, so that in 1830 he was fully prepared to devote
himself in the most ardent manner to the dynasty of July. He did not
re-enter military service, because, shortly after his misadventure he
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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 Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: 24. [74] Multomagnis fulminare intendit eos, qui per veniarum
pretextum in fraudem sancte charitatis et veritatis machinantur,
25. [75] Opinari venias papales tantas esse, ut solvere possint
hominem, etiam si quis per impossibile dei genitricem violasset,
Est insanire.
1. [76] Dicimus contra, quod venie papales nec minimum venialium
peccatorum tollere possint quo ad culpam.
2. [77] Quod dicitur, nec si s. Petrus modo Papa esset maiores
gratias donare posset, est blasphemia in sanctum Petrum et Papam.
3. [78] Dicimus contra, quod etiam iste et quilibet papa maiores
habet, scilicet Euangelium, virtutes, gratias, curationum &c. ut
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