| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: Then Hamilcar, despairing of the Republic, took by force from the
tribes all that he wanted for the war--grain, oil, wood, cattle, and
men. But the inhabitants were not long in taking flight. The villages
passed through were empty, and the cabins were ransacked without
anything being discerned in them. The Punic army was soon encompassed
by a terrible solitude.
The Carthaginians, who were furious, began to sack the provinces; they
filled up the cisterns and fired the houses. The sparks, being carried
by the wind, were scattered far off, and whole forests were on fire on
the mountains; they bordered the valleys with a crown of flames, and
it was often necessary to wait in order to pass beyond them. Then the
Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Blix by Frank Norris: their own.
It was charming. At their backs they had the huge, fantastic
screen, brave and fine with its coat of gold. In front, through
the glass-paned valves of a pair of folding doors, they could see
the roofs of the houses beyond the Plaza, and beyond these the
blue of the bay with its anchored ships, and even beyond this the
faint purple of the Oakland shore. On either side of these doors,
in deep alcoves, were divans with mattings and head-rests for
opium smokers. The walls were painted blue and hung with vertical
Cantonese legends in red and silver, while all around the sides of
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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 Confessio Amantis by John Gower: For if the Clerc beware his feith
In chapmanhod at such a feire,
The remenant mot nede empeire
Of al that to the world belongeth;
For whan that holi cherche wrongeth, 3070
I not what other thing schal rihte.
And natheles at mannes sihte
Envie forto be preferred
Hath conscience so differred,
That noman loketh to the vice
Which is the Moder of malice,
Confessio Amantis |
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 Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: lusts; they should certainly give no offense to their brethren
and sisters.
And even the Canons show some leniency toward those who have
taken vows before the proper age, as heretofore has generally
been the ease.
Article XXIV: Of the Mass.
Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for
the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest
reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved,
save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and
there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the
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