| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: XVI. Lo! where are the idle ones, who do not know how to do good
works? Where are they who run to Rome, to St. James, hither and
thither? Take up this one single work of the mass, look on your
neighbor's sin and ruin, and have pity on him; let it grieve you,
tell it to God, and pray over it. Do the same for every other
need of Christendom, especially of the rulers, whom God, for the
intolerable punishment and torment of us all, allows to fall and
be misled so terribly. If you do this diligently, be assured you
are one of the best fighters and captains, not only against the
Turks, but also against the devils and the powers of hell. But
if you do it not, what would it help you though you performed all
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: know what their intentions toward me are."
"No one might even guess," said the old woman. "They
do not know themselves from one minute to the next what
their intentions are, but I think you can rest assured, my poor
child, that you will never see your friend again."
"But they haven't slain you," the girl reminded her, "and
you have been their prisoner, you say, for sixty years."
"No," replied her companion, "they have not killed me, nor
will they kill you, though God knows before you have lived
long in this horrible place you will beg them to kill you."
"Who are they --" asked Bertha Kircher, "what kind of
Tarzan the Untamed |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: word of Heaven. They reached home without another word.
There are moments in our lives when the sense that our friend is near
is all that we can bear. Our wounds smart under the consoling words
that only reveal the depths of pain. The old pianist, you see,
possessed a genius for friendship, the tact of those who, having
suffered much, knew the customs of suffering.
Pons was never to take a walk again. From one illness he fell into
another. He was of a sanguine-bilious temperament, the bile passed
into his blood, and a violent liver attack was the result. He had
never known a day's illness in his life till a month ago; he had never
consulted a doctor; so La Cibot, with almost motherly care and
|
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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: When Carol glanced at Erik again she discovered that Mrs.
Bogart had an eye on her. It was a shock to know that at last
there was something which could make her afraid of Mrs.
Bogart's spying.
"What am I doing? Am I in love with Erik? Unfaithful? I?
I want youth but I don't want him--I mean, I don't want youth--
enough to break up my life. I must get out of this. Quick."
She said to Kennicott on their way home, "Will! I want to run away
for a few days. Wouldn't you like to skip down to Chicago?"
"Still be pretty hot there. No fun in a big city till winter.
What do you want to go for?"
|
