| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: But what is the kingdom of God? Answer: Nothing else than what we
learned in the Creed, that God sent His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, into
the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil, and to
bring us to Himself, and to govern us as a King of righteousness, life
and salvation against sin death, and an evil conscience, for which end
He has also bestowed His Holy Ghost, who is to bring these things home
to us by His holy Word, and to illumine and strengthen us in the faith
by His power.
Therefore we pray here in the first place that this may become
effective with us, and that His name be so praised through the holy
Word of God and a Christian life that both we who have accepted it may
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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 Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: inventions, a gutta-percha rat, which, for reasons best known to the
vender, scampers about squeaking with a mimicry to shame the
original, holds an admiring crowd spellbound with mingled
trepidation and delight. There a native zoetrope, indefatigable
round of pleasure, whose top fashioned after the type of a turbine
wheel enables a candle at the centre ingeniously to supply both
illumination and motive power at the same time, affords to as many
as can find room on its circumference a peep at the composite antics
of a consecutively pictured monkey in the act of jumping a box.
Beyond this "wheel of life" lies spread out on a mat a most happy
family of curios, the whole of which you are quite prepared to
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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 Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: with youth, when an olive complexion, heavy eyebrows, and the gleam of
a velvety eye promise virile passions, noble ideas for the future! If
Filippo remained in the hearts of young women as a type of manly
beauty, he likewise remained in the memory of all mothers as the best
match in France.
The beauty, the great wealth, the intellectual qualities, of these two
children came entirely from their mother. The Comte de Lanty was a
short, thin, ugly little man, as dismal as a Spaniard, as great a bore
as a banker. He was looked upon, however, as a profound politician,
perhaps because he rarely laughed, and was always quoting M. de
Metternich or Wellington.
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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 Rinkitink In Oz by L. Frank Baum: King's son and heir to a throne, he could not play with
the other boys of Pingaree, and he lived so much in the
society of the King and Queen, and was so surrounded by
the pomp and dignity of a court, that he missed all the
jolly times that boys usually have. I have no doubt
that had he been able to live as other boys do, he
would have been much like other boys; as it was, he was
subdued by his surroundings, and more grave and
thoughtful than one of his years should be.
Inga was in his tree one morning when, without
warning, a great fog enveloped the Island of Pingaree.
Rinkitink In Oz |
