| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Ah! but now he espied a golden ring on her finger,
And so let her speak, while he attentively listen'd:--
"Let us now return," she continued, "the custom is always
To admonish the maidens who tarry too long at the fountain,
Yet how delightful it is by the fast-flowing water to chatter!"
Then they both arose, and once more directed their glances
Into the fountain, and then a blissful longing came o'er them.
So from the ground by the handles she silently lifted the pitchers,
Mounted the steps of the well, and Hermann follow'd the loved one.
One of the pitchers he ask'd her to give him, thus sharing the burden.
"Leave it," she said, "the weight feels less when thus they are balanced;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: 'How does he talk to you?' I asked, speaking a trifle curtly.
As I intended, my tone roused her. 'By signs,' she said.
'Is he--is he not a little mad?" I ventured. I wanted to make
her talk and forget herself.
She looked at me with sudden keenness, then dropped her eyes,
'You do not like him?' she said, a note of challenge in her
voice. 'I have noticed that, Monsieur.'
'I think he does not like me,' I replied.
'He is less trustful than we are,' she answered naively. 'It is
natural that he should be. He has seen more of the world.'
That silenced me for a moment, but she did not seem to notice it.
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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 Pathology of Lying, Etc. by William and Mary Healy: background of the same, come in to make the total result, that
experiment and trial with the individual case, while hesitating
to give an exact prognosis, is perhaps the only sane procedure.
What we do know definitely is the immensely favorable outcome in
Cases 1, 4, 7, 19, and the promising betterment in several other
instances--all in direct contradiction to what we had expected
from survey of previous literature. In several of these cases
the years have gone by with nothing but steady improvement. The
difficulty in getting adequate treatment, either in home life or
by the necessary individual attention elsewhere, makes it
impossible to say that many of the others also could not have
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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 Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: the bill which Catherine owed to the furrier.
"Madame," he said, "my father is in horrible need of money, and if you
will deign to cast your eyes over your bill," here he unfolded the
paper and put the treaty on the top of it, "you will see that your
Majesty owes him six thousand crowns. Have the goodness to take pity
on us. See, madame!" and he held the treaty out to her. "Read it; the
account dates from the time the late king came to the throne."
Catherine was bewildered by the preamble of the treaty which met her
eye, but she did not lose her head. She folded the paper quickly,
admiring the audacity and presence of mind of the youth, and feeling
sure that after performing such a masterly stroke he would not fail to
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