| 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: be true, you will appear as a liar, because you cannot prove it, and
you are, besides acting like a knave. For we ought never to deprive any
one of his honor or good name unless it be first taken away from him
publicly.
False witness, then, is everything which cannot be properly proved.
Therefore, what is not manifest upon sufficient evidence no one shall
make public or declare for truth; and in short, whatever is secret
should be allowed to remain secret, or, at any rate, should be secretly
reproved, as we shall hear. Therefore, if you encounter an idle tongue
which betrays and slanders some one, contradict such a one promptly to
his face, that he may blush thus many a one will hold his tongue who
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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 White Moll by Frank L. Packard: underworld alike!
She rose abruptly to her feet. She had no longer any need of a
flashlight. There was even light of a sort in the place - she could
see the stars through the jagged holes in the roof, and through one
of these, too, the moonlight streamed in. The shed was all but
crumbling in a heap. Underfoot, what had once been flooring, was
now but rotting, broken boards. Under one of these, beside the
clothing of Gypsy Nan which she had discarded but a little while
before, she deposited the package; then stepped out into the lane,
and from there to the street again.
And now she became suddenly conscious of a great and almost
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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 Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: "But, friend, I can see--"
"You are without spiritual vision!"
And so I move on among the sweating and groaning hordes. Being of
a sympathetic turn of mind, I cannot help being distressed by the
prevalence of this singular practice among so large a portion of
the human race. How is it possible that none of them should
suspect the futility of their procedure? Or can it really be that
I am uncomprehending? That in some way they are actually getting
off the ground, or about to get off the ground?
Then I observe a new phenomenon: a man gliding here and there
among the bootstrap-lifters, approaching from the rear and
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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 On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: immoral it becomes, as it were, unmoral, and not quite unnecessary
to that life which we have made.
The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most
disinterested virtue to sustain it. The slight reproach to
which the virtue of patriotism is commonly liable, the noble
are most likely to incur. Those who, while they disapprove
of the character and measures of a government, yield to it
their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most
conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious
obstacles to reform. Some are petitioning the State to
dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
