| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: you to listen to me. I have come from Stella and Lucy
to their old playmate, and to my old friend's son. They
know that I am going to bring you home with me, and you
will find them as ready with a welcome as they were in
the old days. I want you to come to my house and stay
until you are yourself aain, and as much longer as you
will. We heard of your being down in the world, and in
the midst of temptation, and we agreed that you should
come over and play at our house once more. Will you
come, my boy? Will you drop our old family trouble
and come with me?"
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: who won the name of a second Samson by a
series of feats of strength that to the people
of that day seemed little short of superhuman.
Dr. Desaguliers, in his Experimental Philosophy,
gives the following account of Joyce and
his methods.
About thirty years ago one Joyce,[5] a
Kentish man, famous for his great
strength (tho' not quite so strong as the
King of Poland, by the accounts we have
of that Prince) shewed several feats in
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: word of their conversation.
"De Montfort," said one, "what thinkest thou of it?
Can it be that the Queen is right and that Richard lies
dead beneath these black waters?"
"No, De Clare," replied a deep voice, which De Vac
recognized as that of the Earl of Leicester. "The hand
that could steal the Prince from out of the very gardens
of his sire without the knowledge of Lady Maud or her
companion, which must evidently have been the case,
could more easily and safely have dispatched him with-
in the gardens had that been the object of this strange
The Outlaw of Torn |
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 Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: great and high art [giving their mind, as they imagine, to much higher
matters], but others from sheer laziness and care for their paunches,
assuming no other relation to this business than if they were pastors
and preachers for their bellies' sake, and had nothing to do but to
[spend and] consume their emoluments as long as they live, as they have
been accustomed to do under the Papacy.
And although they have now everything that they are to preach and
teach placed before them so abundantly, clearly, and easily, in so many
[excellent and] helpful books, and the true Sermones per se loquentes,
Dormi secure, Paratos et Thesauros, as they were called in former
times; yet they are not so godly and honest as to buy these books, or
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