| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: mahogany that Uncle Martin's thoughtfulness had provided. It
seemed unbelievable, but there was no use pretending she was
mistaken--Uncle Martin, Aunt Rose's husband, was falling in love
with her. She felt a little heady with the excitement of it. He
was so different from the callow youths and dapper fellows who
had heretofore worshipped at her shrine. There was something so
imposing, so important about him. She was conscious that a man so
much older might not appeal to many girls of her age, but it so
happened that he did appeal to her. She would be able to have
everything she wished, too--didn't she know how good, how kind,
how tender he could be. And her heart yearned toward him--he was
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: would give you a sovereign every Sunday morning, I would not have you
a seven-days' cabman again. We have known what it was to have no Sundays,
and now we know what it is to call them our own. Thank God,
you earn enough to keep us, though it is sometimes close work
to pay for all the oats and hay, the license, and the rent besides;
but Harry will soon be earning something, and I would rather struggle on
harder than we do than go back to those horrid times when you hardly had
a minute to look at your own children, and we never could go
to a place of worship together, or have a happy, quiet day.
God forbid that we should ever turn back to those times;
that's what I say, Jerry."
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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 Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: For it is a truly good work, by which God is praised, truth and right
are established, falsehood is refuted, peace is made among men,
obedience is rendered, and quarrels are settled. For in this way God
Himself interposes and separates between right and wrong, good and
evil. If one part swears falsely, he has his sentence that he shall not
escape punishment, ad though it be deferred a long time, he shall not
succeed; that all that he may gain thereby will slip out of his hands,
and he will never enjoy it; as I have seen in the case of many who
perjured themselves in their marriage-vows, that they have never had a
happy hour or a healthful day, and thus perished miserably in body,
soul, and possessions.
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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 Bucolics by Virgil: Of the Sicilian swain. Resolved am I
In the woods, rather, with wild beasts to couch,
And bear my doom, and character my love
Upon the tender tree-trunks: they will grow,
And you, my love, grow with them. And meanwhile
I with the Nymphs will haunt Mount Maenalus,
Or hunt the keen wild boar. No frost so cold
But I will hem with hounds thy forest-glades,
Parthenius. Even now, methinks, I range
O'er rocks, through echoing groves, and joy to launch
Cydonian arrows from a Parthian bow.-
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