| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: Jesuits to each of their establishments, and that they conducted
only ten colleges.
"Holy History"
And if you think this tax-exemption privilege should be taken
away from the church grafters, let me suggest a course of
procedure. Write a letter about it to your daily newspaper; and
if the letter is not published, go and see the editor and ask
why; so you will learn something about the partnership between
Superstition and Big Business!
It is not too much to say that today no daily newspaper in any
large American city dares to attack the emoluments of the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: three without the last. The debate ended in favor of the first
proposition, the jury considering that only two sacks had been used.
They appeared to have a foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin
and Monsieur de Grandville judged it best to surfeit them with
plaster, and weary them so thoroughly with the argument that they
would no longer comprehend the question. Monsieur de Grandville made
it appear that experts ought to have been sent to examine the stone
posts.
"The director of the jury," he said, "has contented himself with
merely visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful
examination than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a
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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 Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: for men quite destitute of it possess the force in question; not in
character only, for we often disapprove of a character whose
attraction we are powerless to resist; not in intellect alone, for
men more rational fail of stirring us as these unconsciously do.
In what, then? In life itself; not that modicum of it, indeed,
which suffices simply to keep the machine moving, but in the life
principle, the power which causes psychical change; which makes the
individual something distinct from all other individuals, a being
capable of proving sufficient, if need be, unto himself; which shows
itself, in short, as individuality. This is not a mere restatement
of the case, for individuality is an objective fact capable of being
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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 The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: Madame Balthazar had lived for several months in such complete
solitude that the notary was obliged not only to confirm the rumor of
the disasters, but to give her further particulars, which were now
well known throughout the town. He told her that it was probably that
her husband owed considerable sums of money to the house which
furnished him with chemicals. That house, after making inquiries as to
the fortune and credit of Monsieur Claes, accepted all his orders and
sent the supplies without hesitation, notwithstanding the heavy sums
of money which became due. Madame Claes requested Pierquin to obtain
the bill for all the chemicals that had been furnished to her husband.
Two months later, Messieurs Protez and Chiffreville, manufacturers of
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