| 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: established on his throne, and let his heart decline from God, and put
his trust in his crown and power, he had to perish with all that he
had, so that none even of his children remained. David, on the other
hand, was a poor, despised man, hunted down and chased, so that he
nowhere felt secure of his life; yet he had to remain in spite of Saul,
and become king. For these words had to abide and come true, since God
cannot lie or deceive. Only let not the devil and the world deceive you
with their show, which indeed remains for a time, but finally is
nothing.
Let us, then, learn well the First Commandment, that we may see how God
will tolerate no presumption nor any trust in any other object, and how
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: up our position side by side, leaning over my bed place.
He had. And the proof of it was his earnest whisper, "The man told you
he hardly dared to give the order."
I understood the reference to be to that saving foresail.
"Yes. He was afraid of it being lost in the setting."
"I assure you he never gave the order. He may think he did,
but he never gave it. He stood there with me on the break of the poop
after the main topsail blew away, and whimpered about our last hope--
positively whimpered about it and nothing else--and the night coming on!
To hear one's skipper go on like that in such weather was enough
to drive any fellow out of his mind. It worked me up into a sort
The Secret Sharer |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: tion with the princess."
Barney could hear the officer acknowledge the commands
of the king, and then he heard a door close. The man had
gone to fetch the princess. The American struck a match
and examined the panel before him. It reached to the top
of the passageway and was some three feet in width.
At one side were three hinges, and at the other an ancient
spring lock. For an instant Barney stood in indecision. What
should he do? His entry into the apartments of the king
would result in alarming the entire fortress. Were he sure
the king was alone it might be accomplished. Should he
The Mad King |
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 Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: imitated the police in its dealings with the republicans; but she
labored in vain. Rosalie showed no symptoms of rebellion. Then the
arid bigot accused her daughter of perfect insensibility. Rosalie knew
her mother well enough to be sure that if she had thought young
Monsieur de Soulas /nice/, she would have drawn down on herself a
smart reproof. Thus, to all her mother's incitement she replied merely
by such phrases as are wrongly called Jesuitical--wrongly, because the
Jesuits were strong, and such reservations are the /chevaux de frise/
behind which weakness takes refuge. Then the mother regarded the girl
as a dissembler. If by mischance a spark of the true nature of the
Wattevilles and the Rupts blazed out, the mother armed herself with
Albert Savarus |
