| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding
promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over
purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate
has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in
purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not
possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles
into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into 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 A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: And the Soul answered, 'Come nearer, that I may speak with thee,
for I have seen marvellous things.'
So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his
head upon his hand and listened.
And the Soul said to him, 'When I left thee, I turned my face to
the South and journeyed. From the South cometh everything that is
precious. Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to the
city of Ashter, along the dusty red-dyed highways by which the
pilgrims are wont to go did I journey, and on the morning of the
seventh day I lifted up my eyes, and lo! the city lay at my feet,
for it is in a valley.
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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 Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: "And what has this young life been ruined for?" said the aunt.
"What is especially painful to me is that I am the involuntary
cause of it."
"She will recover in the country, with God's help," said the
mother. "We shall send her to her father."
"Yes, if it were not for you she would have perished altogether,"
said the aunt. "Thank you. But what I wished to see you for is
this: I wished to ask you to take a letter to Vera Doukhova," and
she got the letter out of her pocket.
"The letter is not closed; you may read and tear it up, or hand
it to her, according to how far it coincides with your
Resurrection |
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 Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: The soldiers marched back through the arch again, and with them
marched the shaggy man, Dorothy, Toto, and Button-Bright. Once
through the opening they found a fine, big city spread out before
them, all the houses of carved marble in beautiful colors. The
decorations were mostly birds and other fowl, such as peacocks,
pheasants, turkeys, prairie-chickens, ducks, and geese. Over each
doorway was carved a head representing the fox who lived in that
house, this effect being quite pretty and unusual.
As our friends marched along, some of the foxes came out on the
porches and balconies to get a view of the strangers. These foxes
were all handsomely dressed, the girl-foxes and women-foxes wearing
The Road to Oz |
