| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: than to be an accomplice with a pack of rascals, that walk the
streets on nights, and disturb good people in their beds; but he
is out, if he thinks the whole world is blind; for there is one
John Partridge can smell a knave as far as Grubstreet, -- tho' he
lies in the most exalted garret, and writes himself 'Squire: --
But I'll keep my temper, and proceed in the narration.
I could not stir out of doors for the space of three months after
this, but presently one comes up to me in the street; Mr
Partridge, that coffin you was last buried in I have not been yet
paid for: Doctor, cries another dog, How d'ye think people can
live by making of graves for nothing? Next time you die, you may
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: counseled, they are an entirely unnecessary and useless thing.
But the worst is that [they have imagined that] these relics
had to work indulgence and the forgiveness of sins [and have
revered them] as a good work and service of God, like the
Mass, etc.
Sixthly. Here belong the precious indulgences granted (but
only for money) both to the living and the dead, by which the
miserable [sacrilegious and accursed] Judas, or Pope, has sold
the merit of Christ, together with the superfluous merits of
all saints and of the entire Church, etc. All these things
[and every single one of them] are not to be borne, and are
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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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: rich and varied in its productions, and at the same time so
habitable by the European, as this is? Michaux, who knew but part
of them, says that "the species of large trees are much more
numerous in North America than in Europe; in the United States
there are more than one hundred and forty species that exceed
thirty feet in height; in France there are but thirty that attain
this size." Later botanists more than confirm his observations.
Humboldt came to America to realize his youthful dreams of a
tropical vegetation, and he beheld it in its greatest perfection
in the primitive forests of the Amazon, the most gigantic
wilderness on the earth, which he has so eloquently described.
Walking |
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 Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: walked with her and Mrs. Weguelin, took on an added lustre of
significance:--
"We shall have to call."
Call on the Cornerlys! Would they do that? Were they ready to stand by
their John to that tune? A hotel would be nothing; you could call on
anybody at a hotel, if you had to; but here would be a demarche indeed!
Yet, nevertheless, I felt quite certain that, if Hortense, though the
Cornerlys' guest, was also the guaranteed fiancee of John Mayrant, the
old ladies would come up to the scratch, hate and loathe it as they
might, and undoubtedly would: they could be trusted to do the right
thing.
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