| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Open Letter on Translating by Dr. Martin Luther: write books? So do I.
I will go even further with my bragging: I can exegete the psalms
and the prophets, and they cannot. I can translate, and they
cannot. I can read Holy Scriptures, and they cannot. I can pray,
they cannot. Coming down to their level, I can do their
dialectics and philosophy better than all of them put together.
Plus I know that not one of them understands Aristotle. If, in
fact, any one of them can correctly understand one part or chapter
of Aristotle, I will eat my hat! No, I am not overdoing it for I
have been educated in and have practiced their science since my
childhood. I recognize how broad and deep it is. They, too, know
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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 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: freighted them with snailshells, and sent out more ventures on
the mighty deep than any merchant in New England; but the larger
part of them foundered near the shore. She seized a live
horse-shoe by the tail, and made prize of several five-fingers,
and laid out a jelly-fish to melt in the warm sun. Then she took
up the white foam that streaked the line of the advancing tide,
and threw it upon the breeze, scampering after it with winged
footsteps to catch the great snowflakes ere they fell.
Perceiving a flock of beach-birds that fed and fluttered along
the shore, the naughty child picked up her apron full of pebbles,
and, creeping from rock to rock after these small sea-fowl,
The Scarlet Letter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: rolled up from the depths of the gloomy prison. The tetrarch and
Herodias felt compelled to remain near at hand. Antipas listened,
breathing heavily; while the woman, with parted lips, gazed into the
darkness of the pit, her face drawn with an expression of fear and
hatred.
The terrible man now turned towards her. He grasped the bars of his
prison, pressed against them his bearded face, in which his eyes
glowed like burning coals, and cried:
"Ah! Is it thou, Jezebel? Thou hast captured thy lord's heart with the
tinkling of thy feet. Thou didst neigh to him like a mare. Thou didst
prepare thy bed on the mountain top, in order to accomplish thy
Herodias |
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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: about forty years of age, striding beside the cart with a
non-commissioned military bearing, and (as he strode) spinning in
the air a cane. The fellow's clothes were very bad, but he looked
clean and self-reliant.
'I'm only a beginner,' gasped the blushing Harker, 'I didn't
think anybody could hear me.'
'Well, I like that!' returned the other. 'You're a pretty old
beginner. Come, I'll give you a lead myself. Give us a seat here
beside you.'
The next moment the military gentleman was perched on the cart,
pipe in hand. He gave the instrument a knowing rattle on the
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