| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.
THE BLOSSOM
Merry, merry sparrow!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Sees you, swift as arrow,
Seek your cradle narrow,
Near my bosom.
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: Acarnanians retired; sentinels were posted, and the troops slept in
peace.
Next day Agesilaus led off his army. The exit from the plain and
meadow-land round the lake was a narrow aperture through a close
encircling range of hills. In occupation of this mountain barrier the
Acarnanians, from the vantage-ground above, poured down a continuous
pelt of stones and other missiles, or, creeping down to the fringes,
dogged and annoyed them so much that the army was no longer able to
proceed. If the heavy infantry or cavalry made sallies from the main
line they did no harm to their assailants, for the Acarnanians had
only to retire and they had quickly gained their strongholds. It was
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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 Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: have been so abused for filthy lucre as the Mass.
There was also added the opinion which infinitely increased
Private Masses, namely that Christ, by His passion, had made
satisfaction for original sin, and instituted the Mass wherein
an offering should be made for daily sins, venial and mortal.
From this has arisen the common opinion that the Mass takes
away the sins of the living and the dead by the outward act.
Then they began to dispute whether one Mass said for many were
worth as much as special Masses for individuals, and this
brought forth that infinite multitude of Masses. [With this
work men wished to obtain from God all that they needed, and
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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 Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: been fulfilled, that he had nothing more to say, and that I could go
as soon as I wanted to. He appeared quite calm, but he must have
been very nervous. For as I stood by the desk, telling him what I
thought of his actions, he moved his hand hastily among the papers
there and upset the ink stand. I jumped back, but not before I had
received several large spots of ink on my trousers. He was profuse
in his apologies for the accident, and tried to take out the spots
with blotting paper. Then at last, when I insisted upon going, he
looked out to see whether there was still a light on the stairs, and
led me down to the door himself, standing there for some time
looking after me.
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