| 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: unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same
time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His
vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and,
according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us,
because in his decrees he always makes exception of the
article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who,
in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: her sunbonnet on her head, a grain-sack in her hand, and asked me if I
did not want to go to the garden with her to dig potatoes for dinner.
The garden, curiously enough, was a quarter of a mile from the house,
and the way to it led up a shallow draw past the cattle corral.
Grandmother called my attention to a stout hickory cane,
tipped with copper, which hung by a leather thong from
her belt. This, she said, was her rattlesnake cane.
I must never go to the garden without a heavy stick or a corn-knife;
she had killed a good many rattlers on her way back and forth.
A little girl who lived on the Black Hawk road was bitten
on the ankle and had been sick all summer.
My Antonia |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: As he turned in the direction he was accustomed to taking
from this part of Paris to his apartments, the watcher across
the street ran from his hiding-place and hurried on ahead
at a rapid pace.
Tarzan had been wont to traverse the Rue Maule on his
way home at night. Because it was very quiet and very
dark it reminded him more of his beloved African jungle
than did the noisy and garish streets surrounding it.
If you are familiar with your Paris you will recall the
narrow, forbidding precincts of the Rue Maule. If you are
not, you need but ask the police about it to learn that in
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: that the man was still drunk.
"Hullo!" said he, stupidly; and then with a light coming into his eyes,
"Why, it's Mister--Mister?"
"Prendick," said I.
"Pendick be damned!" said he. "Shut-up,--that's your name.
Mister Shut-up."
It was no good answering the brute; but I certainly did not expect
his next move. He held out his hand to the gangway by which Montgomery
stood talking to a massive grey-haired man in dirty-blue flannels,
who had apparently just come aboard.
"That way, Mister Blasted Shut-up! that way!" roared the captain.
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
