| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: Marie's absence might have saved Raoul from the gulf into which he was
falling, if Florine had been near him; but, unfortunately, he was
alone in the midst of friends who had become his enemies from the
moment that he showed his intention of ruling them. His staff of
writers hated him "pro tem.," ready to hold out a hand to him and
console him in case of a fall, ready to adore him in case of success.
So goes the world of literature. No one is really liked but an
inferior. Every man's hand is against him who is likely to rise. This
wide-spread envy doubles the chances of common minds who excite
neither envy nor suspicion, who make their way like moles, and, fools
though they be, find themselves gazetted in the "Moniteur," for three
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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 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: advice as to what course it was best for me to pursue.
I found Sandy an old adviser. He told me, with
great solemnity, I must go back to Covey; but that
before I went, I must go with him into another
part of the woods, where there was a certain ~root,~
which, if I would take some of it with me, carrying
it ~always on my right side,~ would render it impos-
sible for Mr. Covey, or any other white man, to
whip me. He said he had carried it for years; and
since he had done so, he had never received a blow,
and never expected to while he carried it. I at first
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: by the touchstone of God's Word recorded in the first chapter of this
Epistle: "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed."
VERSE 13. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the
law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your
flesh.
In other words: "I shall tell you what kind of teachers you have now. They
avoid the Cross, they teach no certain truths. They think they are
performing the Law, but they are not. They have not the Holy Spirit and
without Him nobody can keep the Law." Where the Holy Ghost does not
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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 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: evellere neque sinistra impedita satis commode pugnare poterant, multi ut
diu iactato bracchio praeoptarent scutum manu emittere et nudo corpore
pugnare. Tandem vulneribus defessi et pedem referre et, quod mons suberit
circiter mille passuum , eo se recipere coeperunt. Capto monte et
succedentibus nostris, Boi et Tulingi, qui hominum milibus circiter XV
agmen hostium claudebant et novissimis praesidio erant, ex itinere nostros
latere aperto adgressi circumvenire, et id conspicati Helvetii, qui
in montem sese receperant, rursus instare et proelium redintegrare
coeperunt. Romani [conversa] signa bipertito intulerunt: prima et
secunda acies, ut victis ac submotis resisteret, tertia, ut venientes
sustineret.
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