| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death" (Phil. ii. 5-8). This most wholesome saying of the Apostle
has been darkened to us by men who, totally misunderstanding the
expressions "form of God," "form of a servant," "fashion,"
"likeness of men," have transferred them to the natures of
Godhead and manhood. Paul's meaning is this: Christ, when He was
full of the form of God and abounded in all good things, so that
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: Inaugural Address of President Kennedy, officially on
November 22, 1993, on the day of the 30th anniversary
of his assassination.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, given November 19, 1863
on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
#STARTMARK#
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . .
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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 Europeans by Henry James: wax candles, procured after some research, in unexpected situations;
to dispose anomalous draperies over the arms of sofas and the backs
of chairs. The Baroness had brought with her to the New World
a copious provision of the element of costume; and the two
Miss Wentworths, when they came over to see her, were somewhat
bewildered by the obtrusive distribution of her wardrobe.
There were India shawls suspended, curtain-wise, in the parlor door,
and curious fabrics, corresponding to Gertrude's metaphysical
vision of an opera-cloak, tumbled about in the sitting-places.
There were pink silk blinds in the windows, by which the room
was strangely bedimmed; and along the chimney-piece was disposed
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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 La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: After crossing some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and
damp, I reached the state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the
rumors that were current concerning this lady (monsieur, I should
never end if I were to repeat all the tales that were told about her),
I had imagined her a coquette. Imagine, then, that I had great
difficulty in seeing her in the great bed where she was lying. To be
sure, to light this enormous room, with old-fashioned heavy cornices,
and so thick with dust that merely to see it was enough to make you
sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but you have not been to
Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, with a high
tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the bed, on
La Grande Breteche |
