| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: Far-voyaging island gods, begrimed with smoke,
Sit now unworshipped, the rude monument
Of faiths forgot and races undivined:
Sit now disconsolate, remembering well
The priest, the victim, and the songful crowd,
The blaze of the blue noon, and that huge voice,
Incessant, of the breakers on the shore.
As far as these from their ancestral shrine,
So far, so foreign, your divided friends
Wander, estranged in body, not in mind.
Apemama.
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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 Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: common calamity in the world that in courts of justice there seldom
preside godly men.
For to be a judge requires above all things a godly man, and not only a
godly, but also a wise, modest, yea, a brave and bold man; likewise, to
be a witness requires a fearless and especially a godly man. For a
person who is to judge all matters rightly and carry them through with
his decision will often offend good friends, relatives, neighbors, and
the rich and powerful, who can greatly serve or injure him. Therefore
he must be quite blind, have his eyes and ears closed, neither see nor
hear, but go straight forward in everything that comes before him, and
decide accordingly.
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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 Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: life, on the duties they must, some day, inculcate upon their
children,--throwing in, at this point, an indirect reproach to Ginevra
on the absence of her parents; then, after uniting them before God, as
the mayor had united them before the law, he left the now married
couple.
"God bless them!" said Vergniaud, the sergeant, to the mason, when
they reached the church porch. "No two creatures were ever more fitted
for one another. The parents of the girl are foolish. I don't know a
braver soldier than Colonel Luigi. If the whole army had behaved like
him, 'l'autre' would be here still."
This blessing of the old soldier, the only one bestowed upon their
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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 United States Constitution: or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly,
until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services,
a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during
the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the
following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that
I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the
The United States Constitution |
