| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: His father's death?
Strain and fear, said the new psychology. Fear? He had never found
himself lacking in courage. Certainly he would have fought a man
who called him a coward. But there was cowardice behind all such
conditions as his; a refusal of the mind to face reality. It was
weak. Weak. He hated himself for that past failure of his to face
reality.
But that night, sitting by David's bed, he faced reality with a
vengeance. He was in love, and he wanted the things that love
should bring to a normal man. He felt normal. He felt,
strengthened by love, that he could face whatever life had to bring,
The Breaking Point |
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: treasure with which God has connected and enclosed it, and which He
will not have separated? For the kernel in the water is God's Word or
command and the name of God which is a treasure greater and nobler than
heaven and earth.
Comprehend the difference, then, that Baptism is quite another thing
than all other water; not on account of the natural quality, but
because something more noble is here added; for God Himself stakes His
honor His power and might on it. Therefore it is not only natural
water, but a divine, heavenly, holy, and blessed water, and in whatever
other terms we can praise it, -- all on account of the Word, which is a
heavenly, holy Word, that no one can sufficiently extol, for it has,
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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 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: to inhabit very hot and very cold countries, and as I believe that all the
species of the same genus have descended from a single parent, if this view
be correct, acclimatisation must be readily effected during long-continued
descent. It is notorious that each species is adapted to the climate of
its own home: species from an arctic or even from a temperate region
cannot endure a tropical climate, or conversely. So again, many succulent
plants cannot endure a damp climate. But the degree of adaptation of
species to the climates under which they live is often overrated. We may
infer this from our frequent inability to predict whether or not an
imported plant will endure our climate, and from the number of plants and
animals brought from warmer countries which here enjoy good health. We
On the Origin of Species |
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 Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: his fingers again. Levi Gorringe was making his way
down the aisle--was at the moment quite in front.
Theron found himself watching this man with the stern
composure of a fatalist. The clamant brethren down below
were stirred to new excitement by the thought that the
sceptical lawyer, so long with them, yet not of them,
had been humbled and won by the outpourings of the Spirit.
Theron's perceptions were keener. He knew that Gorringe
was coming forward to kneel beside Alice; The knowledge
left him curiously undisturbed. He saw the lawyer advance,
gently insinuate himself past the form of some kneeling
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
