| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: they speak and treat, and with which they are occupied. Now, when these
three arts are apprehended, it behooves a person also to know what to
say concerning our Sacraments, which Christ Himself instituted, Baptism
and the holy body and blood of Christ, namely, the text which Matthew
[28, 19 ff.] and Mark [16, 15 f.] record at the close of their Gospels
when Christ said farewell to His disciples and sent them forth.
OF BAPTISM.
Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. So
much is sufficient for a simple person to know from the Scriptures
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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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and indecision it seemed to Bertrade de Montfort that
ten years passed above her head, and when she reached
her final resolution she was no longer a young girl but
a grown woman who, with the weight of a mature
deliberation, had chosen the path which she would
travel to the end--to the final goal, however sweet or
however bitter.
Slowly she turned toward him who knelt with bowed
head at her feet, and, taking the hand that held the
ring outstretched toward her, raised him to his feet. In
silence she replaced the golden band upon his finger,
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: Suddenly a louder-sounding note filled our ears,
the darkness started streaming against our bodies,
chilling them exceedingly. Both of us, Gambril
and I, shivered violently in our clinging, soaked
garments of thin cotton. I said to him:
"You are all right now, my man. All you've got
to do is to keep the wind at the back of your head.
Surely you are up to that. A child could steer this
ship in smooth water."
He muttered: "Aye! A healthy child." And I
felt ashamed of having been passed over by the
The Shadow Line |
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 St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: of the money replaced and the despatch-box locked, and to overtake
them, even by running ere they should be lost in that maze of
corridors, my uncle's house. As it was, I went with a heart
divided; and the thought of my treasure thus left unprotected, save
by a paltry lid and lock that any one might break or pick open, put
me in a perspiration whenever I had the time to remember it. The
lawyer brought us to a room, begged us to be seated while he should
hold a consultation with the doctor, and, slipping out of another
door, left Alain and myself closeted together.
Truly he had done nothing to ingratiate himself; his every word had
been steeped in unfriendliness, envy, and that contempt which (as
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