| 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: 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.
Therefore this commandment is given first of all that every one shall
help his neighbor to secure his rights, and not allow them to be
hindered or twisted, but shall promote and strictly maintain them, no
matter whether he be judge or witness, and let it pertain to whatsoever
it will. And especially is a goal set up here for our jurists that they
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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 Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: things he did not understand, and she knew that she could count
on his obedience. They walked on in silence to the next canal,
and he picked up a passing gondola and put her in it.
"Now go and amuse yourself," she called after him, as the boat
shot under the nearest bridge. Anything, anything, to be alone,
away from the folly and futility that would be all she had left
if Nick were to drop out of her life ....
"But perhaps he has dropped already--dropped for good," she
thought as she set her foot on the Vanderlyn threshold.
The short summer night was already growing transparent: a new
born breeze stirred the soiled surface of the water and sent it
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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 Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: seven. They were miserably clad; and the pavement was so
cold, you would have thought no one could lay a naked
foot on it unflinching. Yet they came along waltzing, if
you please, while the elder sang a tune to give them
music. The person who saw this, and whose heart was full
of bitterness at the moment, pocketed a reproof which has
been of use to him ever since, and which he now hands on,
with his good wishes, to the reader.
At length, Edinburgh, with her satellite hills and
all the sloping country, are sheeted up in white. If it
has happened in the dark hours, nurses pluck 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 A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: through your own hands. So Claparon's innocence in merely issuing
writs of attachment eased the Count's mind. As he came back from the
Varietes with Antonia, he was so much the more taken with the idea of
selling the reading-room to pay off the last two thousand francs of
the purchase-money, because he did not care to have his name made
public as a partner in such a concern. So he adopted Antonia's plan.
Antonia wished to reach the higher ranks of her calling, with splendid
rooms, a maid, and a carriage; in short, she wanted to rival our
charming hostess, for instance--"
"She was not woman enough for that," cried the famous beauty of the
Circus; "still, she ruined young d'Esgrignon very neatly."
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