| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The United States Constitution: for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dockyards,
and other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested
by this Constitution in the Government of the United States,
or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not
be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight
hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such Importation,
not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The United States Constitution |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: was more than 20 degrees below zero, and it was with deep emotion that
their companions beheld them thus embarking upon the vast white plain.
Ben Zoof's heart was too full for words; Count Timascheff could not
forbear pressing his two brave friends to his bosom; the Spaniards
and the Russian sailors crowded round for a farewell shake of the hand,
and little Nina, her great eyes flooded with tears, held up her face
for a parting kiss. The sad scene was not permitted to be long.
The sail was quickly hoisted, and the sledge, just as if it had expanded
a huge white wing, was in a little while carried far away beyond the horizon.
Light and unimpeded, the yawl scudded on with incredible speed.
Two sails, a brigantine and a jib, were arranged to catch the wind
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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 Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: Bureau of Animal Industry, for the protection of domestic animals. In
1919, the State of Kansas appropriated $25,000 to protect the health
of pigs, and $4,000 to protect the health of children. In four years
our Federal Government appropriated--roughly speaking--$81,000,000 for
the improvement of rivers; $13,000,000 for forest conservation;
$8,000,000 for the experimental plant industry; $7,000,000 for the
experimental animal industry; $4,000,000 to combat the foot and mouth
disease; and less than half a million for the protection of child
life.
Competent authorities tell us that no less than 75 per cent. of
American children leave school between the ages of fourteen and
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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 Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: but even they owe their vitality and organisation to something
higher than that on which they feed; and each of them, however,
defaced and debased, was at first a "thought of God." All true
manhood consists in the defiance of circumstances; and if any man be
the creature of circumstances, it is because he has become so, like
the drunkard; because he has ceased to be a man, and sunk downward
toward the brute.
Accordingly we shall find, throughout the 18th century, a stirring
of thought, an originality, a resistance to circumstances, an
indignant defiance of circumstances, which would have been
impossible, had circumstances been the true lords and shapers of
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