| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: The letter ran as follows: " I ask you now for
the third time to pay me back the six roubles you
have borrowed; you are trying to avoid me.
That is not the way an honest man ought to be-
have. Will you please send the amount by my
messenger? I am myself in a frightful fix. Can
you not get the money somewhere?--Yours, ac-
cording to whether you send the money or not,
with scorn, or love, Grouchetsky."
"There we have it! Such a pig! Could he
not wait a while? I will have another try."
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: I feel with only too much keenness the inadequacy of pen and ink
--and, above all, my own inadequacy--to express its quality.
You read, I will suppose, attentively enough; but you cannot see
the speaker's white, sincere face in the bright circle of the
little lamp, nor hear the intonation of his voice. You cannot
know how his expression followed the turns of his story! Most of
us hearers were in shadow, for the candles in the smoking-room
had not been lighted, and only the face of the Journalist and the
legs of the Silent Man from the knees downward were illuminated.
At first we glanced now and again at each other. After a time we
ceased to do that, and looked only at the Time Traveller's face.
The Time Machine |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known
from its writers. This being the case, they judge harshly who
insist that our teachers be regarded as heretics. There is,
however, disagreement on certain Abuses, which have crept into
the Church without rightful authority. And even in these, if
there were some difference, there should be proper lenity on
the part of bishops to bear with us by reason of the
Confession which we have now reviewed; because even the Canons
are not so severe as to demand the same rites everywhere,
neither, at any time, have the rites of all churches been the
same; although, among us, in large part, the ancient rites are
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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 Faith of Men by Jack London: was a sweet letter of forgiveness, dictated in his last hours.
There were official letters from the Company, graciously ordering
him to turn the post over to the assistant and permitting him to
depart at his earliest pleasure. A long, legal affair from the
lawyers informed him of interminable lists of stocks and bonds,
real estate, rents, and chattels that were his by his father's
will. And a dainty bit of stationery, sealed and monogramed,
implored dear Neil's return to his heart-broken and loving mother.
Neil Bonner did some swift thinking, and when the Yukon Belle
coughed in to the bank on her way down to Bering Sea, he departed--
departed with the ancient lie of quick return young and blithe on
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