| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: still and saw the countess seated in an armchair; and she saw him.
Pale with joy and palpitating, the timid creature showed him, by the
light of the lamp, Saint-Vallier lying in a bed about ten feet from
her. We may well believe their burning silent kisses echoed only in
their hearts.
CHAPTER III
THE ROBBERY OF THE JEWELS OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA
The next day, about nine in the morning, as Louis XI. was leaving his
chapel after hearing mass, he found Maitre Cornelius on his path.
"Good luck to you, crony," he said, shoving up his cap in his hasty
way.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: possession of her hand. She struggled, and uttered a cry that was
almost a scream. I sprang to my feet, unmindful of my strange
position; but, ere I had taken a step, I saw Northmour bareheaded
and bowing very low, as if to apologise; and dropped again at once
into my ambush. A few words were interchanged; and then, with
another bow, he left the beach to return to the pavilion. He
passed not far from me, and I could see him, flushed and lowering,
and cutting savagely with his cane among the grass. It was not
without satisfaction that I recognised my own handiwork in a great
cut under his right eye, and a considerable discolouration round
the socket.
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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 Middlemarch by George Eliot: to feel that it is fine--something like being blind, while people
talk of the sky."
"Oh, there is a great deal in the feeling for art which must
be acquired," said Will. (It was impossible now to doubt the
directness of Dorothea's confession.) "Art is an old language
with a great many artificial affected styles, and sometimes
the chief pleasure one gets out of knowing them is the mere
sense of knowing. I enjoy the art of all sorts here immensely;
but I suppose if I could pick my enjoyment to pieces I should
find it made up of many different threads. There is something
in daubing a little one's self, and having an idea of the process."
Middlemarch |
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 Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: notions."[134]
[132] In some conversions, both steps are distinct; in this one,
for example:--
"Whilst I was reading the evangelical treatise, I was soon struck
by an expression: 'the finished work of Christ.' 'Why,' I asked
of myself, 'does the author use these terms? Why does he not say
"the atoning work"?' Then these words, 'It is finished,'
presented themselves to my mind. 'What is it that is finished?'
I asked, and in an instant my mind replied: 'A perfect expiation
for sin; entire satisfaction has been given; the debt has been
paid by the Substitute. Christ has died for our sins; not for
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