| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: And forage their Country as they have done ours,
By this revenge that loss will seem the less.
But all are frivolous fancies, toys, and dreams:
Once we are sure we have ensnared the son,
Catch we the father after how we can.
[Exeunt.]
ACT IV. SCENE IV. The same. The English Camp.
[Enter Prince Edward, Audley, and others.]
PRINCE EDWARD.
Audley, the arms of death embrace us round,
And comfort have we none, save that to die
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: the highest good, and for His sake risks everything.
XXXI. It also belongs to this work to resist all false,
seductive, erroneous, heretical doctrines, every misuse of
spiritual power. Now this is much higher, for these use the holy
Name of God itself to fight against the Name of God. For this
reason it seems a great thing and a dangerous to resist them,
because they assert that he who resists them resists God and all
His saints, in whose place they sit and whose power they use,
saying that Christ said of them, "He that heareth you, heareth
Me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me." On which words they
lean heavily, become insolent and bold to say, to do, and to
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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 The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: My old lord was uniformly kind to Mr. Henry; he had even pretty
ways of gratitude, and would sometimes clap him on the shoulder and
say, as if to the world at large: "This is a very good son to me."
And grateful he was, no doubt, being a man of sense and justice.
But I think that was all, and I am sure Mr. Henry thought so. The
love was all for the dead son. Not that this was often given
breath to; indeed, with me but once. My lord had asked me one day
how I got on with Mr. Henry, and I had told him the truth.
"Ay," said he, looking sideways on the burning fire, "Henry is a
good lad, a very good lad," said he. "You have heard, Mr.
Mackellar, that I had another son? I am afraid he was not so
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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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: at anchor three miles away in Apia harbour. I hope some day to
offer you a bowl of kava there, or a slice of a pineapple, or some
lemonade from my own hedge. 'I know a hedge where the lemons grow'
- SHAKESPEARE. My house at this moment smells of them strong; and
the rain, which a while ago roared there, now rings in minute drops
upon the iron roof. I have no WRECKER for you this mail, other
things having engaged me. I was on the whole rather relieved you
did not vote for regular papers, as I feared the traces. It is my
design from time to time to write a paper of a reminiscential
(beastly word) description; some of them I could scarce publish
from different considerations; but some of them - for instance, my
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