| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy: If a free society cannot help the many who are poor,
it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border: we offer a special pledge. . .
to convert our good words into good deeds. . .in a new alliance for progress
. . .to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of
poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of
hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them
to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. . .and let
every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master
of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states: the United Nations. . .
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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 Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: this point on they are so utterly unlike that the very similarity of
all that went before only suffices to make of the second the weird,
life-counterfeiting shadow of the first. As in a silhouette,
externally the contours are all there, but within is one vast blank.
In relation to one's neighbor the two beliefs are kin, but as
regards one's self, as far apart as the West is from the East.
For here, at this idea of self, we are suddenly aware of standing on
the brink of a fathomless abyss, gazing giddily down into that great
gulf which divides Buddhism from Christianity. We cannot see the
bottom. It is a separation more profound than death; it seems to
necessitate annihilation. To cross it we must bury in its depths
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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 Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: were new when I made them. She asked me if I had made one just
at the time of the catastrophe. I was obliged to admit that I had
made one to myself, though not aloud. It was this. I was thinking
about the Falls, and I said to myself, "How wonderful it is to see
that vast body of water tumble down there!" Then in an instant a
bright thought flashed into my head, and I let it fly, saying, "It
would be a deal more wonderful to see it tumble up there!"--and I
was just about to kill myself with laughing at it when all nature
broke loose in war and death, and I had to flee for my life.
"There," she said, with triumph, "that is just it; the Serpent
mentioned that very jest, and called it the First Chestnut, 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 A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: depths, nor suspect how continual enjoyment whets the appetite for
novelty.
"If she should like me as much as I like her, we might abridge the
romance," said Lucien, addressing de Marsay and Rastignac.
"You both of you write romances too well to care to live them,"
returned Rastignac. "Can men and women who write ever fall in love
with each other? A time is sure to come when they begin to make little
cutting remarks."
"It would not be a bad dream for you," laughed de Marsay. "The
charming young lady is thirty years old, it is true, but she has an
income of eighty thousand livres. She is adorably capricious, and her
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