| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Vicar of Tours by Honore de Balzac: intervene, officially, between Mademoiselle Gamard and himself.
When he found himself in presence of the imposing canon, who, in order
to receive his visitor in a bare and cheerless room, had hastily
quitted a study full of papers, where he worked incessantly, and where
no one was ever admitted, the vicar felt half ashamed at speaking of
Mademoiselle Gamard's provocations to a man who appeared to be so
gravely occupied. But after going through the agony of the mental
deliberations which all humble, undecided, and feeble persons endure
about things of even no importance, he decided, not without much
swelling and beating of the heart, to explain his position to the Abbe
Troubert.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: or make it afraid? If the consciousness of sin or the horror of
death rush in upon it, it is prepared to hope in the Lord, and is
fearless of such evils, and undisturbed, until it shall look down
upon its enemies. For it believes that the righteousness of
Christ is its own, and that its sin is no longer its own, but
that of Christ; but, on account of its faith in Christ, all its
sin must needs be swallowed up from before the face of the
righteousness of Christ, as I have said above. It learns, too,
with the Apostle, to scoff at death and sin, and to say, "O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: "Well, is anything the matter?" insisted Horn.
"Why, sir, I don't know; but the Professor - he is so still - he
doesn't answer."
Horn sprang from his chair. "Is he ill?" he asked.
"I don't know, sir. His room is locked - he never locked it before."
"And you are certain he is at home?"
"Yes, sir. I saw him during the night - and the key is in the lock
on the inside."
The commissioner had his hat in his hand when the colleague who was
to relieve him appeared. "Good and cold out to-day!" was the
latter's greeting. Horn answered with an ironical: "Then I suppose
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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 Three Taverns by Edwin Arlington Robinson: No? Well, you are not crying, as you should be.
Tears, even if they told only gratitude
For your escape, and had no other story,
Were surely more becoming than a smile
For my unwomanly straightforwardness
In seeing for you, through my close gate of years
Your forty ways to freedom. Why do you smile?
And while I'm trembling at my faith in you
In giving you to read this book of danger
That only one man living might have written --
These letters, which have been a part of me
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