| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: ought to be among the soothing influences of a man's life, always
brought with it some irritation to Arthur. There was no having
his own way in the stables; everything was managed in the
stingiest fashion. His grandfather persisted in retaining as head
groom an old dolt whom no sort of lever could move out of his old
habits, and who was allowed to hire a succession of raw Loamshire
lads as his subordinates, one of whom had lately tested a new pair
of shears by clipping an oblong patch on Arthur's bay mare. This
state of things is naturally embittering; one can put up with
annoyances in the house, but to have the stable made a scene of
vexation and disgust is a point beyond what human flesh and blood
Adam Bede |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: the people may falsely think them preferable to other good
works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend
the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of
mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor
or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes
better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more
free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in
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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 Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: Jenkins' house, thirty thousand in all entering the city, but
without disturbance, old La Marmora being a commander of a Roman
sternness.
With the return of quiet, and the reopening of the universities, we
behold a new character, Signor Flaminio: the professors, it
appears, made no attempt upon the Jenkin; and thus readily
italianised the Fleeming. He came well recommended; for their
friend Ruffini was then, or soon after, raised to be the head of
the University; and the professors were very kind and attentive,
possibly to Ruffini's PROTEGE, perhaps also to the first Protestant
student. It was no joke for Signor Flaminio at first; certificates
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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 Heroes by Charles Kingsley: won her, my beloved, and lost her again the same day, and
wandered away in my madness, even to Egypt and the Libyan
sands, and the isles of all the seas, driven on by the
terrible gadfly, while I charmed in vain the hearts of men,
and the savage forest beasts, and the trees, and the lifeless
stones, with my magic harp and song, giving rest, but finding
none. But at last Calliope my mother delivered me, and
brought me home in peace; and I dwell here in the cave alone,
among the savage Cicon tribes, softening their wild hearts
with music and the gentle laws of Zeus. And now I must go
out again, to the ends of all the earth, far away into the
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