| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: 26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in
purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not
possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles
into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the
money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result
of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God
alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be
bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and
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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 Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: off, for the benefit of the whole body; else it is no longer a
foot. In some such way we should conceive of ourselves also. What
art thou?--A man.--Looked at as standing by thyself and
separate, it is natural for thee in health and wealth long to
live. But looked at as a Man, and only as a part of a Whole, it
is for that Whole's sake that thou shouldest at one time fall
sick, at another brave the perils of the sea, again, know the
meaning of want and perhaps die an early death. Why then repine?
Knowest thou not that as the foot is no more a foot if detached
from the body, so thou in like case art no longer a Man? For what
is a Man? A part of a City:--first of the City of Gods and Men;
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
