| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: 12.
Article XII: Of Repentance.
Of Repentance they teach that for those who have fallen after Baptism
there is remission of sins whenever they are converted and that
the Church ought to impart absolution to those thus returning to
repentance. Now, repentance consists properly of these two parts:
One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through
the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the
Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake,
sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from
terrors. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruits
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: not remarkable in point of speed. Three miles an hour is not a
very rapid rate of motion. But then, if you are not in a hurry,
why should you care to make haste?
The wild desire to be forever racing against old Father Time is one
of the kill-joys of modern life. That ancient traveller is sure to
beat you in the long run, and as long as you are trying to rival
him, he will make your life a burden. But if you will only
acknowledge his superiority and profess that you do not approve of
racing after all, he will settle down quietly beside you and jog
along like the most companionable of creatures. That is a pleasant
pilgrimage in which the journey itself is part of the destination.
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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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: prayer, and cross the desert of life to reach God's heaven, knowing
well that no flowers grew for her along the way of that painful
journey.
She married Diard. As for the quartermaster, though he had no grace in
Juana's eyes, we may well absolve him. He loved her distractedly. The
Marana, so keen to know the signs of love, had recognized in that man
the accents of passion and the brusque nature, the generous impulses,
that are common to Southerners. In the paroxysm of her anger and her
distress she had thought such qualities enough for her daughter's
happiness.
The first days of this marriage were apparently happy; or, to express
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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 Christ in Flanders by Honore de Balzac: the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people
embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this
being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely
possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the
sunset, or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of belated
passengers hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded the
open country, or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat was
full.
"What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried.
Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to the
surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The
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