| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: moment's interruption. Strange creature! There
was not the slightest sign of insanity in her face;
on the contrary, her eyes, which were continually
resting upon me, were bright and piercing.
Moreover, they seemed to be endowed with a
certain magnetic power, and each time they looked
at me they appeared to be expecting a question.
But I had only to open my lips to speak, and away
she would run, with a sly smile.
Certainly never before had I seen a woman
like her. She was by no means beautiful; but,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: which a dim light came, and he said to himself, "I am safe enough!"
He sat down in a corner where the eye of a prying warder at the
grating of the peephole could not see him. Then he took off his wig,
and hastily ungummed a piece of paper that did duty as lining. The
side of the paper next his head was so greasy that it looked like the
very texture of the wig. If it had occurred to Bibi-Lupin to snatch
off the wig to establish the identity of the Spaniard with Jacques
Collin, he would never have thought twice about the paper, it looked
so exactly like part of the wigmaker's work. The other side was still
fairly white, and clean enough to have a few lines written on it. The
delicate and tiresome task of unsticking it had been begun in La
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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 Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: meal. There were young braves, handsome in their bronze-skinned way,
with bands binding their straight thick hair, silver rings in their ears,
silver bracelets on their wrists, silver buttons on their moccasins.
There were girls who looked up from their blanket-weaving with shy
curiosity, and then turned to their frames strung with long threads.
Under their nimble fingers the wool-carrying needles slipped in and out,
and the colored stripes grew apace. Then there were younger boys and
girls, all bright-eyed and curious; and babies sleeping on blankets.
Where the walls and ceiling were not covered with buckskin garments,
weapons and blankets, Hare saw the white wood-ribs of the hogan
structure. It was a work of art, this circular house of forked logs and
The Heritage of the Desert |
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 Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: xiii. 9). Now what is done by this one precept is done by all;
for all are equally impossible of fulfilment by us.
Now when a man has through the precepts been taught his own
impotence, and become anxious by what means he may satisfy the
law--for the law must be satisfied, so that no jot or tittle of
it may pass away, otherwise he must be hopelessly
condemned--then, being truly humbled and brought to nothing in
his own eyes, he finds in himself no resource for justification
and salvation.
Then comes in that other part of Scripture, the promises of God,
which declare the glory of God, and say, "If you wish to fulfil
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