| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: nothing at all.
XIV. You might say: "Why then do we have so many laws of the
Church and of the State, and many ceremonies of churches,
monastic houses, holy places, which urge and tempt men to good
works, if faith does all things through the First Commandment?"
I answer: Simply because we do not all have faith or do not heed
it. If every man had faith, we would need no more laws, but every
one would of himself at all times do good works, as his
confidence in God teaches him.
But now there are four kinds of men: the first, just mentioned,
who need no law, of whom St. Paul says, I. Timothy i, "The law
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: "Only to come quicker," said the messenger, faltering. "I came as
quick as I could."
"You carried news heavy enough to break the thickest ice ever
frozen. I have a mind to throw you over the top of that tree
instead of giving you this half-crown."
"You let me alone," whimpered the boy, retreating another pace.
"Get back to Lyvern as fast as you can run or slide, and tell Mr.
Marsh to send me the fastest trap he has, to drive me to the
railway station. Here is your half-crown. Off with you; and if I
do not find the trap ready when I want it, woe betide you."
The boy came for the money mistrustfully, and ran off with it as
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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 Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: While the friar was singing, Marian was meditating:
and when he had ended she said, "Honest friar, you have misplaced
your tradition, which belongs to the aestuary of a nobler river,
where the damsel was swept away by the rising of the tide,
for which your land-flood is an indifferent substitute.
But the true tradition of this stream I think I myself possess,
and I will narrate it in your own way:
It was a friar of orders free,
A friar of Rubygill:
At the greenwood-tree a vow made he,
But he kept it very ill:
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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 Persuasion by Jane Austen: who can afford to buy, and she disposes of my merchandize.
She always takes the right time for applying. Everybody's heart is open,
you know, when they have recently escaped from severe pain,
or are recovering the blessing of health, and Nurse Rooke
thoroughly understands when to speak. She is a shrewd, intelligent,
sensible woman. Hers is a line for seeing human nature; and she has
a fund of good sense and observation, which, as a companion, make her
infinitely superior to thousands of those who having only received
`the best education in the world,' know nothing worth attending to.
Call it gossip, if you will, but when Nurse Rooke has half an hour's
leisure to bestow on me, she is sure to have something to relate
Persuasion |
