| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: Perhaps, in so debased an age, so profligate a world, as that out of
which Christianity had risen, it was impossible to see the true beauty
and sanctity of those primary bonds of humanity. And while the relation
of the sexes was looked on in a wrong light, all other social relations
were necessarily also misconceived. "The very ideas of family and
national life," as it has been said, "those two divine roots of the
Church, severed from which she is certain to wither away into that most
cruel and most godless of spectres, a religious world, had perished in
the East, from the evil influence of the universal practice of slave-
holding, as well as from the degradation of that Jewish nation which had
been for ages the great witness for these ideas; and all classes, like
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: him all the wrong he had done; but he would not listen, and still went
on destroying the happiness of those who had done so much for him.
Then, when she saw that no kindness could touch his heart, she said:--
"Thistledown, we took you in, a friendless stranger, fed and clothed
you, and made our home as pleasant to you as we could; and in return
for all our care, you have brought discontent and trouble to my
subjects, grief and care to me. I cannot let my peaceful kingdom
be disturbed by you; therefore go and seek another home. You may find
other friends, but none will love you more than we, had you been
worthy of it; so farewell." And the doors of the once happy home
he had disturbed were closed behind him.
Flower Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: fastening on us, as a feverous disease of parched throat and
wandering eyes--senseless, dissolute, merciless. How literally that
word DIS-Ease, the Negation and impossibility of Ease, expresses the
entire moral state of our English Industry and its Amusements!
When men are rightly occupied, their amusement grows out of their
work, as the colour-petals out of a fruitful flower;--when they are
faithfully helpful and compassionate, all their emotions become
steady, deep, perpetual, and vivifying to the soul as the natural
pulse to the body. But now, having no true business, we pour our
whole masculine energy into the false business of money-making; and
having no true emotion, we must have false emotions dressed up for
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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 Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise's brain, and unluckily for her, she
continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with
the Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to
find any one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about
him with varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de
Marsay. M. de Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien
still stood beside the prelate.
At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She
rose and went over to the Bishop and said:
"What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?"
Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his
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