| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: "It's a fact he seemed to be against George Merry," Silver
admitted, musingly. "But George is little more'n a name at the
best of it," he added, brightening. "And to get into soundings for
once. What is this good? I made a mutiny, and I been a gentleman
o' fortune; well, but by all stories, you ain't no such saint. I'm
a man that keeps company very easy; even by your own account, you
ain't, and to my certain knowledge you're a devil to haze. Which
is which? Which is good, and which bad? Ah, you tell me that!
Here we are in stays, and you may lay to it!"
"We're none of us perfect," replied the Captain. "That's a fact of
religion, my man. All I can say is, I try to do my duty; and if
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: very few streets in which high scaffoldings on long poles could not be
seen, fastened from floor to floor with transverse blocks inserted
into holes in the walls on which the planks were laid,--a frail
construction, shaken by the brick-layers, but held together by ropes,
white with plaster, and insecurely protected from the wheels of
carriages by the breastwork of planks which the law requires round all
such buildings. There is something maritime in these masts, and
ladders, and cordage, even in the shouts of the masons. About a dozen
yards from the hotel Maulincour, one of these ephemeral barriers was
erected before a house which was then being built of blocks of free-
stone. The day after the event we have just related, at the moment
Ferragus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: April 8, 1516.
Luther's first literary works to appear in print were also
occasioned by the work of his calling and of his office in the
Wittenberg congregation. He had no other object in view than to
edify his congregation and to lead it to Christ when, in 1517,
he published his first independent work, the Explanation of the
Seven Penitential Psalms. On Oct 31 of the same year he published
his 95 Theses against Indulgences. These were indeed intended as
controversial theses for theologians, but at the same time it is
well known that Luther was moved by his duty toward his
congregation to declare his position in this matter and to put
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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 The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: I was as near hopelessness as I ever have been.
I had by no means given up my intention of continuing the
pursuit, for if needs be I would go ahead though I perished ere
ever I reached my goal, but if there were a safer way it were well
worth the delay to attempt to discover it, that I might come again
to the side of Dejah Thoris in fit condition to do battle for her.
Scarce had I returned to the tunnel than I stumbled over a portion
of a fur garment that seemed fastened to the floor of the corridor
close to the wall. In the darkness I could not see what held it,
The Warlord of Mars |
