| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: of Artillery"; long strips of freshly-tilled earth which gleamed
green, yellow, and black on the face of the countryside. With it
mingled long-drawn singing, glimpses of elm-tops amid mist, the
far-off notes of bells, endless clouds of rocks, and the illimitable
line of the horizon.
Ah, Russia, Russia, from my beautiful home in a strange land I can
still see you! In you everything is poor and disordered and unhomely;
in you the eye is neither cheered nor dismayed by temerities of nature
which a yet more temerarious art has conquered; in you one beholds no
cities with lofty, many-windowed mansions, lofty as crags, no
picturesque trees, no ivy-clad ruins, no waterfalls with their
Dead Souls |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: Captain Lovelock says he does n't care a fig--that he will go
wherever I go. So you see that does n't carry us very far.
I want to settle on some place where Captain Lovelock won't go,
but he won't help me at all. I think it will look better
for him not to follow us; don't you think it will look better,
Mrs. Vivian? Not that I care in the least where we go--
or whether Captain Lovelock follows us, either. I don't take
any interest in anything, Mrs. Vivian; don't you think that is
very sad? Gordon may go anywhere he likes--to St. Petersburg,
or to Bombay."
"You might go to a worse place than Bombay," said Captain Lovelock,
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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 Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: The Gentiles who had been converted to faith in Christ, ate meats forbidden
by the Law. Peter, visiting some of these Gentiles, ate meat and drank wine
with them, although he knew that these things were forbidden in the Law. Paul
declared that he did likewise, that he became as a Jew to the Jews, and to
them that were without law, as without law. He ate and drank with the
Gentiles unconcerned about the Jewish Law. When he was with the Jews,
however, he abstained from all things forbidden in the Law, for he labored to
serve all men, that he "might by all means save some." Paul does not reprove
Peter for transgressing the Law, but for disguising his attitude to the Law.
VERSE 12. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision.
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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 Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: they all change their position, in order to prevent the one
blindfolded from guessing who it was who left his place.
The covering was then removed from his eyes, he went
over to the other side, examined carefully if perchance he
might discover, from change of position, discomfort in
squatting, or a trace of guilt in the face or eyes of any of
them, a clue to the guilty party. He "made faces" to try
to cause the guilty one to laugh. He gesticulated, grimaced,
did everything he could think of, but they looked blank and
unconcerned, or all laughed together, allowing no telltale look
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