| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: After a pause, during which the pastor seemed to be gathering his
recollections, he continued in the following words:--
"Emanuel Swedenborg was born at Upsala in Sweden, in the month of
January, 1688, according to various authors,--in 1689, according to
his epitaph. His father was Bishop of Skara. Swedenborg lived eighty-
five years; his death occurred in London, March 29, 1772. I use that
term to convey the idea of a simple change of state. According to his
disciples, Swedenborg was seen at Jarvis and in Paris after that date.
Allow me, my dear Monsieur Wilfrid," said Monsieur Becker, making a
gesture to prevent all interruption, "I relate these facts without
either affirming or denying them. Listen; afterwards you can think and
Seraphita |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: five feet six inches in height, and in girth somewhat thicker
than a man's thigh. They were firmly planted in the ground, and
upon them the strokes of the broadsword were directed.
At Devlen the pels stood just back of the open and covered
tilting courts and the archery ranges, and thither those lads not
upon household duty were marched every morning excepting Fridays
and Sundays, and were there exercised under the direction of Sir
James Lee and two assistants. The whole company was divided into
two, sometimes into three parties, each of which took its turn at
the exercise, delivering at the word of command the various
strokes, feints, attacks, and retreats as the instructors
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: What wind blew on that letter, which, whatever language we find it in,
begins scarcely fifty words? Marcas' name was Zephirin; Saint Zephirin
is highly venerated in Brittany, and Marcas was a Breton.
Study the name once more: Z Marcas! The man's whole life lies in this
fantastic juxtaposition of seven letters; seven! the most significant
of all the cabalistic numbers. And he died at five-and-thirty, so his
life extended over seven lustres.
Marcas! Does it not hint of some precious object that is broken with a
fall, with or without a crash?
I had finished studying the law in Paris in 1836. I lived at that time
in the Rue Corneille in a house where none but students came to lodge,
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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 Parmenides by Plato: What do you mean, Parmenides? said Socrates.
In the first place, I think, Socrates, that you, or any one who maintains
the existence of absolute essences, will admit that they cannot exist in
us.
No, said Socrates; for then they would be no longer absolute.
True, he said; and therefore when ideas are what they are in relation to
one another, their essence is determined by a relation among themselves,
and has nothing to do with the resemblances, or whatever they are to be
termed, which are in our sphere, and from which we receive this or that
name when we partake of them. And the things which are within our sphere
and have the same names with them, are likewise only relative to one
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