| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: 'It was twenty years ago; his name has probably carried him off
before this; and if it hasn't, he will never see the book anyhow.
We will confiscate his name. The name you are using is common,
and therefore dangerous; there are probably a thousand Sellerses
bearing it, and the whole horde will come after us; but Eschol
Sellers is a safe name--it is a rock.'
So we borrowed that name; and when the book had been out about a week,
one of the stateliest and handsomest and most aristocratic looking
white men that ever lived, called around, with the most formidable
libel suit in his pocket that ever--well, in brief, we got his
permission to suppress an edition of ten million |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx: they collide neither with one another nor with the public safety. Later
on, the organic laws are called into existence by the "Friends of
Order," and all the above named freedoms are so regulated that, in their
enjoyment, the bourgeoisie encounter no opposition from the like rights
of the other classes. Wherever the bourgeoisie wholly interdicted these
rights to "others," or allowed them their enjoyment under conditions
that were but so many police snares, it was always done only in the
interest of the "public safety," i. e., of the bourgeoisie, as required
by the Constitution.
Hence it comes that both sides-the "Friends of Order," who abolished all
those freedoms, as, well as the democrats, who had demanded them
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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 Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: Just then they passed a country farm, where there was a peacock
seated on a rail; and the bird opened its mouth and sang with the
voice of a nightingale.
"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this
shakes not me! Great is the truth, and shall prevail!"
"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was
downcast for a mile or two.
But presently they came to a shrine, where a Fakeer performed
miracles.
"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The
peacock was but an adminicle. This is the base of our religion."
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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 Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: First, he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts, as adultery, fornication,
wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only work of the flesh, and so he
counts among the works of the flesh also idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and
the like. These terms are so familiar that they do not require lengthy
explanations.
IDOLATRY
The best religion, the most fervent devotion without Christ is plain
idolatry. It has been considered a holy act when the monks in their cells
meditate upon God and His works, and in a religious frenzy kneel down
to pray and to weep for joy. Yet Paul calls it simply idolatry. Every religion
which worships God in ignorance or neglect of His Word and will is
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