| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne: live there? said I. - She told me she was FILLE DE CHAMBRE to
Madame R-. - Good God! said I, 'tis the very lady for whom I have
brought a letter from Amiens. - The girl told me that Madame R-,
she believed, expected a stranger with a letter, and was impatient
to see him: - so I desired the girl to present my compliments to
Madame R-, and say, I would certainly wait upon her in the morning.
We stood still at the corner of the Rue de Nevers whilst this
pass'd. - We then stopped a moment whilst she disposed of her
EGAREMENTS DU COEUR &c. more commodiously than carrying them in her
hand - they were two volumes: so I held the second for her whilst
she put the first into her pocket; and then she held her pocket,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: anticipated some pleasant times to be spent in "stirring them up"
to her own pitch of aesthetic and historical enthusiasm. They had
secured seats already, and welcomed her effusively at the carriage
door. In the instant criticism of the encounter she noted that Fanny
had a slightly "touristy" leather strap, and that Helen had succumbed
to a serge jacket with side pockets, into which her hands were thrust.
But they were much too happy with themselves and the expedition
for their friend to attempt any hint at the moment about these things.
As soon as the first ecstasies were over--Fanny's enthusiasm was
a little noisy and crude, and consisted mainly in emphatic repetitions
of "Just FANCY! we're going to Rome, my dear!--Rome!"--they gave
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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 Cratylus by Plato: Between these two extremes, which have both of them a sophistical
character, the view of Socrates is introduced, which is in a manner the
union of the two. Language is conventional and also natural, and the true
conventional-natural is the rational. It is a work not of chance, but of
art; the dialectician is the artificer of words, and the legislator gives
authority to them. They are the expressions or imitations in sound of
things. In a sense, Cratylus is right in saying that things have by nature
names; for nature is not opposed either to art or to law. But vocal
imitation, like any other copy, may be imperfectly executed; and in this
way an element of chance or convention enters in. There is much which is
accidental or exceptional in language. Some words have had their original
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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 Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: told me, "You can go down to the mission and stay there all day.
There is plenty of wood, and you can stay there all night." I
went down, and there was plenty of "let go" in me. I cried, and
prayed all I knew, and got wonderfully loosed.....
Then the Lord said to me, "Now, no more praying!" God told me it
was mine. What was there left for me to pray about. He spoiled my
praying and I took up praising. I praised God that He who worked
in the Upper Room was working the same in me. I praised, and I
praised, and I praised. The devil said to me, "That's
mechanical." I said, "I'll praise You Lord, and if You want real
praise, You'll have to put the wind in the sails."
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