| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: we have God's Word we nevertheless do not correct the abuse; we suffer
ourselves to be preached to and admonished, but we listen without
seriousness and care.
Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but
also about learning and retaining it in memory, and do not think that
it is optional with you or of no great importance, but that it is God's
commandment, who will require of you how you have heard, learned, and
honored His Word.
Likewise those fastidious spirits are to be reproved who, when they
have heard a sermon or two, find it tedious and dull, thinking that
they know all that well enough, and need no more instruction. For just
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: sight of her assured superiority to all my threats, a cry
broke from my lips, a cry of rage, fear, and despair, and I
fled from the verandah and the house.
I ran I knew not where, but it was towards the beach. As I
went, my head whirled; so strange, so sudden, were these
events and insults. Who was she? what, in Heaven's name, the
power she wielded over my obedient negroes? Why had she
addressed me as a slave? why spoken of my father's sale? To
all these tumultuary questions I could find no answer; and in
the turmoil of my mind, nothing was plain except the hateful
leering image of the woman.
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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 Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy: spirit to my father than any other human being, namely,
Nikolái Nikoláyevitch Gay. Grandfather Gay, as we
called him, made my father's acquaintance in 1882. While living
on his farm in the Province of Tchernigoff, he chanced to read my
father's pamphlet "On the Census," and finding a solution in it of
the very questions which were troubling him at the time, without
delay he started out and hurried into Moscow. I remember his first
arrival, and I have always retained the impression that from the
first words they exchanged he and my father understood each other,
and found themselves speaking the same language.
Just like my father, Gay was at this time passing through a
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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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: but a short time, though they influence life so powerfully and are
frequently the forerunners of the great misfortune doomed to fall on
so many marriages, it is difficult to choose an example. There was a
scene, however, which particularly marked the moment when in the life
of this husband and wife estrangement began. Perhaps it may also serve
to explain the finale of this narrative.
Juana had two children, happily for her, two sons. The first was born
seven months after her marriage. He was called Juan, and he strongly
resembled his mother. The second was born about two years after her
arrival in Paris. The latter resembled both Diard and Juana, but more
particularly Diard. His name was Francisque. For the last five years
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