| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: would go ill with me if he were."
"Ill with YOU, fair sir?" inquired the other. "Nay, then, if ye be
not of Sir Daniel's party, I profess I comprehend no longer.
Wherefore, then, fell ye upon mine ambush? in what quarrel, my
young and very fiery friend? to what earthly purpose? and, to make
a clear end of questioning, to what good gentleman have I
surrendered?"
But before Dick could answer, a voice spoke in the darkness from
close by. Dick could see the speaker's black and white badge, and
the respectful salute which he addressed to his superior.
"My lord," said he, "if these gentlemen be unfriends to Sir Daniel,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: presence so cool and soothing and helpful, and Mercedes and Nell,
wide-eyed and white-faced, were fluttering around him. He drank
thirstily, but refused food. He wanted rest. And with their faces
drifting away in a kind of haze, with the feeling of gentle hands
about him, he lost consciousness.
He slept twenty hours. then he arose, thirsty, hungry, lame,
overworn, and presently went in search of Belding and the business
of the day.
"Your Yaqui was near dead, but guess we'll pull him through," said
Belding. "Dick, the other day that Indian came here by rail and
foot and Lord only knows how else, all the way from New Orleans!
Desert Gold |
| 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: Those who loll cannot keep this liberty. Satan hates the light of the Gospel.
When it begins to shine a little he fights against it with might and main.
What liberty does Paul mean? Not civil liberty (for which we have the
government to thank), but the liberty which Christ has procured for us.
At one time the emperor was compelled to grant to the bishop of Rome
certain immunities and privileges. This is civil liberty. That liberty
exempts the clergy from certain public charges. Then there is also another
kind of "liberty," when people obey neither the laws of God nor the laws
of men, but do as they please. This carnal liberty the people want in our
day. We are not now speaking of this liberty. Neither are we speaking of
civil liberty.
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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 Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: a term admitting of grave misconstruction. In
that he denied the benefit of existing governments
to the people over whom they ruled, and in that
he stigmatised standing armies as "collections of
disciplined murderers," Tolstoy was an Anarchist;
but in that he reprobated the methods of violence,
no matter how righteous the cause at stake, and
upheld by word and deed the gospel of Love and
submission, he cannot be judged guilty of Anar-
chism in its full significance. He could not, how-
ever, suppress the sympathy which he felt with
The Forged Coupon |
