| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: her eyes to the truth. She had probably, he told her, destroyed du
Tillet's chances of selection, and rendered useless the intrigues and
deceptions of the past year. In short, he put her in the secret of the
whole affair, advising her to keep absolute silence as to the mistake
she had just committed.
"Provided the cashier does not tell Nucingen," she said.
A few moments after mid-day, while du Tillet was breakfasting,
Monsieur Gigonnet was announced.
"Let him come in," said the banker, though his wife was at table.
"Well, my old Shylock, is our man locked up?"
"No."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: From the north Alps to the Sicilian tide!
Ay! fallen, though the nations hail thee Queen
Because rich gold in every town is seen,
And on thy sapphire-lake in tossing pride
Of wind-filled vans thy myriad galleys ride
Beneath one flag of red and white and green.
O Fair and Strong! O Strong and Fair in vain!
Look southward where Rome's desecrated town
Lies mourning for her God-anointed King!
Look heaven-ward! shall God allow this thing?
Nay! but some flame-girt Raphael shall come down,
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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 A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: So the fairies, and knooks, and pixies, and ryls all escorted the good
man to his castle, and there left him to talk over the events of the
night with his little assistants.
Wisk had already rendered himself invisible and flown through the big
world to see how the children were getting along on this bright
Christmas morning; and by the time he returned, Peter had finished
telling Santa Claus of how they had distributed the toys.
"We really did very well," cried the fairy, in a pleased voice; "for I
found little unhappiness among the children this morning. Still, you
must not get captured again, my dear master; for we might not be so
fortunate another time in carrying out your ideas."
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
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 Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: enough, is known already, to be applied safely and easily by any
adults, however unlearned, to the preservation not only of their
own health, but of that of their children.
The value of healthy habitations, of personal cleanliness, of pure
air and pure water, of various kinds of food, according as each
tends to make bone, fat, or muscle, provided only--provided only--
that the food be unadulterated; the value of various kinds of
clothing, and physical exercise, of a free and equal development
of the brain power, without undue overstrain in any one direction;
in one word, the method of producing, as far as possible, the
mentem sanam in corpore sano, and the wonderful and blessed
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