| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: was ordered to this end. The father-superior, the abbot, the bishop,
the general of an order, and the pope were then chosen conscientiously
for their fitness for the requirements of the Church. They were the
expression of its intelligence, of the thinking power of the Church,
and blind obedience was therefore their due. I will say nothing of the
ways in which society has benefited by that power which has created
modern nations and has inspired so many poems, so much music, so many
cathedrals, statues, and pictures. I will simply call your attention
to the fact that your modern systems of popular election, of two
chambers, and of juries all had their origin in provincial and
oecumenical councils, and in the episcopate and college of cardinals;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be
spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels."
Then he released Beppo, and Beppo withdrew.
So it continued for three months. Every three days Beppo went to
the palace, and the king whispered the words in his ear. Beppo
said nothing to any one, and always went away as soon as the king
had whispered to him.
Then at last the princess said to him: "Now the time is ripe for
doing. Listen! To-day when you go to the palace fix your eyes,
when the king speaks to you, upon the prime-minister, and shake
your head. The prime-minister will ask you what the king said.
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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 An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: is very angry with you. He will never speak to you again if you
quarrel with Miss Wilson."
"He is not angry," said Henrietta, "but he is so anxious that you
should get on well."
"He will naturally be disappointed if you persist in making a
fool of yourself," said Mrs. Jansenius.
"All Miss Wilson wants is an apology for the dreadful things you
wrote in her book," said Mrs. Wylie. "You'll apologize, dear,
won't you?"
"Of course she will," said Henrietta.
"I think you had better," said Mrs. Jansenius.
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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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: flesh and bone--especially in flesh, for he was enormously stout.
His broad face, with prominent cheek-bones, in spite of fat; a
nose like a double funnel; and small, sharp eyes, which had a
magnetic lock, proclaimed the Tartar, the old Turanian blood
which produced the Attilas, the Genghis-Khans, the Tamerlanes.
The obesity which is characteristic of nomad races, who are
always on horseback or driving, added to his Asiatic look. The
man was certainly not a European, a slave, a descendant of the
deistic Aryans, but a scion of the atheistic hordes who had
several times already almost overrun Europe, and who, instead of
ideas of progress, have Nihilism buried in their hearts.
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