| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Davis: mother, and yet live out your own life. It is broader
than his will ever be. At your age, and with your
capabilities, you should marry again. Think of the many
long years that are before you."
"I have thought of them," said Mrs. Waldeaux slowly. "I
have had lovers who came close to me as friends, but I
never for a moment was tempted to marry one of them.
No, Clara. When the devil drove my father to hand me
over--innocent child as I was--to a man like Robert
Waldeaux, he killed in me the capacity for that kind of
love. It is not in me." She turned her strenuous face
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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: Fisherman, who wear the Ring of Wisdom on their finger, and,
alack-a-day! I am not one of them, and that is the end of this
story.
Old Bidpai nodded his head. "Aye, aye," said he, "there is a very
good moral in that story, my friend. It is, as a certain
philosopher said, very true, that there is more in an egg than
the meat. And truly, methinks, there is more in thy story than
the story of itself." He nodded his head again and stroked his
beard slowly, puffing out as he did so as a great reflective
cloud of smoke, through which his eyes shone and twinkled mistily
like stars through a cloud.
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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 Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: 8. [58] Nec sunt merita Christi et sanctorum, quia hec semper sine
Papa operantur gratiam hominis interioris et crucem, mortem
infernumque exterioris.
9. [59] Thesauros ecclesie s. Laurentius dixit esse pauperes
ecclesie, sed locutus est usu vocabuli suo tempore.
10. [60] Sine temeritate dicimus claves ecclesie (merito Christi
donatas) esse thesaurum istum.
11. [61] Clarum est enim, quod ad remissionem penarum et casuum
sola sufficit potestas Pape.
12. [62] Verus thesaurus ecclesie est sacrosanctum euangelium
glorie et gratie dei.
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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 Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: hooded monks were kneeling on the terrace at their prayers. A
naked hill commands the monastery upon one side, and the wood
commands it on the other. It lies exposed to wind; the snow falls
off and on from October to May, and sometimes lies six weeks on
end; but if they stood in Eden, with a climate like heaven's, the
buildings themselves would offer the same wintry and cheerless
aspect; and for my part, on this wild September day, before I was
called to dinner, I felt chilly in and out.
When I had eaten well and heartily, Brother Ambrose, a hearty
conversible Frenchman (for all those who wait on strangers have the
liberty to speak), led me to a little room in that part of the
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