was made up of various proportions of these elemental substances—the soul, a pure indivisible essence, he thinks of as living imprisoned in these compound bodies. Shadowed and clouded and hindered in its work by the material form that shuts it in from the true fount of being; individualizing it and debasing it at the same time. Character, according to him, depends upon the element that preponderates in the composition of our bodies; our souls work through it and are more or less free. His theory of the causes of differences of character may be ever so foolish, yet I think the classification he draws from it is interesting, and does somehow or other help us to understand ourselves and our fellow-creatures a little better.”

p. 86

K. “Let me see, he divides people into earth, air, fire, and water people. What sort of character does he suppose the earth element colours the soul with?”

“You are quite right to use the word colour, Böhme thinks of the complexion, or, as we should say, the humour of a person, as of an independent atmosphere through which the soul works, but which is no part of it. He speaks of souls shut up in the dark and melancholy earth element; these are the silent, sensitive, brooding people, who find it very difficult either to give out or receive impressions to or from their fellow-creatures. They are shut up, and as the earth (so at least Böhme says) draws a great deal more heat and light from the sun than it ever gives back, and darkly absorbs and stores up heat within itself, so these earth men and women, separated from their fellows, have the power of drawing great enlightenment and deep warmth of love direct from the spiritual source of light and love. Religious enthusiasts are all of this class; Böhme was an earth person himself, he says so; so was Dante and John Bunyan, and all the other people one p. 87reads of who have had terrible experiences in the depths of their own souls and ecstatic visions to comfort them. Böhme says that the very best and the very worst people are those shut in by the earth. They are the most individual, the most thoroughly separated; if conquering this hindrance, they re-absorb the Divine into themselves by direct vision; they rise to heights of wisdom, love, and self-sacrifice that no other souls can reach; but if by pride and self-will they cut themselves from spiritual influences, they remain solitary, dark, hungry, always striving vainly to extract the light and warmth they want from some one or two of their fellow-creatures, and being constantly disappointed, because, not having the power of ray-ing out love, they can rarely attract it. They are eaten 

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