| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley: so meek all at once, and we catch them, but we disdain to eat them
all; we just bite out their soft throats and suck their sweet juice
- Oh, so good!" - (and she licked her wicked lips) - "and then
throw them away, and go and catch another. They are coming soon,
children, coming soon; I can smell the rain coming up off the sea,
and then hurrah for a fresh, and salmon, and plenty of eating all
day long."
And the otter grew so proud that she turned head over heels twice,
and then stood upright half out of the water, grinning like a
Cheshire cat.
"And where do they come from?" asked Tom, who kept himself very
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: in a certain direction, or perform some trivial action next day,
those around him would lay a wager he would not fulfil his
intentions; and when asked why they had arrived at such
conclusions, they would reply, because the chancellor would not
permit him. On this another would remark with mock gravity, he
thought there were no grounds for such an imputation, though,
indeed, he could not deny it was universally believed abroad his
majesty was implicitly governed by Lord Clarendon. The king,
being keenly sensitive to remarks doubting his authority, and
most desirous of appearing his own master, would exclaim on such
occasions that the chancellor "had served him long, and
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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 Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: was eminently natural; though privately I suspected young Wilcox
of having heard of the cult in some indirect way, and of having
invented a series of dreams to heighten and continue the mystery
at my uncle's expense. The dream-narratives and cuttings collected
by the professor were, of course, strong corroboration; but the
rationalism of my mind and the extravagance of the whole subject
led me to adopt what I thought the most sensible conclusions.
So, after thoroughly studying the manuscript again and correlating
the theosophical and anthropological notes with the cult narrative
of Legrasse, I made a trip to Providence to see the sculptor and
give him the rebuke I thought proper for so boldly imposing upon
Call of Cthulhu |
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 Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: refuse--with which the fire was maintained; in front, a pile of
the finished articles. To produce them she took up each gad,
looked critically at it from end to end, cut it to length, split
it into four, and sharpened each of the quarters with dexterous
blows, which brought it to a triangular point precisely resembling
that of a bayonet.
Beside her, in case she might require more light, a brass
candlestick stood on a little round table, curiously formed of an
old coffin-stool, with a deal top nailed on, the white surface of
the latter contrasting oddly with the black carved oak of the
substructure. The social position of the household in the past
The Woodlanders |
