| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tanach: Daniel 11: 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the strongholds of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
Daniel 11: 20 Then shall stand up in his place one that shall cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
Daniel 11: 21 And in his place shall stand up a contemptible person, upon whom had not been conferred the majesty of the kingdom; but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by blandishments.
Daniel 11: 22 And the arms of the flood shall be swept away from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Daniel 11: 23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully; and he shall come up and become strong, with a little nation.
Daniel 11: 24 In time of security shall he come even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance; yea, he shall devise his devices against fortresses, but only until the time.
Daniel 11: 25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall stir himself up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise devices against him.
Daniel 11: 26 Yea, they that eat of his food shall destroy him, and his army shall be swept away; and many shall fall down slain.
The Tanach |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: games being played and dancing and much elvish love-making, too,
I think, among the moss-branch thickets. There can be no doubt that
the Fairy Lady made love to Mr. Skelmersdale, and no doubt either
that this young man set himself to resist her. A time came, indeed,
when she sat on a bank beside him, in a quiet, secluded place
"all smelling of vi'lets," and talked to him of love.
"When her voice went low and she whispered," said Mr. Skelmersdale,
"and laid 'er 'and on my 'and, you know, and came close with a soft,
warm friendly way she 'ad, it was as much as I could do to keep my
'ead."
It seems he kept his head to a certain limited unfortunate extent.
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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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: of scorned love. Ere long she too was courted by the most fascinating
men; but she remained lonely and virtuous. Some contemptuous words
which escaped her husband filled her with incredible despair. A
sinister flash showed her the breaches which, as a result of her
sordid education, hindered the perfect union of her soul with
Theodore's; she loved him well enough to absolve him and condemn
herself. She shed tears of blood, and perceived, too late, that there
are /mesalliances/ of the spirit as well as of rank and habits. As she
recalled the early raptures of their union, she understood the full
extent of that lost happiness, and accepted the conclusion that so
rich a harvest of love was in itself a whole life, which only sorrow
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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 The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: up to this time I had considered a purely mythological creature;
but Ajor shuddered so at even the veriest mention of the name
that I was loath to press the subject upon her, and so the
Wieroo still remained a mystery to me.
While the Wieroo interested me greatly, I had little time to
think about them, as our waking hours were filled with the
necessities of existence--the constant battle for survival
which is the chief occupation of Caspakians. To-mar and So-al
were now about fitted for their advent into Kro-lu society and
must therefore leave us, as we could not accompany them without
incurring great danger ourselves and running the chance of
The People That Time Forgot |
