| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: people in society and business - New England's traditional "salt
of the earth" - gave an almost completely negative result, though
scattered cases of uneasy but formless nocturnal impressions appear
here and there, always between March 23 and and April 2 - the
period of young Wilcox's delirium. Scientific men were little
more affected, though four cases of vague description suggest
fugitive glimpses of strange landscapes, and in one case there
is mentioned a dread of something abnormal.
It was from the
artists and poets that the pertinent answers came, and I know
that panic would have broken loose had they been able to compare
Call of Cthulhu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: refused to do, but they were finally prevailed upon, and thus
perished all the male members of her father's household except
one child that was rescued and carried away by a faithful nurse.
When Tung Chih died there was a formidable party in the palace
opposed to the two dowagers, anxious to oust them and their party
and place upon the throne a dissolute son of Prince Kung. But it
would require a master mind from the outside to learn of the
death of her son and select and proclaim a successor quicker than
the Empress Dowager herself could do so from the inside. She
first sent a secret messenger to Li Hung-chang whom she had
appointed viceroy of the metropolitan province at Tientsin eighty
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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 Betty Zane by Zane Grey: The dog had jumped to his feet and ran to the door, where he sniffed at the
crack over the threshold. His aspect was fierce and threatening. He uttered
low growls and then two short barks. Those in the room heard a soft moccasined
footfall outside. The next instant the door opened wide and a tall figure
stood disclosed.
"Wetzel!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. A hush fell on the little company after that
exclamation, and all eyes were fastened on the new comer.
Well did the stranger merit close attention. He stalked into the room, leaned
his long rifle against the mantelpiece and spread out his hands to the fire.
He was clad from head to foot in fringed and beaded buckskin, which showed
evidence of a long and arduous tramp. It was torn and wet and covered with
Betty Zane |
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 Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: what to do, but yet wilt thou be sorry when the night swallows
me and I am utterly lost in blackness, for in thy heart thou
lovest me, my father, Macumazahn the fox, though I be nought
but a broken-down Zulu war-dog -- a chief for whom there is no
room in his own kraal, an outcast and a wanderer in strange places:
ay, I love thee, Macumazahn, for we have grown grey together,
and there is that between us that cannot be seen, and yet is
too strong for breaking;' and he took his snuff-box, which was
made of an old brass cartridge, from the slit in his ear where
he always carried it, and handed it to me for me to help myself.
I took the pinch of snuff with some emotion. It was quite true,
Allan Quatermain |
