| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with
my enemies. I am miserable, and they shall share my wretchedness.
Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an
evil which it only remains for you to make so great, that not only
you and your family, but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up
in the whirlwinds of its rage. Let your compassion be moved,
and do not disdain me. Listen to my tale; when you have heard that,
abandon or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I deserve.
But hear me. The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as
they are, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned.
Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder, and yet you would,
Frankenstein |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche: one speaks "badly"--and not even "ill"--of man, then ought the
lover of knowledge to hearken attentively and diligently; he
ought, in general, to have an open ear wherever there is talk
without indignation. For the indignant man, and he who
perpetually tears and lacerates himself with his own teeth (or,
in place of himself, the world, God, or society), may indeed,
morally speaking, stand higher than the laughing and self-
satisfied satyr, but in every other sense he is the more
ordinary, more indifferent, and less instructive case. And no one
is such a LIAR as the indignant man.
27. It is difficult to be understood, especially when one thinks
Beyond Good and Evil |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: Dr. Mayo displayed an anatomical chart, drawing his pencil down it
as he talked. "We found from the condition of the heart that the
deceased had suffered from angina pectoris" - he paused and spoke
more slowly - "in examining the gastric contents we found the
presence of aconitine."
"Aconitine?" questioned Penfield, and the reporters, scenting the
sensational, leaned forward eagerly so as not to miss the deputy
coroner's answer.
"Aconitine, an active poison," he explained. "It is the alkaloid
of aconite, and generally fatal in its results."
CHAPTER X
The Red Seal |
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 Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: saw a watch chain on his dark vest. I bent over him and took his
watch and chain. Then I felt around in his pocket and found his
purse. And then - well then I felt sorry for him lying out in the
open road like that, and I thought I'd lift him up and put him
somewhere where he could sleep it off more convenient. But I didn't
see there was a little ditch there and I stumbled over it and
dropped him. 'It's a good thing he's so drunk that even this don't
wake him up,' I thought, and ran off. Then I thought I heard
something moving and I was scared stiff, but there was nothing in
the street at all. I thought I had better take to the fields though
and I crossed through some corn and then out onto another street.
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