| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: appraisal at men of especially sensitive brain and especially
vigorous physique. Toward the last I became acutely afraid of
West, for he began to look at me that way. People did not seem
to notice his glances, but they noticed my fear; and after his
disappearance used that as a basis for some absurd suspicions.
West, in reality, was more afraid than I; for his abominable
pursuits entailed a life of furtiveness and dread of every shadow.
Partly it was the police he feared; but sometimes his nervousness
was deeper and more nebulous, touching on certain indescribable
things into which he had injected a morbid life, and from which
he had not seen that life depart. He usually finished his experiments
Herbert West: Reanimator |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all
transport riders were supposed to love, but in effect were
treated with the contempt that they were held to deserve. The
subject is painful and one on which I will not dwell. Why should
I complain when I know that cautions from notable persons such as
Sir Melmoth Osborn, and J. J. Uys, a member of one the old Dutch
fighting families, met with a like fate.
By the way it was while I was waiting on the banks of the river
that I came across an old friend of mine, a Zulu named Magepa,
with whom I had fought at the battle of the Tugela. A few days
later this man performed an extraordinary feat in saving his
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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 Plutarch's Lives by A. H. Clough: merit and worth.
The Romans were now at war with the Volscian nation, whose principal
city was Corioli; when, therefore, Cominius the consul had invested this
important place, the rest of the Volscians, fearing it would be taken,
mustered up whatever force they could from all parts, to relieve it,
designing to give the Romans battle before the city, and so attack them
on both sides. Cominius, to avoid this inconvenience, divided his army,
marching himself with one body to encounter the Volscians on their
approach from without, and leaving Titus Lartius, one of the bravest
Romans of his time, to command the other and continue the siege. Those
within Corioli, despising now the smallness of their number, made a
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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 Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: source-books as Frazer's Golden Bough and Miss Murray's Witch-Cult
in Western Europe. The cuttings largely alluded to outré mental
illness and outbreaks of group folly or mania in the spring of
1925.
The first half of the principal manuscript told a very
particular tale. It appears that on March 1st, 1925, a thin, dark
young man of neurotic and excited aspect had called upon Professor
Angell bearing the singular clay bas-relief, which was then exceedingly
damp and fresh. His card bore the name of Henry Anthony Wilcox,
and my uncle had recognized him as the youngest son of an excellent
family slightly known to him, who had latterly been studying sculpture
Call of Cthulhu |
