| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: through the constant struggle to survive, and to keep in existence
the physical fabric of great cities, imposed by the prodigious
geologic upheavals of those primal days.
Crime was surprisingly
scant, and was dealt with through highly efficient policing. Punishments
ranged from privilege deprivation and imprisonment to death or
major emotion wrenching, and were never administered without a
careful study of the criminal's inotivations.
Warfare, largely
civil for the last few millennia though sometimes waged against
reptilian or octopodic invaders, or against the winged, star-headed
Shadow out of Time |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: "Yes, Lora is at home. If you will wait here a moment I will send
her in."
Muller paced up and down the large sunny room, casting a glance
over the handsome old pieces of furniture and the family portraits
on the wall. It was evidently the home of generations of well-to-do,
well-bred people, the narrow circle of whose life was made rich by
congenial duties and a comfortable feeling of their standing in the
community.
While he was studying one of the portraits more carefully, he became
aware that there was some one in the room. He turned and saw a tall
blond girl standing by the door. She had entered so softly that
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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 The Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: therefore our priests were admonished concerning this sin,
Private Masses were discontinued among us, as scarcely any
Private Masses were celebrated except for lucre's sake.
Neither were the bishops ignorant of these abuses, and if they
had corrected them in time, there would now be less
dissension. Heretofore, by their own connivance, they suffered
many corruptions to creep into the Church. Now, when it is too
late, they begin to complain of the troubles of the Church,
while this disturbance has been occasioned simply by those
abuses which were so manifest that they could be borne no
longer. There have been great dissensions concerning the Mass,
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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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: body, its structure from her brain. If ever property was
sacrosanct, hers is.
Far higher stands the work of the weaver of ideas, who tissues a
book, that other Spider's web, and out of his thought makes
something that shall instruct or thrill us. To protect our 'bone,'
we have the police, invented for the express purpose. To protect
the book, we have none but farcical means. Place a few bricks one
atop the other; join them with mortar; and the law will defend your
wall. Build up in writing an edifice of your thoughts; and it will
be open to any one, without serious impediment, to abstract stones
from it, even to take the whole, if it suit him. A rabbit-hutch is
The Life of the Spider |
