| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson: of them I had never seen for artfulness of agriculture; I was pleased,
besides, to be so far in the still countryside; but the shackles of the
gibbet clattered in my head; and the mope and mows of the old witch,
and the thought of the dead men, hag-rode my spirits. To hang on a
gallows, that seemed a hard case; and whether a man came to hang there
for two shillings Scots, or (as Mr. Stewart had it) from the sense of
duty, once he was tarred and shackled and hung up, the difference
seemed small. There might David Balfour hang, and other lads pass on
their errands and think light of him; and old daft limmers sit at a
leg-foot and spae their fortunes; and the clean genty maids go by, and
look to the other aide, and hold a nose. I saw them plain, and they
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: a dozen younger trees, overthrown and crushed by the fall,
growing out along the ground, still lived and prospered, their
roots bathed by the stream, their upshooting branches catching
the sunlight through the gap that had been made in the forest
roof.
Back at the farm-house, Daylight mounted and rode on away from
the ranch and into the wilder canons and steeper steeps beyond.
Nothing could satisfy his holiday spirit now but the ascent of
Sonoma Mountain. And here on the crest, three hours afterward,
he emerged, tired and sweaty, garments torn and face and hands
scratched, but with sparkling eyes and an unwonted zestfulness of
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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 King Lear by William Shakespeare: fit
that, sons at perfect age, and fathers declining, the father
should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his
revenue.
Glou. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter!
Abhorred
villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! worse than
brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I'll apprehend him.
Abominable
villain! Where is he?
Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall please you to
King Lear |
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 Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: lead him to the taverns of the onyx-miners by the northern wall.
And evening fell, and little bronze lamps were lighted, and the
sailors in that tavern sang songs of remote places. But when from
its high tower the great bell shivered over the city, and the
peal of the horns and viols and voices rose cryptical in answer
thereto, all ceased their songs or tales and bowed silent till
the. last echo died away. For there is a wonder and a strangeness
on the twilight city of Inquanok, and men fear to be lax in its
rites lest a doom and a vengeance lurk unsuspectedly close.
Far
in the shadows of that tavern Carter saw a squat form he did not
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
