| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tanach: 2_Chronicles 1: 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this Thy people, that is so great?'
2_Chronicles 1: 11 And God said to Solomon: 'Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge My people, over whom I have made thee king;
2_Chronicles 1: 12 wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.'
2_Chronicles 1: 13 So Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, unto Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.
2_Chronicles 1: 14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
2_Chronicles 1: 15 And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore-trees that are in the Lowland, for abundance.
2_Chronicles 1: 16 And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; also out of Keve, the king's merchants buying them of the men of Keve at a price.
2_Chronicles 1: 17 And they fetched up, and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the k 
The Tanach |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: boatman, have a subtile meaning which the Italian painters cannot
give. I do not know one of them who could have invented that
hesitation of the boatman."
"Does the young fellow belong to you?" asked Porbus of the old man.
"Alas, maitre, forgive my boldness," said the neophyte, blushing. "I
am all unknown; only a dauber by instinct. I have just come to Paris,
that fountain of art and science."
"Let us see what you can do," said Porbus, giving him a red crayon and
a piece of paper.
The unknown copied the saint with an easy turn of his hand.
"Oh! oh!" exclaimed the old man, "what is your name?"
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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 Princess by Alfred Tennyson: Sucked from the dark heart of the long hills roll
The torrents, dashed to the vale: and yet her will
Bred will in me to overcome it or fall.
But when I told the king that I was pledged
To fight in tourney for my bride, he clashed
His iron palms together with a cry;
Himself would tilt it out among the lads:
But overborne by all his bearded lords
With reasons drawn from age and state, perforce
He yielded, wroth and red, with fierce demur:
And many a bold knight started up in heat,
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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 Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: catastrophe held elements of daemoniac phantasy which make even
me doubt the reality of what I saw.
I was West’s closest friend
and only confidential assistant. We had met years before, in medical
school, and from the first I had shared his terrible researches.
He had slowly tried to perfect a solution which, injected into
the veins of the newly deceased, would restore life; a labour
demanding an abundance of fresh corpses and therefore involving
the most unnatural actions. Still more shocking were the products
of some of the experiments -- grisly masses of flesh that had
been dead, but that West waked to a blind, brainless, nauseous
Herbert West: Reanimator |
