| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Nothing afeard of what thy selfe didst make
Strange Images of death, as thick as Tale
Can post with post, and euery one did beare
Thy prayses in his Kingdomes great defence,
And powr'd them downe before him
Ang. Wee are sent,
To giue thee from our Royall Master thanks,
Onely to harrold thee into his sight,
Not pay thee
Rosse. And for an earnest of a greater Honor,
He bad me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor:
Macbeth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: a sudden sickness of disgust. "Too free with MY boy?"
"Too free with everyone!"
I forbore, for the moment, to analyze this description further than
by the reflection that a part of it applied to several of the members
of the household, of the half-dozen maids and men who were still
of our small colony. But there was everything, for our apprehension,
in the lucky fact that no discomfortable legend, no perturbation
of scullions, had ever, within anyone's memory attached to the kind
old place. It had neither bad name nor ill fame, and Mrs. Grose,
most apparently, only desired to cling to me and to quake in silence.
I even put her, the very last thing of all, to the test. It was when,
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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 Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: familiarity.
"Ah! so here you are, you good old barrister," she said.
"Mademoiselle, your servant," he replied, gravely.
"Well," she continued, paying no attention to the stiffness of his
manner, "the government has got itself into a pretty mess by seizing
your pamphlet. You ought to see how the morning papers lash it! Here,"
she added, giving Thuillier a small sheet printed on sugar-paper, in
coarse type, and almost illegible,--"here's another, you didn't read;
the porter has just brought it up. It is a paper from our old quarter,
'L'Echo de la Bievre.' I don't know, gentlemen, if you'll be of my
opinion, but I think nothing could be better written. It is droll,
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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 Dracula by Bram Stoker: as the ship may now be signalled any moment.
27 October, Noon.--Most strange. No news yet of the ship we wait for.
Mrs. Harker reported last night and this morning as usual. "Lapping waves
and rushing water," though she added that "the waves were very faint."
The telegrams from London have been the same, "no further report."
Van Helsing is terribly anxious, and told me just now that he fears
the Count is escaping us.
He added significantly, "I did not like that lethargy of Madam
Mina's. Souls and memories can do strange things during trance."
I was about to as k him more, but Harker just then came in,
and he held up a warning hand. We must try tonight at sunset
Dracula |
