| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: reading an ancient magazine which he had found within. His
day's work was done and he was but waiting for the gong
that would call him to the evening meal with the other
employees of the ranch. The magazine failed to rouse his
interest. He let it drop idly to his knees and with eyes closed
reverted to his never-failing source of entertainment.
And then that slim, poetic guy he turned and looked me in the eye,
"....It's overland and overland and overseas to--where?"
"Most anywhere that isn't here," I says. His face went kind of queer.
"The place we're in is always here. The other place is there."
Bridge stretched luxuriously. "'There,'" he repeated. "I've
The Mucker |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: still glittered in the bosky darkness, and the lamps along
the terrace had not been extinguished; but the great promenade
was almost deserted; here and there only a lingering couple--
the red tip of a cigar and the vague radiance of a light dress--
gave animation to the place. But Bernard sat there still
in his tilted chair, beneath his orange-tree; his imagination
had wandered very far and he was awaiting its return to the fold.
He was on the point of rising, however, when he saw
three figures come down the empty vista of the terrace--
figures which even at a distance had a familiar air.
He immediately left his seat and, taking a dozen steps,
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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 Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: a place close to the left-hand wall - where the rift was least
wide and the landing-spot reasonably clear of dangerous debris
- and after one frantic moment reached the other side in safety.
At last, gaining the lower level, I stumbled on past the archway
of the room of machines, within which were fantastic ruins of
metal, half buried beneath fallen vaulting. Everything was where
I knew it would be, and I climbed confidently over the heaps which
barred the entrance of a vast transverse corridor. This, I realised,
would take me under the city to the central archives.
Endless
ages seemed to unroll as I stumbled, leaped, and crawled along
Shadow out of Time |
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 Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, had been forsworn with the most
reverend solemnities. But the feud was only in abeyance, and
John of Burgundy still conspired in secret. On November 23,
1407 - in that black winter when the frost lasted six-and-
sixty days on end - a summons from the king reached Louis of
Orleans at the Hotel Barbette, where he had been supping with
Queen Isabel. It was seven or eight in the evening, and the
inhabitants of the quarter were abed. He set forth in haste,
accompanied by two squires riding on one horse, a page, and a
few varlets running with torches. As he rode, he hummed to
himself and trifled with his glove. And so riding, he was
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