| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: think--what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of
the House of Usher? It was a mystery all insoluble; nor could I
grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I
pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory
conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations
of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus
affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among
considerations beyond our depth. It was possible, I reflected,
that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the
scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to
modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: him. Carter feared for a moment that he would give an alarm and
arouse all his kin, till a ghoul softly glibbered that Gugs have
no voice but talk by means of facial expression. The battle which
then ensued was truly a frightful one. From all sides the venomous
ghasts rushed feverishly at the creeping Gug, nipping and tearing
with their muzzles, and mauling murderously with their hard pointed
hooves. All the time they coughed excitedly, screaming when the
great vertical mouth of the Gug would occasionally bite into one
of their number, so that the noise of the combat would surely
have aroused the sleeping city had not the weakening of the sentry
begun to transfer the action farther and farther within the cavern.
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: that issue.
However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he
durst not leave them there. Upon this I seemed a little angry with
the captain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not his; and
that seeing I had offered them so much favour, I would be as good
as my word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it I
would set them at liberty, as I found them: and if he did not like
it he might take them again if he could catch them. Upon this they
appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and
bade them retire into the woods, to the place whence they came, and
I would leave them some firearms, some ammunition, and some
Robinson Crusoe |
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 In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson: fades, and darkens into the blueness of the tropical night; swiftly
and insensibly the shadows thicken, the stars multiply their
number; you look around you and the day is gone. It was then that
we would see our Chinaman draw near across the compound in a
lurching sphere of light, divided by his shadows; and with the
coming of the lamp the night closed about the table. The faces of
the company, the spars of the trellis, stood out suddenly bright on
a ground of blue and silver, faintly designed with palm-tops and
the peaked roofs of houses. Here and there the gloss upon a leaf,
or the fracture of a stone, returned an isolated sparkle. All else
had vanished. We hung there, illuminated like a galaxy of stars IN
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