| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: Il ne faut regarder que dans les miroirs. Car les miroirs ne nous
montrent que des masques . . . Oh! Oh! du vin! j'ai soif . . .
Salome, Salome, soyons amis. Enfin, voyez . . . Qu'est-ce que je
voulais dire? Qu'est-ce que c'etait? Ah! je m'en souviens! . . .
Salome! Non, venez plus pres de moi. J'ai peur que vous ne
m'entendiez pas . . . Salome, vous connaissez mes paons blancs, mes
beaux paons blancs, qui se promenent dans le jardin entre les myrtes
et les grands cypres. Leurs becs sont dores, et les grains qu'ils
mangent sont dores aussi, et leurs pieds sont teints de pourpre. La
pluie vient quand ils crient, et quand ils se pavanent la lune se
montre au ciel. Ils vont deux e deux entre les cypres et les myrtes
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: accentuates. Russia is unlike England, where starvation of
the towns would be practically starvation of the whole
island. In Russia, if a man is hungry, he has only to
walk far enough and he will come to a place where there is
plenty to eat. Almost every Russian worker retains in some
form or other connection with a village, where, if he returns,
he will not be an entire stranger, but at worst a poor relation,
and quite possibly an honored guest. It is not surprising that
many thousands have "returned to the land" in this way.
Further, if a workman retains his connection, both with a
distant village and with a town, he can keep himself and his
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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 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: and made a great noise that her house should be insulted, and
that she should be used thus for nothing; that if a man did
come in, he might go out again presently for aught she knew,
for she was ready to make oath that no man had been within
her doors all that day as she knew of (and that was very true
indeed); that is might be indeed that as she was abovestairs,
any fellow in a fright might find the door open and run in for
shelter when he was pursued, but that she knew nothing of it;
and if it had been so, he certainly went out again, perhaps at
the other door, for she had another door into an alley, and so
had made his escape and cheated them all.
Moll Flanders |
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: covered four sides of a square, with a tower at each corner, a
paved court in the centre, and small curious round windows all
over it. Probably it was of basalt, though weeds draped the greater
part; and such was its lonely and impressive place on that far
hill that it may have been a temple or a monastery. Some phosphorescent
fish inside it gave the small round windows an aspect of shining,
and Carter did not blame the sailors much for their fears. Then
by the watery moonlight he noticed an odd high monolith in the
middle of that central court, and saw that something was tied
to it. And when after getting a telescope from the captain's cabin
he saw that that bound thing was a sailor in the silk robes of
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
