| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: publishing them, do much the same as if I were to throw open the windows,
and allow the light of day to enter the cave into which the combatants had
descended. But even superior men have no reason for any great anxiety to
know these principles, for if what they desire is to be able to speak of
all things, and to acquire a reputation for learning, they will gain their
end more easily by remaining satisfied with the appearance of truth, which
can be found without much difficulty in all sorts of matters, than by
seeking the truth itself which unfolds itself but slowly and that only in
some departments, while it obliges us, when we have to speak of others,
freely to confess our ignorance. If, however, they prefer the knowledge of
some few truths to the vanity of appearing ignorant of none, as such
Reason Discourse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: artificial rock. A moral without the fable. All that is mortal of a
departed truth. A demi-tasse of milk-and-mortality. The Pope's-nose
of a featherless peacock. A jelly-fish withering on the shore of the
sea of thought. The cackle surviving the egg. A desiccated epigram.
PLATONIC, adj. Pertaining to the philosophy of Socrates. Platonic
Love is a fool's name for the affection between a disability and a
frost.
PLAUDITS, n. Coins with which the populace pays those who tickle and
devour it.
PLEASE, v. To lay the foundation for a superstructure of imposition.
PLEASURE, n. The least hateful form of dejection.
The Devil's Dictionary |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: low glibbering all about him, and for a moment he fancied the
object was a gigantic Shantak, of a size vastly greater than that
of the average specimen. Soon, however, he saw that this theory
would not hold; for the shape of the thing above the mountains
was not that of any hippocephalic bird. Its outline against the
stars, necessarily vague as it was, resembled rather some huge
mitred head, or pair of heads infinitely magnified; and its rapid
bobbing flight through the sky seemed most peculiarly a wingless
one. Carter could not tell which side of the mountains it was
on, but soon perceived that it had parts below the parts he had
first seen, since it blotted out all the stars in places where
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
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 Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: enough. Soldier, release Ojo the Lucky and--"
"I beg your pardon; I'm Ojo the Unlucky,"
said the boy.
"At this moment you are lucky," said she.
"Release him, Soldier, and let him go free."
The people were glad to hear Ozma's decree and
murmured their approval. As the royal audience was
now over, they began to leave the Throne Room and
soon there were none remaining except Ojo and his
friends and Ozma and her favorites.
The girl Ruler now asked Ojo to sit down and
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
