| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the place
where the treasures of his house were kept, he selected a double
cup, and told his son Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing
bowl. Meanwhile Helen went to the chest where she kept the
lovely dresses which she had made with her own hands, and took
out one that was largest and most beautifully enriched with
embroidery; it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom
of the chest. {131} Then they all came back through the house
again till they got to Telemachus, and Menelaus said,
"Telemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno, bring you
safely home according to your desire. I will now present you
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: that she felt the effects of long confinement below, and I
readily granted her request. I could not understand her, and I
craved an opportunity to talk with her again in an effort to
fathom her and her intentions, and so I made it a point to
follow her up the ladder. It was a clear, cold, beautiful night.
The sea was calm except for the white water at our bows and the
two long radiating swells running far off into the distance upon
either hand astern, forming a great V which our propellers filled
with choppy waves. Benson was in the tower, we were bound for
San Diego and all looked well.
Lys stood with a heavy blanket wrapped around her slender figure,
The Land that Time Forgot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: TRANSACTIONS and my own seventeen papers upon physical optics.
`Then, going up a broad staircase, we came to what may once
have been a gallery of technical chemistry. And here I had not a
little hope of useful discoveries. Except at one end where the
roof had collapsed, this gallery was well preserved. I went
eagerly to every unbroken case. And at last, in one of the
really air-tight cases, I found a box of matches. Very eagerly I
tried them. They were perfectly good. They were not even damp.
I turned to Weena. "Dance," I cried to her in her own tongue.
For now I had a weapon indeed against the horrible creatures we
feared. And so, in that derelict museum, upon the thick soft
The Time Machine |
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 At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: as I had certainly felt that at least a word of thanks should
have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards,
I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killed
the redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter.
We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went
down into the valley and bowled over a small antelope,
which I dragged up the steep ascent to the ledge before
the door. Here we ate in silence. Occasionally I glanced
at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing at raw
flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal
would cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her;
At the Earth's Core |
