| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: saints, and say, I have more holy saints in my kindred, than thou
in thine!
And the custom also there is this, that when they that have such
devotion and intent for to slay himself for love of his god, they
send for all their friends, and have great plenty of minstrels; and
they go before the idol leading him that will slay himself for such
devotion between them, with great reverence. And he, all naked,
hath a full sharp knife in his hand, and he cutteth a great piece
of his flesh, and casteth it in the face of his idol, saying his
orisons, recommending him to his god. And then he smiteth himself
and maketh great wounds and deep, here and there, till he fall down
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: running. Well, so much the worse for him! She would have Fauchery!
She had been getting enamored of him since the beginning of supper,
and if Mignon was not pleased it would teach him greater wisdom!
"You are not going to fight?" said Vandeuvres, coming over to Lucy
Stewart.
"No, don't be afraid of that! Only she must mind and keep quiet, or
I let the cat out of the bag!"
Then signing imperiously to Fauchery:
"I've got your slippers at home, my little man. I'll get them taken
to your porter's lodge for you tomorrow."
He wanted to joke about it, but she swept off, looking like a queen.
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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 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: him how he managed to sport such linen. He had just the faintest blush,
and said modestly, `I've been teaching one of the native women about
the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.'
Thus this man had verily accomplished something. And he was devoted
to his books, which were in apple-pie order.
"Everything else in the station was in a muddle--heads, things, buildings.
Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed; a stream
of manufactured goods, rubbishy cottons, beads, and brass-wire set into
the depths of darkness, and in return came a precious trickle of ivory.
"I had to wait in the station for ten days--an eternity.
I lived in a hut in the yard, but to be out of the chaos
Heart of Darkness |
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 Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: was too costly for our unauthorised laboratory. Bodies were always
a nuisance -- even the small guinea-pig bodies from the slight
clandestine experiments in West’s room at the boarding-house.
We followed the local death-notices like ghouls, for our specimens
demanded particular qualities. What we wanted were corpses interred
soon after death and without artificial preservation; preferably
free from malforming disease, and certainly with all organs present.
Accident victims were our best hope. Not for many weeks did we
hear of anything suitable; though we talked with morgue and hospital
authorities, ostensibly in the college’s interest, as often as
we could without exciting suspicion. We found that the college
Herbert West: Reanimator |
