| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucolics by Virgil: Coppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods,
Woods worthy of a Consul let them be.
Now the last age by Cumae's Sibyl sung
Has come and gone, and the majestic roll
Of circling centuries begins anew:
Justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign,
With a new breed of men sent down from heaven.
Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom
The iron shall cease, the golden race arise,
Befriend him, chaste Lucina; 'tis thine own
Apollo reigns. And in thy consulate,
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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 Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: but for that, we must meet them hand to hand. Come now, is there no way of
getting at them?"
"Let us try to enter Granite House by the old opening at the lake,"
replied the engineer.
"Oh!" shouted the sailor, "and I never thought of that."
This was in reality the only way by which to penetrate into Granite House
so as to fight with and drive out the intruders. The opening was, it is
true, closed up with a wall of cemented stones, which it would be necessary
to sacrifice, but that could easily be rebuilt. Fortunately, Cyrus Harding
had not as yet effected his project of hiding this opening by raising the
waters of the lake, for the operation would then have taken some time.
The Mysterious Island |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: His voice quivered with excitement. "The game's up,
Fu-Manchu. Find something to tie him up with, Petrie."
I moved forward to Smith's side, and was about to pass him
in the narrow doorway. The hulk moved beneath our feet
like a living thing groaning, creaking--and the water lapped
about the rotten woodwork with a sound infinitely dreary.
"Put up your hands!" ordered Smith imperatively.
Fu-Manchu slowly raised his hands, and a smile dawned upon
the impassive features--a smile that had no mirth in it,
only menace, revealing as it did his even, discolored teeth,
but leaving the filmed eyes inanimate, dull, inhuman.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
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 Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: since Margit's last question, then some one went past the window.
There were two people this time, Liska and the old doctor. They
were walking very fast, running almost. Margit sprang up and
hurried to the door to look after them.
Janci sat still in his place, but he had laid aside his spoon and
with wide eyes was staring ahead of him, murmuring, "It's the pastor
this time; I saw him - just as I did the others."
"Shepherd, the inn-keeper wants to see you, there's something the
matter with his cow." cried a young man, coming from the other
direction and pushing in at the door past Margit, who stood there
staring up the road.
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