| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson: When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
A Child's Garden of Verses |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: round table, with a sort of circular tray, which turns at the least
touch in the centre, leaving only a rim round the table for plates
and cups. This was covered also with a white cloth and on it were
placed all the breakfast viands, with butter, sugar, cream, bread,
toast-rack and preserves. You need no servants, but turn it round
and help yourself. I believe the Van de Weyers introduced it, from
a visit in Wales. Tea and coffee are served from a side-table
always, here. Let me tell Aunty that our simple breakfast DRESS is
unknown in England. You come down in the morning dressed for the
day, until six or seven in the evening, when your dress is low neck
and short sleeves for dinner. At this season the morning dress is a
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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 The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: Presently a fresh stir rose along the waterfront, and Carter saw
that the motions of the galley had begun to excite suspicion.
Evidently the steersman was not making for the right dock, and
probably the watchers had noticed the difference between the hideous
ghouls and the almost-human slaves whose places they were taking.
Some silent alarm must have been given, for almost at once a horde
of the mephitic moonbeasts began to pour from the little black
doorways of the windowless houses and down the winding road at
the right. A rain of curious javelins struck the galley as the
prow hit the wharf felling two ghouls and slightly wounding another;
but at this point all the hatches were thrown open to emit a black
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 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Treasure Island |
