| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Last War: A World Set Free by H. G. Wells: first. The man at the wheel must have heard his companion cry out
behind him, but he was too intent on getting away to waste even a
glance behind. Twice after that he must have heard shots. He let
his engine go, he crouched down, and for twenty minutes he must
have steered in the continual expectation of a bullet. It never
came, and when at last he glanced round, three great planes were
close upon him, and his companion, thrice hit, lay dead across
his bombs. His followers manifestly did not mean either to upset
or shoot him, but inexorably they drove him down, down. At last
he was curving and flying a hundred yards or less over the level
fields of rice and maize. Ahead of him and dark against the
The Last War: A World Set Free |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain: thing about history, you'd know that Richard Cur de
Loon, and the Pope, and Godfrey de Bulleyn, and lots
more of the most noble-hearted and pious people in
the world, hacked and hammered at the paynims for
more than two hundred years trying to take their land
away from them, and swum neck-deep in blood the
whole time -- and yet here's a couple of sap-headed
country yahoos out in the backwoods of Missouri set-
ting themselves up to know more about the rights and
wrongs of it than they did! Talk about cheek!"
Well, of course, that put a more different light on it,
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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 Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: and unrecognizable, blooming in geometrical beds and at large
among the greenery.
In a few of the terrace and roof-top gardens
were larger and more blossoms of most offensive contours and seeming
to suggest artificial breeding. Fungi of inconceivable size, outlines,
and colours speckled the scene in patterns bespeaking some unknown
but well-established horticultural tradition. In the larger gardens
on the ground there seemed to be some attempt to preserve the
irregularities of Nature, but on the roofs there was more selectiveness,
and more evidences of the topiary art.
The sides were almost
Shadow out of Time |
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 Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: failed to utilise, an exceptional advantage in the islands of
Hawaii. The first missionaries came; they found the land
already self-purged of its old and bloody faith; they were
embraced, almost on their arrival, with enthusiasm; what
troubles they supported came far more from whites than from
Hawaiians; and to these last they stood (in a rough figure)
in the shoes of God. This is not the place to enter into the
degree or causes of their failure, such as it is. One
element alone is pertinent, and must here be plainly dealt
with. In the course of their evangelical calling, they - or
too many of them - grew rich. It may be news to you that the
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