| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: Public interest in the Whateleys subsided after most of the country
folk had seen the baby, and no one bothered to comment on the
swift development which that newcomer seemed every day to exhibit.
Wilbur's growth was indeed phenomenal, for within three months
of his birth he had attained a size and muscular power not usually
found in infants under a full year of age. His motions and even
his vocal sounds showed a restraint and deliberateness highly
peculiar in an infant, and no one was really unprepared when,
at seven months, he began to walk unassisted, with falterings
which another month was sufficient to remove.
It was somewhat
The Dunwich Horror |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the Mahars."
It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought
about it; but he only shrugged his shoulders and continued
a longwinded prayer he had been at for some time.
He was wont to say that the only redeeming feature of our
captivity was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation
of prayers--it was becoming an obsession with him.
The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit
of declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them
asked him what he was saying--to whom he was talking.
The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly
At the Earth's Core |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: analogous to that undertaken by China; that recently attempted by
Turkey. A few years ago young men instructed in European schools
and full of good intentions succeeded, with the aid of a
number of officers, in overthrowing a Sultan whose tyranny seemed
insupportable. Having acquired our robust Latin faith in the
magic power of formulae, they thought they could establish the
representative system in a country half-civilised, profoundly
divided by religious hatred, and peopled by divers races.
The attempt has not prospered hitherto. The authors of the
reformation had to learn that despite their liberalism they were
forced to govern by methods very like those employed by the
|
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 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle: way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one
from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a
better grown goose."
"Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly
gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who
frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in
the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our
good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which,
on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to
receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the
rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
