| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: that he might see outlined against the sky beyond it the lower
parts of the vast thing that flew undulantly above the pinnacles.
The object had now floated ahead a trifle, and every eye of the
party was fixed on the rift where it would presently appear in
full-length silhouette. Gradually the huge thing above the peaks
neared the gap, slightly slackening its speed as if conscious
of having outdistanced the ghoulish army. For another minute suspense
was keen, and then the brief instant of full silhouette and revelation
came; bringing to the lips of the ghouls an awed and half-choked
meep of cosmic fear, and to the soul of the traveller a chill
that never wholly left it. For the mammoth bobbing shape that
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: can understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is
sacred; a promise to a father . . . Do you feel that you can be
trusted with a secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even
your mother herself shall not know that you have a secret to keep?
There is no one else in this house whom I can trust to-day. You will
not betray my trust, will you?'
" 'No, father.'
" 'Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a
sealed packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of
it that no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of
the house and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.'
Gobseck |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: night by Mr. Otis himself, and the key carried upstairs. The whole
family were now quite interested; Mr. Otis began to suspect that he
had been too dogmatic in his denial of the existence of ghosts,
Mrs. Otis expressed her intention of joining the Psychical Society,
and Washington prepared a long letter to Messrs. Myers and Podmore
on the subject of the Permanence of Sanguineous Stains when
connected with Crime. That night all doubts about the objective
existence of phantasmata were removed for ever.
The day had been warm and sunny; and, in the cool of the evening,
the whole family went out for a drive. They did not return home
till nine o'clock, when they had a light supper. The conversation
|
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: round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe
and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the
same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even
giving me time to thank him.
I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the
table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a
soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of
his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all
over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than
five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but
he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
