| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: I rose and bowed in silence.
'This is my brother, Mr. Ronald Gilchrist,' said she. 'I have told
him of your sufferings. He is so sorry for you!'
'It is more than I have the right to ask,' I replied; 'but among
gentlefolk these generous sentiments are natural. If your brother
and I were to meet in the field, we should meet like tigers; but
when he sees me here disarmed and helpless, he forgets his
animosity.' (At which, as I had ventured to expect, this beardless
champion coloured to the ears for pleasure.) 'Ah, my dear young
lady,' I continued, 'there are many of your countrymen languishing
in my country, even as I do here. I can but hope there is found
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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 Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: there could be nothing supernatural in that wind, or wail, or whatever it was,
which had risen murmuring from out the forest-depths.
Yet, despite his reasoning, Joe could not allay his fears. That thrilling cry
haunted him. The frantic flight of an Indian brave--nay, of a cunning,
experienced chief--was not to be lightly considered. The savages were at home
in these untracked wilds. Trained from infancy to scent danger and to fight
when they had an equal chance they surely would not run without good cause.
Joe knew that something moved under those dark trees. He had no idea what. It
might be the fretting night wind, or a stealthy, prowling, soft-footed beast,
or a savage alien to these wild Indians, and wilder than they by far. The
chirp of a bird awoke the stillness. Night had given way to morning. Welcoming
The Spirit of the Border |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: whilst the long, curved claws of the doubled-up, crouching hind
legs gripped the front edge and extended a quarter of the way
clown toward the bottom of the pedestal. The cephalopod head was
bent forward, so that the ends of the facial feelers brushed the
backs of huge fore paws which clasped the croucher's elevated
knees. The aspect of the whole was abnormally life-like, and the
more subtly fearful because its source was so totally unknown.
Its vast, awesome, and incalculable age was unmistakable; yet
not one link did it shew with any known type of art belonging
to civilisation's youth - or indeed to any other time. Totally
separate and apart, its very material was a mystery; for the soapy,
Call of Cthulhu |
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 Charmides by Plato: Jackson, about two octavo pages in length, there occur no less than seven
or eight references to Plato, although nothing really corresponding to them
can be found in his extant writings:--a small matter truly; but what a
light does it throw on the character of the entire book in which they
occur! We can hardly escape from the conclusion that they are not
statements of Aristotle respecting Plato, but of a later generation of
Aristotelians respecting a later generation of Platonists. (Compare the
striking remark of the great Scaliger respecting the Magna Moralia:--Haec
non sunt Aristotelis, tamen utitur auctor Aristotelis nomine tanquam suo.)
(2) There is no hint in Plato's own writings that he was conscious of
having made any change in the Doctrine of Ideas such as Dr. Jackson
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