| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: praise Frank's rowing with insufferable condescension: 'But
it is after all not to be wondered at,' said he, 'because he
has been for some time a sailor. My good man, is it three or
five years that you have been to sea?' And Frank, in a
defiant shout: 'Two!' Whereupon, so high did the ill-feeling
run, that we three clapped and applauded and shouted, so that
the President (whose house we were then passing) doubtless
started at the sounds. It was nine when we got to the hotel;
at first no food was to be found, but we skirmished up some
bread and cheese and beer and brandy; and (having changed our
wet clothes for the rather less wet in our bags) supped on
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: I thought of some of the possible contours of the lines of stones
as seen by my son from the air, and wondered why they seemed at
once so ominous and so familiar. Something was fumbling and rattling
at the latch of my recollection, while another unknown force sought
to keep the portal barred.
The night was windless, and the pallid
sand curved upward and downward like frozen waves of the sea.
I had no goal, but somehow ploughed along as if with fate-bound
assurance. My dreams welled up into the waking world, so that
each sand-embedded megalith seemed part of endless rooms and corridors
of pre-human masonry, carved and hieroglyphed with symbols that
Shadow out of Time |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: ye are little likely to set eyes upon him. For my friends,"
added Alan, simply, "are no very well off."
My uncle cleared his throat. "I'm no very caring," says he. "He
wasnae a good lad at the best of it, and I've nae call to
interfere."
"Ay, ay," said Alan, "I see what ye would be at: pretending ye
don't care, to make the ransom smaller."
"Na," said my uncle, "it's the mere truth. I take nae manner of
interest in the lad, and I'll pay nae ransome, and ye can make a
kirk and a mill of him for what I care."
"Hoot, sir," says Alan. "Blood's thicker than water, in the
Kidnapped |
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 Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll: 'The man,' says Johnson, 'that would make
A pun, would pick a pocket!'"
"A man," said he, "is not a King."
I argued for a while,
And did my best to prove the thing -
The Phantom merely listening
With a contemptuous smile.
At last, when, breath and patience spent,
I had recourse to smoking -
"Your AIM," he said, "is excellent:
But - when you call it ARGUMENT -
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