| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither
will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this
life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in
innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws,
but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for
injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us,
and wronging those whom you ought least of all to wrong, that is to say,
yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you
while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive
you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy
us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito.'
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Macbeth by William Shakespeare: How do's your Patient, Doctor?
Doct. Not so sicke my Lord,
As she is troubled with thicke-comming Fancies
That keepe her from her rest
Macb. Cure of that:
Can'st thou not Minister to a minde diseas'd,
Plucke from the Memory a rooted Sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the Braine,
And with some sweet Obliuious Antidote
Cleanse the stufft bosome, of that perillous stuffe
Which weighes vpon the heart?
Macbeth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: were not altogether connected with Wilbur and his grandfather.
Darkness fell upon a stricken countryside too passive to organize
for real defence. In a few cases closely related families would
band together and watch in the gloom under one roof; but in general
there was only a repetition of the barricading of the night before,
and a futile, ineffective gesture of loading muskets and setting
pitchforks handily about. Nothing, however, occurred except some
hill noises; and when the day came there were many who hoped that
the new horror had gone as swiftly as it had come. There were
even bold souls who proposed an offensive expedition down in the
glen, though they did not venture to set an actual example to
The Dunwich Horror |
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 Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: After the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; this cup is
the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the remission
of sins: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.
Here also we do not wish to enter into controversy and contend with the
traducers and blasphemers of this Sacrament, but to learn first (as we
did regarding Baptism) what is of the greatest importance, namely that
the chief point is the Word and ordinance or command of God. For it has
not been invented nor introduced by any man, but without any one's
counsel and deliberation it has been instituted by Christ. Therefore,
just as the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed retain
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