| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: langer like a barrow-man, without getting sae muckle as thanks
for my pains."
"Thanks!" exclaimed the Dwarf, with a motion expressive of the
utmost contempt--"There--take them, and fatten upon them! Take
them, and may they thrive with you as they have done with me--as
they have done with every mortal worm that ever heard the word
spoken by his fellow reptile! Hence--either labour or begone!"
"This is a fine reward we have, Earnscliff, for building a
tabernacle for the devil, and prejudicing our ain souls into the
bargain, for what we ken."
"Our presence," answered Earnscliff, "seems only to irritate his
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in old times
possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and
many blushes, her ill-spelt love letter, and writing in my diary
in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last.
It is the nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.
And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had,
and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill.
Later: The morning of 16 May.--God preserve my sanity, for to this I
am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past.
Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for,
that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already.
Dracula |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in
love and war.
One evening while Fahrquhar and his wife were sitting on a
rustic bench near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad
soldier rode up to the gate and asked for a drink of water.
Mrs. Fahrquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own
white hands. While she was fetching the water her husband
approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly for news
from the front.
"The Yanks are repairing the railroads," said the man, "and
are getting ready for another advance. They have reached the
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
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 Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: You'd never be content this side the tomb --
For big ideas Heaven has little room,
And Hell's no latitude for making mirth,"
He said, and kicked the fellow back to earth.
"The Mad Philosopher"
DICTATOR, n. The chief of a nation that prefers the pestilence of
despotism to the plague of anarchy.
DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth
of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary,
however, is a most useful work.
DIE, n. The singular of "dice." We seldom hear the word, because
The Devil's Dictionary |
