| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: ripped, and tore all asunder, that the noise of the dry and
hollow-sounding wood alarmed and reverberated throughout the
forest."
At the termination of this sentence I started, and for a
moment, paused; for it appeared to me (although I at once
concluded that my excited fancy had deceived me)--it appeared to
me that, from some very remote portion of the mansion, there
came, indistinctly, to my ears, what might have been, in its
exact similarity of character, the echo (but a stifled and dull
one certainly) of the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir
Launcelot had so particularly described. It was, beyond doubt,
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: As Norman of Torn ceased speaking the priest sat
silent for many minutes.
"Thou hast indeed a grave responsibility, my son,"
he said at last. "Thou canst not well go unless thou
takest thy horde with thee out of England, but even
that may be possible; who knows other than God?"
"For my part" laughed the outlaw, "I be willing to
leave it in His hands; which seems to be the way with
Christians. When one would shirk a responsibility, or
explain an error, lo, one shoulders it upon the Lord."
"I fear, my son," said the priest, "that what seed
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: latched it and pushed outward upon the panel. Suddenly
the great doorway gave beneath his touch. It opened a
crack letting a flood of light into his dark cell that almost
blinded him.
For a moment he could see nothing, and then out of the
glaring blur grew the figure of a man sitting at a table--
with his back toward the panel.
It was the king, and he was alone. Noiselessly Barney
Custer entered the apartment, closing the panel after him.
At his back now was the great oil painting of the Blentz
princess that had hid the secret entrance to the room. He
The Mad King |
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 Figure in the Carpet by Henry James: "And you hold that you've carried the scheme out?"
"The way I've carried it out is the thing in life I think a bit
well of myself for."
I had a pause. "Don't you think you ought - just a trifle - to
assist the critic?"
"Assist him? What else have I done with every stroke of my pen?
I've shouted my intention in his great blank face!" At this,
laughing out again, Vereker laid his hand on my shoulder to show
the allusion wasn't to my personal appearance.
"But you talk about the initiated. There must therefore, you see,
BE initiation."
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