| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Rig Veda: with
all the stars, he quickens earth and sky.
6 Such as thou art, brilliantly kindled for our weal, a liberal
giver,
send us riches in thy shine,
For our advantage, Agni, God, bring Heaven and Earth hither
that they
may taste oblation brought by man.
7 Agni, give us great wealth, give riches thousandfold. unclose
to us,
like doors, strength that shall bring renown.
The Rig Veda |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: and the other two Wakwafis. As our course lay upstream, we had
to keep four paddles at work in each canoe, which meant that
the whole lot of us, except Good, had to row away like galley-slaves;
and very exhausting work it was. I say, except Good, for, of
course, the moment that Good got into a boat his foot was on
his native heath, and he took command of the party. And certainly
he worked us. On shore Good is a gentle, mild-mannered man,
and given to jocosity; but, as we found to our cost, Good in
a boat was a perfect demon. To begin with, he knew all about
it, and we didn't. On all nautical subjects, from the torpedo
fittings of a man-of-war down to the best way of handling the
Allan Quatermain |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: writ saith: QUI ACCIPIT PROPHETAM IN NOMINE MEO, MERCEDEM
PROPHETAE ACCIPIET; that is to say, 'He that taketh a prophet in my
name, he shall take meed of the prophet.' And so had she. For she
prophesied to the messengers, saying, NOVI QUOD DOMINUS TRADET
VOBIS TERRAM HANC; that is to say, 'I wot well, that our Lord shall
betake you this land': and so he did. And after, Salomon,
Naasson's son, wedded her, and from that time was she a worthy
woman, and served God well.
Also from Bethany go men to flom Jordan by a mountain and through
desert. And it is nigh a day journey from Bethany, toward the
east, to a great hill, where our Lord fasted forty days. Upon that
|
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 At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: to their location, certainly not less than thirty million years
old, and we reflected that in their day the sea-cavern city, and
indeed the cavern itself, had had no existence. They would have
remembered an older scene, with lush Tertiary vegetation everywhere,
a younger land city of flourishing arts around them, and a great
river sweeping northward along the base of the mighty mountains
toward a far-away tropic ocean.
And yet we could not help thinking
about these specimens - especially about the eight perfect ones
that were missing from Lake’s hideously ravaged camp. There was
something abnormal about that whole business - the strange things
At the Mountains of Madness |
