| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: student of natural history--specially of an earlier kind, when the
world was younger."
The heartiness with which she spoke, and the warmth of her words--
not of her manner, which was cold and distant--made him suspicious.
In the meantime both his uncle and Sir Nathaniel had thanked her for
the invitation--of which, however, they said they were unable to
avail themselves. Adam had a suspicion that, though she answered
regretfully, she was in reality relieved. When he had got into the
carriage with the two old men, and they had driven off, he was not
surprised when Sir Nathaniel spoke.
"I could not but feel that she was glad to be rid of us. She can
Lair of the White Worm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: island was first discovered, about A.D. 840, the Norsemen found in
an isle, on the east and west and elsewhere, Irish books and bells
and wooden crosses, and named that island Papey, the isle of the
popes--some little colony of monks, who lived by fishing, and who
are said to have left the land when the Norsemen settled in it. Let
us believe, for it is consonant with reason and experience, that the
sight of those poor monks, plundered and massacred again and again
by the "mailed swarms of Lochlin," yet never exterminated, but
springing up again in the same place, ready for fresh massacre, a
sacred plant which God had planted, and which no rage of man could
trample out--let us believe, I say, that that sight taught at last
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: 8. [58] Nec sunt merita Christi et sanctorum, quia hec semper sine
Papa operantur gratiam hominis interioris et crucem, mortem
infernumque exterioris.
9. [59] Thesauros ecclesie s. Laurentius dixit esse pauperes
ecclesie, sed locutus est usu vocabuli suo tempore.
10. [60] Sine temeritate dicimus claves ecclesie (merito Christi
donatas) esse thesaurum istum.
11. [61] Clarum est enim, quod ad remissionem penarum et casuum
sola sufficit potestas Pape.
12. [62] Verus thesaurus ecclesie est sacrosanctum euangelium
glorie et gratie dei.
|
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 To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: don't know? The song of restless men. Nothing
could hold them in one place--not even a woman.
You used to meet one of them now and again, in
the old days, on the edge of the gold country, away
north there beyond the Rio Gila. I've seen it. A
prospecting engineer in Mazatlan took me along
with him to help look after the waggons. A
sailor's a handy chap to have about you anyhow.
It's all a desert: cracks in the earth that you can't
see the bottom of; and mountains--sheer rocks
standing up high like walls and church spires, only
To-morrow |
