| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: till I entered Miskatonic University as instructor of political
economy in 1895.
For thirteen years more my life ran smoothly
and happily. I married Alice Keezar of Haverhill in 1896, and
my three children, Robert, Wingate and Hannah were born in 1898,
1900, and 1903, respectively. In 1898 I became an associate professor,
and in 1902 a full professor. At no time had I the least interest
in either occultism or abnormal psychology.
It was on Thursday,
14 May 1908, that the queer amnesia came. The thing was quite
sudden, though later I realized that certain brief, glimmering
Shadow out of Time |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: round that little idol of part-truths and part-conveniences
which is the contemporary deity, or he is convinced by what
is new, forgets what is old, and becomes truly blasphemous
and indecent himself. New truth is only useful to supplement
the old; rough truth is only wanted to expand, not to
destroy, our civil and often elegant conventions. He who
cannot judge had better stick to fiction and the daily
papers. There he will get little harm, and, in the first at
least, some good.
Close upon the back of my discovery of Whitman, I came under
the influence of Herbert Spencer. No more persuasive rabbi
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: what I say. This Lassiter is something more than a gun-man. Jud,
he's big--he's great!...I feel that in him. God help Tull and
Dyer when Lassiter does go after them. For horses and riders and
stone walls won't save them."
"Wal, hev it your way, Bern. I hope you're right. Nat'rully I've
been some sore on Lassiter fer gittin' soft. But I ain't denyin'
his nerve, or whatever's great in him thet sort of paralyzes
people. No later 'n this mornin' I seen him saunterin' down the
lane, quiet an' slow. An' like his guns he comes black--black,
thet's Lassiter. Wal, the crowd on the corner never batted an
eye, en' I'll gamble my hoss thet there wasn't one who hed a
Riders of the Purple Sage |
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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: Carol was sorry to hear that the Czar was coming back,
but she said nothing. The others had looked vacant at the
mention of a country so far away as Russia. Now they edged
in and asked Bresnahan what he thought about the Packard
car, investments in Texas oil-wells, the comparative merits of
young men born in Minnesota and in Massachusetts, the question
of prohibition, the future cost of motor tires, and wasn't
it true that American aviators put it all over these Frenchmen?
They were glad to find that he agreed with them on every
point.
As she heard Bresnahan announce, "We're perfectly willing
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