| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: it I've got to try under sarten conditions that I can't git here,
en' it 'ud be a mortal sin to let a red-tape rule hold me up.
Let me take it along, Sir, an' I'll swar they wun't nobody know
the difference. I dun't need to tell ye I'll take good keer of
it. It wan't me that put this Dee copy in the shape it is...'
He stopped as he saw firm denial on the librarian's face, and
his own goatish features grew crafty. Armitage, half-ready to
tell him he might make a copy of what parts he needed, thought
suddenly of the possible consequences and checked himself. There
was too much responsibility in giving such a being the key to
such blasphemous outer spheres. Whateley saw how things stood,
The Dunwich Horror |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: the difficult four years of the Imperialistic war, and then the
year and a half of the still more difficult civil war, have
been able to begin this great work, what will not be its
further development when we conquer in the civil war and
win peace." He sees in it a promise of work being done not
for the sake of individual gain, but because of a recognition
that such work is necessary for the general good, and in all
he wrote and spoke about it he emphasized the fact that
people worked better and harder when working thus than
under any of the conditions (piece-work, premiums for good
work, etc.) imposed by the revolution in its desperate
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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 Anthem by Ayn Rand: We looked upon them and we laughed and said:
"Fear nothing, our brothers. There is a
great power in these wires, but this power
is tamed. It is yours. We give it to you."
Still they would not move.
"We give you the power of the sky!" we cried.
"We give you the key to the earth! Take it,
and let us be one of you, the humblest among you.
Let us all work together, and harness this power,
and make it ease the toil of men. Let us
throw away our candles and our torches.
Anthem |
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 Common Sense by Thomas Paine: IN THE LONG RUN, WHAT HE CANNOT DO BY FORCE AND VIOLENCE IN THE SHORT ONE.
Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related.
SECONDLY. That as even the best terms, which we can expect to obtain,
can amount to no more than a temporary expedient, or a kind of government
by guardianship, which can last no longer than till the colonies come of age,
so the general face and state of things, in the interim, will be unsettled
and unpromising. Emigrants of property will not choose to come to a country
whose form of government hangs but by a thread, and who is every day tottering
on the brink of commotion and disturbance; and numbers of the present
inhabitants would lay hold of the interval, to dispense of their effects,
and quit the continent.
Common Sense |
