| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: CHAPTER 1
ABODES OF HORROR have frequently been described, and castles, filled
with spectres and chimeras, conjured up by the magic spell of genius
to harrow the soul, and absorb the wondering mind. But, formed of
such stuff as dreams are made of, what were they to the mansion of
despair, in one corner of which Maria sat, endeavouring to recall
her scattered thoughts!
Surprise, astonishment, that bordered on distraction, seemed
to have suspended her faculties, till, waking by degrees to a keen
sense of anguish, a whirlwind of rage and indignation roused her
torpid pulse. One recollection with frightful velocity following
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tanach: 2_Chronicles 34: 18 And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying: 'Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book.' And Shaphan read therein before the king.
2_Chronicles 34: 19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the Law, that he rent his clothes.
2_Chronicles 34: 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying:
2_Chronicles 34: 21 'Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according unto all that is written in this book.'
2_Chronicles 34: 22 So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe--now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter--and they spoke to her to that effect.
2_Chronicles 34: 23 And she said unto them: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me:
2_Chronicles 34: 24 Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah;
2_Chronicles 34: 25 because they have forsaken Me, and have offered unto other gods, that they might provoke Me with all the works of their hands; therefore is My wrath poured out upon this place, a 
The Tanach |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: the while, to the opposite corner of the platform. Yes, I had
the sharpest sense that during this transit he never took his
eyes from me, and I can see at this moment the way his hand,
as he went, passed from one of the crenelations to the next.
He stopped at the other corner, but less long, and even
as he turned away still markedly fixed me. He turned away;
that was all I knew.
IV
It was not that I didn't wait, on this occasion,
for more, for I was rooted as deeply as I was shaken.
Was there a "secret" at Bly--a mystery of Udolpho or an insane,
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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 Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: loudly in my ears, crept into a tangle of ferns to await the issue.
I heard the dog (there was only one) draw nearer, and yelp when it came
to the thorns. Then I heard no more, and presently began to think I
had escaped.
The minutes passed; the silence lengthened out, and at last
after an hour of security my courage began to return to me.
By this time I was no longer very much terrified or very miserable.
I had, as it were, passed the limit of terror and despair.
I felt now that my life was practically lost, and that persuasion
made me capable of daring anything. I had even a certain wish
to encounter Moreau face to face; and as I had waded into the water,
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
