| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: climbed into the embrasure, in order that he might at all events see
something from the tower. The flame died, and he stared through the
window at the stars. Then, to his astonishment, he discovered that it
was not a window at all but a lens.. .. The sky was not a wide
expanse of space containing a multitude of stars, but a blurred
darkness, focused only in one part, where two very bright stars, like
small moons in size, appeared in close conjunction; and near them a
more minute planetary object, as brilliant as Venus and with an
observable disk. One of the suns shone with a glaring white light;
the other was a weird and awful blue. Their light, though almost
solar in intensity, did not illuminate the interior of the tower.
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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 Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: of glowing embers, sat the master at his desk.
"No one noticed so small a creature as a Woggle-Bug, and when I found that
the hearth was even warmer and more comfortable than the sunshine, I
resolved to establish my future home beside it. So I found a charming nest
between two bricks and hid myself therein for many, many months.
"Professor Nowitall is, doubtless, the most famous scholar in the land of
Oz, and after a few days I began to listen to the lectures and discourses he
gave his pupils. Not one of them was more attentive than the humble,
unnoticed Woggle-Bug, and I acquired in this way a fund of knowledge that I
will myself confess is simply marvelous. That is why I place 'T.E.'
Thoroughly Educated upon my cards; for my greatest pride lies in the fact
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Davis: scarlet, inner depths unfathomable of glancing light. Wolfe's
artist-eye grew drunk with color. The gates of that other
world! Fading, flashing before him now! What, in that world of
Beauty, Content, and Right, were the petty laws, the mine and
thine, of mill-owners and mill hands?
A consciousness of power stirred within him. He stood up. A
man,--he thought, stretching out his hands,--free to work, to
live, to love! Free! His right! He folded the scrap of paper
in his hand. As his nervous fingers took it in, limp and
blotted, so his soul took in the mean temptation, lapped it in
fancied rights, in dreams of improved existences, drifting and
Life in the Iron-Mills |
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 A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: "I'm paying Gangnet a visit today, Maskull but once upon a time
Gangnet paid me a visit."
"Where?"
"In my home - whatever that is. Gangnet is a common thief."
"You are speaking in riddles, and I don't understand you. I don't
know either of you, but it's clear that if Gangnet is a poet, you're
a buffoon. Must you go on talking? I want to be quiet."
Krag laughed, but said no more. Presently he lay down at full
length, with his face to the sun, and in a few minutes was fast
asleep, and snoring disagreeably. Maskull kept glancing over at his
yellow, repulsive face with strong disfavour.
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