Lit. Clue (Dec. 18)

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

OakDragon	18 Dec 2004
Here is the next Lit. Clue. It's from the short story "The Artist of The Beautiful", by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Have fun! :D ---------- 'The Beautiful, Owen! How comes on the Beautiful? Have you succeeded in creating the Beautiful?" "I have succeeded," replied the artist, with a momentary light of triumph in his eyes, and a smile of sunshine, yet steeped in such depth of thought, that it was almost sadness. "Yes, my friends, it is the truth. I have succeeded!" "Indeed!" cried Annie, a look of maiden mirthfulness peeping out of her face again. "And is it lawful, now, to inquire what the secret is?" "Surely; it is to disclose it, that I have come," answered Owen Warland. "You shall know, and see, and touch, and possess the secret! For, Annie--if by that name I may still address the friend of my boyish years--Annie, it is for your bridal gift that I have wrought this spiritualized mechanism, this harmony of motion, this Mystery of Beauty! It comes late, indeed; but it is as we go onward in life, when objects begin to lose their freshness of hue, and our souls their delicacy of perception, that the spirit of Beauty is most needed. If--forgive me, Annie--if you know how to value this gift, it can never come too late!" He produced, as he spoke, what seemed a jewel-box. It was carved richly out of ebony by his own hand, and inlaid with a fanciful tracery of pearl, representing a boy in pursuit of a butterfly, which, elsewhere, had become a winged spirit, and was flying heavenward; while the boy, or youth, had found such efficacy in his strong desire, that he ascended from earth to cloud, and from cloud to celestial atmosphere, to win the Beautiful. This case of ebony the artist opened, and bade Annie place her finger on its edge. She did so, but almost screamed, as a butterfly fluttered forth, and, alighting on her finger's tip, sat waving the ample magnificence of its purple and gold-speckled wings, as if in prelude to a flight. It is impossible to express by words the glory, the splendor, the delicate gorgeousness, which were softened into the beauty of this object. Nature's ideal butterfly was here realized in all its perfection; not in the pattern of such faded insects as flit among earthly flowers, but of those which hover across the meads of Paradise, for child-angels and the spirits of departed infants to disport themselves with. The rich down was visible upon its wings; the lustre of its eyes seemed instinct with spirit. The firelight glimmered around this wonder--the candles gleamed upon it--but it glistened apparently by its own radiance, and illuminated the finger and outstretched hand on which it rested, with a white gleam like that of precious stones. In its perfect beauty, the consideration of size was entirely lost. Had its wings overreached the firmament, the mind could not have been more filled or satisfied." "Beautiful! Beautiful!" exclaimed Annie. "Is it alive? Is it alive?"..... ....At this moment, the butterfly waved its wings anew, with a motion so absolutely lifelike that Annie was startled, and even awe-stricken; for, in spite of her husband's opinion, she could not satisfy herself whether it was indeed a living creature, or a piece of wondrous mechanism..... "Judge for yourself," said Owen Warland, who stood gazing in her face with fixed attention. The butterfly now flung itself upon the air, fluttered round Annie's head, and soared into a distant region of the parlor, still making itself perceptible to sight by the starry gleam in which the motion of its wings enveloped it. The infant, on the floor, followed its course with his sagacious little eyes. After flying about the room, it returned, in a spiral curve, and settled again on Annie's finger...... ....."Wherefore ask who created it, so it be beautiful?" replied Owen Warland. "Alive? Yes, Annie; it may well be said to possess life, for it has absorbed my own being into itself; and in the secret of that butterfly, and in its beauty--which is not merely outward, but deep as its whole system--is represented the intellect, the imagination, the sensibility, the soul, of an Artist of the Beautiful! Yes, I created it.' -----------

Lurea	18 Dec 2004
The Magician.

WhiteRaven	18 Dec 2004
hmmm...if it's not the Magician, I would have to guess it's the "Hermit"...one creates his own beauty from within....?

OakDragon	18 Dec 2004
Nope, sorry, to both of you. I had another card in mind. :)

WhiteRaven	18 Dec 2004
The World

maria42airam	18 Dec 2004
Queen of Swords

Ulfdis	19 Dec 2004
6 of Cups

OakDragon	19 Dec 2004
No, no one has it yet. Keep trying! :)

WhiteRaven	19 Dec 2004
9 of pents

maria42airam	19 Dec 2004
Queen of Pentacles

OakDragon	19 Dec 2004
Nope, that's not it either. I'm focusing more on the creation here than the creator.

WhiteRaven	20 Dec 2004
The Hanged Man

Lurea	20 Dec 2004
Temperance.

Ulfdis	20 Dec 2004
The Star

bodhran	20 Dec 2004
The fool?

OakDragon	21 Dec 2004
Ulfdis wrote: The Star Ulfdis got it! It's The Star, representing the source of the artist's inspiration and aspiration to create beauty... the butterfly. You're turn, Ulfdis!

WhiteRaven	21 Dec 2004
You know, I was going to say ..."the Star"...but as I went to type it, I remembered the last Lit Clue you did Oakdragon, you had used the STAR...so I said to myself...nah..he's not using the same card again...LOL!! You must like the Star...I know I do. ;)

OakDragon	21 Dec 2004
WhiteRaven wrote: You know, I was going to say ..."the Star"...but as I went to type it, I remembered the last Lit Clue you did Oakdragon, you had used the STAR...so I said to myself...nah..he's not using the same card again...LOL!! You must like the Star...I know I do. ;) LOL, you're right! I'd forgotten about that. I guess the concept of inspiration's been on my mind alot lately. :)

Lurea	21 Dec 2004
WhiteRaven wrote: I remembered the last Lit Clue you did Oakdragon, you had used the STAR...so I said to myself...nah..he's not using the same card again...LOL!! ;) Oh, he's a tricksey, tricksey dragon!!

Cyllah	22 Dec 2004
Seven of Pentacles, no no no, Nine of Pentacles... Ah shoot..... Okay, Seven of Pentacles

Ulfdis	22 Dec 2004
Wooohoo! Now, to the bookshelf!

The Lit. Clue (Dec. 18) thread was originally posted on 18 Dec 2004 in the Tarot Games & Fun board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Games & Fun, or read more archived threads.