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have been built up exactly as it had been from the nose alone.
Let us go into this in more detail to make clear exactly what I
want to express.
"Today I briefly examined the law of the octave. You saw
that with knowledge of this law the place of everything is
known and, vice versa, if the place is known, one knows what
exists there and its quality. Everything can be calculated, only
one must know how to calculate the passage from one octave
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to another. The human body, like everything that is a whole,
bears in itself this regularity of measurement. In accordance
with the number of notes of the octave and with the intervals,
the human body has nine principal measurements expressed in
definite numbers. For individual persons these numbers vary
very much of course within certain limits. The nine principal
measurements, giving an entire octave of the first order, are
transmuted into the subordinate octaves'which, by a wide ex-
tension of this subordinate system, give all the measurements
of any part of the human body. Every note of an octave is it-
self a whole octave. Consequently it is necessary to know the
rules of correlation and combination, and of transition from
one scale to another. Everything is combined by an indissolu-
ble, unchangeable regularity of law. It is as though, around
every point, nine more subordinate points were grouped; and
so on to the atoms of the atom.
"Knowing the laws of descent, man also knows the laws of
ascent, and consequently not only can pass from principal oc-
taves to subordinate ones, but also vice versa. Not only can the
nose be reconstructed from the face alone, but also from the
nose the entire face and body of a man can be reconstructed
inexorably and exactly. There is no search for beauty or resem-
blance. A creation can be nothing other than what it is. ...
"This is more exact than mathematics, because here you do
not meet with probabilities, and it is achieved not by study of
mathematics but by a study of a far deeper and broader kind.
It is understanding which is needed. In a conversation without
understanding, it is possible to talk for decades on the simplest
questions without coming to any result.
"A simple question can reveal that a man has not the re-
quired attitude of thought, and even with the desire to eluci-
date the question, the lack of preparation and understanding
in the hearer nullifies the words of the speaker. Such 'literal
understanding' is very common.
"This episode yet again confirmed what I had long since
known and had proved a thousand times. Recently in Peters-
burg I spoke with a well-known composer. From this conversa-
tion I clearly saw how poor his knowledge in the domain of
true music was, and how deep the abyss of his ignorance. Re-
member Orpheus, who taught knowledge by means of music,
and you will understand what I call true or sacred music."
Mr. Gurdjieff went on, "For such music special conditions
will be needed, and then The Struggle of the Magicians would
not be a mere spectacle. As it is now there will only be frag-
35
ments of the music I heard in certain temples, and even such
true music would convey nothing to the hearers because the
keys to it are lost and perhaps have never been known in the
West. The keys to all the ancient arts are lost, were lost many
centuries ago. And therefore there is no longer a sacred art
embodying laws of the Great Knowledge, and so serving to in-
fluence the instincts of the multitude.
"There are no creators today. The contemporary priests of
art do not create but imitate. They run after beauty and like-
ness or what is called originality, without possessing even the
necessary knowledge. Not knowing, and not being able to do
anything, since they are groping in the dark, they are praised
by the crowd, which places them on a pedestal. Sacred art van-
ished and left behind only the halo which surrounded its ser-
vants. All the current words about the divine spark, talent, ge-
nius, creation, sacred art, have no solid basis they are
anachronisms. What are these talents? We will talk about
them on some suitable occasion.
"Either the shoemaker's craft must be called art, or all con-
temporary art must be called craft. In what way is a shoe-
maker sewing fashionable custom shoes of beautiful design in-
ferior to an artist who pursues the aim of imitation or
originality? With knowledge, the sewing of shoes may be sa-
cred art too, but without it, a priest of contemporary art is
worse than a cobbler." The last words were full of emphasis.
Mr. Gurdjieff became silent, and A. said nothing.
The conversation had impressed me deeply; I felt how right
A. had been in his warning that in order to listen to Mr.
Gurdjieff more was required than just the wish to meet him.
My thought was working precisely and clearly. Thousands
of questions rose in my mind, but none corresponded to the
depth of what I had heard and so I remained silent.
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