"This new system was unanimously acknowledged to be the best, and very soon it was adopted for general Universal service and thereafter gradually all previous systems were entirely superseded.

"That system of the Great Angel, now Archangel, Hariton is now in use everywhere at the present day.

"The ship on which we are now flying also belongs to this system and its construction is similar to that of all the ships built on the system of the Angel Hariton.

"This system is not very complicated.

"The whole of this great invention consists of only a single 'cylinder' shaped like an ordinary barrel.

"The secret of this cylinder lies in the disposition of the materials of which its inner side is made.

"These materials are arranged in a certain order and isolated from each other by means of 'Amber'. They have such a property that if any cosmic gaseous substance whatever enters the space which they enclose, whether it be 'atmosphere', 'air', 'ether', or any other 'totality' of homogeneous cosmic elements, it immediately expands, owing to the mentioned disposition of materials within the cylinder.

"The bottom of this cylinder-barrel is hermetically sealed, but its lid, although it can be closely shut, yet is so arranged on hinges that at a pressure from within it can be opened and shut again.

"So, your Right Reverence, if this cylinder-barrel is filled with atmosphere, air, or any other such substance, then from the action of the walls of this peculiar cylinder-barrel, these substances expand to such an extent that the interior becomes too small to hold them.

"Striving to find an outlet from this, for them constricted, interior, they naturally press also against the lid of the cylinder-barrel, and thanks to the said hinges the lid opens and, having allowed these expanded substances to escape, immediately closes again. And as in general Nature abhors a vacuum, then simultaneously with the release of the expanded gaseous substances the cylinder-barrel is again filled with fresh substances from outside, with which in their turn the same proceeds as before, and so on without end.

"Thus the substances are always being changed, and the lid of the cylinder-barrel alternately opens and shuts.

"To this same lid there is fixed a very simple lever which moves with the movement of the lid and in turn sets in motion certain also very simple 'cogwheels' which again in their turn revolve the fans attached to the sides and stern of the ship itself.

"Thus, your Right Reverence, in spaces where there is no resistance, contemporary ships like ours simply fall towards the nearest 'stability'; but in spaces where there are any cosmic substances which offer resistance, these substances, whatever their density, with the aid of this cylinder enable the ship to move in any desired direction.

"It is interesting to remark that the denser the substance is in any given part of the Universe, the better and more strongly the charging and discharging of this cylinder-barrel proceed, and in consequence of course, the force of the movement of the levers is also changed.

"But nevertheless, I repeat, a sphere without atmosphere, that is, a space containing only World Etherokrilno, is for contemporary ships also the best, because in such a sphere there is no resistance at all, and the 'Law of Falling' can therefore be fully employed in it without any assistance from the work of the cylinder.

"Further than this, the contemporary ships are also good because they contain such possibilities that in atmosphereless spaces an impetus can be given to them in any direction, and they can fall just where desired without the complicated manipulations necessary in ships of the system of Saint Venoma.

"In short, your Right Reverence, the convenience and simplicity of the contemporary ships are beyond comparison with former ships, which were often both very complicated and at the same time had none of the possibilities of the ships we use now."

Copyright © 1950 G. I. Gurdjieff This webpage © 1998 Gurdjieff Electronic Publishing Revision: October 1, 1998