North Star

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Section 1 of The Captain of the Pole Star and Other Tales.

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The Captain of the Pole Star and Other Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Captain of the Pole Star, Part 1.

Been an extract from the singular journal of John McAllister Ray, student of medicine.

So also is its death.

In love the individuality is slain.

Who loves not love? Love death, therefore, and long eagerly for it.

Die daily.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN THE SWAN There is a swan whose name is Ecstasy.

In the whole system of ten million times ten million spears, Upon the two and twenty million planes he had his desire.

And with all this he was but himself, alas.

Chapter 28 The Polestar Love is all virtue, since the pleasure of love is but love, And the pain of love is but love.

Chapter 12.

Italy Claims the Record For the first time in the history of their country, the Italians entered the field of Arctic exploration in the year 1899, when an expedition under the command of the Duke of Abruzzi sailed in the Stella Polare and by means of dogs and sledges carried the Italian flag to higher latitudes than any other explorers had succeeded in reaching.

The record up to the time of this expedition was that set by Nansen, who, with his companion Johansson, attained 86 degrees 14 minutes north.

The Italians reached 86 degrees 34 minutes north, or 20 geographical miles further north than the Norwegians.

Yet with all these advantages, they only reached 20 miles further, an achievement not to be compared with that of Nansen and Johansson.

The expedition practically commenced its journey from Archangel, whence good progress was made to Cape Flora, a food depot being established in the huts of the Jackson-Harmsworth party, which were found still standing intact.

After an ineffectual attempt to pass through Nightingale Sound, the Stella Polare got out of the ice on August 7th and succeeded in reaching 82 degrees 4 minutes north latitude in open water.

This was to the north of Prince Rudolf Island.

There is no more earth, nor do the waters under the earth remain.

You float in the void of space with the Pleiades for your nearest neighbor and the Pole Star your only surety.

In such situations only can you feel the full loom of the universe.

The molecular theory is there, stated with yourself as the one molecule at the center of incomputability.

So perfectly shaped that once you have seen it, you cannot unsee it.

It is there every night of the year, circling the Pole Star like a dog circling its master.

Never straying, never tiring, always present, always turning.

Tonight, it has come down to the greenhouses.

She is, in fact, a little lopsided, her W shape slightly crooked, as if she has been tilted by something, some cosmic accident, some ancient collision.

But because she is persistent, she never sets.

She circles the Pole Star, like the Plough.

But where the Plough is practical and steady, Cassiopeia is theatrical, dramatic, a queen who insists on being noticed.

Great commander, nerve and bone of Greece.

Polestar of our armies, soul and driving spirit enclosing the hearts and minds of all of us.

Hear what Ulysses wants to say.

This once.

Um, in fact, I think you get the glyph, I've said this many times before, but I think you get the glyph for the number seven, how we actually draw number seven from Ursa Major, the seven stars of Ursa Major.

And you're actually looking at Ursa Major going around the Pole Star, uh, you know, four times a year with the swastika.

So we're dealing with the wheel of heaven, and actually he's underneath a canopy of stars.

And it's funny because I think that that star on top of his head, to me, it makes sense that it is a reference to the North Star.

I think this is center stage.

I think Polaris was the original sort of star of enlightenment or central point of pivot, what have you.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is a lot of symbolism connected to the sun is a direct reference to older, primordial pole star symbolism and pole star wisdom.

And so the, a lot of sun, uh, worship, actually, it kind of encodes a lot of, uh, polar dynamics.

Chapter 12.

Italy Claims the Record For the first time in the history of their country, the Italians entered the field of Arctic exploration in the year 1899, when an expedition under the command of the Duke of Abruzzi sailed in the Stella Polare and by means of dogs and sledges carried the Italian flag to higher latitudes than any other explorers had succeeded in reaching.

The record up to the time of this expedition was that set by Nansen, who with his companion Johansen attained 86 degrees 14 minutes north.

The Italians reached 86 degrees 34 minutes north, or 20 geographical miles further north than the Norwegians.

Yet with all these advantages, they only reached 20 miles further, an achievement not to be compared with that of Nansen and Johansen.

The expedition practically commenced its journey from Archangel, whence good progress was made to Cape Flora, a food depot being established in the huts of the Jackson-Harmsworth party, which were found still standing intact.

After an ineffectual attempt to pass through Nightingale Sound, the Stella Polare got out of the ice on August 7th and succeeded in reaching 82 degrees 4 minutes north latitude in open water.

This was to the north of Prince Rudolf Island.