Sustain and move

Meaning

The sustainer of heaven and mover of the sea are titles in the philosophers’ reported praise of the spirit hidden in the Stone. They elevate its alleged power beyond a local workshop effect and accompany its description as the spirit of the fifth essence beneath the lunar circle. The English preserves both actions and their different objects. They are not supplied as mechanical explanations of celestial or tidal motion, nor independently confirmed cosmological facts. The same praise connects benefit to pious use and punishment to misuse, making cosmic potency part of a religiously governed account of the gift.