Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg) did not live long on the earth, but lived long enough to leave his mark on great writers and thinkers such as George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis. Though unfinished at his death, his novel, "Heinrich von Ofterdingen," with its resplendent blue flower, left an enduring mark in the imaginations of many writers of fantasy and 'romance.' The 'blue flower' signifies the deep unsatisfaction that humanity has with its own lot, its striving for the fulfillment which can only come through an encounter with the transcendent, which seems always to be just out of reach. Just out of reach, yes, but real, nonetheless.