quand souffle la tempête...sur nos coeurs

And the priestess spoke again and said: "Speak to us of Reason and Passion."

And he answered saying:

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite.

Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

If either your sails or our rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing;

-Khalil Gibran

I like your , I mean Gibran's reffering to "the seafaring soul" and "battlefield" words which perfectly stick to the idea on the photograph...maybe also it shows we've got inside all the elements needed as the very peacemakers we're looking for. As written and mentioned in that so wise and soothing poem of Gibran's, our very inner wealth comes from our dualities, I should even say pluralities...

Peace, like love, and so much else, is an inner condition first. It follows that the peace is made inside. Plurality is very much how I experience myself and the 'I', the ego, is perhaps,for me, a spokesperson for the diverse population within. Of course, the various complexes do not always agree ... :) ... blessed are the peacemakers, tho'

I think you're touching here the very knot of our human and though so enthusiastic Byronian destiny...the ego being our terrifying master...fortunately what you call peace and what I call Beauty or could call Harmony or Love is my leader within me if not my master
You are talking V. Woolf's language with your "diverse population within"...How much I do agree !
How can we get along with other people when we can't with our plural selves
blessed be the peacemakers !
blessed be Beauty !
blessed be Love !

Thanks for docking the "The Flying Dutchman" ghost-ship in the "Trees and Clouds Exhibition" group, Christel.

The first thing that came up to my mind looking to your "tempestuous" picture was the extremely German romantic opera composed by R. Wagner, in Paris, which was the first of his long series of operas based on legend.