It is generally agreed that Platonic ideas were heavily relied upon. Plato was a latter-day Pythagorean. If this can be established, then the actual manifestation and growth of the form into its various styles becomes much more significant. A fifth principle described the entirety of the world in perfection. By closely examining the inner characteristics of each of these four distinctive styles, one gets a definite sense and feeling for each style's uniqueness.
Direct experience is the only real test for verifying the following proposition.
For example, the primitive would correspond to the symbol for earth, the cube. Being in a primitive gothic environment one can certainly attest to the heavy solid quality in these structures. Lyon and Noyon are superb examples. The classic gothic would correspond to the symbol of the icosahedron, or water. In this period, most of the truly great cathedrals such as Chartres, Bourges, Rheims and Amiens were developed.