The first puzzle is broken. It just says "I think that did something!" and then nothing happens.
Can you PLEASE just stop trying with these puzzles? They're just not worth it.
That message is indicating that you did the first half of the puzzle, you activated two pillars and sealed them. The message is supposed to show that you're doing something right and teach you how the mechanic works. After that all you have to do is activate the other two pillars and press the seal in the middle again.
If you want to just skip through the puzzles quickly, there's a text file called puzzle solutions included with the game that includes all the hints and solutions.