(urth) Re: urth-urth.net Digest, Vol 4, Issue 17

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes danldo at gmail.com
Wed Dec 8 09:59:10 PST 2004


Turin -

I've been too busy to reply in detail to many of your excellent posts, but 
I want to thank you for bringing a new energy to this list.

I think the various appearances of Thecla (i.e., in the waiting room) are
just another example of Severian's unconscious use of his/the WF's power
throughout the BotNS. Note that many individual incidents of Sev's life
are designed to parallel incidents of Jesus' life (the most blatant being the
Tempting in the Wilderness). These parallels are often twisted, as in the
first sequence, Sev's "baptism," in which the role of John the Baptist 
appears to be taken by Juturna (or one of her sisters).

Anyway, I suspect the appearance of Thecla in the antechamber 
parallels the "Transfiguration," in which Peter and company see 
Jesus walking and talking with some OT figures. (Moses, Abraham 
and Elijah? I'm too lazy to check right now...) One might think the 
appearances of the aquastors a better fit for this, but the point here 
is that _someone else_ sees the dead Thecla.


> ... I understand the metaphor of the logos, but I don't think Wolfe
> is equating it with language.  I do not know if he is equating it with
> communication, possibly, but it's obvious he believes god "talks" to
> us, but I don't know if he would call it communication.  

Based on this and some other things you've said I think it might 
help if you did a little reading up on Catholic ideas about the
Eucharist. You mentioned in an earlier post that "communion is
with God," or something like that - this is true but incomplete; the
idea in Catholicism is that "communion" is an act of "community."
To receive communion is to "communicate" with God but also to
"commune" with the rest of the Chuch and the "communion of
Saints."

--Dan'l

-- 
www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
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     --J.G. Ballard



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