(urth) Send in the Clones

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes]

Chris,

> A "parody" of the Trinity suggests a cosmological
> framework that's something like this (this is a rough, quick sketch so
> please don't kill me):
> 
> You have the Outsider standing "outside" from on high, and the 
> Demiurge in control. The Trinity then springs from the Demiurge,
> but the Trinity is subverted from the Demiurge's purpose by the
> Outsider, thus becoming a genuine instrument for good.

Ummmm ... not really what I had in mind.

What I'm saying (and have been saying for a couple of years
now) is that the _Whorl_ itself is a miniature Gnostic Kosmos,
with Pas/Typhon as the Demiurge who creates it and the
Outsider as the True God. Silk's "enlightenment" - for which 
I have no proper name in terms of the "orthodox" true 
Creation; perhaps it might be likened to a moment of 
prophetic vision? - is, within the context of this miniature 
Kosmos, a moment of pure Gnosis. In pretending to be a 
whole and self-contained universe, the Whorl is thus a 
parody of the true Creation. 

Because the Outsider is the True God of this Gnostic
parody Kosmos, but also and more basically the God 
of Christianity, the Outsider is able to bend the false 
gods of the _Whorl_ to (ultimately) serve His ends. At
one point Silk observes that demons and other entities 
who pretend to be gods "become" them - that is, they 
all tend toward Outsider-ish-ness - they are subsumed 
ultimately into His design (rather like Melkor and the
Music of Eru Iluvatar). 

I'm still not saying this very well. I have a clear vision of
what I'm saying but it's hard to put into words. I need
to draw pictures or something.
 
> If you take this *seriously* you're drawn to the inference
> that the Gnostic elements in this book are an intended
> parallel to real cosmological principles, including a
> strongly heretical (to Catholic orthodoxy) suggestion
> of the Demiurge somehow standing necessarily in
> between the relation of man and God.

That is exactly what I am suggesting, with the caveat
that "the Demiurge" is not the metaphysical being of 
old Gnosticism but Pas/Typhon. He does his best to
make the inhabitants of the Whorl think he is the Father
God, the Creator, and to make them forget the old
religions - but he can do no better for a Scripture than
create a patchwork of the Bible, Marcus Aurelius, and
God knows what all else.

> The difference thematically is in what role the Gnostic
> elements are supposed to play in the story. On a
> "standard" or "naive" reading you can place them as
> Typhon's attempt to have his way - but the Gnostic structure
> is overturned by the Creator and, in effect, cancelled out.

In what sense is this naive?


> Going the extra step and putting forward a Trinity which
> springs from the demiurge creates stronger (and different)
> symbolic connection with theology and the story begins to
> *mean* something different, in a way that legitimizes at least
> some important aspects of that Gnostic structure.

What I was thinking was rather more orthodox: as Pas tries 
to replace (or displace) the Outsider as God, he will naturally
(and perhaps not knowingly) tend to take on more and more
seeming aspects of Outsider-ness, and ultimately a parody 
Trinity will be the result. I don't really see Tussah as part of it
though... 

--Dan'l

-- 
I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.
                        -- St Teresa of Avila
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer