(urth) voided cross and other things

[harlekin at earthlink.net]

How serendipitous, that someone should bring up the voided cross just as I'm slowly rereading the LS.  I'm just beginning chapter 2 of Calde and that voided cross has been on my mind a bit.  Just to prove there's never any complete consensus on this list (though not simply to be contrary) I am still not convinced that the cross of the Chapter isn't a swastika.  While it's not the best technical definition of a voided cross, it is a more potent symbol for those of us born in the 20th century, for whom this work is intended.  It fits well with the fascism of Typhon's rule (and pas') and it's a convenient whirlwind symbol.  Plus (no pun intended) it's ironic in the extreme in a whorl filled with ironies (and perhaps a nod to the catholic church's silence during ww2 just as Teasel's "illness" seems to me to be a nod to the admittedly limited but still extant abuse of children by priests).  So for me it's a swastika unless I'm shown definitively otherwise.

now to other things.

violet eyes show up prominently again in Kypris, Hyacinth, and Maytera Marble.  Add these to Noctua, Katharine, Hethor's paracoita, and I believe Valeria from BotNS.

the color black is also highlighted.  It represents tartaros and hierax (the only two legitimate males of typhon's line:  try pairing them with Silk and Severian or Silk and Auk) Hierax enjoys inflicting pain (torturing). could he be the source of the guild?  I understand that black is a common color but careful reading shows that it is studiously avoided in the text, rendering it highly symbolic when it is mentioned (though Wolfe is careful not to highlight it either.)

an obscure pulp reference:  for much of the first two books, Silk carries a lioness headed staff.  he also ends up with a gun (needler) and a sword (azoth) and we find out he is an accomplished swordsman (though he doesn't know it himself).  Superficially Silk is Solomon Kane, RE Howard's puritan swordsman who wears all black and carries two pistols and, for many of his adventures, a cat headed staff given him by N'Longa a witch doctor who can possess people much like Mucor.  I doubt it means anything but it's still cool.

Remora comes off much more sympathetically on a second read.  Chenille bears a strange resemblance to Agila with red hair and flat cheeks.

that's all for now.  Hope this was worth reading.

Don