(urth) Cumaean???

[Todd]

On Fri, 2007-12-14 at 09:46 -0600, Eric Ortlund wrote:
> 3) When Merryn is telling Severian that all time exists, the Cumaean
> tells them that, although Apu Punchau (=New Sun, right?) lived ages
> before her, there is a "mind" which existed in his time and which still
> exists . . . on the Red Star called the Fish's Mouth.  What the heck is
> going on here?  Which star is this, and which mind?  Is this referring
> to Yesod?

The star is likely Fomalhaut,  or "mouth of the whale" is a bright white
star in the constellation of Pisces.  It is roughly 25 light-years away
and the eighteenth brightest star in the night sky.  It is thought to be
only about 200-300 million years old,  though being about 1.7 times the
mass of the sun,  it will age more rapidly.  Certainly,  it would not be
unreasonable to assume that by Severian's time it too has left the main
sequence.

As to the mind,  I really couldn't say,  though it could merely be a
long lived alien whom the Cumaaean has knowledge of or has encountered
in the past.

> I guess I essentially get this episode: Hildegrin (and Vodualus through
> him) are trying to stop the return of the New Sun; Hildegrin struggles
> here with Apu Punchau = the man Severian sees etched into the wall of
> the grave house he played in as a boy = himself.

I think that is one way to view the episode.  I think that it is likely
that what Hildegrin had in mind specifically was to return to Vodulus
with a truly ancient ( though fresh)  body.

> Eric

Sorry if my answers are a bit pedantic and uninspired.

Todd