(urth) Questions . . .

[Matthew King]

On Nov 27, 2007, at 11:34 AM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

> The bit about a hero fleshed from dreams foreshadows
> the concept of "aquastors" and in particular the fact that the  
> Severian who
> becomes the New Sun is himself an aquastor, fleshed from his own will
> (dream)

This may relate to 1 Corinthians 15:44, where Paul describes the  
resurrection body as "soma pneumatikon", as opposed to the "soma  
psuchikon" that we are born with.  English translations of this verse  
are difficult, because it opposes two concepts that we think of  
synonymous, or nearly so.

Pneuma is usually translated: "spirit", or "breath".  Psuche is  
"soul" or "life", also sometimes "breath".  Most translations of 1Cor  
15:44 have the resurrection body being a "spiritual body".  Many  
translations then render "soma psuchikon" as "physical body", because  
the opposite of a spiritual body must be a physical one, never mind  
what the text actually says.  The translation I hate the least  
(linked below) has "natural body" for "soma psuchikon", which is  
somewhat less of a distortion, but still obviously a gloss on the  
text.  A fair translation of this passage would admit that we really  
don't know what Paul meant by opposing psuchikon to pneumatikon,  
perhaps by just adjectivizing the word "soul".

"It is sown a soulish body; it is raised a spiritual body."

N. T. Wright, from whom I got all this (not being a Greek scholar),  
suggests translating the terms as "soul-driven" versus "spirit- 
driven".  This leads me back to wondering whether Wolfe, whatever his  
ideas about the soma psuchikon,  intended the aquastor to be a soma  
pneumatikon.  Dan'l's bit about "fleshed from his own will" made me  
think of it.

After I wrote all this, I went a-Googling for aquastor references,  
and I found this in an alchemical lexicon:

http://www.rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxa.htm
AQUASTOR --- is a simulaerum, which stands for a thing, but is not  
the thing itself.

I also found an alternate spelling of "aquaster".  I don't see  
anything in the list archives making this connection, but it sure  
seems like the kind of thing Robert Borski would have uncovered before.

This origin could be seen as undermining my identification of the  
aquastor as a soma pneumatikon.

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http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+cor+15%3A42-46