(urth) Claw = Fang?

[the badger]

This is a minor point but I noticed towards the beginning of Shadow, during the Feast of Holy Katherine, at the climax of the ceremony the torturer's wheel appears to be covered with serpents which turn into roses (it's all an effect created by colored paper, as Severian notes).


On Nov 23, 2012, at 11:20 AM, "Lee Berman" <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
> The animal vs. plant orgin of the Claw is left open for most of the story. In the end (of Citadel)
> Severian could have found a claw from an animal carcass on the beach but instead, Wolfe comes out in 
> favor of a plant origin. (perhaps Marc Aramini will appreciate this?)
> 
> Ignoring anthropology, an early dichotomy of plant products vs. animal products is found in the story of 
> Cain and Abel, with (the paternal) jewish God favoring Abel's animal sacrifice over Cain's grain. An apt 
> parable for ancient shepherdic Hebrews, being mindful that the ancient enemies of the Hebrews were more 
> agricultural.
> 
> Getting back to anthropology, we can understand the historic association of males and male gods with 
> meat while women and female gods are more associated with plant products. The Viron naming convention is 
> based on this, of course.
> 
> There is a nod or two toward vegetarianism in BotNS. Though Severian is not a vegetarian, he seems to 
> think becoming one would be a noble goal. (I suspect this is how Gene Wolfe feels also, though I may be
> projecting since that is how I feel about vegetarianism; I admire it but haven't achieved it.)
> 
> Vegetarianism is associated with various pagan religious beliefs, like Wicca. It is an association with
> the female-centric tendencies of these pagan religions. Not that these religions exclude males but they
> tend to be biased toward the female as a balance against the highly patrifocal Judeo-Christian-Muslim
> shepherdic-based religions and their global dominance.
> 
> I disagree that the message in Wolfe's books is to dismiss paganism as false religion in favor of more 
> Christian forms of belief. As Wolfe says in the James Jordan interview, he, himself, feels that gods
> of paganism were real. (when I say "pagan" I am excluding satanic beliefs which Wolfe does recognize
> as evil; moreover satanic pagan religions are usually male-centered and more likely to invoke blood
> and death, rather than sex and fertility).
> 
> I think Wolfe sees the relationship of pagan gods to the Judeo-Christian beliefs as similar to what 
> we see in the transition from Long Sun to Short Sun. If the gods can be envisioned as cards then a
> changing world will necessitate a shuffling and redealing of the cards in new combinations. Thus blind 
> Tartaros and piggish Phaea become combined in the godling named Pig. Pas and Scylla etc. are similiarly 
> shuffled and recombined.
> 
> I think Wolfe sees something similar in the progression of gods (on Urth and Earth). As we have 
> discussed previously on this board, there are pagan trinities which pre-sage the Christian Trinity.
> The confused father-son relationship in the Dionysus-> Zeus/Jove->Dionysus->Jehovah progression is 
> to me similar to the Typhon/Pas->Silk->Horn->Outsider progression.
> 
> With regard to an alien origin of the Claw, I actually lean in favor of it, in a certain sense. The Claw 
> was created by the thorn being drenched in Severian's blood. And I find many hints that Severian and his
> powers and special (god-like) qualities derive from a partial-alien (demi-god) ancestry. This in parallel
> to the Greek heroes like Heracles and Oedipus, whose stories Severian's tends to mimic.
> 
> How that blood-drenched thorn becomes encased in sapphire is not revealed but I think we can safely 
> attribute that to the Pelerines. As the witches represent the wild, Wiccan pagan side of things, the
> Pelerines are pretty Christian and nun-like. And the ancient Christians were quite into making preserved
> relics from the remnants of holy guys.                           
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