(urth) Tzadkiel's form

[Mark Millman]

Dear Lee,

On Thursday 18 September 2014, you wrote:

> . . . I will disagree with one of your interpre-
> tations . . .
>
>> . . . [W]e at least know . . .
>> Wolfe . . . distinguished
>> Typhon . . . from Typhoeus . . .
>
>
> I disagree that Wolfe is truly distinguishing
> these two. . . .

Well, fair enough.  It's also possible that Wolfe distinguished
between them while writing New Sun, but later changed his mind and
decided to conflate them in Long Sun and Short Sun.

> I truly think Wolfe used the idea of elec-
> tronic cards to represent Whorl gods as a
> metaphor meaning that gods are able to be
> shuffled and redealt as history progresses.
> Thus the pagan gods the ancients worships
> were not just imaginary or entirely discon-
> nected from the Judeo-Christian God. They
> were, in some way, an earlier version of Him.

Or, at least, the impulse to worship them was a step toward
worshipping the true G-d, as you go on to suggest:

> If the ancients made the mistake of worship-
> ping fallen angels/demons instead of Jeho-
> vah, Wolfe appears sympathetic and finds
> it an easy mistake for them to have made.
> They were large, supernatural beings who
> demanded to be worshipped. The Flood and
> the coming of Jesus were steps toward
> helping humanity recognize the true God.

I disagree with you on many, many issues in interpreting Wolfe, but I
agree that Wolfe sees progress toward religious enlightenment (and
probably most other desirable ends as well) as incremental and
contingent (in the historical sense; i.e., that actions and events are
shaped by and reflect their environments).

Best,

Mark Millman