Remember, it's Wolfe's future vocabulary. "Gnostic" here, at least to Severian, is probably synonymous with "occult"--the symbols are mysterious, understood or intelligible only to an initiated few.<br>
<br>Of course, <i>Wolfe </i>probably wants to evoke Gnosticism even though Severian has no such thought.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 11:24 PM, Lane Haygood <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lhaygood@gmail.com">lhaygood@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Which makes one wonder where Severian learned a word like "gnostic,"<br>
since his world seems to be rather unitary in terms of religious<br>
diversity.<br>
<br>
2009/4/8 b sharp <<a href="mailto:bsharporflat@hotmail.com">bsharporflat@hotmail.com</a>>:<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5">><br>
> On a more prosaic note I'll point out that in Severian's boyhood visit<br>
> to the Witches Tower he sees, "Gnostic designs in white, green<br>
> and purple had been chalked on the walls.."<br>
><br>
> perhaps more on that later.<br>
><br>
><br>
> -bsharp<br>
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