<div class="xam_msg_class">
<div style="font: normal 13px Arial; color:rgb(0, 0, 0);">thanks for your comments. But why Hildegrin would be interested<div> in the woman of a peasant?</div><div>And Vodalus?</div><div>Also, the grave of the dark-haired woman is placed higher </div><div>in the necropolis than the graves of peasants.</div><div><br></div><div>Marco Cecchini</div><div>
<div><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:11px; color:#5F5F5F;">Da</span><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:12px; color:#5F5F5F; padding-left:5px;">: "Urth" urth-bounces@lists.urth.net</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:11px; color:#5F5F5F;">A</span><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:12px; color:#5F5F5F; padding-left:5px;">: urth@lists.urth.net</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:11px; color:#5F5F5F;">Cc</span><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:12px; color:#5F5F5F; padding-left:5px;">: </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:11px; color:#5F5F5F;">Data</span><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:12px; color:#5F5F5F; padding-left:5px;">: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:32:25 -0700</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:11px; color:#5F5F5F;">Oggetto</span><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:12px; color:#5F5F5F; padding-left:5px;">: Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59</span></div>
<br>
<div>> Send Urth mailing list submissions to</div><div>> urth@lists.urth.net</div><div>> </div><div>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit</div><div>> http://lists.urth.net/listinfo.cgi/urth-urth.net</div><div>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to</div><div>> urth-request@lists.urth.net</div><div>> </div><div>> You can reach the person managing the list at</div><div>> urth-owner@lists.urth.net</div><div>> </div><div>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific</div><div>> than "Re: Contents of Urth digest..."</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Today's Topics:</div><div>> </div><div>> 1. Re: Baldanders' dream (Gerry Quinn)</div><div>> 2. Re: Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer:</div><div>> Chapter I (Gerry Quinn)</div><div>> 3. 5HC (Lee)</div><div>> 4. Re: Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer:</div><div>> Chapter I (Brad Henry)</div><div>> 5. Short Story 101: A Solar Labyrinth (Marc Aramini)</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Message: 1</div><div>> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:59:20 +0100</div><div>> From: Gerry Quinn <gerry@bindweed.com></gerry@bindweed.com></div><div>> To: The Urth Mailing List <urth@lists.urth.net></urth@lists.urth.net></div><div>> Subject: Re: (urth) Baldanders' dream</div><div>> Message-ID: <53F72288.7050603@bindweed.com></div><div>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> On 21/08/2014 17:20, Lee wrote:</div><div>> >> Gerry Quinn: Echidna is, but the Cumaean isn't, so it hardly ties the two</div><div>> >> characters. Snakes and caves do not an Echidna make.</div><div>> > I find them to be sufficiently linked. It is to be remembered that the Cumaean</div><div>> > is the leader of the Witches in BotNS. There is a constellation of traits</div><div>> > including snakes, witchcraft and caves which link such Greco-Roman female</div><div>> > mythological characters as Echidna, Lamia, Hecate, the Pythian Oracle and the</div><div>> > Cumaean Sibyl.</div><div>> </div><div>> Note the plural in "characters". It seems to bear out what I said; </div><div>> snakes and caves do not uniquely identify a character.</div><div>> </div><div>> ></div><div>> >> Besides, she's not necessarily a snake:</div><div>> ></div><div>> > "Snake-like" or "snake-associated" would be more accurate descriptors. Mythological</div><div>> > Echidna was not a "snake" but she had snakey attributes.</div><div>> ></div><div>> ></div><div>> ></div><div>> >> She shares no obvious personality characteristics with Echidna.</div><div>> ></div><div>> > I'm not sure what "personality characteristics" you might be referring to. But,</div><div>> > Echidna, in Long Sun, clearly has snakey attributes and was quite notably involved</div><div>> > in an incident of human sacrifice.</div><div>> ></div><div>> > The Cumaean also has snakey attributes and is associated with human sacrifice.</div><div>> > (Hopefully the connection between human sacrifice and Apu Punchau doesn't need</div><div>> > to be explained; The Cumaean's "s?ance" is not quite what it seems).</div><div>> Frankly, it does have to be explained - it is certainly not a direct </div><div>> link. In any case, human sacrifice was not unique to a single god in </div><div>> Long Sun.</div><div>> </div><div>> As for personality characteristics, I mean things like the Cumaean's </div><div>> interest in witchcraft and archeology, and Echidna's rather prudish </div><div>> interest in the virginity of the priesthood, and her killing of Pas to </div><div>> preserve her rule over the Whorl. They don't seem at all like the same </div><div>> person.</div><div>> </div><div>> > Typhon and Scylla from Long Sun are mentioned in BotNS (and Short Sun). Echidna</div><div>> > is not mentioned in BotNS by name, but given the combination of cave-dwelling, snake</div><div>> > association, witchcraft and human sacrifice, I think Wolfe has given us enough</div><div>> > clues to find her in BotNS. Just my opinion, of course. </div><div>> </div><div>> It would take a lot more in the way of 'clues' to convince me that two </div><div>> seemingly unrelated characters, who never appear in the same series of </div><div>> books, are one and the same.</div><div>> </div><div>> And as so often, I find myself asking: Why? What purpose of Wolfe's </div><div>> would it serve to make them the same anyway? Even if you identify them, </div><div>> where's the moment you say "ah, that's why the Cumaean did X, in order </div><div>> to fulfil Project Y of Echidna's?"</div><div>> </div><div>> - Gerry Quinn</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Message: 2</div><div>> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:05:09 +0100</div><div>> From: Gerry Quinn <gerry@bindweed.com></gerry@bindweed.com></div><div>> To: The Urth Mailing List <urth@lists.urth.net></urth@lists.urth.net></div><div>> Subject: Re: (urth) Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer:</div><div>> Chapter I</div><div>> Message-ID: <53F723E5.8010201@bindweed.com></div><div>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed"</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> On 22/08/2014 08:10, marcobadie@katamail.com wrote:</div><div>> > My third post at the Urth list.</div><div>> > Thanks you, Gerry Quinn and Lee, for your comments and observations at </div><div>> > my first posts.</div><div>> ></div><div>> > My point: the double resurrection in Chapter I of Shadow of Torturer </div><div>> > states a connection between Severian and the the dark-haired woman, </div><div>> > just dead.</div><div>> ></div><div>> > Next.</div><div>> > When Severian is resurrected from water by the Undine, he is baptised </div><div>> > in the form of a baptism by immersion, unconsciously entering the </div><div>> > congregation of the subjects of Abaia.</div><div>> > In the same day, Severian is confirmed in the allegiance to Abaia when </div><div>> > he accepts the coin with the face of the Autarch from Vodalus, this </div><div>> > time consciously making definitive the choice the Undine made for him </div><div>> > at the baptism.</div><div>> > The Confirmation administered by Vodalus makes Severian a "Soldier of </div><div>> > Abaia" (Severian thinks himself a Vodalarius). Soldier is a derivation </div><div>> > of Solidarius, Latin meaning someone who works for money. Solidare in </div><div>> > Latin means "to pay" and the Roman soldiers were paid in "Solidi". </div><div>> > Severian instead is paid in chrisos (only one).</div><div>> ></div><div>> > Later, in the Claw of Conciliator, Severian will receive the sacrament </div><div>> > of Eucharist in the form of the flesh of Thecla.</div><div>> > The succession of sacraments follows the tradition of the Eastern </div><div>> > Orthodox Church rather than the Roman Catholic Church (where Eucharist </div><div>> > is very close to Confirmation).</div><div>> </div><div>> I'm not convinced by the connection between Severian and the woman - </div><div>> might she not simply be the mother of the peasant who wanted to guard </div><div>> her corpse that night?</div><div>> </div><div>> The rest works for me; Severian was arguably baptised, confirmed and </div><div>> received the Eucharist of the Church of Abaia/Vodalus as you say - but </div><div>> in the end he abjured that faith...</div><div>> </div><div>> - Gerry Quinn</div><div>> -------------- next part --------------</div><div>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...</div><div>> URL: <http: lists.urth.net="" pipermail="" urth-urth.net="" attachments="" 20140822="" ca3394db="" attachment-0001.htm=""></http:></div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Message: 3</div><div>> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 09:59:33 -0400</div><div>> From: Lee <severiansola@hotmail.com></severiansola@hotmail.com></div><div>> To: "urth@urth.net" <urth@urth.net></urth@urth.net></div><div>> Subject: (urth) 5HC</div><div>> Message-ID: <blu175-w4828e01bc2215cd3cd282ccfd00@phx.gbl></blu175-w4828e01bc2215cd3cd282ccfd00@phx.gbl></div><div>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"</div><div>> </div><div>> >Gerry Quinn: I mean, what would actually be Wolfe's purpose in intending</div><div>> </div><div>> >an alternate story? In what way is a story of two rival aboriginal races, </div><div>> </div><div>> >one of which clearly believes its ancestors are human but is incorrect </div><div>> </div><div>> >despite its human memories, better than one in which there is one aboriginal </div><div>> >race, and one that is of human ancestry just as they say?</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> >Antonio Pedro Marques: ...making the whole exploration of identity more </div><div>> >profound.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> I feel Antonio has the answer. One can take a minimalist approach to</div><div>> </div><div>> interpreting the novel and assume it is just one person who is killed</div><div>> </div><div>> and replaced. (keeping in mind that before the corroboration of this in a</div><div>> </div><div>> Wolfe interview, some skeptics felt doubt over whether Dr. Marsch was replaced).</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Or one can extrapolate the story to the fullest in which every character</div><div>> </div><div>> in the book is struggling with personal identity issues (including #5's</div><div>> </div><div>> family but for different reasons there).</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> The advantage to the expanded interpretation is that it allows this book to</div><div>> </div><div>> serve as a sort of Proustian allegory for the human race. It allows Wolfe</div><div>> </div><div>> to express the sentiment that if we humans think about ourselves deeply </div><div>> </div><div>> enough, none of us really knows who we really are or where we really came </div><div>> </div><div>> from.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Not everyone enjoys thinking about themselves or the human race in this</div><div>> </div><div>> manner but this level of interpretation of 5HC exists for those who do</div><div>> </div><div>> let their thoughts drift in this direction.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> >The abo who replaced Marsch, and who would seem well equipped to know...</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> No. You seem to be assuming that the killing and replacement of humans is a </div><div>> </div><div>> conscious function of these creatures. I (and others) are seeing the opposite:</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> The drive for killing and imitation is an unconscious instinct. The reason for</div><div>> </div><div>> this is that a conscious awareness that you have killed and replaced somebody</div><div>> </div><div>> would hinder your ability to imitate them. So from Shadow Children to Abos to</div><div>> </div><div>> Victor/Dr. Marsch there is a strong self-delusion happening, driving each </div><div>> </div><div>> imitator to think they really are their victim and to invent whatever lie is</div><div>> </div><div>> needed to perpetrate that delusion.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Thus Victor does not continue writing in Dr. Marsch's personal journal to trick </div><div>> </div><div>> other people into thinking he is Dr. Marsch. He does it primarily to trick</div><div>> </div><div>> himself.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> >....does not believe in Veil's Hypothesis. </div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Exactly. How could an Abo believe in a theory which would expose his deception?</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> >(Indeed, Veil herself provided a reason to disbelieve it any, pointing out her </div><div>> </div><div>> >motivations for wanting to believe it.)</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> So Dr. Veil both formulates and disbelieves her theory that humans on these planets</div><div>> </div><div>> have been replaced. Once again, Wolfe gives us a choice. Which story do YOU believe?</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> >The relaxation method (not principle) was invoked by Marsch to describe </div><div>> >what has happened to the clone sequence whose end-product is currently </div><div>> >No. 5 - each is now nearly identical to the previous one.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> No. Marsch is using this principle to explain to Number Five why his chain of clones</div><div>> </div><div>> approach is NOT working. There is no adjustment. No adaptation. This is meant as</div><div>> </div><div>> irony, coming from a being who is (unconsciously) a master of adjustment and adaptation.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Number Five and Maitre's burning frustration is illustrated in the dream sequence. In the</div><div>> </div><div>> dream, the captain will not untether the ship until he can figure out what is tying the </div><div>> </div><div>> ship to the dock. They (Number 5/Maitre) consider themselves superior but don't understand </div><div>> </div><div>> why they can't even achieve mastery of this one backwater planet.</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> Number Five doesn't want to hear it, but the answer to his question is given by "Victor" in </div><div>> </div><div>> the guise of Dr. Marsch. Adjustment and adaptation, the exact abilities which have allowed </div><div>> </div><div>> the native, imitative species to take over both planets. </div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Message: 4</div><div>> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:31:50 -0400</div><div>> From: Brad Henry <bradhenry101@gmail.com></bradhenry101@gmail.com></div><div>> To: The Urth Mailing List <urth@lists.urth.net></urth@lists.urth.net></div><div>> Subject: Re: (urth) Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer:</div><div>> Chapter I</div><div>> Message-ID:</div><div>> <ca+kecjv6xaea1fp0wzwj16xgr4z4vn+suv4ja4fgfzxcwr1eiq@mail.gmail.com></ca+kecjv6xaea1fp0wzwj16xgr4z4vn+suv4ja4fgfzxcwr1eiq@mail.gmail.com></div><div>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"</div><div>> </div><div>> For what its worth, this description is very close to both the New</div><div>> Testament (baptised into christ's death, etc...) understanding of baptism</div><div>> and the Catechism (that develops more fully the connection between the</div><div>> noah-flood, the arc, and baptism).</div><div>> </div><div>> </div><div>> On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 5:25 AM, Marc Aramini <marcaramini@gmail.com> wrote:</marcaramini@gmail.com></div><div>> </div><div>> > I like it, but there is and always has been a syncretic symbolism in new</div><div>> > sun between water, healing, and death that undercuts this baptism imagery a</div><div>> > bit. It's not just baptism, it is healing coupled with death. He heals</div><div>> > the sick at Thrax in the water cataract stumbling three times with terminus</div><div>> > est - water imagery is turned into both healing and death- it is the flood</div><div>> > and the crucifixion of urth, renewal through drowning. Over and over water</div><div>> > is rebirth. Not for abaia, I don't think, but the link between the flood</div><div>> > of genesis and the apocalypse of eschatology. Water is always linked to</div><div>> > healing, death, and resurrection from the very start and presages the flood</div><div>> > of renewal. I don't think Vodalus is important enough with his false coin</div><div>> > to warrant a confirmation before sev gets his diabolical Eucharist.</div><div>> > Usually confirmation is fully adult - I wouldn't expect it right after the</div><div>> > baptism unless we had an adult convert. ( Wolfe may have been, BUT ...)</div><div>> ></div><div>> ></div><div>> > On Friday, August 22, 2014, marcobadie@katamail.com < > marcobadie@katamail.com> wrote:</div><div>> ></div><div>> >> My third post at the Urth list.</div><div>> >> Thanks you, Gerry Quinn and Lee, for your comments and observations at my</div><div>> >> first posts.</div><div>> >></div><div>> >> My point: the double resurrection in Chapter I of Shadow of Torturer</div><div>> >> states a connection between Severian and the the dark-haired woman, just</div><div>> >> dead.</div><div>> >></div><div>> >> Next.</div><div>> >> When Severian is resurrected from water by the Undine, he is baptised in</div><div>> >> the form of a baptism by immersion, unconsciously entering the congregation</div><div>> >> of the subjects of Abaia.</div><div>> >> In the same day, Severian is confirmed in the allegiance to Abaia when he</div><div>> >> accepts the coin with the face of the Autarch from Vodalus, this time</div><div>> >> consciously making definitive the choice the Undine made for him at the</div><div>> >> baptism.</div><div>> >> The Confirmation administered by Vodalus makes Severian a "Soldier of</div><div>> >> Abaia" (Severian thinks himself a Vodalarius). Soldier is a derivation of</div><div>> >> Solidarius, Latin meaning someone who works for money. Solidare in Latin</div><div>> >> means "to pay" and the Roman soldiers were paid in "Solidi". Severian</div><div>> >> instead is paid in chrisos (only one).</div><div>> >></div><div>> >> Later, in the Claw of Conciliator, Severian will receive the sacrament of</div><div>> >> Eucharist in the form of the flesh of Thecla.</div><div>> >> The succession of sacraments follows the tradition of the Eastern</div><div>> >> Orthodox Church rather than the Roman Catholic Church (where Eucharist is</div><div>> >> very close to Confirmation).</div><div>> >></div><div>> >> Next post: Catherine and the Undine</div><div>> >></div><div>> >> Marco Cecchini, from Italy (sorry for my sloppy english).</div><div>> >></div><div>> ></div><div>> > _______________________________________________</div><div>> > Urth Mailing List</div><div>> > To post, write urth@urth.net</div><div>> > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net</div><div>> ></div><div>> -------------- next part --------------</div><div>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...</div><div>> URL: <http: lists.urth.net="" pipermail="" urth-urth.net="" attachments="" 20140822="" 199760cb="" attachment-0001.htm=""></http:></div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Message: 5</div><div>> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:32:24 -0700</div><div>> From: Marc Aramini <marcaramini@gmail.com></marcaramini@gmail.com></div><div>> To: The Urth Mailing List <urth@lists.urth.net></urth@lists.urth.net></div><div>> Subject: (urth) Short Story 101: A Solar Labyrinth</div><div>> Message-ID:</div><div>> <caf1072wvdcqvwl29faqgpqyzgj76-nh3xysug4-uxwgc7nycaa@mail.gmail.com></caf1072wvdcqvwl29faqgpqyzgj76-nh3xysug4-uxwgc7nycaa@mail.gmail.com></div><div>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"</div><div>> </div><div>> A Solar Labyrinth</div><div>> </div><div>> ?A Solar Labyrinth? first appeared in *The Magazine of Fantasy and Science</div><div>> Fiction* in 1983 and is reprinted in *Storeys from the Old Hotel.*</div><div>> </div><div>> SUMMARY:</div><div>> </div><div>> Mr. Smith builds a shifting labyrinth comprised of shadows, supposedly in</div><div>> the Adirondacks. Children and adults attempt to navigate the ever shifting</div><div>> maze, and eventually Mr. Smith and a single solitary child remain.</div><div>> </div><div>> COMMENTARY:</div><div>> </div><div>> The first sentence starts out with a rather bold statement: ?Mazes may be</div><div>> more ancient than mankind.? Certainly natural mazes and obstacles existed</div><div>> for primitive creatures, but given the love of myth, spirituality, and the</div><div>> mystical, we should note that a maze, at least in this story, seems to</div><div>> imply an artificial construct. The representational metaphor of creation,</div><div>> inherent in the name ?Smith?, a craftsman?s name for one who works in metal</div><div>> as well as one who strikes or smites, ties in with this idea. Creation as</div><div>> humanity understands it certainly predates mankind, expressed as the</div><div>> labyrinth of the natural world. Wolfe perhaps hints at the existence of</div><div>> other ancient things before humanity but still real, perhaps now considered</div><div>> as mythical.</div><div>> </div><div>> Without slipping into a Gnostic paradigm for the created world, where</div><div>> perception is an illusion and possibly a labyrinthine trap, there are still</div><div>> several patterns in the details Wolfe chooses. Of course immediate mention</div><div>> of Theseus is made, who follows a ?clew? and becomes ?the first in what</div><div>> threatens to be an infinite series of fictional detectives.? The purpose</div><div>> of the Cretan labyrinth was to contain a curse from the gods in the form of</div><div>> the Minotaur, the child of Minos' queen and the white bull he failed to</div><div>> sacrifice to Poseidon, but there are other symbolic associations that fit</div><div>> very well with the idea of the labyrinth as something solar in nature. The</div><div>> name of the minotaur, Asterion, means ?star?, and some modern mythologists</div><div>> regard the Minotaur as a solar personification (he was the grandson of</div><div>> Helios through his mother), his death becoming synonymous with the slaying</div><div>> of the bull of the sun in ceremonial worship of Mithras. The concept of</div><div>> Theseus as detective ties in with the idea of the labyrinth as something</div><div>> that obscures meaning ? that there is indeed a center that can be reached</div><div>> and an objective solution.</div><div>> </div><div>> The other opening reference, to the story of Fayre Rosamund and her ball of</div><div>> thread, in addition to featuring an anachronism (Hampton Court Maze was</div><div>> constructed at the start of the 18th century, Rosamund Clifford, mistress</div><div>> of King Henry II, died in the 12th century), highlights a story of</div><div>> infidelity and murder ? the purpose of solving Rosamund?s Bower was to</div><div>> satiate the jealous ire of Queen Eleanor. Theseus? mission also involved</div><div>> death ? slaying a monster which King Minos was using to exact his own</div><div>> revenge on Athens for the death of his son Androgeus.</div><div>> </div><div>> Mr. Smith?s maze here is quite different than the traditional labyrinth, as</div><div>> it is highly abstract in nature. He has created a shifting maze of shadows</div><div>> with no walls, and though some stay within its imaginary confines, others</div><div>> choose to leave when they grow bored of it. Its barriers are illusory, but</div><div>> they are cast by real objects.</div><div>> </div><div>> The story states that recent mazes have been walled, cheap, and</div><div>> unimaginative ? furthermore, aerial views allow ?armchair adventurers? to</div><div>> solve them with a pencil. The text bemoans the loss of ?monsters, maidens,</div><div>> and amazement?. Mr. Smith has developed ?a new kind of maze, perhaps the</div><div>> first since the end of the age of Myth.? His maze is composed of fairly</div><div>> simple objects, but the starting point Mr. Smith selects for those who seek</div><div>> to navigate the maze becomes the center. He walks with them for a time, but</div><div>> the groups of children who come are treated differently. He warns them</div><div>> that a minotaur lurks in the shadows, and gives them the same instructions</div><div>> and encouragement. ?Some reject his maze out of hand, wandering off to</div><div>> examine the tilted crucifex or the blue-dyed water in the tower Torricelli</div><div>> barometer, or to try (always without success) to draw Arthur?s sword from</div><div>> its stone.? Here we have children choosing religion, science, or</div><div>> attempting valor and physical feats rather than intellectually engaging in</div><div>> Mr. Smith?s maze.</div><div>> </div><div>> Of course, Wolfe?s statement in the introduction to *Storeys from the Old</div><div>> Hotel* is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy :</div><div>> </div><div>> ?Labyrinths seem to fascinate just about everybody, and for a while I was</div><div>> almost equally interested in what used to be called dialing. I tried to</div><div>> keep the sinister element well in the background, and it seems I kept it so</div><div>> far back that few readers notice it at all; but I like it that way.?</div><div>> </div><div>> Something of a self-fulfilling prophecy ? now we all seek the</div><div>> sinister. However,</div><div>> in light of the purpose of the labyrinth, there are only a few</div><div>> possibilities: murder, sacrifice, or becoming lost. Given Mr. Smith?s</div><div>> proclivity for showing off photos of his latest Ariadne (nine years old -</div><div>> as at least one story notes that every nine years the tribute from Athens</div><div>> must be sacrificed to the Minotaur), the possibility of kidnapping and an</div><div>> obsession with children rears its head. It might be of some note that he</div><div>> does show the children what ?haunts the shadows? ? the frowning figure of</div><div>> the Minotaur, found on a section of the wall that ?appears? ancient. Perhaps</div><div>> the Minotaur?s threat is not as ancient as it appears. The bellowing of</div><div>> the bull might or might not proceed from stereos. We should note that</div><div>> Ariadne was actually in charge of the labyrinth (she is also the</div><div>> granddaughter of Helios).</div><div>> </div><div>> The labyrinth is insoluble at noon, and ?always, as the shadow of the great</div><div>> gnomon creeps toward the sandstone XII set in the law, the too-old,</div><div>> too-young, insufficiently serious, and too-serious drift away, leaving only</div><div>> Mr. Smith and one solitary child still playing in the sunshine.?</div><div>> </div><div>> While they are at play, is the child the sacrifice demanded of the</div><div>> labyrinth or merely the special child that Mr. Smith has sought? Wolfe</div><div>> will touch on the threat of pedophilia in ?And When They Appear?, but given</div><div>> that the dominant purpose of the labyrinth has always been violent or</div><div>> sacrificial, it is difficult to believe, save for the picture of the nine</div><div>> year old ?Ariadne?, that Mr. Smith?s intentions are predatory in a sexual</div><div>> fashion.</div><div>> </div><div>> (Dialing is unequivocally the math and engineering behind creating the</div><div>> shadows on sun dials, taking into account the movement of the sun, which</div><div>> Mr. Smith has mastered to create his labyrinth. Don?t believe anyone who</div><div>> tells you differently.)</div><div>> </div><div>> OTHER MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS</div><div>> </div><div>> There are several solar deities mentioned in the text, including</div><div>> Tezcatlipoca and his equally solar nemesis Quetzalcoatl, who is said to</div><div>> lurk in the shadows that create the labyrinth. The temple of the war god</div><div>> Tezcatlipoca was positioned and constructed with the movement of the sun.</div><div>> Because there are few representations of Tezcatlipoca, some resources refer</div><div>> to him as the ?invisible god?, which might be ironic in light of the</div><div>> narrative claim that the representation of him is directly from the ruins</div><div>> of Teotihuacan. He was also depicted with alternating bands of black and</div><div>> yellow and was sometimes depicted as a jaguar.</div><div>> </div><div>> Quetzlcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were enemies who destroyed each other?s solar</div><div>> creations (the suns of the earth, water, and wind). This progressive cycle</div><div>> of competing suns is fascinating, with a new sun being born out of the</div><div>> destruction of the old one, under the province of a different solar deity,</div><div>> and might very well interest Wolfe in light of the direction he took in *Urth</div><div>> of the New Sun*.</div><div>> </div><div>> The mention of Teotihuacan, the city of the Toltec, is interesting as well.</div><div>> The name of Teotihuacan means? the place where gods were born?, and the</div><div>> word Toltec implies ?a craftsman of the highest level?.</div><div>> </div><div>> When Mr. Smith shows a picture of his latest Ariadne, we should keep in</div><div>> mind that Ariadne was in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made.</div><div>> Even though she fell in love with Theseus, the labyrinth existed so that</div><div>> King Minos could exact his revenge on the Athenians for the death of his</div><div>> son.</div><div>> </div><div>> The monster in the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, is actually King Minos? wife?s</div><div>> son, and in some ways he came to be associated with the bull of the sun. The</div><div>> bull is one of the animals associated with the late Hellenistic and Roman</div><div>> syncretic worship of Mithras. In this tradition, the killing of the astral</div><div>> bull holds a central important place in their worship.</div><div>> </div><div>> LITERARY ALLUSIONS:</div><div>> </div><div>> Besides the historical and mythological allusions explored above, I can't</div><div>> quite shake the feeling that the labyrinthine themes Borges enjoyed</div><div>> exploring in his short work are at play ? he even gave the Minotaur a</div><div>> rather innocuous and human voice in ?The House of Asterion? as he waited</div><div>> for his redeemer to come. Some claim that the title itself refers to</div><div>> explication of Wolfe?s own *Book of the New Sun*.</div><div>> </div><div>> REPRESENTATION:</div><div>> Of course the entire story works as a metaphor for representation ? the</div><div>> shadows are called ?the faded blank ink of God.? Words and ink of represent</div><div>> things, and Wolfe is a sophisticated enough symbolist to know that</div><div>> signifiers and signs often work in a way that is vague, approximate,</div><div>> subjective, or symbolic. These are the shadows on a page. Navigating the</div><div>> maze of shadows is the act of interpretation, with the smith sometimes</div><div>> closely following along the same paths, while other times passing clouds</div><div>> and misprision or simply walking away allow the reader to escape thorny or</div><div>> difficult patches. Eventually artifice is stripped away, and as the sun</div><div>> reaches its zenith and sits directly overhead, the objects that the shadows</div><div>> represent are all that is left. We are left with the things themselves, and</div><div>> the labyrinth of shadowy ink has effectively ceased to exist</div><div>> </div><div>> What other monstrous things are left behind when the subterfuge of the</div><div>> slippery words and shadows are stripped away?</div><div>> </div><div>> UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:</div><div>> </div><div>> Since the Minotaur lurks in the shadows, and the shadows disappear at noon,</div><div>> does this leave the solitary child in danger when the maze and its shadows</div><div>> disappear?</div><div>> </div><div>> If the dominant metaphor navigating the shadows is of interpreting a text,</div><div>> what danger does this represent to the child who is perfect for Mr. Smith?s</div><div>> intentions? At noon only the objects as they really are exist, and the</div><div>> ?ink? distorting those objects and creating illusory boundaries fades away.</div><div>> </div><div>> CONNECTION WITH OTHER WORKS:</div><div>> </div><div>> While the story is completely coherent and ?real?, the backdrop metaphor</div><div>> for the act of writing (with the shadows the faded ink of God) places this</div><div>> work in the more symbolic short stories, the fables, allegories, and dream</div><div>> scenarios that began to populate Wolfe's work in the mid-seventies with</div><div>> ?Melting? and ?To the Dark Tower Came? and continued throughout his career.</div><div>> </div><div>> Neil Gaiman read the story during the presentation of the Fuller Award to</div><div>> Wolfe in March of 2012, and commented that he still wasn?t sure if he</div><div>> should be terrified or not. His own contribution to *Shadows of the New</div><div>> Sun*, ?A Lunar Labyrinth?, clearly stems from this one. In Gaiman?s story,</div><div>> the sinister rears its head quite overtly before the conclusion.</div><div>> </div><div>> A tourist comes to a small town in search of local monuments, and an older</div><div>> man takes him up to a mazelike labyrinth on the night of a full moon, its</div><div>> edges ringed by rosemary. Our narrator, who claims he ?was not a real</div><div>> torturer?, has the Wolfean leg injury, from falling on the ice on his left</div><div>> knee the previous year, and his elderly guide walks with a cane. He begins</div><div>> by asking, ?So how did it end??, to which his guide responds, ?It never</div><div>> ends,? though he admits the people tried to burn the labyrinth, believing</div><div>> it to be too costly.</div><div>> </div><div>> The motifs that Gaiman develops throughout the story are those of the moon</div><div>> looking down at the hedges in its various phases (only children walk it</div><div>> during the dark moon, and some believe they see a torturer then), the scent</div><div>> of roasted lamb, and the growth of the rosemary around the maze (?Rosemary</div><div>> is for remembering?). Most of the month, the maze is an innocuous</div><div>> entertainment tied to ?canoodling? or making out, but on the night of a</div><div>> full moon, it becomes something more akin to a sacrificial test ? if</div><div>> someone running the maze cannot get to the center and back out without a</div><div>> misstep, ?the labyrinth gets to cure you of all that ails you.?</div><div>> </div><div>> The cycle of the moon affects the emotions involved ? as it grows fuller</div><div>> the people who come to walk it interact with desire or lust (though that is</div><div>> the time when the sick and infirm can walk the labyrinth), but after the</div><div>> sacrifice of the full moon, as the moon wanes, it is with love. According</div><div>> to the guide, after the dark of the moon, young children (whom he calls</div><div>> Romulus and Remus, children famously suckled by a wolf) and parents arrive</div><div>> to navigate it, and as it waxes, couples of all ages come. He dismisses</div><div>> the labyrinth of Crete as nothing in comparison, ?just some tunnels with a</div><div>> horn headed fellow wandering lonely and scared and hungry.?</div><div>> </div><div>> When the narrator gets to the top, ?the sky [is] the color of wine, and the</div><div>> clouds in the west glowed with the light of the setting sun.? He notes</div><div>> that his guide ?was an old man who walked with a stick and talked to</div><div>> strangers ? Nobody would ever miss him.? The guide assumes a lycanthropic</div><div>> guise at the top, and our narrator is forced to run the labyrinth,</div><div>> believing that the moon, who had always accepted his gifts before, will not</div><div>> betray him. He runs ?like a lamb to his laughter.?</div><div>> </div><div>> Gaiman?s story does not seem to pivot on the metaphor of the labyrinth as a</div><div>> fiction, though the appearance of a torturer, a werewolf who walks with a</div><div>> cane, and rosemary certainly serve as links to Wolfe?s life and work. The</div><div>> narrator is a killer who sacrifices to the moon, but here he faces an older</div><div>> mythic lunar power, that affects humanity with an increasingly bestial and</div><div>> atavistic fervor before the sacrifice is made, at which point the cycle of</div><div>> the moon allows genuine emotion to transpire between the couples that come</div><div>> to navigate the labyrinth. Only in the dark of the moon does the labyrinth</div><div>> seem innately tied to fiction ? perhaps pre-rational myth is a more</div><div>> appropriate context for the lunar labyrinth. The murderer appears to be on</div><div>> track to become the next slaughtered lamb. Clearly the majority of</div><div>> Gaiman?s references are designed to pay tribute to Wolfe (though, unlike</div><div>> Wolfe, the older guide with the cane has a sister who gives birth to</div><div>> something monstrous after walking the labyrinth). ?A Solar Labyrinth?</div><div>> probably dealt with the process of reading and representation as a whole,</div><div>> with the sacrificial aspect almost removed from its dominant metaphor; ?A</div><div>> Lunar Labyrinth? seems more concerned with mythic cycles affecting behavior</div><div>> in addition to pulling symbols and motifs from Wolfe?s own life.</div><div>> -------------- next part --------------</div><div>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...</div><div>> URL: <http: lists.urth.net="" pipermail="" urth-urth.net="" attachments="" 20140822="" b40cd476="" attachment.htm=""></http:></div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> Subject: Digest Footer</div><div>> </div><div>> _______________________________________________</div><div>> Urth Mailing List</div><div>> To post, write urth@urth.net</div><div>> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net</div><div>> </div><div>> ------------------------------</div><div>> </div><div>> End of Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59</div><div>> *************************************</div></div></div>
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