From: James Jordan <jbjordan4@home.com>
Subject: (whorl) Trinitarian Resonances
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:20:28 


>Or: ... Horn-the-Son ascends into Hell (green) and dies there,
>then reunites with Silk-the-Father.

Good point. "He descended into hell. On the third day He arose from the 
dead, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father." 
Horn lives, as and at the "right hand" of Father Silk.

>The point being that I think all these resonances are
>clearly there, but no one is a 'ruling metaphor.'

Humanity is the "image of God," so imaging the Trinity is no surprise in Wolfe.

In the Long Sun, the "trinity" is Pas, Silk, and Kypris. The feminine is 
associated with the Holy Spirit, who according to Augustine is Love, and 
Wolfe intends Kypris to be Love, and thus to stand for the Spirit in this 
regard.

In the Short Sun, the "trinity" is Silk ("Father"), Horn, and Seawrack, if 
the suggestion that Seawrack is Kypris holds up. BTW, I think this analogy 
adds a bit of weight to the Seawrack-Kypris hypothesis.

Borski: Since you've thought the most about this: I'll bet Scylla is also a 
kind of Spirit-analogy. Note her involvement with Oreb, the Mother, and 
Seawrack. But she's immature, just entering puberty, testy with menarch, 
thinking of sex as gross, etc. Kypris, thus, is the better manifestation of 
the Spirit-motif, the manifestation that endures.

Which brings me to the suggestion that maybe another "trinity" is Pas, 
Tartaros, and Scylla. The Tartaros-Auk section of SS might be mined for 
ideas along these lines. (Auk is a kind of son for Silk.)

It should be noted that the Silky "trinitarian" manifestations only appear 
at the end of the two meta-novels. The characters "grow" into conformity to 
the image of God in such triple ways.

As long as I'm speculating: more for Borski. Passilk is the son, and he 
possesses Pig. I notice that in Acts 10-11, a sign of the New Creation is 
that Peter is told to eat unclean meat, pork included, of course. Pig is a 
"new son." Godling? Probably, especially in light of this possible analogy. 
Possibly, then, the Big Godling, who is so kind to Horn, is another 
adumbration of the Spirit, communicating the new information from Pas and 
Passilk. On the other hand, since Oreb is flying above Horn at this point 
(as the cover illustrates), perhaps the Big Godling is a manifestation of 
Pas, with Silkhorn the son, and Oreb-Scylla the spirit.

(Note to Borski: Did you make the point that Babbie is "Baby," perhaps a 
baby Neighbor? And, I reiterate my earlier question: How can Pig think he 
killed Silk when he sees Silk right in front of him? I should think it was 
a different augur he killed.)

As to Quaternity: No. Quadrifons is a cherub: a "lower" manifestation of 
the Outsider, below the "higher" order of the Trinity.

I'm convinced that it is a mistake to think Wolfe is operating with 
"heretical" or "gnostic" (e.g., Gospel of Thomas, Ascension of Moses) 
materials. Look for the roots of his theology in the canonical Bible, 
Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and C. S. Lewis -- in the mainstream of the 
Catholic tradition.

Patera Nutria


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