Quetzal's Story of Creation The Urth list — 6 messages, 3 voices, 19 Nov 2002 https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/3593 Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. ============================================================================== Charles Reed — 19 Nov 2002, 18:16 Hello all. This recent talk about Quetzal and when he came aboard the Whorl, etc. got me to re-reading a few things, one of which was his accounting of the Adam and Eve story to Patera Remora at the beginning of CALDE. It struck me -- "and it struck me indeed, so that I staggered as at a blow" :-) -- was that Quetzal was not only recounting the Garden of Eden story, but was in fact recounting his own species' story of creation! It's not too long, so read it again: "You must recall the story, Patera." Quetzal swayed from side to side, perhaps with silent mirth. "A-man and Wo-man like rabbits in a garden. The -- what do you call them?" He held up a thin, blue-veined hand, palm cupped. "A cobra, Your Cognizance?" "The cobra persuaded Wo-man to eat fruit from his tree, miraculous fruit whose taste conferred wisdom." Remora nodded, wondering how he might reintroduce the springs. "I recollect the -- um -- allegory." Quetzal nodded more vigorously, a wise teacher proffering praise to a small boy. "It's all in the Writings. Or nearly all. A god called Ah Lah barred Wo-man and her husband from the garden." He ceased to speak, apparently wandering among thoughts. "We seem to have lost sight of Ah Lah, by the way. I can't recall a single sacrifice to him. No one ever asks why the cobra wanted Wo-man to eat his fruit." "From sheer, er, wickedness, Your Cognizance? That is what I had always supposed." Quetzal swayed faster, his face solemn. "In order that she would climb his tree, Patera. The man likewise. Their story's not over because they haven't climbed down." Obviously, Adam and Eve. But consider another interpretation: the inhumi (before the Whorl came) can be seen as the "rabbits in the garden" -- i.e., the stupid, mindless beasts that they were. Somehow they discovered a certain miraculous fruit (humanity) that if eaten conferred wisdom (raised them out of their ignorant, beastlike lives and gave them minds). The god Ah Lah (the true God of Gods, the Outsider) barred them from the garden -- that is, they could not revert to their innocent, beastlike selves after tasting such wisdom but felt compelled to seek more of it out. The inhumi then climbed the tree (i.e., ascended to the Whorl) so that they could continue partaking of such miraculous fruit. The Plan of Pas being put on hold, they haven't been able to come down yet. Anyway, this idea has probably been posted here before, but I couldn't remember seeing it and a quick search through the archives didn't yield anything, so if I'm bringing up something that everybody has already figured out, please forgive. I just thought it was cool, cool, cool that the story could serve as the creation story for both humanity and the inhumu. Whadya think? Charles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ James Wynn — 19 Nov 2002, 18:52 follows, by subject match Charles Reed Charles proffers: But consider another interpretation: the inhumi (before the Whorl came) can be seen as the "rabbits in the garden" -- i.e., the stupid, mindless beasts that they were... Crush asks: Who is the cobra? -- Crush ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Charles Reed — 19 Nov 2002, 19:08 follows, by subject match James Wynn > James Wynn wrote: > Charles proffers: > But consider another interpretation: the inhumi (before the Whorl came) > can be seen as the "rabbits in the garden" -- i.e., the stupid, mindless > beasts that they were... > > Crush asks: > Who is the cobra? The Neighbors. They're the ones who wanted to use the inhumi as agents for measuring humanity's worthiness. That is, they introduced the "fruit" to the "rabbit" so it would "climb the tree" and get more. Charles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ matthew.malthouse — 19 Nov 2002, 18:56 follows, by subject match Charles Reed > On 19/11/2002 18:16:53 Charles Reed wrote: > Hello all. > > This recent talk about Quetzal and when he came aboard the Whorl, etc. > got me to re-reading a few things, one of which was his accounting of > the Adam and Eve story to Patera Remora at the beginning of CALDE. It > struck me -- "and it struck me indeed, so that I staggered as at a blow" > :-) -- was that Quetzal was not only recounting the Garden of Eden > story, but was in fact recounting his own species' story of creation! > > It's not too long, so read it again: > > "You must recall the story, Patera." Quetzal swayed from > side to side, perhaps with silent mirth. "A-man and Wo-man > like rabbits in a garden. The -- what do you call them?" > He held up a thin, blue-veined hand, palm cupped. > "A cobra, Your Cognizance?" > "The cobra persuaded Wo-man to eat fruit from his tree, > miraculous fruit whose taste conferred wisdom." > Remora nodded, wondering how he might reintroduce the > springs. "I recollect the -- um -- allegory." > Quetzal nodded more vigorously, a wise teacher proffering > praise to a small boy. "It's all in the Writings. Or nearly > all. A god called Ah Lah barred Wo-man and her husband from > the garden." He ceased to speak, apparently wandering among > thoughts. "We seem to have lost sight of Ah Lah, by the way. > I can't recall a single sacrifice to him. No one ever asks > why the cobra wanted Wo-man to eat his fruit." > "From sheer, er, wickedness, Your Cognizance? That is > what I had always supposed." > Quetzal swayed faster, his face solemn. "In order that she > would climb his tree, Patera. The man likewise. Their story's > not over because they haven't climbed down." > > Obviously, Adam and Eve. > > But consider another interpretation: the inhumi (before the Whorl came) > can be seen as the "rabbits in the garden" -- i.e., the stupid, mindless > beasts that they were. Somehow they discovered a certain miraculous > fruit (humanity) that if eaten conferred wisdom (raised them out of > their ignorant, beastlike lives and gave them minds). The god Ah Lah > (the true God of Gods, the Outsider) barred them from the garden -- that > is, they could not revert to their innocent, beastlike selves after > tasting such wisdom but felt compelled to seek more of it out. The > inhumi then climbed the tree (i.e., ascended to the Whorl) so that they > could continue partaking of such miraculous fruit. The Plan of Pas > being put on hold, they haven't been able to come down yet. > > Anyway, this idea has probably been posted here before, but I couldn't > remember seeing it and a quick search through the archives didn't yield > anything, so if I'm bringing up something that everybody has already > figured out, please forgive. I just thought it was cool, cool, cool > that the story could serve as the creation story for both humanity and > the inhumu. > > Whadya think? And what's with Quetzal swaying? Cobra-like.... Matthew ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Charles Reed — 19 Nov 2002, 19:13 follows, by subject match matthew.malthouse > matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk wrote: > And what's with Quetzal swaying? Cobra-like... Hey, all allegories fall apart if you examine them too closely. ;-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ matthew.malthouse — 20 Nov 2002, 08:28 follows, by subject match Charles Reed > On 19/11/2002 19:13:32 Charles Reed wrote: > matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk wrote: > > And what's with Quetzal swaying? Cobra-like... > Hey, all allegories fall apart if you examine them too closely. ;-) Indeed they do. However I was wondering if while telling the story Quetzal could be seeing himself as the snake in the garden. Matthew ------------------------------------------------------------------------------