Pas's gammadion and the voided cross

Transentient · 22 Jan 2007, 02:26 · from 2007-January.txt.gz

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From: transentient at gmail.com (Transentient)
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:26:47 -0500
Subject: (urth) Pas's gammadion and the voided cross
In-Reply-To: <39ed084f0701211609r1e8986aicfed6b7e93df81f6 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <39ed084f0701211609r1e8986aicfed6b7e93df81f6 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <EBD4BD7C-4C48-462F-9957-7E0166F141AA at gmail.com>

On Jan 21, 2007, at 7:09 PM, Matthew Groves wrote:

> The pateras carry the "voided cross" and make the "sign of  
> addition."  They also carry a "gammadion" (whose gammas detach to  
> become tools for the sacred windows).  Each of these symbols is  
> highly suggestive for the Whorl and its culture in ways that I'm  
> sure have occurred to you.  Are "cross" and the "gammadion"  
> supposed to be the same thing, or are they separate symbols?
>
> In my too-fast reading of the series, the impression I got is that  
> the "voided cross" and the "gammadion" were one and the same. But  
> this simply can't be right -- a cross is not a gammadion. (I can  
> make a rather clumsy voided cross out of *two* voided gammas by  
> rotating one 180 degrees and then aligning their stems vertically,  
> but this would not be truly "voided," and it is certainly not what  
> anyone would really call a "gammadion.") If someone can reassure me  
> that there are two separate symbols carried by the pateras, then  
> I'll be most grateful.

Seems to me that you can make something of a voided cross out of four  
gammas, if you don't mind the arms of the cross being open at the ends.

Now unfold each gamma, one northward, pivoting around its  
northernmost point, one eastward, one southward, one westward. You've  
got something that looks like a manji or a swastika. That's a  
gammadion, right? Now suppose it's a little four-in-one pocket tool  
where each "gamma" is one of the tools, and it folds out if you want  
to use it.

Give your IT staff these tools wear around their neck, then have them  
set up as clergy for interacting with the simulacrums of you and your  
family. Erase their memory of the lives they had before the ship  
embarked on its voyage and voila.

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