What's So Green About Ushas?

b sharp · 16 Jul 2008, 12:12 · from 2008-July.txt.gz

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From: bsharporflat at hotmail.com (b sharp)
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:12:05 -0400
Subject: (urth) What's So Green About Ushas?
Message-ID: <BAY103-W324D70AD1ACA0D5B74000FD78F0 at phx.gbl>

I like Tony Ellis' explanation of the Green Man, being the equivalent of Master Ash- 
an alternate future to Ushas. It explains why he doesn't seem to fit with the UotNS 
Ushas and Hiero-dudes.  Tony supports the position well with the text.  I'll add that 
in their initial meeting, Severian and the Green Man have a bantering discussion but 
at one point they are hit by a sudden disgust for each other and debate over which 
one of them is really human.

I can imagine a Gene Wolfe in his 40's writing this book, having a crisis of conscience.
He sees the passive, do-nothing, wait-for-a-savior nature of much of humanity and 
recognizes there is no real future in that.  Having passed through the hippie 60's and
granola 70's I can imagine him questioning his own faith and spirituality.  I can 
stereotype vegetarian, secular humanists as, like the Green Man, very nice, honorable,
caring people, and I can imagine Wolfe wondering if that was the way to go.

Religion seems to have won the battle though.  Wolfe could see an even more noble 
future for humanity than becoming a giant hippie commune.  I've always imagined 
that the Hierogrammates evolved into or created a superior cognate race that passed
on to that universe which is higher than Yesod. 

The process would continue until The Increate is formed at the end, which is also the 
beginning (says God: "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last"- Revelation 1: 8). 
Leads to the interesting idea that while Man was made in God's image, God was made 
in Man's image also. (is THAT what the Sistine Chapel ceiling is all about? ;-))

-bsharp
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