Severian as reverse Christ (or something)

Son of Witz · 21 Nov 2008, 19:41 · from 2008-November.txt.gz

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From: sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org (Son of Witz)
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:41:51 +0000
Subject: (urth) Severian as reverse Christ (or something)
Message-ID: <W9647427895266191227296511@webmail28>

Better than I said it.

~Witz




>In terms of the timelines/Loops/Amphisbaena...I think it does has some
>significance on the level of the Trancendent meaning (which we both tend to
>favor).  The difference between an Amphisbaena and an Oruborous is that the
>Amphisbaena has two heads, and an Oruborous is swallowing its own tail.
>This is a significant difference in the choice of symbols on Wolfe's part,
>IMHO.  Straight linear resurrection would have Severian as another
>incarnation or reincarnation or instantation of the Conciliator as Logos,
>which to me would be symbolized by the Oroborous.  The idea the Severian
>goes through the gauntlet/crucible/archtypal path in order to develop in
>himself a nature 'good' enough to become the Conciliator, which he then
>does, leaving behind an artifact which is instrumental in the development of
>that very character which leads him to become the Conciliator is a
>reinforcing time loop, where one head eats the other, building on it,
>reinforcing it, devouring it and creating it, which is a much more active
>loop, or the Amphisbaena.  In other words, without all of the manipulation
>from both holy, worldly and infernal forces to prevent Severian from
>becoming the 'second coming' of the Conciliator, the conciliator himself
>would never have come to being, while at the same time, his having come into
>being and effecting Urth so dramatically lays the path for Severian becoming
>him in Severians own future.  Here, we are quite literally at the crossroads
>of Time and Eternity.  Only if one looks in the direction of the horizontal
>does the contradiction of Free Will vs. Manipulation become problamatic.
>And indeed, the issue of this I think is a central one in the book.  But
>also, there are constant sign posts toward the vertical (Sev's constant
>shedding of fealty to wordly powers and his final fealty to the increate)
>which show that the real journey is an inward one, toward a more vertical
>view (which could not exist or come into existance without the horizontal)
>
>You really hit on something with that symbol, and I think part of it's power
>lies here.  And I think, past an interest in working out Timelines (which is
>interesting), what we have here, on the trancendental level, is a profound
>medidation on what it might mean for a Man (a straight up man, not a divine
>being) to develop the internal character and being to be considered a True
>Human, the Conciliator, the New Sun.  How that man accords himself in the
>situations that are both manipulated from above and below, while living in a
>world intimately shaped by the very nature of what he is to become, to me
>speaks to the idea of what we all, on a smaller scale admittedly, face in
>our lives, whether we be Christians or no.
>

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