Time Structures on Urth

Lee Berman · 11 Aug 2010, 12:27 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:27:50 -0400
Subject: (urth) Time Structures on Urth
Message-ID: <SNT123-W452FF867818776C2814B07CF960 at phx.gbl>

I posted this theory a few years in the past but, at Dan'l's request I'm 
trotting it out again now. It seems like an appropriate time. We get a very 
nice tour of the Last House and how it works. I think there are other, similar, 
structures to be found in BotNS. 

At the end of CotA, Severian is flying around the Citadel but unable to find 
Valeria's tower. He is only able to find it by retracing his steps through the
catacombs to the Atrium of Time. This seems a parallel to when Severian tries
to take a shortcut to Last House but can't find it until he follows the correct 
path. 

So I assume that the top of Valeria's tower, like the top of Last House,
exists in Severian's future which is why he cannot find either. Valeria is said
to be old fashioned and antiquely dressed. She lives in the lower levels of her
tower. I deduce that her tower (and perhaps other towers around the Atrium of Time)
is a time structure with lower levels in the past. From Severian's perspective,
the Last House does not have any lower levels.

>From the comparison of these two structures I think we can find others which share
the features of a labyrinthine entrance path to a vertical structure which transports
people to a different time. I think the clearest example is the Jungle Hut. I think
Robert, Marie and Isangoma are meant to be shown as on Earth and not Urth. Since 
Severian and Agia have to ascend to get there I think it shows that Earth, in some way, 
is the future of Urth.

An interesting irony can be concluded regarding the time scale which is traversed. I
have reason to think that Valeria's tower spans decades (explanation in another
thread if requested), we know Last House spans millenia and it would seem the 
Jungle Hut traverses cosmologic time. So, the flimsier the structure the greater the 
span of time which is traversed.

I think this theory supports the idea that Earth is in the Yesod universe because it 
demonstrates that Earth, like Yesod, is in the future of Urth. For so many years
Urth was seen as the distant future of Earth.

I thought the theory of Yesod being a Kabbalic balcony or second story to Briah and
Urth was born back in the time when Earth and Urth were considered to be the same planet.
But, from the recent posts, it appears that even when Urth is recognized as being a 
previous version of Earth, the view of Yesod as separate from the Briatic sequence of
destructuion and creation remains for those who prefer it. That's cool.

I still prefer viewing Yesod as the next higher universe in sequence with Briah and Earth
as the next higher in sequence with Urth. It allows the Hierogrammates (or their cognate
race) to evolve just as humanity can evolve and escape Yesod to a higher universe still; 
one step closer to the Increate. Tzadkiel seems to lament that he remains infinitely far
away.

I started a thread a while back called "Wolfe as Heretic". In one interview he observes that, 
with the episode in the Temple, Jesus knew what it was to be a torturer. I think we can all
recognize that Jesus was more spiritually advanced than Severian. Is it heresy to suggest 
that the Christ-figure in the universe which is above Yesod would be more spiritually advanced 
than Jesus?

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