The face of Pas

David Stockhoff · 15 Sep 2010, 00:42 · from 2010-September.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:42:24 -0400
Subject: (urth) The face of Pas
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  Not to reintroduce last month's debate topic of whether Urth and the 
Whorl are in "our" future or not, and thus whether the Commonwealth's 
state religion was a decayed Catholicism, or something that might have 
arisen in a parallel universe from some universal desire for such a 
thing. But---

I am always struck by the way these trappings suggest that this is in 
fact what has happened---that this iteration is one without a "savior" 
and therefore with hollow versions of the "true religion." Especially 
the "sign of addition"---such a perfectly logical alternative 
explanation for making the sign of the cross. All these real roots seem 
to have been combined out of a yearning for Catholicism by people who 
could not have known it.

Either that, or the religion was constructed by people seeking to 
imitate Catholicism without understanding it, like amateur 
archaeologists. Certainly there is evidence for that kind of deliberate, 
almost scientific syncretism. And on the Whorl, both explanations may be 
true.

On 9/14/2010 1:36 PM, James Wynn wrote:
>  On 9/14/2010 12:29 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
>> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 10:22 AM, James Wynn<crushtv at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>
>>> While there might have been some of that in there, mostly I think Wolfe
>>> found it most appealing to create a demonic version Greek mythology 
>>> as well
>>> as tossing in some Etruscan rituals and forms and shunting the whole 
>>> thing
>>> onto a gnostic foundation.
>> I agree about Greek, and don't know much about Etruscan stuff, but
>> take it from a Catholic: the rituals and forms of the Chapter are dead
>> on parodies of Catholic forms and rituals
>
> I agree. The shriving. The "sign of addition". It all says "Roman 
> Catholic!" in all-caps. But "augur" and the practice of "augury" is 
> from the Etruscan religions. "Sybil" is a Latin word, derived from the 
> Greek. So it harkens back to pre-Christian Italy as well. Also the 
> form of temples having holes in their ceilings.
>
> u+16b9
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