Wind god

Lee Berman · 05 Nov 2010, 16:52 · from 2010-November.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 12:52:16 -0400
Subject: (urth) Wind god
Message-ID: <SNT123-W1A8203753DA49C7A4C19FCF4C0 at phx.gbl>

>Jeff Wilson- Lee, this an example of the kind of selective reading that pisses off 
>people. In the second sentence following Typhon calling the Conciliator a wonder-worker, 
>he gives a perfectly straightforward reason for calling him that: "[...]and since diseases 
>and deformities seemed to flee from him, I ordered him brought to me."  The disappearances 
>mentioned my Dorcas would seem to indicate that his departure into the Corridors was further 
>attested by the soldiers who witnessed it after he left Typhon's presence.

I don't know if you can speak for "people" but if I've pissed you off, I apologize, though I'm 
not sure why what I wrote upsets you. Or did you mean you were pissed off at Andrew, whose idea
I was going along with?

Anyway, as I read the passage, Typhon was facing a major medical problem at the time. He called
for the alleged wonderworker to be brought before him in hopes he could fix what his own doctors
could not fix (Piaton's stubbornness in reliquishing full control of his body). Instead of helping,
Severian presented a far more immediate threat to Typhon's life and a massive security breach which
had to be dealt with immediately. Typhon's orders would have been something like "get this crazy 
quack out of here now and hang the person responsible from a pole!".  

So for me I could see the need for further convincing, as Andrew suggests, via multiple Concilliators
appearing and disappearing through the rest of Typhon's reign. Or maybe Typhon died thinking the 
Concilliator was a quack. Dunno. But I really don't have a dog in this fight. My own interpretation 
of the multiple Severian/5 coffins stuff is a bit different in emphasis (more autobiographical allusion 
than plot driven).

>Son o'Witz- "Carpenter" "Fisherman"  hmmm......

>Gerry Quinn- Silk has a vision of Jesus on Palm Sunday.  Quetzal mentions the 'forgotten' god Ah-lah, 
>and tells a version of the Adam and Eve story. Horn/Silk invents a version of the Eucharist to worship 
>the Outsider, whom he identifies as the god of the Neighbours

These seem clearly to be important clues.  I think the Neighbors are important in that they can dream-travel
to other places; perhaps other times? Perhaps other universes?

As I see it (meaning how I think Wolfe sees it), we live in a world in which Jahweh and Jesus and Allah etc. 
are real and giant gods and monsters and vampires and such are mystic legends. Urth/Whorl/Briah is a place 
in which giant gods and monsters and vampires are real and Jahweh, Jesus and Allah are mystic legends. The 
legends echo back and forth between future and past or maybe between universes. Perhaps which is which or 
which is correct is not really important.

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