not quite Father Inire's mirrors . . .

Lee Berman · 08 Jun 2011, 17:08 · from 2011-June.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 13:08:47 -0400
Subject: (urth) not quite Father Inire's mirrors . . .
Message-ID: <SNT123-W59502C6137126EB50993FACF620 at phx.gbl>

>Gerry Quinn: Perhaps reflected reality generates more pressure than reflected light!  
>(Of course, Inire's mirrors may not be identical to Tzadkiel's sails, even if 
>they share some properties.)

Well, I think we have four examples of mirrors: Father Inire's, the Old Autarch's
book, Hethor's and the ship sails. I am inclined to think all four are meant to be
essentially the same sort of thing with the same properties, transportation among
them.

I don't think the ship sails are meant to be light sails. There seems to be no
stellar origin to its propulsion (aside from some dreamy, perhaps misinformed
poetic report by Severian). It seems to confine its travels to the void. Moreover, 
iirc, when it travels to the higher universe it passes through the primeval soup of 
our own universal origin, where all the stars are clumped together. I'd think all that
light would push intensely hard against light sails, rather than draw them in.

I'm content with the notion that, in their function  they reflect "reality" whatever 
that means, rather than light. How else to explain inter-universal travel? (esp. in
writings from 30 years ago)

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