Typhon's nature

David Stockhoff · 17 Oct 2011, 02:56 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:56:39 -0400
Subject: (urth) Typhon's nature
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W34352E460F7CCA1FA549FDCFE40 at phx.gbl>
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On 10/16/2011 10:11 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
> David Stockhoff: Two-in-one divinity takes one right back to divine incest,
> of course. A hermaphroditic Deity represents an ideal union of what here on
> Earth is forever divided. A self-pollinating "God" would fit right in, in Briah,
> with its perpetual, cyclical regeneration.  Remind you of anyone, Lee?
>
> Wow, that is insightful, David. In pondering the Sun series over the past years
>
> I came to be aware of perhaps the most important aspect of monotheism.  We can
>
> recognize that the Greek and other pantheons of ancient gods were not really immoral in
>
> their incestuous relationships because, who the heck else could they mate with?
>
>
> But, with a nod to Gerry, it is a human (and even mammalian) trait to avoid incest and
>
> we humans can't fully respect gods who participate in that (not to mention the "bestiality"
>
> of their matings with humans). And it is pretty clear from the mythologic stories that
>
> the Greeks really didn't respect their gods very much.
True! They feared them.
> Monotheism provides a God we can respect, especially among those prudish Middle Eastern types.
>
> I hadn't considered that a hermaphroditic "self-pollinating" god might solve that problem
>
> in a different way.
>
>
>
> David, were you hinting at Tzadkiel (who appears in male and in female form and would seem to
>
> have something to do with universal reproduction)? Tzadkiel has a son, Venant, and those such
>
> as Apheta are the "larvae" of the hierogrammates.  But we are not given enough information to
>
> know how such offpring are reproduced. Self-pollination..hm...I tellya, it might make sense.
>
> Hard to imagine Tzadkiel performing the sex act in the usual human way with some other. And
>
> Tzadkiel compares himself to a sponge animal...
You win the prize!

I'm not making any particular argument here. I just think Wolfe has 
definitely thought these things over. He might simply have asked 
himself, "What would a sentient sponge or a species of angels really be 
like"? But it is a little eerie that we have touched on such matters as 
divine incest and found resonance all over Briah.


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