Claw = Fang?

David Stockhoff · 22 Nov 2012, 13:25 · from 2012-November.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 08:25:41 -0500
Subject: (urth) Claw = Fang?
In-Reply-To: <CAPdJJvTmcd24XS1kheuUAFU9vV_NOUM4rQLxZB6f4EOZVzwOSA at mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAPdJJvTmcd24XS1kheuUAFU9vV_NOUM4rQLxZB6f4EOZVzwOSA at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <50AE27D5.8090105 at verizon.net>

Very well thought out! If the thorn is the key to the meaning of the 
Claw, and fangs do seem to occupy a space adjacent to thorns, they are 
therefore a link to the Claw.

It occurs to me that the Claw is not associated with any animal, even by 
speculation. One thinks of a bird, especially a bird of prey, but this 
is not supported at all. Serpents, of course, are one animal that can't 
have a claw. But lizards do (and dragons). There seems to be a 
complementarity among these symbols that only Genesis can unlock.

On 11/21/2012 6:36 PM, Bill Burgess wrote:
> Remembering,  with Severian,   that symbols create knowledge and human 
> stories,  rather then the other way around,  here are some things I 
> thought of when reading your question.
>
> In the Eden story four entities are cursed, the serpent, the woman, 
> the man, and the ground/dust.
>
> The serpent's curse is that he will crawl on the ground and eat dust 
> and that it's seed  will be enemies of the woman's seed.   The woman's 
> descendants will smash the head of  serpents because serpents bite 
> their heels.
>
> The woman's curse is that whatever physical pleasure she may have  in 
> procreation,  only she will bear the incredible pain and risk of it. 
>  Her husband will only experience the pleasure of it,  while he rules 
> over her.
>
> The man's curse is identical with the curse of the ground. The dust is 
> cursed to bring forth thorns,  and the man is cursed to extract his 
> (and the woman's)  food painfully from thorn filled fields.   For all 
> the days of his life,  until he returns to  that cursed and thorn 
> filled dust from which he came.
>
>
> The dust of the ground is cursed with serpents fangs and thorns.     
> And the dust of ground is the origin and destiny of humanity.
>
> This is in the book of Genesis.   In the book of Exodus 
> the Israelites are plagued with serpents and as a remedy Moses makes 
> an image of a serpent and lifts it on a staff for all to see and be 
> cured of the venomous bites.   So the symbol of the curse here becomes 
> also the symbol of its cure.
>
> So,  Christian symbolism builds on this by making by making the 
> complete humiliation of Jesus, which culminates in a crown of thorns, 
>  as he is lifted up on the cross,   the very cure for the curse of 
> humanity.     And certainly the crucifixion is the 
> Christian fulfillment of the curse where the seed of the woman's heel 
> is bitten but he smashes the head of the serpent.   But again,  this 
> very curse is also the cure.
>
> One other Biblical mention,  Paul says that he is given a thorn in the 
> flesh (remember the flesh is the dust of the ground),  and this thorn 
> is a messenger of Satan, (the serpent),  and when he asks God to 
> remove it,  God tells him it is actually there for God's purposes, 
>  because the weakness this thorn brings is also the source of his 
> strength.    So again,  the curse is the cure.
>
> It seems impossible to me to see any use of a thorn as a symbol 
> without seeing an allusion also to the fangs of the serpent.
>
>
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