Claw = Fang?

Lee Berman · 27 Nov 2012, 13:56 · from 2012-November.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:56:02 -0500
Subject: (urth) Claw = Fang?
Message-ID: <SNT123-W1303452D9171D9F3FB628DCF5E0 at phx.gbl>

>Daniel Petersen: And this making all serpentine/clawed
>images in Wolfe simultaneously resonant of both the angelic and demonic,
>the divine and the diabolical - appropriately, as both Jesus and Satan are
>imaged as a lion in the New Testament.)

This brings to mind Severian's revelation on Tzadkiel's ship that the
unquestionably angelic Barbatus and Famulimus have a watery, "kelpie"-
like origin, connecting them to the giant sea beings back on Urth, one
of whom has the demonic name Arioch.

Angelic Tzadkiel also displays this connection with his/her self-described
association with a sponge and the ability to pinch off smaller, human-shaped
avatars in similar fashion to Scylla, The Mother and (likely) Abaia.  

Good and evil, the divine hammer and tongs which forge us, yes? Still, between
such awesomely superhuman shaping tools, I'm not sure I see where room for 
free will exists, except as a self-POV.

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