Divine Week

Tony Ellis · 02 Dec 1997, 10:55 · from urth-v0006.mbox · original

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From: "Tony Ellis" <tellis at futurenet.co.uk>
Subject: (urth) Re: Divine Week
Date: 2 Dec 1997 11:55:27 +0100
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[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other work=
s]

                                                                      =3D
02/12/97
                                                                      =3D
11:41
 RE>Divine Week

Mantis wrote:
>[A lot of Scene I is pre-echoed by events in the Botanical Gardens of
>Nessus involving Severian, Dorcas, Agia, Hildegrin;=20

Blimey, so it is! Even down to the sabre-tooth moggy. Most observant
of you.

>=3D3DScenes as Days of [Divine] Week=3D3D
>SCENE DAY         PLANET
>I.....Monday......Moon--Jahi as Moon [now I think Meschiane is Moon]
>II....Tuesday.....Mars--appearance of soldiers
>III...Wednesday...Mercury--underworld and prophets
>IV....Thursday....Jupiter
>V.....Friday......Venus [this is Jahi, I'm thinking]
>VI....Saturday....Saturn--autarch usurped [unrecognized in his own
>palace]
>VII...Sunday......Sun--arrival of New Sun

My problem with inventive extrapolations like this: if you look for
patterns you will always find them.=20

Unless I'm missing something (it wouldn't be the first time), the=20
associations you make between characters and days seem=20
pretty arbitrary. Why not assign the first scene to Nod, or=20
Meschia, or Gabriel, who also appear in it? Why doesn't the=20
Familiar get to be represented by a planet? Or the Contessa? Why
is Thursday Jupiter? Why is Friday Jahi's day, and not another?

You say that Meschiane is Moon, making the first scene Monday,
but you also say that "Valeria is Moon to Severian's New Sun". I
think you have something with this latter point, I like the idea of=20
Valerian's lunar reign being eclipsed by the New Sun, but in=20
that case surely Autarch =3D3D Moon?

It seems to me that I could just as plausibly prove that the 7=20
scenes equate to the 7 Deadly Sins (Jahi =3D3D Lust, Autarch =3D3D
Envy, Nod =3D3D Sloth etc), or the 7 Dwarfs (Meschiane =3D3D
Bashful, Statue =3D3D Grumpy etc). Or maybe there are ten scenes
and they equate to the Ten Commandments? (Jahi + Meschia =3D3D
adultery, Meschia and Meschiane =3D3D honour thy father and=20
mother, etc) <g>

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