Gnostic Wolfe

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 23 Oct 2002, 15:38 · from urth-v0210.mbox · original

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From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Subject: RE: (urth) Gnostic Wolfe
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 08:38:31 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0210-1912 at digest.urth.net>
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> Here's a connection I've never teased out before: Silk is (in=20
> part) St. Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1181 to 1226, in
> Umbria;=20

Yes ... his preaching to animals (and birds in particular)
should make that clear.

He's also part Father Brown, I think.

> The Catholic Encyclopedia doesn't say anything about Francis
> opposing the Albigensians, but the temporal overlap is striking.

...yes, particularly given the other observations in your
post. Nicely done.

Is the Chapter, then, inherently Gnostic? Interestingly, it=20
does not seem to be -- though "enlightenment" has some aspects
of _gnosis_, it partakes quite as much of the prophetic trance,
and the "prayer of union" spoken of by St. Teresa of Avila;
and there is nothing about the teachings or acts of the Chapter
that makes me think "Gnosticism." Rather, it is a reasonably
orthodox sort of middle-Eastern polytheism -- the sort which=20
preceded and developed into monothesitic Judaism -- which,
however, happens to exist in a pocket universe whose nature is,=20
in fact, Gnostic; which in turn exists in a larger universe=20
whose nature is what one might expect from the teachings of
orthodox Catholicism...

I don't know why people think Wolfe is complicated. 8*)

--Blattid

--=20

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