Starbirth — Urth Net

Alice Turner04 Dec 1998, 18:55original as archived

Starbirth

↰ answers Derek Bell · by quotation

3 quoted lines

From: Derek Bell <dbell at maths.tcd.ie>

Just to be contra-contradictory :-), there is also the oft-quoted passage "I tell you: one must have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star." Well, Severian doesn't create or give birth to the New Sun, but he is full of chaos - all those autarchial personas inside!

Er, ahem, let me note parentheticially that not only metaphorically and mystically, but in some sense literally, the sexual union of Sev and Apheta does indeed create or conceive the New Sun. Which is not exactly the same as gving birth, but pretty close. -alga

m.driussi05 Dec 1998, 02:42original as archived

↳ follows Alice Turner · by subject

As alga says. Apheta. The star of a nativity: the nativity of a star. Scarey, circular, yet somehow . . . it makes sense. Back to the "Terminus Est" Latin tangle, obviously I'm on the side that says, "Write the essay anyway, even if your initial impulse wasn't immediately validated by the Vulgate." In other news: got a snail letter the other day from our old Wolfe list friend Adam Stephanides. He has some things to say. I'll tell all later. =mantis=

Derek Bell14 Dec 1998, 19:49original as archived

↳ follows m.driussi · by subject

In message <199812050000.QAA14264 at lists1.best.com>, Alice Turner writes:

1 quoted line

Er, ahem, let me note parentheticially that not only metaphorically and mystically, but in some sense literally, the sexual union of Sev and Apheta does indeed create or conceive the New Sun. Which is not exactly the same as gving birth, but pretty close.

Good point! Guess it shows how long it is since I've read that book! Which makes me wonder how much non-solar stellar imagery I've missed. Derek