Giant Sand Worms

[willems]

Thoose critters are egregious and hungry. The name Giant Sand Worm is
from my old friend William Sedylmeyer's band, latter the band's name
was shortened to Giant Sand and is still led by Howe Gelb. But the
Tazzleworm does seem a strange anomalie of eel and panther ,that
prefers to not be seen. As prevelent is the prohibition on seeing
God's face that may bring derision and disaster except in the case
of Jacob ,who changes his name to Isreal,this creature reminds me of
something of the Basilisk that legend has you may never look in the
eye without being turned to stone.
I just saw the movie "Hugo" and thought it enjoyable.The phenomenon of
freezing time for eternity
or at least centurys, is truely one of the most conscious expanding
events to lead to the many other innovations in conscious alteration
of our present era.
I can't wait to hear the new Shins record . I also saw "Melancholia"
I enjoyed the film's sound- track and cinematograpry.

[Psmith]

I hope all goes well, Steve and Oz, etc. Giant Sand Worm also makes
me think of the creatures in Dune.

I haven't seen Hugo or Melancholia.

I still wonder what led Pynchon to write Against the Day and what he
sees as its main point.

[Bhavani]

On Mar 31, 10:41 am, willems <williams195...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thoose critters are egregious and hungry.

Don't you know it!!!

I know Giant Sandworms from the film Beetlejuice, Though clearly
different critters than the tatzelwurms they appear allegorically
cognate, as do the sand worms from Dune, which I'd forgotten about.
Another related image finds King Kong climbing the Empire State with
Fay Wray. The slogan "King Kong died for your sins" appears in either
Illuminatus, Schrodinger's Cat or both, I don't remember. The flying
phallus in SC show another angle to this metaphor.

> As prevelent is the  prohibition on seeing
> God's face that may bring derision and

If you refer to the biblical statement, "no man sees the face of God
and lives," then you see how this ties in with Crowley who gives that
statement a prominent place in his teaching although he sees it as a
positive statement not negative. This "no man" state of consciousness
who does see the face of God and lives Crowley calls NEMO. One of the
major themes in The Book of Lies has to do with NEMO and what goes
against it. Check ch. 66, for instance or the last ch. 91. Crowley's
N.O.X. formula given in that book also ties in.

> I just saw the movie "Hugo" and thought it enjoyable.The phenomenon of
> freezing time for eternity
> or at least centurys, is truely one of the most conscious expanding
> events to lead to the many other innovations in conscious alteration
> of our present era.

I'll have to see it!

>  I can't wait to hear the new Shins record .

Just found out about them a couple of days ago in Rolling Stone. I
like their name.

[Bhavani]

On Apr 2, 6:00 pm, Psmith <Ewagner...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> I still wonder what led Pynchon to write Against the Day and what he
> sees as its main point.

I see Pynchon as serving a Hierophantic function by writing it. If
true, then he didn't have a choice. One reason for his anonymity
might have him dropping out to concentrate on esoteric studies. To
me, he looks remarkably adept in this area. Though I see much
possible occult connection in Against the Day, his main point seems,
like the purloined letter, hidden right out in the open. By that I
mean, his main point = the title of the book. I explained a little
more about halfway into this blog:
http://oz-mix.blogspot.com/2012/02/space-migration.html

From the book, I'll give these examples only because they come from
the last thing I just read, from p. 704:

The paragraph that starts, "Whatever, it's the only choice you'll be
offered. Six months or five years..." and ends "... yet perhaps
presenting a bleak lookout for an epicure of the rank you have come to
occupy." finds an authority figure threatening Grisha's free days.

Further down the page we see:

"Croatia-Slavonia! But it's his --"
Yes?"
"His garden of delights. Sooner or later he's apt to visit, and then
he'll kill me, or one of those Russians will..."
then he gets very sarcastic.

I also see the Against the Day theme alluded to in the last paragraph
on that page.

[Psmith]

I found myself thinking about Beetlejuice the other day. One could
see Finnegans Wake (or Against the Day) as similar to the textbook for
the dead.

Philip Jose Farmer also wrote about King Kong in his piece "After King
Kong Fell.". He has Doc Savage and the Shadow showing up to check on
the fallen ape.

In the Latin version of the Odyssey used by Ezra Pound, when
Polyphemus asks Odysseus his name he says "Nemo." After Odysseus
blinds him, Polyphemus calls out "Nemo ('no man') is getting away!"
The other cyclopses ignore him. "Finding Nemo" indeed.

[Bhavani]

What do you call a group of cyclopses? ... a herd?, the 1% ... ;-)

Absolutely agreed about the Wake and Against the Day as textbooks for
the dead. I would add The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy to that
list.

Right on PJF! ... and thanks Eric for the very relevant Greek myth
about Nemo.

"The fallen ape", the Titantic, and FW all recall "the Fall"
archetype:

http://dlc.k12.ar.us/Cindy.Green/ObamaKeynote/pdf/English12PDF/PDFfor12Reg/SituationArchetypes.pdf

I think it also ties in with the Against the Day theme. Some of the
characters might appear to have fallen somewhat, though, so far,
Pynchon doesn't portray this blatantly like the other examples given,
as far as I'm aware. I suspect one reason Pynch explicates obstacles
on the path of personal evolution, and why other writers present this
"fall" archetype has to do with letting those who come after know what
to expect and not to quit or give up when the going gets rough. Part
of the map to this territory. They are letting us know that evolution
of this variety goes in a cyclic rather than linear fashion. In FW
this fall occurs on the first page. On the last page it says, "the
keys to. Given." then proceeds to cycle back to the beginning. In
Magick, stick-to-itness gets emphasized. You fall ... not the end ...
you get back up again like the old adage about falling off of a
horse. Regardie begins his Golden Dawn volumes quoting a poem about
the supremacy of persistence. One of Crowley's prominent mottos =
Perdurabo, Latin for 'I will endure unto the end.' I see this
connected with Pynchon's recurring theme of waiting mentioned
previously here. Success appears inevitable by most accounts, just a
question of when, as per RAW's Buddhist practice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ain5WI0Lx8M

Warning to the uninitiated: watching this video will likely turn you
into a Pope.

[Psmith]

The question emerges as to strategies for persisting through economic
chaos.

I love that Calvin Coolidge quote the Regardie uses:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will
not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved
and always will solve the problems of the human race”

[Bhavani]

Good question and good answer!

For anyone reading or who has The Exegesis of PKD, p. 197-198
recounts one of his visions/dreams that seems completely in synch with
the Nemo discussion. Love it when the books I read cross-reference
each other. But there seem many similarities between the Exegesis and
Against the Day so maybe not so startling.

Wrote of the "fall" archetype yesterday then came across "Honigfalle
work" - Against the Day p. 715
Honigfalle translates as " honey trap" from German. I found a German
T.V. show called Honigfalle from 1999 but couldn't find out what it's
about.

p. 714 3rd last paragraph states something identical to a Gold quote I
posted in my last blog re the electrical nature of the deep self.

Now I think I must be getting a little ahead of the reading pace, so
will slow down.

[Psmith]

Do you like the Exegesis? I've fallen behind in my Pynchon reading.
I put it on hold for a week to try to get some momentum going on
Proust. I've passed the halfway point there, so I will try to get
caught up on Pynchon this week.

I also find it interesting how books comment on each other. I spend a
lot of time pondering what to read next and how to get that synergetic
buzz from picking just the right text.

[Bhavani]

Yes, the Exegesis inspires me as much as Against the Day. It's very
well edited and annotated. I'm astounded by the depth of PKD's
visions, genius, and the energy and research he invests in the search
for his Truth. Even if one decides to write off his conclusions as
delusions a reader is still going to learn tremendously from the
sources - philosophical, scientific, theological, his SF peers, etc. -
that he cites and quotes. I could go on but will save it for a review
after I've finished it. Highly recommended!

Both books I'm reading now happened by chance. I got invited to this
run-through of Against the Day without really knowing about or having
much interest in Pynchon only because I didn't know. The Exegesis was
an unexpected gift. I didn't think I was going to read it for awhile
but the first thing I noticed checking it out is that he quotes Cosmic
Trigger Vol. I. Then I saw that it begins with similar ideas about
Time anomalies I've written about recently so decided to give it a try
just for a couple of days, and got hooked. Then, my next client's
girlfriend turns out to be best friends with Erik Davis' wife - Davis
supervised the annotations so there may be a chance to talk to him at
some point and get a behind the scenes pov. Like Against the Day, the
Exegesis becomes one of those books with many unexpected side
effects. I think Bob Wilson would have loved it. Maybe because of
the editing, but at no point does Dick come across as flaky or insane,
to me - I'm about 1/3rd into it. He sounds very self-aware. He
reserves, or catalogs his wildest notions under ideas for future SF
stories.

[Psmith]

The Phil Dick book sounds fascinating.

I pulled a recording of Mozart K. 488 off the shelf when the Pynch
mentioned the second movement, but I haven't listened to it yet. I
must confess that the dizzying array of characters in Against the Day
leaves me a bit confused. I wonder about the importance of Shamballah.