Difference between revisions of "Chapter 55: 542-553"

Revision as of 11:23, 19 October 2009

Page 542

Feng-Shui
See page 228.

Sha... Bad Energy
See this LINK in regard to Sha Chi

Also, for what it's worth, note that the Cyrillic letter, Sha, is similar to the Hebrew Shin, which is related to the greeting (Star Trek-like salute) that was given outside the The Rabbi of Prague. See page 485.

Sha has its earliest origins in Proto-Canaanite Shin and is linked closely to Shin's Greek equivalent: Sigma (Σ, σ). (Note the similar form of the modern Hebrew Shin (ש) which also derives from the same Proto-Canaanite source). Sha already possessed its current form in Saints Cyril and Methodius's Glagolitic alphabet. Most Cyrillic letter-forms were derived from the Greek, but as there was no Greek sign for the Sha sound (modern Greek uses simply "σ" to spell the sh-sound in foreign words and names), Glagolitic Sha was adopted unchanged. There is a possibility that Sha was taken from the Coptic alphabet, which was the same as the Greek alphabet but had a few letters added at the end, including one called "shai" which somewhat resembles both sha and shcha (Щ, щ) in appearance. From WIKI

Page 543

the last bights of of Robe-hem... back of an ever-departing Deity
Brings to mind Peter Redzinger's story on page 480.

Luo-pan
See page 531.

Father Zarpazo, the Wolf of Jesus
See page 522.

Molinos
Miguel de Molinos (c. 1628–1697), Spanish divine, the chief apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism, was born about 1628 near Muniesa (Teruel). He entered the priesthood and settled in Rome about 1670. There he became well known as a director of consciences, being on specially friendly terms with Cardinal Odescalchi, who in 1676 became Pope Innocent XI... No breath of suspicion arose against Molinos until 1681, when the Jesuit preacher Paolo Segneri, attacked his views, though without mentioning his name... The matter was referred to the Inquisition. It pronounced that the Guida spirituale was perfectly orthodox, and censured the intemperate zeal of Segneri... But the Jesuits set Father La Chaise to work on his royal penitent, Louis XIV. Louis prided himself on being a pillar of orthodoxy; but he was on very bad terms with Innocent XI, and soon yielded to the pleasure of discovering heresy in an intimate friend of the pope. Following on official representations by the French ambassador in Rome, who happened to be a cardinal, Molinos was arrested in May 1685. At first his friends were confident of an acquittal, but in the beginning of 1687 a number of his penitents of both sexes were examined by the Inquisition, and several were arrested. A report got abroad that Molinos had been convicted of moral enormities, as well as of heretical doctrines; and it was seen that he was doomed. On September 3, 1687 he made public profession of his errors, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. In the following November, Innocent signed a bull, Coelestis Pastor, condemning sixty-eight propositions from the Guida spirituale and other unpublished writings of its author. At some date unknown in 1696 or 1697 Molinos died in prison. From WIKI

Buddhists
Buddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pali/Sanskrit "one who is awake"). Adherents recognize the Buddha as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. However, Buddhist schools disagree over the historical teachings of the Buddha, and on the importance and canonicity of various scriptures. From WIKI

Jansenist Convulsionaries
See page 227.

Crypto-Illuminati
See pages 358 & 377.

Neo-Quietists
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection. All have been officially proscribed as heresy in very explicit terms by the Roman Catholic Church. From WIKI

Page 544

"Somehow Feng-Shui became their principal Enemy. Without it in the World..."
The intrigue of hypocrisy (and absorption)... Cf. page 522, where Father Zarpazo teaches his own brand of Feng-Shui.

Fuh-kien
Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal map spelling: Fukien, Foukien; Hokkien: Hok-kiàn; Foochowese: Hók-gióng; Hakka: Fuk-kian) is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China with Han Chinese majority. From WIKI

Le Maire
Father Christoper Le Maire, a Jesuit, who was present during Chapter 23 (when he made the first British Pizza). Here, Dixon's knowing Le Maire, comes back to haunt Dixon, it being presumed that Dixon is a Jesuit spy. See pages 155 & 156 for first mention of Le Maire and these connections.

Page 548

"A complete, largely unsens'd World, held within our own [...] waiting for some Summons to Light"
The Hollow Earth theories posit that the planet Earth has a hollow interior and, possibly, a habitable inner surface. At one time, adventure literature made this idea popular, and it was a feature of many fantasy and science fiction works as well as some conspiracy theories.

Hollow Earth theory is also explored in Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, where the Chums of Chance enter the "Telluric interior" through an opening in the Antarctic as a shortcut to the North Pole...

"Some of the greatest minds in the history of science, including Kepler, Halley, and Euler, had speculated as to the existence of a so-called 'hollow Earth.' One day, it was hoped, the technique of intra-planetary 'short-cutting' about to be exercised by the boys would become routine, as useful in its way as the Suez or the Panama Canal had proved to surface shipping." (Against the Day, p. 115).

It is also further explored in Mason & Dixon on pages 603, 707 and 739.

Annotations Index