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

Revision as of 09:58, 20 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
Interestingly enough, Zarpazo means "Bang" - Cf. page 477.

Also, 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..."
Cf. page 522, where Father Zarpazo teaches something similar to Feng-Shui, which sounds a lot like what Emerson taught of the Roman's to his students, see Chapter 22.

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 Maire, a Jesuit, who was present during Chapter 22 & Chapter 23 (when he made the first British Pizza). Here, Dixon's knowing Maire, comes back to haunt Dixon, it being presumed that Dixon is a Jesuit spy, that Maire is related to the Dutch Le Maire family. See pages 155 & 156 for first mention of the Le Maire Brothers and these connections.

the Line from Rome to Rimini
Major anachronism, as the road from Rome to Rimini was constructed during 220 BC. Seems unlikely that either Maire or Father Zarpazo would have been there. Zhang is probably just waxing. See page 222.

La Condamine
Charles Marie de La Condamine (January 28, 1701 – February 4, 1774) was a French explorer, geographer, and mathematician. La Condamine became a member of the expedition that was sent to Peru in 1735 to determine the length of a degree of the meridian in the neighborhood of the equator; this work laid the basis for the determination of the length of the meter. The group was led by Louis Godin and included Pierre Bouguer, Antonio de Ulloa, and Jorge Juan y Santacilia. His associations with his principals were unhappy; the expedition was beset by many difficulties, and finally La Condamine split from the rest and made his way to Quito, Ecuador separately, discovering rubber in the process... On a visit to Rome, La Condamine made careful measurements of the ancient buildings with a view to a precise determination of the length of the Roman foot. From WIKI

Lapp-land
Lappmarken was an earlier Swedish name for the northern part of the old Kingdom of Sweden specifically inhabited by the Sami people. In addition to the present-day Swedish Lapland, it also covered Västerbotten, Jämtland and Härjedalen, as well as the Finnish Lapland. As a name, it is related to Finnmark, an old Norwegian name for the Sami area. "Finn" and "Lapp" are mutually exchangeable old names about the Sami people. From WIKI

Bouguer
Pierre Bouguer (February 16, 1698 – August 15, 1758) was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture". From WIKI

Page 545

Monsieur Allegre
See page 366.

Battlements of Elsinore
Helsingør (in English also known as Elsinore) is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. It is known internationally as the setting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, whence the spelling 'Elsinore' originated. From WIKI

Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe. His epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in 1543 just before his death, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution. From WIKI

Page 546

Le Maire
See page 544.

Boscovich
See page 215.

Rome to Rimini
See page 544.

last peace Treaty
Fairly sure this is in reference to the Treaty of Paris (1763), see page 420.

Maria Theresa
See page 224.

Page 547

Oolite Prism
See page 440.

lead Plate
See page 532.

Cheat
The Cheat River is a tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. From WIKI

Monongahela
See page 282.

Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. From WIKI

Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite. From WIKI

Plumbaginous
Graphite-like

Page 548

Celeron's lead Plates
See page 532.

"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.

Capt. Shelby
See page 499.

Page 549

Dixon... thinks you're a Jesuit Agent
See "Le Maire" entry on page 544.

"Andale, mis Hijos"
Hurry up, my Children

Soutane
See page 516.

Heliotrope
Reddish-purple

Page 550

Zsuzsa's Exhibition
See page 535.

first Charles
Charles I, (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649), the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England. He was an advocate of the divine right of kings, which was the belief that kings received their power from God and thus could not be deposed (unlike the similar Mandate of Heaven). Many of his English subjects feared that he was attempting to gain absolute power. Many of his actions, particularly the levying of taxes without Parliament's consent, caused widespread opposition. From WIKI

Page 551

Marlborough's riflemen
The Battle of Ramillies was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 23 May 1706. The encounter was a resounding success for the allied forces of the Dutch Republic, England, and their auxiliaries; but the battle had followed a year of indecisive campaigning in 1705 where Allied over-confidence and Dutch hesitancy after their success at the Battle of Blenheim had resulted in an abortive campaign along the Moselle, forcing the Duke of Marlborough to abandon his plans for a push into France. Yet despite the Allies' inability to achieve a decisive victory, Louis XIV was eager for peace; but he wanted it on reasonable terms. Therefore, rather than standing on the defensive, French armies on all fronts swung over to the offensive. From WIKI

Hanoverian... Stuart wantonness
See page 226.

Annotations Index