Chapter 50: 484-490
Page 484
Euclid
See page 294.
Page 485
Metes and Bounds
Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land, real property (in contrast to personal property) or real estate. The system has been used in England for many centuries, and is still used there in the definition of general boundaries. By custom, it was applied in the original Thirteen Colonies that became the United States, and in many other land jurisdictions based on English common law. From WIKI
Shambles of Eternity
From Wiktionary:
SHAMBLES
1. a scene of great disorder or ruin
2. a great mess or clutter
3. a scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation
4. a slaughterhouse
5. (archaic) a butcher's shop
Also, cross reference page 289.
the Communication
See pages 357 & 363.
Ordinaries
In heraldry, an ordinary (or honourable ordinary) is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. From WIKI
The Rabbi of Prague, headquarters of a Kabbalistic Faith
The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel the late 16th century chief rabbi of Prague, also known as the Maharal of Prague, who reportedly created a golem to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks, pogroms. From WIKI Also WIKI for the Rabbi specifically.
Elect Cohens
See page 358.
Fingers spread two and two, and the Thumb held away from them likewise... Hebrew letter Shin... "Live long and prosper"
See this PHOTO. In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Leonard Nimoy wrote that he based the Vulcan salute on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the salute. The letter Shin here stands for Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)". Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue. There he saw the blessing performed and was very impressed by it. From WIKI. Also see Priestly Blessing.
a giant Golem
See page 481.
Page 486
"I am That Which I Am"
Exodus 3:14
And God saith unto Moses, `I AM THAT WHICH I AM;'
Page 487
as above, so below
This is a repeated, therefore deeply thematic, key phrase in M & D and Against the Day.
The phrase "as above, so below" is from an alchemical text called the
"Emerald Tablet of Hermes".
See, also, the Great Chain of Being, p. 417, Chapter 41, which, according to Wikipedia, could only be broken by alchemy or God (as demonstrated by the fall of Lucifer).
America had been kept hidden, as are certain bodies of knowledge
as [immediately] above, so here.....see Gnosticism.....see Pynchon's whole oeuvre.
the Secret was safe until the choice was made to reveal it
The ending of The Crying of Lot 49?....Pynchon's whole oeuvre, so to speak?
