Pig-related

[Doug Millison]

"Pigs are smart, friendly animals that thoroughly enjoy wallowing in the
dirt. [...]  Anmals that enjoy immersing themselves in dirt have
traditionally been under the aegis of the Goddess. The pig, a symbol of
fertility in many cultures, was Demeter's favorite animal; a sow often
appeared at her side. Artists portrayed Isis, the Egyptian goddess of
fertility, giving birth on the back of a pig. In the wild, packs of roaming
pigs are led by the oldest sow, making pigs one of the few animal societies
that are organized as a matriarchy. A rotund animal that thrives in mud,
grows quickly, and is very fertile can serve as an appropriate metaphor for
pregnancy. Proscribing the pig was yet another way to diminish female
power."
--Leonard Shlain on pigs and patriarchy among the Israelites, in _The
Alphabet Versus the Goddess_, and interesting but often irritating book.

Great to see Chris K back on the list, if only briefly.

If I had the time, I'd write a long essay that interprets that wonderful
and tragic sense of yearning and longing for liberation that I see running
through all of TRP's work in light of Ken Wilber's discussion of the
Ascending and Descending paths in his massive work, _Sex, Ecology,
Spirituality:  The Spirit of Evolution_, where he talks about the way that
Western religion, especially Christianity, suppressed its own early
mystical tradition, and paved the way for the Enlightenment to leave no
room for magic or mystery in a completely mapped world. But I don't have
the time, so I simply recommend SES to all serious Pynchon readers.

-Doug


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