VV(13) - Southward Progression

[David Morris]

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(230) [Mondaugen] then (as if, like melancholy, this southsickness were 
progressive and incurable) finally to leave the depression-time in Munich, 
journey into this other hemisphere and enter mirror-time in the South-West 
Protectorate.
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>From depression-time (in Munich) to another hemisphere into mirror-time (in 
the South-West Protectorate).

This progression begs analysis, doesn't it?  The first modifier is literal.  
The second is not, but connects us with all the other mirror metaphors in 
the text:  the mirrored clock Rachel observes; the yo-yo passing through a 
mirror / Profanes apochier analogy... I'm sure I'm forgetting others.

But here, so far, Mondaugen's movement is unidirectional, incurable.  This 
aspect of involuntary progression, illness, links him to the yo-yo Profane.  
"Incurable" might mean irreversible, but it might also mean just beyond 
one's own control.  If, like a yo-yo or a planet, gravity, or another force 
is in control, you might still be pulled back.  This imagery thus portrays 
this controlling force as both evil (controlling) and good (making possible 
a return).

Another aspect of this Southward Progression is the crossing of an invisible 
line, literally the equator.  From depression to mirror time  might be a 
transition to an opposite realm, and must be in at least one aspect of the 
mandala, but it is still southward, unidirectional.  What does the crossing 
of this line under the influence of a single incurably sick force bode?  
What are the qualities of this other side of the invisible line?  These 
might be the qualities we meet in "Mondaugen's Storey."

David Morris
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