AtDTDA: (8) 222 The Psychical Dective

[Richard Fiero]

Ya Sam wrote:
>Maybe it's my personal inattention or whatever, but after re-reading 
>that part it still puzzles me (as must puzzle Lew too) what exactly 
>the responsibilities of a psychic detective are. Nookshaft mentions 
>'entering further condition', he also points to the fact that 
>'detective' he means is different from the American one. We learn 
>that Lew's frame of reference would include the 22 human Tarot 
>cards, but what should he do with them? Spy on them? Ensure their 
>security? No specific instructions are given as far as I can see. 
>Help me with this.

I think Lew's psychic detection is like the mathematics serving as an 
inside joke, only different.
I also suppose that occultism in the real world is a reactionary 
tendency and that in Pynchon we find occultism in the employ of the 
status quo preserving elites.