AtDTDA 24: Psychical Espionage 670/673

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

So here's my straight poop---Call it "Witchy Scrye for The Muggley 
Guy"*---Ms. Ecstatica is the real deal. Reef blows his top on account 
of Madame Eskimoff not sounding in the least like Webb. So this hot 
little divining rod gets Reef to function as channel, and whatcha know, 
Pa shows up. Reef blanks out, is freaked, Kit tells 'em he even looked
like Pa. Reef ends up wondering who the hell he is, really, sez "next 
time get me a photo".

As regards the author's take on all this, note that Webb, Like 
Brigidier Pudding and Pierce Inverarity and a host of other characters, 
is still in the story, still has his say to say and so on. Reef & Kit look on 
their marytered father as requiring revenge, Webb's already past that. 
Pynchon follows the spiritual progress of characters well into their 
afterlives.

Bonus quest: Show me an example in TRP's works where the "Magic" 
doesn't work. I'm not talking metaphorically here, I talking about the 
specific scenes where obvious magical systems---Scrying, Tarot, Spells 
and so on are invoked/deployed. Geli's spell works wonders, Rebekah 
doesn't let a little thing like being dead get in the way of her changing 
the course of a relationship between her widowed husband and his 
soon to be best friend---hell, even little Hepsie's on to something.

*Corollary to "High Magic in Low Puns": the more groan inducing the
pun, the greater the likelihood of embedded truth in the pun. Least-
aways that's how it works out in Pynchon. "Young -Fur- Henchmen"
turns out to be meaningful in more than one direction. Charles 
Hollander talks about a "Magic Eye" interpretation to find his conspiracy
threads, but a straight out "Magick" reading of Pynchon leaves one
dazed by the seemingly endless allusions to Magick & Metaphysics.
Particularly "Against the Day".