Chance as luck; yashmeen as Fortuna; later perspective on an earlier part of ATD

[Mark Kohut]

Nailed...with citations.....love what yashmeen you found again. (I'm away from my book for the moment)....right on.
 
Onward,
MK

--- On Fri, 6/27/08, robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:

From: robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
Subject: RE: Chance as luck; yashmeen as Fortuna; later perspective on an earlier part of ATD
To: "P-list" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Date: Friday, June 27, 2008, 8:58 AM

Your Answers Questioned:

      Mark Kohut:
      I have picked up a book called Something for Nothing, 
      by social historian jackson Lears. 2003.

      He explores Luck..in gambling, in life, in our relation to 
      the universe, American locus..........

http://www.gamblingplanet.org/images/editorials/Roulette110807.jpg

      He links Chance/luck with magic and divination......and in 
      America, citing Weber among others, says it is the 
      necessary Counterforce, so to speak, to the Protestant 
      Puritan religion of control, hard work and success in 
      life manifesting one's salvation................

      Ah, I hear Pynchon 
      listening..............................................................

Divination is listening to the winds of change, recognizing that this 
seemingly random sequence of 10 images drawn from this deck of 78 
different cards landed in this particular sequence on this pattern of a 
celtic cross for a reason. Playing with the cards---Tarot or Poker or 
some surreal combo of the the two, like "W.C. Fields Forever" by the 
Firesign Theater or Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon, means
settling down, getting comfy and spending some quality time with 
synchronicity.

      Laura:
      Doesn't this imply that Luck is as elitist as the Protestant 
      Work Ethic, in that it creates a group which, in some sense, 
      "deserves" to be lucky?

And every bit as delusional, as well. I suspect folks bought into the whole
Bush Admin. shuck and jive concerning "death taxes" and other 
fraudulent schemes to get the rich folk to get out of paying for their shit
because they always dreamed they would win the Lotto and didn't want to
see the government get everything. And, of course, they don't win the 
lottery and by this process end up giving everthing to the government. 

Brilliant, isn't it?

      It's possible to be doubly preterite, both unlucky and 
      economically disadvantaged, screwed over by both 
      the Magical and the Capitalist.

You mean liked that old woman with the arthritic hands who is picking up a 
large green candle and placing it in her basket next to a 1/4 oz. vial of 
money draw?

      Mark Kohut:
      Well, maybe....but the author is pretty careful not to 
      argue that Luck is deserved.............just happens............
      or usually doesn't............

          "It wasn't exactly a religious experience, but somehow, a 
          little at a time, she had found herself surrendering to her 
          old need to take care of people. Not for compensation, 
          certainly not for thanks. Her first rule became "don't 
          thank me." Her second was "Don't take the credit for
anything 
          that turns out well." One day she woke up understanding clear 
          as the air that as long as a person was willing to forgo credit, 
          there were very few limits on the good it became possible to do.
          AtD, p. 976

      scuffling :
      I've been interested in the nuances of the words for years: 
      fortune, luck, and chance.  A-and I'm always careful about 
      wishing someone "Good Luck," because it isn't wished 
      unless it is thought to be needed.

Oh Fortuna!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uucj5xLRHQc

http://www.ftworthschoolofmassage.com/fees_files/angel37.jpe

http://www.starbridge.com.au/images/opt/big/La-Rone-du-Fortune-The-Whee.jpg

http://www.fortuneswheel.org/

http://www.wheeloffortune.com/


      
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