On Being Certain/In Two Places At Once

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

               iMB: is this in context of trying to figure out 
               what happened to Hassan?

               Is there a missing piece (like "kite") that 
               will clarify what is going on?


               A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is
               a better place than the street. At first it is better to run
               than to walk. You may have to try several times. It
               takes some skill but it is easy to learn. Even young
               children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications
               are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however,
               soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same
               thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of
               room. If there are no complications it can be very
               peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break
               loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance.

               Is this paragraph comprehensible or meaningless? Feel
               your mind sort through potential explanations. Now watch
               what happens with the presentation of a single word: kite

What we have here is not a missing word that will clarify all, but a scene 
akin to scrying via iceland spar, where we see things moving away in 
multiple directions towards different resolutions.

But first, who is Hassan?

This is lifted, wholesale, from the Against the Day wiki:

               "He looked around to to tell Hassan, who he was sure had 
               already seen into his thoughts. Hassan was of course no 
               longer there." (p. 769)

               When Kit journies to Lake Baikal via the stone arch of Tushuk 
               Tash, he is accompanied by Hassan, the loyal lieutenant of 
               the Doosra.

               Al-Doosra is the "local prophet" who was "driven mad by the 
               desert" (p. 756) and who advocates for a Pan-Turania from 
               Manchuria to Hungary united under a "single Shamanistic 
               ruler" - a Northern Prophet known as "the One who comes. 
               " Hassan and the Doosra are also very into ganga.

               What does Hassan's dissappearance mean? You got me.

               Here are the relevant sections that I can see:

               Auberon Halfcourt: "The future out here simply belongs to the 
               Prophet. It might have gone differently. This madman might 
               have actually founded his pan-shamanic empire." (p. 758)

               Lieutenant Prance: "Because this Arch is the Gateway," 
               declared Prance - "unless we enter by way of it, we shall 
               always be on the wrong journey." (p. 764)

               Al-Doosra: "I am only a servant in this matter," said the Doosra. 
               "My own master will be found in the north, at his work. If you 
               wish to seek him for yourself, he will receive you." (p. 765)

               At Tushuk Tash:

               Hassan: "We have nearly completed the journey."
               Kit: "And the Prophet? The Doosra's master? 
               Shall I speak to him?"
               Hassan: "You spoke to him." (p. 768)

               Then Hassan dissappears.

               After:
               Lieutant Prance: "Out here pilgrimage is a matter of kind 
               and wrathful deities. Timing. Guidance."
               Kit: "Waht's that mean?"
               Prance: "Ask Hassan."
               Kit: "Hassan dissappeared the minute we got to the Lake."
               Prance: "Exactly." (p. 774)

               OK, so who was Hassan? Who was the Doosra? Who was the 
               Prophet? Why did Hassan disssapear? And why did he leave Kit 
               with more ganga?

               Any thoughts?

We are all aware, of course, that Kit is on a boni-fied spiritual journey to the 
east? That he is headed towards Shambhala? That the location of 
Shambhala is usually thought of as in or near Tuva? That Tuva is full of 
shamans? Unless my guidance is totally blown off course, what we are 
dealing with here is a shaman. They have the power to dissapear at will. 
Mind you, shamanism is all over the section we are now reading, but I'm 
going back, a little dumbfounded. It's kinda like the moment I discovered 
that there were at least two first rate scrying globes in the house all along. I 
am going back to my books and do further research on this fascinating 
subject. This all lends further creedence to the notion that it was was the 
Magyakan who cast the spell that brought forth Agdy, Lord of the Thunder 
and was the true cause of the Tunguska Event. Then there's the little matter 
of Gengis Cohen-Great Cohen-Gengis Khan and Tuva as a generator of 
postal Cinderellas. My question is, how does Elmer Fudd figure into this?