VL-IV pgs. 98/99: Postmodern Mysticism

[Robin Landseadel]

On Jan 19, 2009, at 3:39 PM, Simon Bryquer wrote:

> That above may true for the most part, but his use of the Kabbalah  
> in GR, especially towards the end with the stages of the rocket set  
> against the backdrop of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and etc.  
> Pynchon reveals a superficial knowledge of the subject.  Reveals  
> that Pynchon knows less than he actually let's .

Thank you for that information. I know that John Huston made a well  
regarded film version of "Under the Volcano" and I thank you for  
pointing me in that direction of that novel.

Obviously, I know relatively little about Kabbalah, but whatever dribs  
and drabs that come in my direction attract my attention, mainly on  
account of getting to know [living with] folks interested in the  
subject some 25 years back. I'm curious about two things you probably  
would be able to answer. First off, what to you think of Weissman's  
tarot reading from Gravity's Rainbow how much of it relates to/ 
displays authentic knowledge of Kabbalah? Second, have you read  
"Against the Day" and if so then what did you think of the numerous  
references to various spiritual/spiritualist traditions [Theosophy,  
the Golden Dawn, the O.T.O.] presented and /or parodied in AtD?

	SB:
	. . .my intention was not to address the subject of Postmodern
	Mysticism, a term which comes close to an oxymoron . . .

Does sound a bit like a parody seminar found in a Simpson's episode,  
doesn't. it? If you can come up with a better descriptive term for the  
presence of these themes in Pynchon's writing—the exhaustive and  
repeated  presence of magical realism, ghosts, seances, visionary  
experiences, gnostic experiences and their ilk in Pynchon's writing,  
then please show me the term.