VL-IV pgs. 98/99: Postmodern Mysticism

[Simon Bryquer]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robin Landseadel"

> 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.

These are quick answers because I'm in a great hurry.

Perhaps because I am so familiar with Lowry's work especially Under The 
Volcano, I always thought that it would be extremely difficult to make a 
movie of  UTV, and perhaps if I had not read the book first, I found 
Houston's interpretation for the most part a failure and having little to do 
with UTV, except for bare bone story line, which is not what makes UTV 
great. What is great about UTV is of course the writing, which like in all 
great novel, where language and it's inventions is the primary player and 
simply can never be captured on film(though thinking about it for a moment 
Kubrick is perhaps the exception, perhaps the only one). UTV is above all a 
novel of the mind, specifically the drama of the mind and this simply cannot 
be captured on film. Though I must say that when I first heard that Kubrick 
was going to make 'Clockwork Orange' into a movie I dismissed, again not 
only because of the language but because it was in essence a foreign 
language, simply as impossible. But I must say I was very pleasantly 
surprised. But that is a unique exception which does not occur frequently.

 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?

I have not read Weissman.  But my guess is no.  I will look for the Weissman 
book and read it. I don't how much you know about Kabbalah, but on the 
simplest level  it is Jewish Mysticism.  Just as Sufism is Islamic 
mysticism, Zen is Buddhist mysticism and etc.  Kabbalah means to receive, 
that is to receive the hidden oral tradition of the Torah, the Old 
Testament.  It is believed that the Torah was originally delivered as one 
long unbroken sentence contained in the 5 books of Moses, the Torah. Over 
time it was revealed in the first level, revealed itself as the destined 
story and struggles and history of  the Children of Israel occurred. The 
subsequent levels, for the most part hidden is the tradition of the 
Kabbalah. One of the earliest work of Kabbalah was the 'Sefer Yetzirah' 
meaning the book of formations. But the magnum opus is the Zohar- The Book 
of Splendor, it's in Aramaic, but has been translated in Hebrew first, then 
into other languages as well English. But much is lost because the symbolism 
and multiple meanings depend on the root structure of the Aramaic and Hebrew 
language, in terms of numbers values and word reversals.   It consists of 
five volumes, a mystic interpretation and revelation of the five books of 
the Torah, starting with Genesis and so forth.

I don't want to preoccupy the list with this off topic, so regarding Tarot 
card, Tarot does not exist nor is it a concern of Kabbalah, yet the Tarot 
cards are derived from the superficial symbology of Kabbalah, especially 
with the Waite deck, where most are the misinterpretation of Medieval plague 
ridden Europe and all its outcry of doom and  church influenced fear dogma. 
A paradox because the church forbids the Tarot . Keep in mind there are many 
kinds of Tarot decks, the Egyptian and Persian being the more interesting. 
Thus the only thing I can say without having read Weissman, that he probably 
is using a Waite deck and just followed the arbitrary meanings supposedly 
associated with Kabbalah without question  and superimposed them on GR.


> 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?

I bought AtD when it was first published but surprised myself for not being 
able to get into it. I will read it shortly, but based of the list's 
comments I have the feeling that nothing of Pynchon's will surpass GR. But 
I'm hopeful. Though Pynchon has addressed  the 19th century occult and 
'spiritual' traditions you mention I don't recall him having ever having 
addressed the earlier centuries from any point of view with the likes of 
Agrippa von Nettenshein, Paracelsus, Comte de St. Germain and etc. , the 
mystics and alchemists of the hermetic sciences  I would imagine he would 
have a great interest in because of the elements of pre-science especially 
as they were often viewed as the great charlatans of their time (persecuted 
by the Church) but in actuality great doctors using the early concepts of 
applied medicine, for they traveled a great deal to the East where they 
picked up all sort of technique and remedies unknown in the West, and to 
this day most of the West is ignorant of the knowledge of the East that 
precedes it -- even today most doctors still can't really accept 
acupuncture.


Simon Bryquer



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robin Landseadel" <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 12:46 AM
Subject: Re: VL-IV pgs. 98/99: Postmodern Mysticism


> 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.
>
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