CoL49 (1) magic, anonymous and malign [PC 12, 40]

[Robin Landseadel]

	Such a captive maiden, having plenty of time to think, soon
	realizes that her tower, its height and architecture, are like her
	ego only incidental: that what really keeps her where she is is
	magic, anonymous and malignant, visited on her from outside
	and for no reason at all.

A question from Oedipa's Sphinx:

	If the tower is everywhere and the knight of deliverance no
	proof against its magic, what else?

I wonder what tarot card the knight of deliverance would be?

There is a coloration of malignant magic throughout CoL49. I've gone  
farther off the deep end with this theme in Pynchon than anybody  
really should but there it is, a note of creeping anti-magic, the  
shadow half of magic. Of course, if "White Magic" is life affirming  
then Black Magic must be death affirming, doing the two-step with his  
good ol' bud entropy while still trying to pogo with drinkin' bud  
Anarchy. On first reading my head was still resonating with Mozart's  
Magic Flute—the LP era offered up LP consumption as obsessive- 
compulsive behavior, I accepted. The three attendants to the Queen of  
the Night = the three stars to the moon. By such roundabout ways  
landing on Tristero= three stars. Which I guess is a little further  
offbase than Varo = Varro.

But if I entered through another door I'd still reach the same place:

	. . . at some unique performance, prolonged as if it were the last
	of the night, something a little extra for whoever'd stayed this
	late. . .

	. . . back down the runway, its luminous stare locked to
	Oedipa's, smile gone malign and pitiless; bend to her alone
	among the desolate rows of seats and begin to speak words
	she never wanted to hear?

Tristero is representative of the night and cunning, resonating with   
'black magic' & bad karma. It is the dark magic of anarchy as well. As  
we proceed in the text, Oedipa merely saying the word "Tristero"  
derails and closes conversation. Later on we encounter 'ritual  
reluctance' around that word, but we haven't even seen the name yet.   
Right now we're just being tipped off to the presence of bad mojo. A  
great deal will be made of the power of uttering of a particular word.  
The lighting will darken. There will be ominous music playing on the  
organ.

By virtue of presenting Oedipa's story as a fairy tale with a maybe  
not-so-happy ending, the author offers up the possibility that what's  
really going on in the story is Magic, anonymous and malignant.