GR translation: What passes are these, so blurred, so old and perfect?

[David Morris]

This is a numinous segment at a pivotal point in Slothrop's journey.
In the middle of these observations of this evil room Slothrop
*almost* sees a manlike/rootlike figure that will reappear after
Slothrop has become a mandala, a crossroads, a Buddha:  The mandrake
root.  But he's not there yet, not "to be let off quite so easy."

The "Forbidden Wing" of the song might refer to a section of the White
Visitation, but it more likely refers to the hospital wing where he
was an infant experimental subject.  Slothrop is here again abandoned
w/o understanding or defenses in an environment designed to break him
down, use him.  And he recognizes his plight.

The "passes [..]  so blurred, so old and perfect" probably refer to
gestures in a card game, declining another card or bet.

The moment passes with his "Fuck you," "the only spell he knows, and a
pretty good all-purpose one at that."

BTW, the "Forbidden" would also be the place in the Temple (Holy of
Holies) where the ark was kept, and where no one was allowed.  God's
earthly abode.

David Morris

On Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 12:41 AM, Mike Jing
<gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
> P205.32-206.3   Why here? Why should the rainbow edges of what is
> almost on him be rippling most intense here in this amply coded room?
> say why should walking in here be almost the same as entering the
> Forbidden itself—here are the same long rooms, rooms of old paralysis
> and evil distillery, of condensations and residues you are afraid to
> smell from forgotten corruptions, rooms full of upright grayfeathered
> statues with wings spread, indistinct faces in dust—rooms fall of dust
> that will cloud the shapes of inhabitants around the corners or deeper
> inside, that will settle on their black formal lapels, that will
> soften to sugar the white faces, white shirt fronts, gems and gowns,
> white hands that move too quickly to be seen . . . what game do They
> deal? What passes are these, so blurred, so old and perfect?
>
> What are these "passes"?  Anything specifically related to gambling,
> magic, or just card games?
>
> And what is "the Forbidden"?