Gnostic Myth-Making...? + notes from waste archives

[Lemuel Underwing]

Jorge Luis Borges comes to mind, as an Honorable Mention at least...


On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 4:25 PM, Lemuel Underwing <luunderwing at gmail.com>wrote:

> I always considered it a strange sort of Purgatory, the Cape being Hell
> and America Paradise... I believe the Rev'd even uses the term Purgatorial
> to describe Mason's interlude there... but that's Dante and not Ovid...
> Hades being more Purgatory than the whole Lake-of-Fire thing... so it's
> appropriate Mason begins to see Rebekah there...? hmm
>
>
> On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 4:16 PM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> St Helena is a good enough stand in for hell
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 4:38 PM, Lemuel Underwing <luunderwing at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> There are certainly heavy allusions to Orpheus & Eurydice in Mason's
>>> yearning for his deceased wife. Tho' nothing so fruitful as a journey to
>>> Hades occurs.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 11:33 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> Nice post no matter.
>>>>
>>>> There is a creative mini-recreation of the Orpheus myth in the
>>>> Cyprian-Yashmeen section of Against the Day.
>>>> And other places, I think.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    *From:* Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>>>> *To:* P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 23, 2013 8:33 PM
>>>> *Subject:* Re: Gnostic Myth-Making...? + notes from waste archives
>>>>
>>>> OK serious fuck up. I accidentally attributed an essay By Michael
>>>> Jarvis UC Riverside to K Hume. Different take on a similar theme.
>>>> On May 23, 2013, at 4:47 PM, Joseph Tracy wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > I remembered having posted one or 2 times on P's use of the Orpheus
>>>> myth. So with an intro from L Underwing and Kathryn Hume i am reposting
>>>> below a post /essay I wrote while reading IV.  I still tend to think that
>>>> gnosticism in its traditional meaning is a stretch, but that P uses the
>>>> realm of myth as one of the layers of his 3 tiered
>>>> fictional/historic/mythic world. Some of it is play and some is serious and
>>>> none is either dismissable or fully trustworthy.
>>>> > At the time of my writing about this I had not read Hume and am just
>>>> starting the essay here quoted today during the patches of sodden downpour.
>>>> >
>>>> > On May 22, 2013, at 11:51 PM, Lemuel Underwing wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> So if Miss Hume is convincing in her argument that one of Pynchon's
>>>> main stabilizing functions is his Myth-Making (and I think she is), and
>>>> furthermore that it is a type of Gnostic Myth with a Twist,
>>>> >
>>>> > This paper deals with mythological/religious imagery and syncretic
>>>> soteriologies in Thomas Pynchon’s 2006 novel Against the Day, focusing in
>>>> particular on the character of Cyprian Latewood, bisexual spy, Orpheus
>>>> stand-in, and masochist par excellence. Cyprian’s path throughout the novel
>>>> is specifically an Orphic descent/return myth, but it also deals with
>>>> issues of mystical transcendence, metempsychosis, Dionysian ekstasis, and
>>>> Buddhist nirvana. These are represented at the macro level in themes such
>>>> as retreat from the world, neo-monasticism, anarchic activism, or hope for
>>>> transcendent knowledge, and also within specific images and scenes, such as
>>>> those involving flight, self-negation, disembodied voices, and the final
>>>> voyage of the Chums of Chance, a Manichaean allegory of escape. Cyprian’s
>>>> final home at a Bogomil-Orphic monastery near Thrace serves to tie together
>>>> disparate religio-political strands within the novel, including a syncretic
>>>> teleology (Gnostic/Buddhist/Manichaean) and countercultural activism. It is
>>>> simultaneously a retreat from the world – a political move with relevance
>>>> to the history of the Bogomils as both persecuted sect and social agitators
>>>> – and also a move towards transcendence through gnostic ritual.
>>>> >             Opening paragraph of one of Hume's essays
>>>> >
>>>> >> From the waste archives
>>>> > To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l@[omitted]>
>>>> > From: Joseph Tracy <brook7@[omitted]>
>>>> > Subject: Coy
>>>> > Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:06:26 -0400
>>>> >
>>>> > Coy Harlingen :Heroin addict, Sax player session man, undercover
>>>> > agent for cops,/Vigilant/FBI ?, husband of Hope, father of Amethyst,
>>>> > seeker of return home( Jason,
>>>> > Orpheus
>>>> > , Euridice).
>>>> >
>>>> > Coy:  The politics of heroin in Southeast Asia ( Harper &Row)
>>>> > by Alfred W McCoy - Mark Kohut wrote: Coy was on heroin; just a Mc
>>>> > short of McCoy on heroin......... Coy- hard to get
>>>> >
>>>> > Harlingen  -  Harlingen Texas ( named after Harlingen, Netherlands ,
>>>> > Frisian version of same name as Harlinton, Middlex) far south near
>>>> > brownsville 80% mexican was airforce base, almost died when base
>>>> > closed -harley- lingo- ingen- gen  .  ARLINGTON CEMETERY :  named
>>>> > after virginia town which was named after Harlington, Middlesex
>>>> > Name etymology:  Place( open field)  of the army , Ton= town
>>>> > Harley' s (HD)  also have connections to war(Pancho Villa , WW1)and
>>>> > heroin (Hells angels,Easy Rider)  Harlequin-romance stories
>>>> >
>>>> > I think Coy Harlingen's story is a version of the
>>>> > Orpheus and  Euridice story of Greek myth which may be a major mythic
>>>> refrain of
>>>> > the novel. It takes up a regular pattern and theme of Pynchon's
>>>> > fiction in journeys to the underworld( Vheissu, Chumps of Chance
>>>> > hollow earth/ sub sand machine witch, caves in Mexico/ in Colorado/
>>>> > Switzerland, down urinal, caves in Peenemunde, subtext, underwater
>>>> > bones, Dante', Lemuria etc....)
>>>> > One of the main forms this journey takes is an immersion into the
>>>> > great game of  imperial espionage, undercover operations and
>>>> > underground resistance.  Often those who travel this way experience
>>>> a
>>>> > crisis point when they find the game is simply a lucrative and
>>>> greedy
>>>> > cover and themselves implicated in serving people and actions which
>>>> > are despicable.  What happens then varies , some seem unable to
>>>> > emerge, some disappear in transcendence beyond the knowledge of self
>>>> > or reader. Some, perhaps most, bounce like yo-yos.  Some journeys
>>>> > turn back  toward something more humble that you might call home,
>>>> > usually without so much sentiment, often flawed, but a  place with
>>>> > love, family , friends, dogs, hope. Whether there is such a place is
>>>> > not easily answered.
>>>> >
>>>> > Whatever the origins, the character of Orpheus has generated myth,
>>>> > legend and supposed history( as teacher and founder of mystery
>>>> > religions).  He is always a musician and was the lyre player aboard
>>>> > the Argo who played so beautifully that he broke the spell of the
>>>> > sirens over Jason. In this chapter Jason is a pimp who is under the
>>>> > spell of flash, cash,  and stash and is naive and unable to control
>>>> > "his" women and admires the slick operation of the Golden Fang. Doc
>>>> > goes from Jason to a bar where there is a torch singer who has him
>>>> > pretty intrigued but he is even more drawn by the musical
>>>> > reappearance of Coy Harlingen and is caught up again in the implied
>>>> > story of a homecoming in the house of the Harlingens.
>>>> >
>>>> > The major story of Orpheus is his love story with Euridice .
>>>> > Supposedly on the day of his wedding, Euridice is chased by
>>>> Aristaeus
>>>> > the son of Apollo into a nest of snakes and bitten.  Coy meets Hope
>>>> > in a junkie bar ( nest of poison injectors)  on the Mexican border
>>>> in
>>>> > the loo where they shit out and puke up packets of heroin and are
>>>> > soon injecting together ( a 2 fanged serpent). In the myth
>>>> > Orpheus,  upon Euridice's loss, plays music so sad it moves the gods
>>>> and they
>>>> > advise him to go to the underworld to plead with Hades which he
>>>> > successfully does.  In this story both Hope and Coy are sinking into
>>>> > addiction and watching their child drink milk laced with heroin from
>>>> > Hope's breasts when Coy OD's in mysterious circumstances and Hope
>>>> > never sees the body and questions his death.  The song that moves
>>>> the
>>>> > reader's hearts and Doc's is the powerful evidence of a Love from
>>>> > both Coy and Hope.  When we meet her she is healthy , recovered,
>>>> > attractive (apart from her false teeth), and has ample money which
>>>> > appeared when Coy "died" and/or disappeared into the underworld. Her
>>>> > daughter is healthy, curious and lively. But what Hope really wants
>>>> > is her husband and clearly not to resume the habit.
>>>> >
>>>> > Coy's journey is revealed in pieces more slowly. First we find him
>>>> in
>>>> > the Club Asiatique where he gets paid, but doesn't know who he works
>>>> > for.. He is straight now and living with the Boards and concerned
>>>> > about Hope & Amethyst.  He tells the Doc GF is a boat with smuggled
>>>> > goods and dangerous. We see him next at the Boards place where Doc
>>>> > gives him a coded message amidst an  atmosphere of intense paranoia
>>>> > that H& A are OK.  The Boards are so blinded by egotism they don't
>>>> > even know their sax player is the reputedly dead Coy. Then he shows
>>>> > at the Nixon rally and Penny says he is a cop snitch.  In Ch 10 he
>>>> is
>>>> > playing with the chanteuse and tells Doc he took the offer to work
>>>> > undercover to get straight and serve his country . Now he has
>>>> > realized that the people he is working for are not protecting people
>>>> > but addicted to war and control/power/money. His addiction is dead
>>>> > but he is still trapped in the underworld.  He misses his wife and
>>>> > child, his only consolation is music.
>>>> >
>>>> > Now Plato says
>>>> > Orpheus
>>>> > is a weak willed coward who if he had any
>>>> > manliness would have died . But Plato was a fascist prick and the
>>>> > ultimate ideologist. Pynchon seems to have arranged things more
>>>> along
>>>> > the lines of where there's Life there's Hope or vice versa. Like
>>>> > committing honorable seppukku is really not the way to save your
>>>> > marriage ( or much else).
>>>> >
>>>> > In the myth, Orpheusis allowed to lead Euridice out of hell if he
>>>> > trusts Hades and Euridice enough to not turn around to check up
>>>> > before escaping. He fails and sings sad music until killed by women.
>>>> >
>>>> > As a parable of addiction this is pretty accurate; the recovered
>>>> > person can lead the way but can't set the other free. That is a step
>>>> > by step process they must take themselves.  As a parable of
>>>> > unconsolable love as a source of the saddest and most beautiful
>>>> music
>>>> > it works well also. Somehow the saddest music purifies cleanses and
>>>> > renews the will to love.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Love guarantees neither success nor failure in the short term,  some
>>>> > addicts recover , some don't,  families and marriages heal and they
>>>> > fall apart, nations occasionally heal.  In  a version  of the myth,
>>>> >
>>>> > Orpheus refuses women after Euridice's death and consoles himself
>>>> > with boys. This sounds to me a sad explanation for homoerotic love
>>>> > and art. Even the greeks could not fully accept this aspect of human
>>>> > diversity.
>>>> >
>>>> > What is the way back from, or away from  war as a way of life? What
>>>> > is the way back from or away from our many addiction's. Can anyone
>>>> > or anything break the hold of ego and greed enough to heal this
>>>> > paranoid country. Neither TV nor not TV, neither sex nor not sex,
>>>> > neither information nor not information. Pynchon saturates us with
>>>> > the detritus and the weighty issues of the early 70s until we are
>>>> > reeling with it. Things haven't changed much. The gods of our age
>>>> are
>>>> > hard to move. Pynchon documents the course of empire and resistance
>>>> > as it affects every type of individual, using satire, cultural
>>>> > insanity, and moments of sheer horror to diffuse simplistic self
>>>> > satisfaction and jolt the mind awake.
>>>> >
>>>> > One of the great gifts of our times are the people who have ventured
>>>> > into the dark places and come back to tell the truth, but the
>>>> > greatest power of these visionaries is when they lead people out of
>>>> > hell.  I think of people like Bayard Rustin, Pete Seeger, Aung San
>>>> > Suu Kyi Dorothy Day, but  just as much, maybe even more on a
>>>> personal
>>>> > level, one thinks of  the friends and teachers and bakers and makers
>>>> > and children who surprise us with courage grace and insight ,
>>>> empathy
>>>> > and love, and information we can use.  I think one thing Pynchon is
>>>> > trying to do is showing the struggle to escape the powers of hades
>>>> as
>>>> > it plays out in the confused, compromised realities of average
>>>> > screwed up people. The lights may be rare but they  come through the
>>>> > cracks in the world..
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
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