M&D Deep Duck 4-6: Equator

[Joseph Tracy]

There's a strong literary convention that associates the loss of shadow with the loss of soul. The crossing of the equator seems also a crossing into the heart of the colonial enterprise, a point of reversal where the lamb's passover liberation from slavery is reversed and self proclaimed Christ bearers become slavers.  Next stop the land of the capital V small o, small c, the spirit of Cal v inism, the blessedness of coin and rifle, the everlasting goodness of rent.  
On Jan 29, 2015, at 1:13 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

> "About March 20 and September 21, the sun rises exactly in the east, follows the equator for 12 hours, and sets exactly in the west.  At midday on an equinox, the sun is at its zenith over the equator and no objects will cast a shadow there."
> 
> http://mexican-jaguars.tripod.com/nahuamayanumbersystem/id11.html
> 
> But Cherrycoke describes the equatorial crossing to his audience:
> 
> "...our Shadows lay perfectly beneath us."[p. 56]
> 
> Perusing Mason's logbook ...
> 
> Again, Becky’s link:
> 
> http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/pageturn.html?id=MEDREN_2486434&rotation=0&currentpage=48
> 
> … there doesn't seem to be any mention of crossing the Equator. But maybe the info is conveyed in the nautical notations? As a layperson, I couldn't spot it.
> 
> March 20-21 seemed to have relatively clear weather on a mostly squall-ridden trip (which lasted from February 5 - April 27).
> 
> So Pynchon's taken creative license to put them on the Equator on the equinox. Not to mention creative license with the crossing ceremony, which Mason makes no note of (though he was a taciturn log-keeper).
> 
> Laura
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>
>> Sent: Jan 28, 2015 4:23 PM
>> To: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>> Cc: kelber <kelber at mindspring.com>, pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Subject: Re: M&D Deep Duck 4-6: Equator
>> 
>> I don't know whether this plays any role in M&D, and unfortunately I 
>> don't have the time to check, but only near the equator is it possible 
>> that the sun stands vertical above one's head so that there is no 
>> shadow. In fact, this is one of the definitions of the tropics:
>> 
>> "The tropics include all the areas on the Earth where the Sun reaches a 
>> subsolar point, a point directly overhead at least once during the solar 
>> year."
>> 
>> Wiki, s.v.
>> 
>> Cf. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":
>> 
>> All in a hot and copper sky,
>> The bloody Sun, at noon,
>> Right up above the mast did stand,
>> No bigger than the Moon.
>> 
>> FWIW
>> 
>> 
> -
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