Re: More on the Hermetic Language

3/12/03 8:50:26 AM, Jan van Steenbergen
<ijzeren_jan@...> wrote:

>Welcome, Paul!
Jan, thank you for your greetings, and for your very
kind words!

>I've had a quick look at your website, and I agree with
all others that it
>really is a remarkable piece of work. Your language is
fascinating, and the
>script is extremely beautiful. Well, the whole thing
looks indeed very
>impressive. I'm just curious what the story is about.
And what the meaning is
>of all these chess problems near the end.
In "Mna Sipri Cilama" ("The Celestial Labors"), the evil
and mighty king Thosolano lays three impossible labors
upon the good but weak king Dhalathlo, as the condition
for the return of Dhalathlo's queen, Thalsthilo, whom
Thosolano has captured.

In order to perform these labors, Dhalathlo travels on a
great circular journey, to the end of the world, to the
heavens, beyond the heavens, and even beyond life and
death. He seeks the aid of the gods, and at each step
along the way he must shed one more weapon or piece of
armor, until he is without any means of offense or
defense. Dhalathlo returns from his journey, no longer
weak but now a mighty figure of numinous dread,
weaponless, his hair turned white due to his own passage
through death. He carries out the third labor-- "Fight
me with a weapon of your own choice"-- by taking on
Thosolano in a game of chess. (Actually, more like
shatranj.)

Hence the chess diagrams, which show the final moves of
the game between Dhalathlo and Thosolano. This is
actually the classic old "Dilaram problem" from the game
of shatranj: black is about to put white in checkmate,
but white (Dhalathlo) wins the game by sacrificing his
most powerful pieces.

From there, the story turns apocalyptic, as Dhalathlo's
triumph over Thosolano becomes the cosmic triumph of the
good moon-god Dhalbembu over the evil sun-god Rotas,
ushering in the end of the world.

I would love to provide an English translation of this
story, but only time will tell! My work keeps me busy. I
did make an English translation of the original Hermetic
back ca. 1974, but I'm not satisfied with it, and would
like to prepare a new English translation. However, even
in English, the story would be so densely packed with
unfamiliar concepts, that it would be well-nigh
unintelligible without an accompanying commentary.

Once again, thanks for your kind words!


---------------------------------------------
     E-mail   paul@paulburgess.org
     Website  http://www.paulburgess.org
---------------------------------------------