Thursday, 24 March 2016

The reading has advanced to, “Ut novetur sexus omnis corporis mysterium till she was there unaided” (14.348) but will probably pick up again from the beginning of the paragraph, “To be short this passage was scarce by” (14.323).

Catherine Meyer sends this lovely drawing for the blog with a comment:

Poor bat – it is used for all kinds of mysterious phenomena, gloomy films and, last but not least, for the immaculate conception. In Stephen's long monologue he quotes  the church, the two philosphers Averroes and Moses Maimonides and reflects about how conception could have taken place without committing the great sin: 

“by wind of seeds of brightness or by potency of vampires mouth to mouth or, as Virgilius saith, by the influence of the occident or by the reek of moonflower or an she lie with a woman which her man has but lain with, effectu secuto, or peradventure in her bath according to the opinions of Averroes and Moses Maimonides” (14.243).

Thank you very much – I prefer the sin. But, in the drawing, there is a bat trying to kiss the bride. The little mark in its throat shows the cross signifying its inevitability. The girl is lying on a virginally white cushion covered with a blue garment, which stands for the Virgin Mary.

Catherine Meyer © Zürich 2016