Thursday 19 July 2018

Man

Poul Anderson, The Avatar, XXXVI, pp. 314-318.

The man who is an avatar of Man gets four whole pages of text. He is fully articulate even when not in Oneness.

Ten months before his birth, his mother dreamed that the spirits bore her below the world. When he was an adult, the Summoner bore him to where he "...was every god who had ever been, and understood everything that was." (p. 317) When he was to return to his life, One offered him forgetfulness but he declined. Having learned that the world is vast and eternally changes, he became a great healer and prophetic leader. He knows that Oneness is yonder among the stars.

I have summarized Anderson's texts. Please read or reread the texts in their entirety for the details that I have had to leave out.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And one thing I remember about this American Indian was that he became a widely respected shaman. And that he argued, prophesied, and bullyragged his tribe into seeking a new home when conditions worsened at their old home.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Details that I had forgotten until I re-reread.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I've already said, I came to have better opinion of THE AVATAR after a second reading.

Sean