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The Qabala and The Crying of Lot 49

Moving through a dreamlike state The Crying of Lot 49 leads its readers down a rabbit hole. It’s possible that Thomas Pynchon is alluding to deeper meanings, particularly because of the many weird names and obscure references. Or the man is out of his mind. I’ve developed a theory corresponding to the former thought. It has been discovered by some that one of his other books, Gravity’s Rainbow, may share significant interests with some of the Qabala’s secrets. There may be more of this in The Crying of Lot 49. The clues in the book and my own working knowledge of the Qabala have led me to this new consideration. The ancient Hebrew language is considered a sacred language closely tied to the Qabala (also spelled Kabbalah, Kaballah, or Qabalah). Many of the letters have correspondences within the Qabala and Tarot (whose cards correspond to the Qabala), such as the letter Mem, which corresponds to the Hanged Man of the 23rd path. It does not seem obvious just yet, but I believe that Thomas Pynchon’s book The Crying of Lot 49 is a symbolic reference to the 23rd path of the Qabala.

First of all, the outline of the Hanged Man, which is the twelfth trump of the deck of Tarot, looks like a post horn. The Tarot is linked to the Qabala. Each of the 22 cards with figures on them, called trumps; pertain to one path in the Qabala. Egyptian tarot is thought by some to be the most ancient form of Tarot. When Oedipa first sees the symbol of the Tristero, she thinks “God, Heiroglyphics” (p. 38). She also meets a Mr. Thoth (p. 72) which is likely a reference to Aleister Crowley’s The Book of Thoth. The Book of Thoth addresses the Tarot and its associations with the Qabala. A website dedicated to the Tarot tells us that it is a medieval practice of the Tarot to symbolically represent ideas with images (Tyson). The outline of the Hanged Man looking like a post horn would then in itself reflect this practice. This twelfth trump of the tarot, the Hanged Man, is associated with the 23rd path of the Qabala, from Hod to Geburah, according to More Simplified Magic by Ted Andrews (197).

I should mention here what the path working of the Qabala is. The Tree of Life is the basis of the Qabala. Andrews says of this subject “In traditional teaching there are 22 paths connecting the temples of the Tree of Life. These 22 traditional paths are bridges between the various levels of the subconscious, the Sephiroth” (p. 256), also, “The Hanged Man tarot card stimulates new perspectives in all areas of our life….oppurtunities arise to exchange our views for new ones in which spirituality plays a more important role….We may become more prone to unproductive daydreaming. We may even find ourselves becoming self-indulgent, with feelings being exaggerated out of proportion’’ (Andrews 198). Benefits of this path may be truth and courage, new perspectives, clarification of emotions, oppurtunities for new visions, heightened sensitivities and instincts, and discovery of life purpose (Andrews 199). These things can all be associated with Oedipa’s experiences.

Oedipa’s quest through the novel is very similar to what we are told to expect from a path working experience on the 23rd path. Oedipa searches for deeper knowledge of the Tristero, and along this path, as on the 23rd, she gains new perspective.  She is forced to as she takes on this challenge without any confidant or alliance. By the end of the book she is headstrong and independent.  This independence also helps her gain courage.  She is provided with an opportunity for new vision as this statement reveals: “So began, for Oedipa, the languid, sinister blooming of The Tristero.  Or rather, her attendance at some unique performance, prolonged as it were the last of the night, something a little extra for whoevere’d stayed this late….as if a plunge toward dawn indefinite black hours long would indeed be necessary before The Tristero could be revealed in its terrible nakedness” (p. 40).  Her new vision is represented with the Tristero. She also experiences a lot of heightened sensitivities and daydreaming.  Many parts in the book seem like some sort of lucid daydream, but chapter 5 in particular, during her meeting with the old man who left his wife years ago, is very emotionally sensitive and telepathic. The old man somehow knows she understands what the underground mail service is, “Drop it in the….you know.  I can’t go out there”.  He somehow knows she’ll know what he means by this.  Oedipa replies “I know, but I’m new in town.  I don’t know where it is” (p. 102).  They have not spoken of the W.A.S.T.E system at all. She holds him as he cries even though they don’t know each other. Later in this scene she is daydreaming about how she would help the man. “She might find the landlord of this place, and bring him to court….But with a sigh he had released her hand, while she was so lost in the fantasy that she hadn’t felt it go away, as if he’d known the best moment to let go” (p. 103). After this she has a telepathic moment where she sees through the old man’s eyes.  What she sees is his delirium tremens hallucination where he dies in a burning mattress, “Ramirez…. He’s going to die….It astonished her to think that so much could be lost, even the quantity of hallucination belonging just to the sailor that the world would bear no gurther trace of.  She knew, because she had held him, that he suffered DT’s” (p. 104). These experiences and many others she has are reminiscent of what the 23rd path is said to be like.

Another point to make is the psychological similarities between The Crying of Lot 49 and the Qabala.  When Oedipa copies down the symbol, she writes underneath it, “Shall I project a world?” (p. 64).  The Tree of Life is a symbolic representation of our mental space.  Each person’s Tree of Life is unique unto their own subconscious mind. Projecting a world is exactly what path working is.  The Qabala’s path working is less of a religion that an in depth psychology.  The character named Metzger in the book could be a reference to Wolfgang Metzger, a gestalt psychologist. Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that deals with the perception of reality.  Metzger, if he did not already, would have thought the ideals of the Qabala were right on point. Metzger is also responsible for conducting the Ganzfield experiments which attempted to determine ESP capabilities in psychics.

Another point that may be significant is the acronym for W.A.S.T.E. We Await Silent Tristero’s Empire is what W.A.S.T.E stands for. The Hanged Man has more symbolic reference here. The Hanged Man is symbolic of a person awaiting deeper knowledge. If we take Tristero’s Empire to mean the empire that is inside the Tree of Life then this statement and Oedipa’s own journey seems to parallel the situation that the Hanged Man embodies. Also, the Hanged Man is attributed to the Hebrew letter Mem. Alesiter Crowley says, “…the sound M the return to Eternal Silence, as in the word AUM” (p. 97-98). The position that the Hanged Man is in is also a position used in “The Sleep of Shiloam” which is used to gain deeper knowledge. Therefore We Await Silent Tristero’s Empire could be interpreted as a symbolic reference to the position of the Hanged Man of the 23rd path.

Oedipa’s quest to find the Tristero can be paralleled to the 23rd path. The post horn appears to be the outline of the Hanged Man. The twelfth trump of the deck of Tarot, the Hanged Man, is symbolic of a person awaiting greater knowledge and seeing through new eyes. This is similar to Oedipa’s quest as she gains new knowledge along the path of discovering the Trystero. Her emotional and spiritual experiences appear to reflect the 23rd path as well. Any given person’s experience on that path would be different from another’s. Along Oedipa’s she changes in character. The Oedipa we know at the end of the book is much more courageous and independent. From what I’ve discovered about the Qabala, her experience would be similar to the path that the Hanged Man symbolizes. If this theory is correct, then Thomas Pynchon is alluding to the experience found in the Qabala known as the 23rd path. In conclusion, I believe this book is a metaphysical reference to the quest for knowledge that the 23rd path provides.

Bibliography

    Crowley, Aleister (1969). The Book of Thoth. New York: Samuel Weiser Inc.
    Andrews, Ted (1998). More Simplified Magic. Jackson, TN: Dragonhawk Publishing. 
    Pynchon, Thomas (2006). The Crying of Lot 49. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics. 
    Tyson, Donald (2007). Donald Tyson’s Supernatural World. Retrieved June 7, 2008.    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.donaldtyson.com/tarot.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.donaldtyson.com/tarot.html&h=322&w=190&sz=28&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=ig9dIDvY6AUF8M:&tbnh=118&tbnw=70&prev=/images%3Fq%3DVisconti-Sforza%2Bfamily%2Btarot%2Bcards%2Band%2Bhanged%2Bman%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADBF_enUS271US271%26sa%3DN