Tammy’s Reviews > Lilith > Status Update

They arrive at his wife's house, but she does not mind it being called the sexton's cottage. Time works differently because seasons can pass in a day. Even the man sees images of death. The sun sets, and he feels the icy grip of death as they reach the door (The Last Battle). He sees a candle set on a deal table, which is a cheap table made of pine or fir. Could Mr. Raven be the black stage?

Ch. 6 Another thought is that he is in the wilderness (pine forest) so, of course, he is on an identity quest. The air chills as they approach the sexton’s cottage at sunset. The raven talks about seeing his cousin (the raven that did not to return to Noah) in Paradise AND that winter is coming. DEATH!!! There seems to be both space and time anomalies! When asked about his church, the raven turns his head 360 deg.

One must become a fool before one can see because it requires humility. The man is in awe because, while he can’t explain it, he knows it’s a prayer flower.

Worlds and languages have this in common: learning one other than your own helps you understand your own better. Some prayers about heavy topics fly and fall to the ground like blocks of concrete. Others take the form of their meaning and fly away. Even the man sees a prayer flower (pale pink anemone with a golden heart). Recognizing one is not a skill to be taught because it requires open eyes.

The people are elderly and will not pray there much longer. The heart gives birth to prayer, and they see it fly as a white dove, wings quivering in the sunlight, climbing an ethereal staircase (like the one in his old house?). The man keeps thinking analytically and can only see prayer as a strict spiritual thing with no basis in reality. He says either or but the raven says both and.

Ch. 5 They walk through an ancient, thick pine forest. They reach an open heath where an gnarled, old hawthorn stands. The man thinks it is an old man with a white head because it isn’t the season for hawthorns to blossom (more analytical thinking). The raven flips it: it’s the season for a hawthorn to bloom when it blooms. It stands in the ground where a ruined church lies on his property.

The man accepts his fate and is ready for his adventure. He realizes he must learn the laws of a world he doesn’t understand. He regrets that he has not left any mark in his old world. He realizes he has lived a wasted life and the only thing he has left behind is the property he inherited. The raven invites him home to dinner with his wife.

Wait! He smells roses in Grieg’s Wedding March after he wakes up with other butterflies. Is this an image of Christ and his bride, the Church? The man makes a leap of faith and listened to the rosebush. He smells something like a rose, but not a rose. He kindly asks the raven the way home because he has an appointment with his bailiff. The raven says it’s already broken. The raven cannot help him.

This is like atheists feeling the need to argue God does not exist. Why bother if you don’t believe? The raven says only a man of the world could say that. The man is incredulous because the raven is a librarian and there is no way he could have read all those books because he talks such nonsense. The raven admits he read all the books and was not wise until he realized he was a fool he woke up with butterflies.

The raven says only the man can make a fool of himself. He will remain being a fool until he admits he is one. He will stop being a fool if he starts to admit what is true (way, truth, life). The raven talks about there being rose bushes and when the lady plays the piano it will move hyacinths and create an odor. He states two objects cannot be in the same place (enlightenment thinker).