The Fourth Circle
by
by
Loving in Triangles
The subject of The Fourth Circle is not just circles but circles within circles, or more precisely three circles within a fourth, the three circles unified by and constituting a fourth. This is a classic motif in the Eastern Orthodox Churches (including Živković’s own Serbian national church). It represents the Holy Trinity, that most abstruse and mystical of Christian doctrines. This strange doctrine can be understood best, as Živković implies, using the geometry of the circle.
The circumference of a circle is the origin, the Father of creation; the Son is the diameter of the circle, an integral but distinct part contained within the Father; and the Spirit is the relation between the Father and Son, the incomprehensible transcendental number that we call π. The three exist only together and cannot be separated. Each component of this circular Trinity is entirely contained within the other two. They give birth, as it were, to each other. That is to say, each component can be derived from the other two. And they have all existed from eternity, eternally generating one another. The influence of Platonic mathematics on both Orthodox theology and Živković is clear.
The Trinity is also the source of Creation. Its internal life is impenetrable but, it is claimed, the intimate bond between its three members in some way necessitates the establishment of an external object, or audience perhaps, for the infinite divine love. The relationship among the three exists simultaneously in the very small and in the incomprehensibly large. It exists everywhere. The dynamic among them is, therefore, one of utmost fecundity. The cosmos, from atoms to galaxies, bursts from this circular womb, often represented by Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a sort of adjunct to the Trinitarian ménage. Through her, the world not only comes into being but is also redeemed by her willingness to accept one of the Trinity into herself.
As theology, the Holy Trinity seems an over-grasping and extremely complicated myth to justify the worship of Jesus while simultaneously giving lip service to Judaic monotheism. But it nevertheless makes really interesting sci-fi when applied with the skill of someone like Živković. And he applies it liberally in both time and space. From Archimedes to Steven Hawking; from the jungles of Burma to a three-star system at the far side of our galaxy.
The cast of characters is equally immense, not just in numbers but also in ontological diversity. A few human beings (with several versions of Mary), a pregnant computer, animate spherical entities with very odd sexual habits, a somewhat hapless bundle of conscious energy formed at the rim of a black hole, and several wolf-like species, some with six legs and telepathic abilities, constitute only some of the key players.
What holds everything together is the Holy Trinity. The circle exerts its power everywhere in the cosmos; as in ancient lore (and confirmed by Sherlock Holmes according to Živković)), it is perfection itself. An extinct civilisation searches for post-mortem recognition by programming a radio receiver to listen for the message ‘π’ to 35 significant digits. The entity from the rim of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy envies the rest of the galaxy its completeness because, although it can traverse the radius of the galaxy in an instant, “... the one thing he lacked, or thought he lacked [was that] all others knew their origin, and many had some inkling of their purpose in the overall scheme of things, trifling though it might be, while he, as far as both were concerned, was filled only with a dark void.” A radius, thus, seeking its lost circumference.
Throughout The Fourth Circle, the trinity of circle, diameter and π constantly asserts itself. It will not be thwarted in its unity or its drive to generate being outside itself. It is in art, in science, in literature, in sex. in even the most primitive of cultures, and not only human, much less Christian, cultures.
The circle exists in Dante’s hell as well as his heaven. In ancient Egypt the circle is formed when Osiris as a snake eats his own tail. In Tibetan Buddhism, the circle represents the continuous resurrection of life in different forms. The circle is the form of the roulette wheel and the medieval wheel of torture. The symbol of Japan is the circle of the sun. The simple existence of π was a religious secret for Pythagoras, and its precise calculation an obsession for mathematicians like the 16th century Dutchman Ludolph Van Ceulen (he of the 35 significant digits). These are not coincidences but manifestations of the universal circle. Or at least they could be.
As is typical of Živković, the whole is told in parts that are almost self-contained shorter stories. Each of these is narrated in its own voice. Given that there are at least four of these voices, his talent as a stylist as well as a literate, intelligent story-teller is on full display. The denouement is more than a bit abrupt for my taste. But given that it was written in the midst of the Balkan war, this is an understandable and forgivable defect.
The subject of The Fourth Circle is not just circles but circles within circles, or more precisely three circles within a fourth, the three circles unified by and constituting a fourth. This is a classic motif in the Eastern Orthodox Churches (including Živković’s own Serbian national church). It represents the Holy Trinity, that most abstruse and mystical of Christian doctrines. This strange doctrine can be understood best, as Živković implies, using the geometry of the circle.
The circumference of a circle is the origin, the Father of creation; the Son is the diameter of the circle, an integral but distinct part contained within the Father; and the Spirit is the relation between the Father and Son, the incomprehensible transcendental number that we call π. The three exist only together and cannot be separated. Each component of this circular Trinity is entirely contained within the other two. They give birth, as it were, to each other. That is to say, each component can be derived from the other two. And they have all existed from eternity, eternally generating one another. The influence of Platonic mathematics on both Orthodox theology and Živković is clear.
The Trinity is also the source of Creation. Its internal life is impenetrable but, it is claimed, the intimate bond between its three members in some way necessitates the establishment of an external object, or audience perhaps, for the infinite divine love. The relationship among the three exists simultaneously in the very small and in the incomprehensibly large. It exists everywhere. The dynamic among them is, therefore, one of utmost fecundity. The cosmos, from atoms to galaxies, bursts from this circular womb, often represented by Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a sort of adjunct to the Trinitarian ménage. Through her, the world not only comes into being but is also redeemed by her willingness to accept one of the Trinity into herself.
As theology, the Holy Trinity seems an over-grasping and extremely complicated myth to justify the worship of Jesus while simultaneously giving lip service to Judaic monotheism. But it nevertheless makes really interesting sci-fi when applied with the skill of someone like Živković. And he applies it liberally in both time and space. From Archimedes to Steven Hawking; from the jungles of Burma to a three-star system at the far side of our galaxy.
The cast of characters is equally immense, not just in numbers but also in ontological diversity. A few human beings (with several versions of Mary), a pregnant computer, animate spherical entities with very odd sexual habits, a somewhat hapless bundle of conscious energy formed at the rim of a black hole, and several wolf-like species, some with six legs and telepathic abilities, constitute only some of the key players.
What holds everything together is the Holy Trinity. The circle exerts its power everywhere in the cosmos; as in ancient lore (and confirmed by Sherlock Holmes according to Živković)), it is perfection itself. An extinct civilisation searches for post-mortem recognition by programming a radio receiver to listen for the message ‘π’ to 35 significant digits. The entity from the rim of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy envies the rest of the galaxy its completeness because, although it can traverse the radius of the galaxy in an instant, “... the one thing he lacked, or thought he lacked [was that] all others knew their origin, and many had some inkling of their purpose in the overall scheme of things, trifling though it might be, while he, as far as both were concerned, was filled only with a dark void.” A radius, thus, seeking its lost circumference.
Throughout The Fourth Circle, the trinity of circle, diameter and π constantly asserts itself. It will not be thwarted in its unity or its drive to generate being outside itself. It is in art, in science, in literature, in sex. in even the most primitive of cultures, and not only human, much less Christian, cultures.
The circle exists in Dante’s hell as well as his heaven. In ancient Egypt the circle is formed when Osiris as a snake eats his own tail. In Tibetan Buddhism, the circle represents the continuous resurrection of life in different forms. The circle is the form of the roulette wheel and the medieval wheel of torture. The symbol of Japan is the circle of the sun. The simple existence of π was a religious secret for Pythagoras, and its precise calculation an obsession for mathematicians like the 16th century Dutchman Ludolph Van Ceulen (he of the 35 significant digits). These are not coincidences but manifestations of the universal circle. Or at least they could be.
As is typical of Živković, the whole is told in parts that are almost self-contained shorter stories. Each of these is narrated in its own voice. Given that there are at least four of these voices, his talent as a stylist as well as a literate, intelligent story-teller is on full display. The denouement is more than a bit abrupt for my taste. But given that it was written in the midst of the Balkan war, this is an understandable and forgivable defect.
posted by The Mind of BlackOxford @ May 08, 2019
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home