The Bible and wormwood...

[jochanan]

I'm new here, this is my first post. I really loved the whole series, especially the End. But something kept lingering with me and I finally looked it up.

Throughout the series you hear the statemnt that tea should be as bitter as wormwood and sharp as a two edged sword.... I knew that I had heard that before.

I finally found it, it's from Proverbs 5... it's an interesting read in light of the whole of the story, especially along side the poem that is under the copyright for chapter 14...


here's part of it...

"1My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
2that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to[c] Sheol;
6she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it. "

it goes on with more, the whole chapter applies to the theme... I may seem like a nutbar to you all... but I found this very interesting.

John

[Dante]

You might find the Symbolism in The End thread interesting as regards this, as it touches on the point you mention. Comparing directly to TPP and The End (well, and possibly one of TGG's editor letters), it might be said that the appreciation some volunteers have for tea that's as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a two-edged sword, among other bitter things, could be because they don't see any reason to deny that the world is bitter and sharp and want to be aware of that, or because they've become sharp and bitter people themselves.

[jochanan]

thanks for the tip.

That's what i saw exactly...

[orwell84]

(claps)
good job...gold star for you