Comments on “I go to the dakinis”

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Earlobe

Noah 2011-07-22

Hi David.

Great job. I really like the young Dakini - how’s she seems almost giddy. And I like how the cave smelled like thunderstorm. (It just stormed the other night here in Wisconsin, and before I even realized it was raining, I smelled the air change.)

I also know what it like to be terrified, but STILL MOVING FORWARD, in the forest at night, with your heart pumping in your ears. I, luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, did not interrupt the rites of any Sky-Goers though.

I wonder why the Dakinis were covered in ash…

A quick question: How could Surya have pulled on his earlobe if his hands were bound to his feet?

Okay. Thanks, David. I’m looking forward to the next installment. Hope you’re doing well.

-noah-

Continuity bug

David Chapman 2011-07-23

Hi, Noah,

How could Surya have pulled on his earlobe if his hands were bound to his feet?

Ack! That’s a serious continuity error! This is why real novelists have editors. Thank you very much for pointing it out. I’ve applied a temporary patch. I’m not really happy with it; maybe something better will come along.

I really like the young Dakini - how's she seems almost giddy.

You’ll like her even more after the next episode!

I wonder why the Dakinis were covered in ash

It’s a traditional part of charnel ground practice—it’s burned human remains, from cremation.

Now that you ask, it occurs to me that it doesn’t make much sense in this case, because this seems to be the kind of charnel ground where bodies are just left, rather than the kind where they are burned. I’m not sure whether there actually were both kinds, or if maybe well-off people were burned and poor people just dumped, or what. In the tantric literature, charnel grounds are so overgrown with symbolism that it’s hard to make out the historical funerary practices that inspired them.

David

ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Kate Gowen 2011-07-23

I don’t know how informed [as opposed to speculative] Daniel Odier’s account in Tantric Quest is, but he seemed to indicate that the ash moderated nighttime temperature drops, for people walking around naked 24/7. As well as reflecting a thoroughly badass attitude toward death and ‘corruption’, not to mention any prissy social taboos.

Ash

Noah 2011-07-23

Ha! I was going to say something about how I thought the ash was pretty badass too, even if I didn’t understand what it was for, but I took it out before I posted my comment. But the whole temperature mitigation thing is sweet. That totally makes sense. Function AND fashion. :)

Character despition

Sky Serpent 2011-07-25

David, I think that you are at you best when describing characters. The coolest ones are definitely these dakinis and also the main character’s uncle, the tantrik sorcerer.

Characters

David Chapman 2011-07-25

Thanks!

Eventually there will be vampires… This is a vampire story, but they take a while to show up.