#41 seems to start out in a different vein from the preceding aphorisms. It appears to be more abstract and conceptual. However, EJ very soon returns to his wonted highly concrete and visual style. Nevertheless, the abstract dichotomy of function vs. potency of the shears causes confusion on a high level at least with this reader.
The text is an attempt at a systematic arrangement of insights and ideas EJ has brought forward in the preceding aphorisms. He juxtaposes the rational and the occult aspects of three phenomena. Their respective opposite extremes are connected by a continuum of transitional possibilities (die Schere NÄHERT sich einerseits andererseits). For example, a far-away partner can appear close when you use a rational technical device like the videophone, but he can be gotten even closer when he has died and you use just a photo (I disagree with Gary here in translating "Lichtbild") and in addition your occult capabilities to get into contact with him. The basic drift of this seems to be the idea that there is a continuum of transitions between purely technical and rational phenomena on the one hand,s their spiritual and occult correspondences on the other. I find this highly interesting because it jumps in the face of my naïve rationalist belief that those opposites belong to totally different realms and have nothing to do with each other, except for some vague, if poetic analogy. Günter Rebing
