#cathedra

Henrytimi, HT215 Cathedra chairs, Italy, 2014,

Microfiber upholstery over wood, patinated bronze,

I was musing on this the other day and after rewatching a few key moments I think this deserves a quick post. Today's topic, the narrative signicance of Cathedra and Dominicus

Cathedra literally means 'seat' but when an authority in the Roman Catholic church is speaking ex cathedra, they are saying their word on faith and morality is infallible. Dominicus punctuates that authority as the 'Lord's Day'. Or as we have come to know, Suletta Sunday.

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:1–3).

Coincidentally, the roots of the 'lord's day' coincide with why we refer to a witch's communion with the devil as a Black Sabbath. There are various reasons why it changed historically from the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday but for this post only know our weekly ritual isn't an accident.

As for Delling and the show's Cathedra, they are the ones who banned witchcraft using his kingly, and thus god-given, authority. He lampshades this with Prospera and Miorine in episode 2

Delling is, for all intents and purposes, the godly authority who speaks ex cathedra on gundams. His word is law. And those outside the laws of Cathedra and Dominicus are witches, per the witch hunt in the prologue.

It's no coincidence that it's witches who are the very ones who nearly take his life. Sophie and Norea have rebelled against god, becoming apostates. Afterward, we have the greatest victim and threat of god in the form of Prospera. And this is where the Norse Ragnarok, or the twilight of the gods, becomes relevant. Because before the world can become born anew it must be consumed by flame. The gods of the past must die and be reborn in the next cycle.

Delling might not have literally died, but he lost his divine authority in leiu of Miorine. Now thematically you might expect Mio to continue the cycle and restore order to Benerit as its president after SAL is dealt with. But the key difference between her and Delling is that she too is a witch who rebelled, and with that came unjust persecution as the GWitch rosebride.

I have some gripes with how GWitch handles Cathedra and Dominicus, namely with its members not suffering or facing any consequences beyond narrative slaps on the wrist but considering the themes of The Tempest, avoiding the cliche of revenge might be the point

I do have faith that Mio's perspective as both a leader and persecuted witch will mean she has the tools needed to break both the Ragnarok Cycle and GWitch's twist on witch hunts. It is interesting to me that Nika's resolution in episode 21 could very well mirror what Miorine decides. Returning to make amends on Earth and moving forward on her terms, untainted by either Prospera's influence or Delling's ill-gotten wealth

I got lost once.

There was blue everywhere, it filled up my vision, no room for anything else but blue, except for one lightning strike nearby and one very far away.

Did you know that paint has a sound?

It's a particular kind of silence, the kind that fills the ears and worms itself deep, down into the crevasses of the brain, tingling and numbing until you think of nothing else, just blue.

I looked into that blue.

I fell forever in it, past all six layers of pigment into the blue that the painter didn't paint, the blue that comes in at the corners of eyes when they look at something for too long.

The blue that hurts the head.

I watched the way that it faded from light to dark, from the blackest blue of midnight to the blue of just before sunset after a beautiful day, how it undulated like clouds in a thunderstorm or waves roiling under hurricane winds.

I sat and stared and got lost.

Anywhere Out of the World - Right Side Cathedra