Amygdalan Sects
Robert P. Munafo, 2009 Dec 22.
Fiction by John Dewey Jones describing an anthropologist's discovery and investigation of indiginous culture ascribing spiritual value to the Mandelbrot Set. Two installments appeared in Amygdala, and later the first was reprinted.
Here is an excerpt to give a sense of its style:
... on the Festival Days, the worshippers gather in the Central
Park in the evening. Each, carrying his abacus and the Seven Parasols,
goes to his preassigned spot; the priests assist any who are in
difficulty. At sunset, the High Priest reads out the Objective
Coordinates [...] Each first computes his own Objective Coordinates,
and then Iterates, intoning the mantra of the Sect the MO mantra.
[...]
Just before dawn on the following day, all cease their
iterations and wait. From the Tower of Objective Vision, the High Priest
announces the numbers limiting the seven ranges. Then, just as the sun
rises, each worshipper erects the parasol corresponding to his
calculated number. The effect is incomparably beautiful, although it
can only be appreciated fully from the top of the Tower ...
See also Buddhabrot, Mandelbrot Monk.
From the Mandelbrot Set Glossary and Encyclopedia, by Robert Munafo. Mu-ency index
Robert Munafo's home pages on HostMDS (c) 1996-2010 Robert P. Munafo. about contact
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
License. Details here
s.13