Section 11, Through p. 325 Summary

After Naomi's daughter rescues Charlie from the stationhouse, he decides to pay a visit to his now frumpy childhood sweetheart. First, however, he spends an expensive hour with Murra, his accountant, who informs him that he has had no luck with the IRS and that they won't be going away, and then Charlie takes his daughters to a Christmas pageant. Of course, Charlie does little without spending protracted periods in thought about deep philosophical issues, generally including death. Then, during an episode of introspection at the pageant, Charlie concludes that America has entered a sort of spiritual coma, not death exactly, but close, lulled there by the Archai, or spirits of personality. In modern times the Archai have taken over from the Exousiai, the spirits of form, which were responsible for the tribal consciousness known in Jewish tradition by...