Inbreeding
The Mayfair family of matriarchal witches is the result of centuries of inbreeding. Such incestuous lineages are not that uncommon, impacting Appalachian hillbillies just as much as the British royal family. While extended interbreeding among close relatives can result in extremely negative genetic consequences in the real world, the result here appears to be more ambiguous. The powers that make the Mayfair family witches would certainly not be viewed as negative by most mortals, but along with those abilities to cast spells to arrive some other less desirable quirks. For instance, there appears to be a strong tendency toward pedophilia, but an equally strong propensity to accept it as a normal part of life. The entire trilogy of which this book is the middle entry is devoted mostly to a comprehensive examination of the ancestry of the Mayfair family and heroically “normal” members of this family are very difficult to find. The primary explanation for this heritage of deviancy is the uninterrupted history of inbreeding.
Patriarchy
The interbred Mayfair clan is a matriarchy of witches. That may be redundant, of course, but it is important to know because a major character in this novel is the first male Mayfair witch to possess great power, Julien. Julien is intricately tied to Lasher and it is through this connection that plans ensure to introduce a little patriarchal order into the Mayfair family history. The long history of the witches of Mayfair has served to create an ideological aversion to patriarchy that finds it synonymous with perversion. The disposition of misandrism recounted in the story ranges from the slightly repulsive tendency of Lasher to call Rowan “Mother” one minute and sexually abuse her the next to the degenerate strategy of serial rape as a means of introducing patriarchy into the inbred genetic pool of the Mayfair matriarchy.
Christianity
The sheer number of allusions and references and symbols and metaphors related to religion that is found in the novel is astounding. Events that occur on Christmas Day are of monumental significance. The bizarre conception of Lasher has very definite connections to the conception of Jesus Christ. The actual historical figure of Protestant reformer John Knox becomes a major player in the drama late in the story. Then there is the concrete connection between Lasher and a saint named Ashlar. Typically, the introduction of details into a story is for serving a very purpose that coalesces and adheres to a coherent thematic point by the end. No such process takes place in this story, however, as all the myriad references to religion fail to come together to make a singularly identifiable point such as the novel is an allegory about Christianity. The lack of a singular point does not mean that a theme can’t be identified, however. The muddle view obscuring any immediately identifiable thematic cohesion becomes itself a theme., The muddled theology of the book reflects the muddled theology of Christianity with all its inherent contradictions, paradoxes, and lapses in logic.
