Psalm 137 is a great lament made by Hebrews in exile and captivity in Babylon, the land of the Edomites. They sit by the waters of Babylon, in the captor's land, and weep for Jerusalem (Zion). Jerusalem was destroyed by a great enemy, and its people were killed or captured. This relates Psalm 137 to the event of the Great Burning in "newyork" because the gods there were also attacked and destroyed (John's legends say a few escaped). John's people aren't portrayed as weeping for the Place of the Gods—inferred as the land of their forbearers—as the Hebrews weep for Jerusalem. They are shown as holding the place sacred, as part of their spiritual worship and ritual. This relates Psalm 137 to the continuing reverence John's people have for their holy land.
The devastation of Jerusalem, as told in Psalm 137, relates to John's discoveries about the Great Burning in that the Great Burning is being compared to the destruction and spiritual devastation occurring at Jerusalem in order to paint a similar image of the destruction that fell upon "newyork," where not all things were well done: "I saw them with wisdom beyond wisdom and knowledge beyond knowledge. And yet not all they did was well done."
The words of the Psalm relate to John's discoveries about the gods in that the "spirits and demons" of the Place of the Gods are seen clearly as "men," just like the Hebrews in captivity in Babylon and just like John's people. John's discovery that they are "men," like the lamenting Hebrews, means that the ways of the gods—now known to be humankind—the books, the wisdom and the knowledge of the gods, are accessible in "newyork." When John is chief priest, he and a "company" will venture to "newyork" to collect the wisdom of the gods.
[W]e make a beginning. It is not for the metal alone we go to the Dead Places now—there are the books and the writings. They are hard to learn. . . At least, we make a beginning. And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river.
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