What is the meaning or origin of the name Allucquere? 

This name purports to be a feminine first name. It appears in the
science fiction novel, The Puppet Masters, by Robert Heinlein. In
there, it is said to be related to an anarchist-pacifist cult called
the Whitmanites.

The Heinlein Concordance (http://pw1.netcom.com/~mecowan/hc/index.htm)
gives the following information
(http://pw1.netcom.com/~mecowan/hc/W_HC.htm#whitmanites)

Anarchist-pacifist sect evicted from Canada; their settlement failed
in Little America, and the survivors emigrated to Venus. They used an
artificial language, even for personal names. The Venus colony was
infested with puppet masters; both masters and hosts died in an
epidemic of nine-day fever; Mary Cavanaugh (Allucquere) was the only
survivor.

At least one person, Allucquere "Sandy" Stone, has chosen this as an
actual name.

I appreciate any information about the meaning of the name, possible
connections to Whitman, or what material Heinlein was tapping when he
wrote this novel.

Thank you,
Raymond

Hello

An interesting question but the answer may seem a little dull, I'm
afraid.

Allucquere is a name suggested by Virginia Heinlein's memory of
someone whose last name was Luqueer. The alt.fan.heinlein group was
discussing your very point about the origins of Allucqere - at least
one of them searched through Whitman looking for a connection - and
then they received this message from Mrs. Heinlein:

"Allucquere was a made up name.  At the time this story was being
written I
simply happened to say the name of the principal of our school when I
was a
youngster.  It was Dr. Luqueer; Robert pounced  on it, added the first
syllable
and it has stayed that way ever [since].

Ginny
Virginia Heinlein"

Message 19 in this thread:
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=fm0R8.1023%248W1.1126328%40bcandid.telisphere.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3DAllucquere%2B-stone%2B-sandy%2B-rosanne%2B-roseanne%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3Dfm0R8.1023%25248W1.1126328%2540bcandid.telisphere.com%26rnum%3D1


I wanted to check that this was really from Virginia (Gerstenfeld)
Heinlein, and that it was a plausible explanation, and was reassured
for these reasons:

1 There had been many, many postings by Mrs. Heinlein to this group.
She was known to be active in corresponding with fans and certainly
the members of this group all thanked her in a style suggesting they
were quite confident she was genuine.

2 She was not only interested in Heinlein's readers but has also been
described as a "muse" or having had some creative influence on his
work.

3 There was actually a Prinicipal Luqueer at a school in Brooklyn
where Virginia Gerstenfeld grew up. There is proof he was there in
1906. The future Mrs. Heinlein was born in 1916 so it is possible for
their paths to have crossed.


1 See 447 messages from Mrs. Heinlein:
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=virginia+OR+ginny+Astyanax12%40aol.com+group%3Aalt.fan.heinlein&btnG=Google+Search&meta=group%3Dalt.fan.heinlein

"Following his death, Ginny lived in Florida where she managed the
estate and literary legacy. Although somewhat reclusive, she was loved
and respected in the science fiction community."
http://www.sfwa.org/News/vheinlein.htm 

Written before her death earlier this year:
"She still manages the estate and literary legacy, and actively
corresponds with readers and fans."
The Robert A. Heinlein (FAQ)
http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/rahfaq.html#general

2 "Early on in their marriage, she became his partner in the writing
business and managed much of the routine business and correspondence.
She also acted as his "first reader" and brainstorming partner for
story development."
http://www.sfwa.org/News/vheinlein.htm 

3 "A Brooklyn dentist's daughter"
"Wife, Muse and Literary Guardian of Celebrated Science Fiction
Writer"
from LA Times obituary quoted on a Heinlein Society page:
http://heinleinsociety.org/GinnyNotice.html

Schoolteacher Luqueer in Brooklyn 1906
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blkyn/Graduate/1906/1906.PS126.June.html

Luqueer is a street in Brooklyn, too.
http://www.brooklyn.net/my_bklyn/my_bklyn_192.html

There is one anomaly in the evidence, since Virginia Heinlein seems
confused about the age of the real-life Allucquere - but you can read
about that in the newsgroup thread yourself.

Of course, it is still possible that the name had a more complex
significance for Heinlein that went beyond the original stimulus of
his wife's childhood memories, but it does seem that the name Luqueer
was the actual "origin" of Allucquere.

I hope you find some interest in this even though it isn't the most
poetic of explanations!
Please don't hesitate to ask if I can offer any clarification.

Regards - Leli


searches:

search on Google for Allucquere -stone -roseanne etc.
search on Google groups for "Allucquere"
then searches for:
Virginia Heinlein
born 
school 
Brooklyn 
Luqueer

Leli,

Thank you so much. Easily a five-star answer. 

I appreciate, especially, the links to Virginia's posts. I had been
unaware that she was active on Usenet. I've just spent the last hour
or so looking at them.

It is one of the enduring regrets of my life that I've gotten to meet
neither Virginia or Robert Heinlein.

I also appreciate the reminder from you (in effect) to always search
groups as well as the Web in general.

I was a little disappointed about the origin of the name -- I was
jusrt *sure* there was some deeper etymology behind it. But a good
story, nonetheless.

Again, thank you.

Don't know if Heinlein had a bent towards Egyptology but I was just
dissecting the name and came up with these tidbits ... all
speculation, mind you.

allu-
It is suggested that the word allu in the annals of Assurbanipal is
the cuneiform writing of Egyptian inr "headcloth with uraeus" rather
than of iar.t "uraeus", as suggested in AEB 94.0582, p. 153f.
http://www.leidenuniv.nl/nino/aeb95/aeb95_2.html

Uraeus:

"A symbol of kingship in Egypt represented by a cobra in an upright
position worn as a head ornament or crown. The symbol protected the
king and was an agent of his destructive powers, spitting fire and
associated with the goddess Wadjit."
http://www.touregypt.net/Uraeus.htm

Wadjit/Wadjet:
"Often shown as a rearing cobra, she was a protector of the pharaoh,
ready to strike and kill his enemies. She was also depicted as a
woman-headed cobra, a winged cobra, a lion-headed woman, or a woman
wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. She was often shown together
with Nekhbet who was in an identical form - as a snake or woman - or
paired together with Wadjet as a snake and Nekhbet as a vulture.

The goddess Wadjet comes to you in the form of the living Uraeus to
anoint your head with her flames. She rises up on the left side of
your head and she shines from the right side of your temples without
speech; she rises up on your head during each and every hour of the
day, even as she does for her father Ra, and through her the terror
which you inspire in the spirits is increased ... she will never leave
you, are of you strikes into the souls which are made perfect."

-quere 
"And the priests brought the Ark of the appointment of the Lord unto
his place in the quere of the temple and place most holy: even under
the wings of the Cherubs, that the Cherubs stretched out their wings
over the place of the Ark and covered the Ark and her staves above on
high. And the staves of the Ark, were so long, that they were seen a
little before the quere, but not far without. And there it remains
unto this day. Moreover there was nothing in the Ark save the two
tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant
with the children of Israel, after they were come out of Egypt."
http://www.godstruthtous.com/samuel-chron/2ndchronicles.htm

As for the "Whitmanites," Heinlein may have borrowed from the
Thelemites.
http://www.thelema.org

"Expect him not from the East, not from the West; for from no expected
house cometh that child."42 This prophecy continues to grip the
imagination of many Thelemites and also forms the basic plotline for
Stranger."
http://www.wegrokit.com/thelema.htm

The only site with "Robert Heinlein + uraeus" is this one which is
difficult to read and kinda creepy.
http://www.a-m-h-r.org/gec/ccxx.html

If you're interested, you might check relationships with Heinlein and
Crowley.  I've given myself a headache.

Out,
V

Thank-you for the kind remarks and five stars.

I'm glad you found Virginia Heinlein's posts interesting and felt her
story helped make up for the apparent absence of 'deep meaning' in
Allucquere.

Now I shall have to re-read the novel (it's many, many years since I
did) and see what I think about the name. So thanks to you for
encouraging me to revisit Heinlein while I merely encouraged you to
visit Google groups!

Leli