Dan Brown's~ Lost Symbol

[giovonni]

Hey dude! take a break!



The Lost Symbol~ intermission~

************************************************** *******************************

The code not even the CIA can crack

Cracking codes is what the CIA does. Well, it’s one of the things they do anyway. Basically, if there’s something encoded that floats through the world with enough time the CIA’s brilliant minds seem to crack it. But, for 20 years or so there’s been one code that they haven’t been able to break. One code that has baffled them so very much. And it’s located in their own backyard.

kryptos~ the virtual tour
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtua...tos/index.html

It’s called the Kryptos code and it’s a sculpture that rests on the grounds at Langley. Here, reprinted from the CIA websites official explaination, is more detail on the most baffling code the CIA has ever attempted to crack.

Unbreakable codes. International intrigue. Even the CIA’s artwork has secrets. Kryptos, a sculpture at Agency headquarters, has baffled code crackers around the world with its secret message. The copperplate and granite sculpture symbolizes both the history of cryptography and the significance of intelligence gathering. Mystery continues to surround this work of art – no one has ever fully deciphered Kryptos’ coded message.

“Kryptos” Story
Before the New Headquarters Building (NHB) was finished in 1991, thought was given to enhancing the new structure with artwork that was not only pleasing to the eye, but indicative of the Central Intelligence Agency’s work. Under Federal construction guidelines, a small portion of the cost of the new building was set aside to commission original art for the structure.

To achieve the goal of acquiring fitting artwork for NHB, the CIA Fine Arts Commission recommended that the Agency utilize the services of the Art-in-Architecture program of the General Services Administration (GSA). This is a Federal program which has managed the creation of contemporary art for Government buildings for more than 25 years and which has resulted in highly acclaimed works. GSA formed a team composed of experts led by the National Endowment for the Arts and members of the CIA Fine Arts Council and other Agency employees.

Before starting the task, the Agency side of the joint team developed a Statement of Principles:

“People are the principal resource of the Central Intelligence Agency. It is their intellectual and physical energies that ultimately provide the national policymakers with superior information and analyses—the basis to formulate policies necessary to maintain this country’s position in the world. An esthetically pleasing work environment at its Headquarters is an important stimulus to the efforts of those officers assigned here.”

They also listed these key thoughts:

•Art at the CIA should reflect life in all its positive aspects.
•It should engender feelings of well-being, hope.
•It should be forceful in style and manner.
•It should be worldly yet have identifiable American roots in concept, materials, representation, and so forth.

These principles were the guidelines that artists followed as they competed for the $250,000 commission to design artwork for the New Headquarters Building. The combined NEA and CIA panel evaluated each entry and, in November 1988, chose local artist James Sanborn’s conception of “Kryptos” (Greek for “hidden”), a two-part sculpture located at the main entrance to NHB and in the courtyard between NHB and the Original Headquarters Building (OHB) cafeteria.

About the Artist
James Sanborn is a Washington, D.C., born artist with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Randolph-Macon College and a Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. Mr. Sanborn is noted for his work with American stone and related materials that evoke a sense of mystery and the forces of nature.

To give shape to “Kryptos,” Sanborn chose polished red granite, quartz, copperplate, lodestone, and petrified wood. After reading extensively on the subject of intelligence and cryptography, Mr. Sanborn decided to interpret the subject in terms of how information is accrued throughout the ages. In the case of the two-part sculpture, information is symbolized in the chemical and physical effects that produced the materials and in other more literal ways.

To produce the code for “Kryptos,” Mr. Sanborn worked for four months with a retired CIA cryptographer to devise the codes used in the sculpture. Mr. Sanborn wrote the text to be coded in collaboration with a prominent fiction writer.

The Mystery of “Kryptos”
At the entrance to the New Headquarters building, the sculpture begins with two red granite and copperplate constructions which flank the walkway from the parking deck. These stones appear as pages jutting from the earth with copperplate ‘between the pages’ on which there are International Morse code and ancient ciphers. There is also a lodestone (a naturally magnetized rock) co-located with a navigational compass rose.

In the courtyard, a calm, reflective pool of water lies between two layered slabs of granite and tall grasses. Directly across from this is the centerpiece of “Kryptos,” a piece of petrified wood supporting an S-shaped copper screen surrounding a bubbling pool of water.

•The petrified tree symbolizes the trees that once stood on the site of the sculpture and that were the source of materials on which written language has been recorded.
•The bubbling pool symbolizes information being disseminated with the destination being unknown.
•The copperplate screen has approximately 2,000 alphabetic letters cut into it.

The sculpture is like a history of cryptography. The left side of the copper screen, the first two sections, is a table for deciphering and enciphering code, a method developed by 16 th century French cryptographer Blaise de Vigenere. The Vigenere method substitutes letters throughout the message by shifting from one alphabet order to another with each letter of the key. Part of the right side of the sculpture uses the table from the left side, and another portion uses the cryptographic method of transposing letters or changing their position in a message according to whatever method the writer devised.

The sculpture has been a source of mystery and challenge for Agency employees, other government employees, and interested people outside of government. In early 1998, a CIA physicist announced to the Agency that he had cracked the code for three of the four sections. This was followed a year later by a public announcement from a California computer scientist that he had done the same. As varied as the codes in the sculpture are, so were the methods to crack them. The Agency employee used pencil and paper, and the computer scientist used his computer. No one has yet to break the code for the remaining 97-character message which utilizes a more difficult cryptographic code.

James Sanborn once said “They will be able to read what I wrote, but what I wrote is a mystery itself.” Only time will tell if the final message to this multi-layered puzzle is ever revealed.

above lifted from here;
http://realtalklive.wordpress.com/20...4/kryptoscode/

************************************************** ************************************


CIA virtual tour here;
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtua...ash/index.html
CIA homepage;
https://www.cia.gov/index.html

[giovonni]

Back to
The Lost Symbol~



"Inside the National Cathedral, Dean Galloway sensed a strange change in the air...
as if a ghostly shadow had evaporated...a weight had been lifted...

Alone at his desk...deep in thought...his phone rang.
It was Warren Bellamy.

"Peter's alive," his Masonic brother said...
He's going to be okay."

"Thank God." Galloway exhaled.

Galloway listened as Bellamy recounted the extraordinary tale of what had transpired after they had left Cathedral College.

"But all of you okay?"

"Recuperating, yes" Bellamy said.

"There is one thing, though...
The Masonic Pyramid... I think Langdon may have solved it."

Galloway had to smile.
Somehow he was not surprised.

"And tell me, did Langdon discover whether or not the pyramid kept its promise?
Whether or not it revealed what legend always claimed it would reveal?"

"I don't know yet."

It will, Galloway thought.

"You need to rest."
"as do you."

"No, I need to pray"

(TLS 461).

************************************************** ***********************************




"When the elevator door opened, the lights in the Temple Room were all ablaze.
Katherine Solomon's legs still felt like rubber as she hurried in to find her brother...
The scene that greeted her stopped her in her tracks.
In the center of this magnificent room,
on a low stone alter,
lay a bloody, tattooed corpse...
perforated by spears of broken glass.
High above, a gap hole in the ceiling opened to the heavens.

My God.

She found her brother sitting on the other side of the room tented to by a medic while
talking with Langdon and Director Sato.

"Peter!"
Katherine called...

Her brother glanced up,
his expression filling with relief...
on his feet at once,
moving towards her...
His right arm was in a sling...
their embrace was awkward...

A familiar comfort surrounded her...
when her protective older brother embraced her.

They held each other in silence.

Are you okay?
I mean...really?"

Tears welled... in her eyes

"I'm so...so sorry."

Peter shurugged ...
"Mortal flesh.
Bodies don't last forever.
The important thing is that your okay."

Peter'slighthearted response...
reminding her of all the reasons she lovrd him.

Tragically, she knew there was a third Solomon in the room tonight.
The corpse on the alter drew her gaze...
Katherine shuddered...
She looked away,
her eyes now finding Robert Langdon's.

There was compassion there,
deep and perceptive...
Langdon somehow knew exactly what she was thinking.

She felt her brother's body begin trembling...
"Just let go,"
she whispered...
you've always been there for me...

Katherine eased his head gently onto her shoulder...
and the great Peter Solomon collapsed sobbing in her arms"

(TLS 462-3).

************************************************** ***********************************

"Director Sato stepped away to take an incoming call.
It was Nola Kaye...

"Still no signs of distribution, ma'am."
I'm confident we would have seen something...
It looks you contained it."

Thanks to you, Nola,
Sato thought,
glancing down at the laptop...
A very close call.

At Nola's suggestion,
the agent searching the mansion had checked the garbage cans,
discovering packaging for a newly purchased cellular modem.
With the exact model number,
Nola had been able to cross reference compatible carriers,
bandwidths,
and service grids,
isolating the laptops most likely access node~
a small transmitter on the corner of Sixteenth and Corcoran~
three blocks from the temple."





"Nola quickly relayed the information to sato in the helicopter.
On approach toward the house of the Temple,
the pilot had performed a low-altitude flyover and plused the relay node with a blast of electromagnetic radiation,
knocking it off-line only seconds before the laptop completed transfer."





"Great work tonight."
Sato said.

Thank you, ma'am."

Nola hesitated.

"Was there something else?"

Nola was silent a long moment,
apparently considering whether or not to speak.
"Nothing that can't wait till morning ma'am.

Have a good night"

(TLS 463).

************************************************** **********************************

"In the silence of an elegant bathroom on the ground floor of the House of Temple,
Robert Langdon ran warm water into a sink and eyed himself in the mirror.
Fven in the muted light,
he looked like he felt...
utterly spent.

He had to chuckle.
His visit to D. C. tonight to give a lecture had turned out a bit more grueling than he'd had anticipated.

Even so, Langdon had a lot to be grateful for.

Peter is alive.

And the video was contained.

As Langdon scooped handfuls of warm water onto his face,
he gradually felt himself coming back to life.

My God its late.

Langdon exited the bathroom and wound his way along the curved wall of the Hall of Honor~ a gracefully arched passageway, lined with portraits of accomplished Masons...
U.S. presidents, philanthropists, luminaries,
and other influential Americans."





"He paused at an oil painting of Harry S. Truman,
and tried to imagine the man undergoing the rites, rituals,
and studies required to become a Mason.
There is a hidden world behind the one we all see.
For all of us.

"You slipped away,"
a voice said down the hall.
Langdon turned.
It was Katherine.

Langdon gave her a smile...

"Peter wants to speak with you...alone.
He's waiting in the library."

Katherine chuckled and shook her head.
"You know Peter and his secrets."

Langdon sighed heavily.
He felt like he'd had enough secrets for one night.

There were unanswered questions...
the Masonic Pyramid and the Lost Word among them...

Mustering the last of his energy,
Langdon made his way to the Masonic library.

When he arrived,
Peter was was sitting alone at a table with the stone pyramid...

"Robert?"
Peter smiled and waved him in.
"I'd like a word."

Langdon managed a grin.
"Yes I hear you lost one"

(TLS 464-5).

[giovonni]

The
House of the Temple Library~
Washington D.C.

"The library in the House of Temple was D.C.'s oldest public reading room. Its elegant stacks burgeoned with over a quarter of a million volumes, including a rare copy of the Ahiman Rezon, the Secrets of a Prepared Brother. In addition, the library displayed precious Masonic jewels, ritual artifacts, and even a rare volume that had been hand printed by Benjamin Franklin"

(TLS 466).







"Langdon's favorite library treasure, however, was one few ever noticed.

The illusion.

Solomon had shown him long ago that from the proper vantage point,
the library's reading desk and golden table lamp created an unmistakable optical illusion...
that of a pyramid and shining capstone.

Solomon said he always considered the illusion a silent reminder that the mysteries of Freemasonary were perfectly visable to anyone if they were seen from the proper perspective.

Tonight however, the mysteries of freemasonary had materialized front and center...
Langdon now sat opposite the Worshipful Master Peter Solomon and the Masonic Pyramid.

Peter was smiling.

"The 'word' you refer to,
Robert,
is not a legend.

It is a reality."

Langdon stared across the table...

"But...
I don't understand.
How is that possible"

"your saying you believe the Lost Word is real...
and that it has actual power?"

"Enormous power," Peter said.
"It has the power to transform humankind by unlocking the Ancient Mysteries."

"A word?"
Langdon challenged.

"Peter,
I can't possibly believe a word~"

"You will believe," Peter stated calmly.
Langdon stared in silence.

"As you Know,"
Solomon continued...
"it has long been prophesied that there will come a day when the Lost Word will be rediscovered...
a day when it will be unearthed...
and mankind will once again have access to its forgotton power."

Langdon flashed on Peter's lecture about the Apocalypse.
although many people erroneously interpreted apocalypes as a cataclysmic end of the world,
the word literally signified an "unveiling,"
predicted by the by the ancients to be that of great wisdom.

The coming age of enlightenment.

Even so,
Langdon could not imagine such a vast change being ushed in by...
a word.

Peter montioned to the stone pyramid...
besides its golden capstone.

"The Masonic Pyramid,"
he said.

"The legendary symbolon.
Tonight it stands unified...
and complete...

my friend,
you have done what has never been done before.

You have assembled the Masonic Pyramid,
deciphered all of its codes,
and in the end,
unveiled...
this"

(TLS 466-7).



Solomon produced a sheet of paper and laid it on the table.

Langdon eyed the grid.

Heredom, circumpunct, pyramid, staircase...

Langdon sighed...
"you can probably see,
this is an allergorical pictogram...
its language is metaphysical and symbolic rather than literal."

"At the top of the image,
we have the word Heredom~
the 'Holy House'~
which I interpret as the House of God...
or heaven."

"The downward-facing arrow after Heredom signifies that the rest of the pictogram clearly lies in the realm beneath heaven...
that being...
earth."

"The lowest two row,
those beneath the pyramid,
represent the earth itself~
terra firma~
the lowest of all realms."

"Fittingly,
these lower realms contain the twelve ancient astrological signs,
which represent the primordial religions of those first human souls who looked to the heavens and saw the hand of God in the movement of the stars and planets."

"On a foundation of astrology,"
Langdon continued,

"the great pyramid rises from the earth...
streching toward the heaven...
the enduring symbol of lost wisdom.
It is filled with history's great philosophies and religions...
all flowing upward,
merging together,
funneling themselves up through the transformative gateway of the pyramid...
where they finally fuse into a single,
unified human philiosophy...

A single universal consciousness...
a shared global vision of God...
represented by the ancient symbol that hovers over the capstone."

"The circumpunct,"
Peter said.
"A universal symbol of God."

"Right.
Throughout history, the circumpunct has been all things to all people~"
The Great Architect of the Universe."




"And finally?"
Peter asked.
"What about the staircase?"

Langdon glanced down at the image of the stairs beneath the pyramid.

"Peter,"
I'm sure you know as well as anyone,
this symbolizes the Winding Staircase of Freemasonary...
leading upward out of the earthly darkness into the light...

like Jacobs ladder climbing to heaven...
or the tiered human spine that connects man's mortal body to his eternal mind...
the rest of the symbols...
appeaer to be a blend of celestial,
Masonic, and scientific,
all lending support to the Ancient Mysteries."

Solomon stroked his chin.

"An elegant interpretation,
Professor.
I agree, of course,
that this grid can be read as allegory,
and yet..."

His eyes flashed with deepening mystery.

"The collection of symbols tells another story as well.
A story that is far more revealing."

"Oh?"

(TLS 467-9).

[giovonni]

"Solomon began pacing...
circling the table.

"Earlier tonight,
inside the Temple Room,
when I believed I was going to die,
I looked at this grid...
and somehow I saw past the metaphor,
past the allegory,
into my heart of what these symbols are telling us."

He paused,
turning abruptly to Langdon.

"This grid reveals the exact location where the Lost Word is buried."

"Come again."
Langdon shifted uneasily in his chair...
fearing the trauma of the evening had left him disoriented and confused.

"Robert, legend has always described the Masonic Pyramid as a map~
a very specific map~
a map that could guide the worthy to the secret location of the Lost word."

"I guarantee you,
these symbols are exactly what legend says they are...
a map...
that reveals exactly where we will find the staircase that leads to the Lost Word"

Langdon gave an uneasy laugh...

"Even if I believed the legend...
Look at it.
It looks nothing like a map."

Solomon smiled.

"Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light."

"Let me ask you a question," Peter said.

When Masons lay cornerstones, do you know why we lay them in the northeast corner of a building."

"Sure...
the northeast corner receives the first ray of morning light.
It is symbolic of the power of the architecture to climb out of the earth into the light."

"Right, Peter said...

He motioned to the grid.

"In the northeast corner."

Langdon returned his eyes to the page,
moving his gaze to the upper right or northeast corner..."





"A downward-pointing arrow,"
Langdon said,
trying to grasp Solomon's point.

"which means... beneath Heredom."

"No Robert, not beneath...
Think.
This grid is not a metaphorical maze.
It is a map...
a directional arrow that points down means~"

South," Langdon exclaimed...

"Exactly!' Solomon replied,
grinning with excitment.

Moreover,
on a map,
the word Heredom would not be a metaphor for heaven,
it would be the name of a geographic location."

"The House of the Temple?

You're saying this map is pointing...
due south of this building?"

"Praise God!",
Solomon said, laughing.

"Lights dawn at last."

Langdon studied the grid.

"But...even if your right,
due south of this building could be anywhere anywhere on a longitude thats over twenty-four thousand miles long."

"No Robert.
You are ignoring the legend,
which claims the Lost word is buried in D.C....
legend also claims that a large stone sits atop the opening of the staircase...
and that the stone is engraved with a message in an ancient language...
as a kind of marker so the worthy can find it."

"The message inscribed on the stone,"
Peter said,
"is right before our eyes."

He tapped the third row of the grid...

"This is the inscription,
Robert!
You've solved the puzzle!"





"Solved?

Langdon had no idea whatsoever what these seven disparate symbols could possibly mean...
engraved anywhere in the nation's capital...
particularly on a giant stone over a staircase.

"Peter,
I don't see how this sheds any light at all..."

Solomon patted him on the shoulder.
"You have walked past it and never seen it.
We all have."

"You're going to tell me where the Lost Word is buried?"

"No,"
Solomon said,
standing with a smile.

"I'm going to show you."

"Robert,
I'd like you to put this on before we go anywhere."

Langdon turned to Peter.

"You want to blindfold me for the journey?"

Solomon grinned.

"My secret.
My rules"

(TLS 469-72)

[Malletzky]

Hey Gio...I knew I would find this thread again.

I'm still reading the book...but I must say that I'm fascinated...he's really done his homework before writing this one...

And the fact that he really introduced the work of Lynne McTaggart with her http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/ website couldn't be a coincidence.

Carmen said that this book is an easy read...I agree, but only for the one like us, who dare to follow their guidance...I know some other who've read this and some other work from Brown, but after speaking with them in the last few days, I can tell you...THEY DON'T HAVE AN IDEA WHAT THIS ALL ABOUT IS !!!

BTW, did you noticed the carracter Trish Dunne ? Or is it only a coincidence that in the book, she wrote a software for the government to measure the "heat" of the population with help of some special webbots? Or could we say that Dan Brown must've heard of Cliff High too ????? WOW!

Anyway, I'm still reading..just stopped by to say that I will come back to this thread as soon as I'm finished...to take that great tour...

Anyway, I can only give you the advice to read this one...no matter what you mean about Dan Brown...

malletzky

[giovonni]

Back to
the Lost Symbol



Blindfolded, Robert Langdon could see nothing as the Escalade sped southward along the deserted streets.
On the the seat besides,
Peter Solomon remained silent.

Where is he taking me?

Langdon's curiosity was a mix of intrigue and apprehension,
his imagination in overdrive...

Peter had not wavered from his claim.

The Lost Word?
Buried at the bottom of a staircase that covered a massive,
engraved stone?

It all seemed impossible.

The stone's alleged engraving was still lodged in Langdon's memory...
and yet the seven symbols,
as far as he could tell,
made no sense together at all."

"The Stonemason's Square: the symbol of honesty and being "true."
The letters Au: the scientific abbreviation for the element of gold.
The Stigma: The Greek letter S, the mathematical symbol for the sum of all parts.
The Pyramid: the Egyptian symbol of man reaching heavenward.
The Delta; the Greek letter D, the mathematical symbol for change.
Mercury; as depicted by its most ancient alchemical symbol.
The Ouroboros: the symbol of wholeness and at-one-ment.

Solomon still insisted these seven symbols were a "message."

The Escalade slowed suddenly and turned sharply right,
onto a different surface,
as if into a driveway or access road.

Langdon perked up,
listening intently for clues as tto their whereabouts...
driving for less than ten inutes...Langdon had tried to follow in his mind...
lost his bearings...

For all he knew,
they were pulling back into the House of the Temple.

The Escalade came to a stop...
the window rolled down...


"Agent Simkins, CIA...
I believe your expecting us."

"Yes sir,"
a sharp military voice replied.

Director Sato phoned ahead.

One moment while I move the security barricade."



Langdon listened with rising confusion...
he turned his head blindly toward Solomon.

"Where are we, Peter?"

"Do not remove your blindfold."
Peter's voice was stern.

The vehicle continued a short distance and again slowed to a stop.
Simkins killed the engine.

More voices.

Military.

Someone asked for Simkins identification.

Langdon's door was suddenly being opened...

The air felt cold. It was windy.

Solomon was besides him.

"Robert,
just let Agent Simkins lead you inside."

Langdon heard metal keys in a lock...
and then the creak of a heavy iron door swinging open.

Where the hell are they taking me?!

Simkinss hand guided Langdon in the direction of a metal door.
They stepped over a threshold.

"Straight ahead Professor."

It was suddenly quiet.
Dead.
Deserted.

The air inside smelled sterile and processed...
The floor felt like stone beneath his loafers.

Behind them,
the metal door slammed loudly,
and Langdon jumped.
The locks turned.

He was sweating now beneath his blindfold...
there was a series of electronic beeps followed by an unexpected rumble in front of them...

Langdon imagined had to be a security door sliding open automatically...
They moved slowly...
across another thershold...
the security door rumbled shut behind them.

Peter stopped short. "Is there something wrong?"

Langdon was suddenly feeling queasy and off balanced.

"I think I just need to take off this blindfold."

"Not yet, we're almost there."

"Almost where?"

Langdon felt a growing heavinesss in the pit of his stomach.

"I told you~ I'm taking you to see the staircase that decends to the Lost Word."

"Peter, this isn't funny!"

"Its not meant to be.
It's meant to open youir mind, Robert.
Its meant to remind you that thre are mysteries in this world that even you have yet to lay eyes upon....

and before I take one more step with you,
I want you to do something for me.

I want you to believe...
just for an instant...
believe in the legend.

Believe that you are about to peer down a winding staircase that plunges hundreds of feet to one of humankind's greatest lost treasures."

Langdon felt dizzy.
As much as he wanted to believe his dear friend,
he could not.

"Is it much further?"
His hoodwink...
drenched in sweat.

"No.
Only a few more steps...
one last door.
I'll open it now."

Solomon let him go for a moment,
and as he did so,
Langdon swayed,
feeling lightheaded.

Unsteady, he reached out for stability,
and Peter was quickly back at his side.

The sound of a heavy automatic door rumbled in front of them.

"This way"...
the door slid closed behind them.

Silence. Cold.

Langdon...sensed...this place,
whatever it was,
had nothing to do on the other side of the security doors.

The air...dank and chilly, like a tomb.
The accoustics felt dull and cramped.

He felt an irrational bout of claustrophobia settling in.

"A few more steps."
solomon guided him blindfolded... and postioned him...

Finally, he said,

"Take off your blindfold."

Langdon seized the velvet hoodwink... tore it from his face...
He looked around...rubbed his eyes...Nothing.

"Peter,
Its pitch-black!"

"Yes I know...There's a railing.
Grasp it."

Langdon groped...and found an iron railing.

"Now watch."

He could hear Peter fumbling...
suddenly a blazing flashlight beam pierced the darkness...

Solomon directed the flashlight over the railing...
Langdon was suddenly staring into a bottomless shaft...
and endless winding staircase that plunged deep into the earth.

"My God!"

His knees nearly buckled...
The staircase...
a traditional square spiral...
he could see at least thirty landings descending...
before the flashlight faded to nothing.

"Peter...What is this place!"
"I'll take you to the bottom of the staircase in a moment,
but before I do,
you need to see something else"...

Peter kept the flashlight trained on the worn stone floor...
Langdon could get no real sense of the space around them...
except it was small.
A tiny stone chamber...
at the rooms opposite wall...
was embedded a rectangle of glass.

Langdon thought it might be a window into the room beyond,
and yet...he saw only darkness on the other side.

"Go ahead...Have a look."
Just look...and brace yourself.
because the sight will shock you."

Langdon moved toward the glass...
As he neared the portal,
Peter turned out the flashlight,
plunging the tiny chamber into total darkness.

As his eyes adjusted...his hands finding the glass,
moving closer to the transparent portal.

Still only darkness beyond...
pressing his face to the glass.

Then he saw it.

The wave and shock and disorientation that tore through Langdon's body reached doen inside and spun his internal compass upside down.

He nearly fell backward...
his mind strained to accept the utterly unanticipated sight...

Robert Langdon would never have guessed...
The vision was a glorious sight.

Langdon now understood...

the barricade on the access road...
the guards...the heavy metal door outside...
the automatic doors that rumbled open and closed...
the heaviness in his stomach...the lightness in his head...
and now this tiny chamber.

"Robert,"

Peter whispered behind him,

"sometimes a change of perceptive is all it takes to see the light."

Langdon had never seen the Capitol from this perspective~
hovering 555 feet in the air atop Amereica's great Egyptian obelisk...

for the first time in his life,
he had ridden the elevator up the tiny viewing chamber...at the pinnacle of the Washington Monument"


(TLS 478-82).

[giovonni]

[giovonni]

[morguana]

hi gi, i was wondering if you could shed some light on this symbol for me, i know its not to do with dan brown, but i just wondered what your take on it is.



much appreciated and big thank yous
love
m x

[giovonni]

much appreciated and big thank yous
love
m x
__________________
better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace

and........
LITANY AGAINST FEAR

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

much appreciated and big thank yous
love
m x
__________________

Ah my prompt

"better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace"
from buddha

greeting's morguana
our beautiful sentinel warrior~

thank you for forwarding the image to me, I will give it a shot.
I will get back to you in private on my thoughts and finding's.

Note> I find your Profile`Signature very intriging

First~ let me say this thread very much represents a (my) great challenge of sorts~ in as> for all mankind~ in overcoming one's fears.

I grew up here in Washington D.C. where these lofty ideals and symbolic images were engrained into my being. Now we (mankind) are truly threatened to be locked frozen and sealed within this great Fear?

I must not fear~the constant struggle
Fear is the mind-killer~ in keeping one's mind quiet
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration~ the paralysis
I will face my fear~ and refuse too listen
I will permit it to pass over me and through me~ as a true spirit being
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path~ too truly see
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing~ but bliss
Only I will remain~ to finally be reunited 'to all there is'



The culprits
FEAR of/
Control of
It has been said that man's greatest fear and nemesis is woman
I've never believed this, but it points truly at the roots of current human problems.

For me~ there are two great fears~
The fear of not being accepted and the fear of freedom.

mankinds~ fear of not being accepted deals with one's search for self-identity.
But to still find acceptence and peace with the whole<of>humanity here on earth.

mankinds~ fear of freedom (or the constant desire for not having to deal with it true implications). Is it truly fear or is it a block or barrier?
To have too think outside the box (our minds),for new ways of creating and manifesting a better life for all.


This is what I'm working towards in finishing this thread> the search of such a symbol ? such a word ??

I will expand on my quest to find the 'word' (s) soon.

with much love~ too you<>gio

[giovonni]

Back to the Lost Symbol~






"Robert Langdon stood mesmerized at the glass portal, absorbing the power of the landsscape below him.

Having ascended unknowingly humdreds of feet into the air,
he was now admiring one of the most spectacular vistas he had ever seen.

The shining dome of the U.S. Capitol rose like a mountain at the east end of the National Mall. On either side of the building, two parallel lines of light stretched toward him...

the illuminated facades of the Smithsonian museums...
beacons of art, history, science, culture.

Langdon now realized to his astonishment that much of what Peter had declared to be true...was in fact true.

There is indeed a winding staircase...decending hundreds of feet beneath a massive stone."










the monument's actual spiraling staircase~



"The huge capstone of this obelisk sat directly over his head...
Langdon now recalled a forgotten bit of triva that seemed to have eerie relevance:
the capstone of the Washington Monument weighed percisely thirty-three hundred pounds.






Again, the number 33.

More startling...
was the knowledge that this capstone's ultimate peak,
the zenith of this obelisk,
was crowned by a tiny,
polished tip of aluminum~
a metal as percious as gold in its day.

The shinning apex...
was only about a foot tall,
the same size as the Mansonic Pyramid."





"Incredibly,
this small metal pyramid bore a famous engraving~

Laus Deo~...

Langdon suddenly understood.
This is the true mesaage at the base of the stone pyramid."





"The seven symbols are a transliteration!

The simplist of ciphers.

The symbols are letters.

The stoneman's square~ L
The elememt of gold~ AU
The greek Sigma~ S
The greek Delta~ D
Alchemical mercury~ E
The Ouroboros~ O

"Laus Deo,"

Langdon whispered.

The well known Latin phrase~
meaning "praise God"~

was inscribed on the tip of the Washington Monument in script letters only one inch tall.

On full display...
and yet invisable to all.

"Praise God,"

Peter said...
flipping on the soft lighting in the chamber.

"The Masonic Pyramid's final code."

Langdon felt a chill to realize...
it was the legendary Masonic Pyramid...
guided him here...
to America's great obelisk~
the symbol of ancient wisdom~
rising toward the heavens at the heart of a nation."





"In a state of wonder,
Langdon began moving counterclockwise around the perimeter of the tiny square room, arriving now at another viewing window."




North.

Through this northward-facing window,
Langdon gazed down at the familiar silhouette of the White House...
He raised his eyes to the horizon...
the straight line of Sixteenth Street ran due north toward the House of the Temple.

I am due south of Heredom.

He continued around the perimeter...

looking west,
Langdon eyes traced the long rectangle of the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial,
its classical Greek architecture inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, Temple of Athena!
goddess of heroic undertakings."




"Continuning to the final window,
Langdon gazed southward across the dark waters of the Tidel Basin,
where the Jefferson memorial shone brightly...
the gently sloping cupola,
Langdon knew,
was modified after the Patheon,
the original home to the great Roman gods of mythology."





"Having looked in all four directions,
Langdon...
thought about...
the National Mall~
her four arms outstretched from the Washington Monument toward the cardinal points of the compass.

I am standing at the crossroads of America.

"Well, Robert,
this is it.

The Lost Word.

This is where it's buried...

Peter quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object.

"Do you remember this?"

Langdon took the cube-shaped box that Peter had entrusted to him long ago.

"Yes...
but I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job of protecting it."

Solomon chuckled.

"Perhaps the time had come for it to see the light of day."

Langdon eyed the stone cube,
wondering why Peter had just handed it to him.

"What does this look like to you?"
Peter asked...

"A cornerstone."

"exactly."
Peter replied.

"Now..

First,
the concept of laying a cornerstone comes from the Old Testament."

Langdon nodded.
"the Book of Psalms."




"Correct...
a true cornerstone is always buried beneath the ground~
symbolizing the building's initial step upward out of the earth toward the heavenly light."

Langdon glanced out at the Capitol,
recalling that its cornerstone was buried so deep in the foundation...
to this day,
excavations had been unable to find it.

"And...like the stone box in your hand,
many cornerstones are little vaults...
and have hollow cavities so that they can hold buried treasures...
talismans,
if you will~
symbols of hope for the future of the building about to be erected."

Langdon was well aware of this tradition...
Masons laid cornerstones in which they sealed meaningful objects~
time capsules,
photos,
proclamations,
even the ashes of important people.

"My purpose in telling you this,"
Solomon said,
glancing over at the stairwell,
"should be clear."

"You think the Lost Word is buried in the cornerstone of the Washington Monument?"

"I don't think, Robert.
I Know.
The Lost Word was buried in the cornerstone of the monument on July 4, 1848,
in full Masaonic ritual."

Langdon stared at him...

All night,
Langdon had been trying to wrap his mind around sprawling,
ethereal concepts...
the Ancient Mysteries,
the Lost Word,
the Secrets of the Ages.

He wanted something solid...
Langdon was having a hard time accepting it.

People study the mysteries for entire lfetimes and are still unable to access the power allegedly hidden there...
If the secrets can actually be unlocked,
they will not be found in one place!

Any answer,
Langdon...
always believed,
was spread across the world in thousands of volmes...
encodedinto writings of Pythagoras,
Hermes,
Heraclitus,
Paracelsus, and hundreds of others.
The answer was found in dusty,
forgotten tomes on alchemy,
mysticism,
magic,
and philosophy.

"Peter,
I'm sorry,"
Langdon said quietly shaking his head.

"To understand the Ancient Mysteries is a lifelong process.
I can't imagine how the key could possibly rest within a single word."

"Robert,
the Lost Word is not a 'word.'"

"We only call it the 'Word" because that's what the ancients called it...
in the beginning"

(TLS 483-86).

[giovonni]

"In the beginning was the Word."





"Dean Galloway knelt at the Great Crossing of the National Cathedral and prayed for America.
He prayed that his beloved country would soon come to grasp the true power of the Word~
the recorded collection of the written wisdom of all the ancient masters~
the spiritual truths taught by the great sages.

History had blessed mankind with the wisest of teachers,
profoundly enlightened souls whose understanding of the spiritual and mental mysteries exceeded all understanding.

The precious words of thees Adepts~
Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster,
and countless others~
had been transmitted through history in he oldest and most of vessels.

Books.

Every culture on earth had its own sacred book~
its own Word~
each one different and yet each one the same.

For Christians,
the Word was the Bible,
for Muslims the Koran,
for the Jews the Torah,
for the Hindus the Vedes,
and on and on it went.

The Word shall light the way.

For America's Masonic forefathers,
the Word had been the Bible.
And yet few people in history have understood its true message.

Tonight,
as Galloway knelt alone within the great cathedral,
he placed his hands upon the Word~
a well-worn copy of his own Masonic Bible...

This treasured book...
contained...
a tresure trove of Masonic philosphical writings.

"Although Galloway's eyes could no longer read the text,
he knew the preface by heart.

Its glorious message had been read by millions of his brethen in countless languages around the world.

The text read:

TIME IS A RIVER...
AND BOOKS ARE THE BOATS MANY VOLUMES START DOWN THAT STREAM,
ONLYTO BE WRECKED AND LOST BEYOND RECALL IN ITS SANDS.
ONLY A FEW,
A VERY FEW,
ENDURE THE TESTINGS OF TIME AND LIVE TO BLESS THE AGES FOLLOWING.

There is a reason these volumes survived,
while others vanished.

As a scholar of faith, Dean Galloway had always found it astonishing that the ancient spiritual texts~
the most studied books on earth~

were,

in fact,

the least understood.

Concealed within those pages,
there hides a wonderous secret.

One day soon the light would dawn,
and mankind would finally begin to grasp the simple,
transformative truth of the ancient teachings...
and take a quantum leap forward in the understanding his own magnificent nature"

(TLS 487-8).

to be continued...

[giovonni]

A brief interlude~

Ancient & Masonic tid+bits

KNOW THYSELF

"Know thyself" was the ancient saying carved on the entrance to the oracle at Delphi in Ancient Greece. The prophetess of Apollo, known as the Pythia, spoke the will of Apollo for visitors and devotees for many centuries. Her place as the oracle was preserved by the Greeks from worships that had taken place at the oracle in Delphi dating back to the worship of Gaia, and the female goddesses that preceeded the Greek pantheon~

In the Winter months, when Apollo was said to have deserted his temple, his place was taken by his half-brother Dionysus, who had his tomb within the temple. The male priests may have had their own secret rites to the dying god during the winter months."

"These ancient Dionysian mysteries of initiation into secret rites are honored in this replica called the "Tyler's Chair", which is placed just outside the doors to the Temple Room in the Masonic House of Temple of the Scottish Rite in Washington DC."



"Tyler (or Tiler) is the name of the office of outer guard of a Masonic Lodge. Early speculative Masonic lodges met in rooms in taverns and other public meeting places, and all Lodges appoint a Tyler to guard the door from unqualified, malicious or simply curious people. Although an Officer of the Lodge and often a highly experienced Past Master, he may be considered akin to a sergeant: the Tyler may be an employee rather than a member of the Lodge, in which case he will often prepare the room, supply regalia or refreshments, and act as permanent steward of the furniture and premises. William Hogarth's famous print of Night shows a drunken Mason being helped home by the Tyler, from one of the four original Lodges in 1717 at the Rummer & Grapes tavern.

The origins of the term are unclear and a number of hypotheses have been presented over time. The name may simply come from the occupation of tyler -- a person who lays roof and floor tiles, perhaps because he had failed to qualify for more skilled work as a mason. More fanciful suggestions include:

Possibly from the name of Wat Tyler, the ringleader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
Possibly a revision of the word tether, used to tie the door closed.
Possibly that the tyler once sat on the roof of the lodge on the 'tiles' to stop people looking in through the roof.
Possibly owing to the tiles being those stones or bricks which seal the structural masonry, whether they be on floors, walls or rooves. Likewise, the Tyler seals the remainder of the activities of the lodge.
In some Jurisdictions the Tyler is appointed by the Worshipful Master, while in others he is elected by the members of the Lodge. He is charged with examining the Masonic credentials of anyone wishing to enter the Lodge and keeping unqualified persons from infiltrating Masonic meetings, and admitting only those qualified.

The Tyler is required to be outside the Lodge door for large portions of the meeting, although often in a position to overhear the proceedings. The position has often been given to a deserving Mason who has fallen on hard times, such as the original Grand Master Anthony Sayer, or to a senior Lodge member who can help and advise those kept waiting outside.

In some jurisdictions, the Worshipful Master has the authority to permit or direct the Tyler to "tyle from within" during the non-ritualistic portions of a meeting. If tyling from within, the Tyler must first secure the outer doors of the Tyler's anteroom. He would then leave the inner door open between the lodge room and the Tyler's anteroom, and sit at the seat closest to the door, still holding his drawn sword. Tyling from within enables the Tyler to participate in the business portions of the meeting, voice his opinions, volunteer for committees, deliver reports, and receive instruction if any be given."

The Priestess of Delphi by Hon. John Collier

"There is endless fantasy writing on this subject. Writers have been outdoing each other for over two thousand years. Here are some unromanticized views.

H. W. Parke in his A History of the Delphic Oracle says the responses given by the oracles show that they were not in any way intoxicated or in a mediumistic trance.
The historian Plutarch, who was a priest of Apollo at Delphi, says the god did not possess the priestess. She remained herself. But she was trained to receive the “breath” of the god. That word “breath” ( pneuma or afflatus) has given rise to endless interpretation. One translation could be simply “inspiration”.

As to the vapors that rose from the crack in the floor (or fault in the earth’s crust), no ancient writer mentioned them.
Parke says this:
“Geologically it is quite impossible at Delphi where the limestone and schist could not have emitted a gas with any intoxicating properties.”

Plutarch in his Moralia does say this: “not often nor regularly, but occasionally and fortuitously, the room in which they seat the god’s consultants is filled with a fragrance and breeze (pneumatos) as if the adyton were sending forth the essences of the sweetest and most expensive perfumes.” This kind of affirmation is hard to substantiate; and in any case, the “fragrance” is a far cry from ethylene gas.

“Another misconception,” says Eloise Hart in an article quoted in Wikipedia, “is that the Pythia’s messages were ambiguous and incoherent….[What ambiguity there was] may have been put there…by the poets who at one time attended the sessions and wrote the responses in hexameter.” The poets are the ones, says Joseph Fontenrose, not the oracles, who “added the metaphors, riddles, and pompous phrasing.”
Plutarch says the prophetesses were moved each in accordance with her natural faculties, so some utterances were wise and some not so; some pretty, some awkward.

Were the priestesses pretty girls like the one in Collier’s painting or mature women? A Wikipedia entry ( Delphi) states that the oracles were in fact oldish women whose purity had been proven by their lives: “Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area.” Eloise Hart says that “later” the priestesses were even married women."

[giovonni]

Back to
~


"The winding staircase that decends the spine of the Washington Monument consists of 896 stone that spiral around an open elevator shaft.

Langdon and Solomon were making their way down...

Langdon still grappling with...
buried within the hollow cornestone of this monument,
our forefathers placed a single copy of the Word~
the Bible~
which waits in darkness at the foot of this staircase.

as they decended,
Peter suddenly stoppeed...
swung his flashlight beam to illuminate a large stone medallion embedded in the wall.

What in the world?!

Langdon jumped when he saw the carving.

The medallion depicted a frightening cloaked fiqure holding a scthye and kneeling besides an hourglass.
The fiqure's arm was raised,
and his index finger was extended,
pointing directly at a large open Bible,
as if to say.

"The answer is in there!"

"I'd like you to consider something,
Robert."

"Why do you think the Bible has survived thousands of years of tumultuous history?
Why is it still here?

"Is it because its stories are such compelling reading?

Of course not...
but there is a reason...

Christian monks spend lifetimes attempting to dechiper the Bible...
Jewish mystics and Kabbalists pore over the Old Testaments...

And the reason, Robert,
is there exist powerful secrets hidden in the pages of this ancient book...
a vast collection of untapped wisdom waiting to be unveiled."

"The prophets warn us,"
Peter continued...
"that language used to share their secret mysteries is a cryptic one.

The Gospel of Mark tells us,
'Unto you is given to know the mystery...
but it will be told in parable.'

Proverbs cautions that the sayings of the wise are 'riddles,'
while Corinthians talks of 'hidden wisdom.'

The Gospell of John forewarns;
'I will speak to you in parable...
and use dark sayings.'"

Dark sayings, Langdon mused...
this strange phase made numerous in proverbs...
as well as Psalm 78.
I will open my mouth in a parable and utter dark sayings of old"

(TLS 489-90).

__________________________________________________ _________________________




Psalms~78:1-8 "These are called dark and deep sayings, because they are carefully to be looked into. The law of God was given with a particular charge to teach it diligently to their children, that the church may abide for ever. Also, that the providences of God, both in mercy and in judgment, might encourage them to conform to the will of God. The works of God much strengthen our resolution to keep his commandments. Hypocrisy is the high road to apostacy; those that do not set their hearts right, will not be stedfast with God. Many parents, by negligence and wickedness, become murderers of their children. But young persons, though they are bound to submit in all things lawful, must not obey sinful orders, or copy sinful examples."
from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible
http://mhc.biblecommenter.com/psalms/78.htm

__________________________________________________ _________________________



"The concept of a dark saying,"
Langdon had learned,
did not mean that the saying was "evil" but rather that its true meaning was shadowed or obscured from light.

Peter added,

"Corinthians overty tells us that the parables have two layers of meaning:
'milk for babes and meat for men~
where the milk is a watered-down reading for infantile minds,
and the meat is the true message,
accessible only to mature minds."

"I know you are a skeptic,
Robert,
but consider this.

If the Bible does not contain hidden meaning, then why have so many of history's finest minds,
including brilliant scientists at the Royal Society~
become so obsessed with studying it?

Sir Isaac Newton wrote more than a million words attempting to decipher the true meaning of Scripture,
including a 1704 manuscript that claimed he had extracted hidden scientific information from the Bible!"

Langdon knew this was true...
"Sir Francis Bacon,"
Peter continued,
"the luminary hired by King James to literally create the authorized King James Bible,
became so utterly convinced that the Bible contained cryptic meaning that he wrote in his own codes,
which are still studied today!
Of course as you know,
Bacon was a Rosicrucian and penned The Wisdom of the Ancients."

"Even the iconoclastic poet William Blake hinted that we should read between the lines."

Langdon was familiar with the verse:

BOTH READ THE BIBLE DAY AND NIGHT,
BUT THOU READ BLACK WHERE I READ WHITE.

"And it wasn't just the European luminaries,"
Peter continued,

"It was here, Robert...
our brightest forefathers~

John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine~

all warned of the profound dangers of interpreting the Bible literally.

In fact,
Thomas Jefferson was so convinced the Bible's true message was hidden that he literally cut up the pages and reedited the book,
attempting,
in his words,
'to do away with the artifical scaffording and restore the genuine doctrines'"

Langdon was well aware of this strange fact.
The Jefferson Bible was still in print today and included many of his controversial revisions,
among them the removal of the virgin birth and the resurrection.

Incredibly,
the Jeffersonian Bible had been presented to every incoming member of Congress during the first half of the nineteenth century.

"Peter, you know I find this topic fascinating...
I can understand that it might be tempting for bright minds to imagine the Scriptures contain hidden meaning,
but it makes no logical sense to me.

Any skilled professor will tell you that teaching is never done in code....
Why would the prophets~
the greatest teachers in history~
obscure their language?
If they hoped to change the world...
would they speak in code?"

"Robert, the Bible does not talk openly for the same reason the Ancient Mystery Schools were kept hidden...
for the same reason the neophytes had to be initiated before learning the secret teachings of the ages...
for the same reason the scientist in the Invisible College refused to share their knowledge...
This information is powerful...

The Ancient Mysteries cannot be shouted from the rooftops.
the mysteries are a flaming torch...
in the hands of a master can light the way...
in the hands of a madman...
can scorch the earth...


Robert,
don't you see?
The Ancient Mysteries and the Bible are the same thing."

Langdon stared in bewilderment.

Peter was silent for a few several seconds,
waiting for the concept to soak in.

"The Bible is one of the books...
passed down through history...

Its pages...
desperately trying to tell us the secret.

Don't you understand?

The dark sayings' in the Bible are the whispers of the ancients,
quietly sharing with us all of their secret wisdom."

Langdon said nothing.

The Ancient Mysteries,
as he understood them,
were a kind of instruction manual for harnessing the latent power of the human mind...
a recipe for personal apotheosis.

He had never been able to accept the power of the mysteries,
and certainly the notion that the Bible was somehow hiding a key to these mysteries was an impossible stretch.

"Peter,
the Bible and the Ancient Mysteries are total opposites.
the mysteries are all about the gods within you...
man as god.
The Bible is all about God above you...
and man as a powerless sinner."

"Yes!

Exactly!

You put your finger on the precise problem!
The monment mankind separated himself from God,
the true meaning of the Word was lost.

The voices of the ancient masters have now been drowned out,
lost in the chaotic din of self-proclaimed practioners shouting that they alone understand the Word...
that the Word is written in their language and none other."

"Robert,
you and I both know that the ancients would be horrified if they saw how their teachings have been perverted...
how religion has established itself as a tollbooth to heaven...
how warriers march into war believing God favors their cause.

We've lost the Word,
and yet its true meaning is still in reach,
right before our eyes...
from the Bible to the Bhagavad Gita to the Koran and beyond.

All of these texts,
are revered upon the alters of Freemasonary because Masons understand what the world seems to have forgotton...
that each of theses texts,
in its own way,
is quietly whispering the exact same message...

"Know ye not ye are gods?"

Langdom was struck by the way this famous ancient saying kept surfacing...
He had reflected on it...
talking to Galloway...
and at the Capitol Building...
trying to to explain The Apotheosis of Washington.

Peter lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Buddha said,
'You are God yourself.'

Jesus taught...
'the kingdom of God is within you'

and even promised us,

'The works I do,
you can do...
greater.'

Even the first antipope~
Hippolytus of Rome~
quoted the same message,
first uttered by the gnostic teacher Monoimus:

'Abandom the search for God...
instead,
take yourself as the starting place.'"

Langdon flashed on the House of the Temple,
where the Masonic Tyler's chair bore two words of guidence carved accross its back:

KNOW THYSELF.

"A wise man once told me,"

Peter said,
his voice faint now,

"the only difference between you and God is that you have forgotton you are divine."

"Peter,
I hear you~
I do.

And I'd love to believe we are gods,
but I see no gods walking on earth...
no superhumans.

You can point to...
alleged miracles of the Bible,
or any other religious text...

they are nothing but old stories fabricated by man and then exaggerated over time."

"Perhaps,"

Peter said.

"Or perhaps we simply need our science to catch up with the wisdom of the ancients...
Funny thing is...
I believe Katherine's research may be poised to do just that."

Langdon suddenly remembered...
Katherine had dashed off from the House of the Temple earlier.

"Hey,
where did she go,
anyway?"

"She'll be here shortly,"
peter said,
grinning.

"She went to confirm a wonderful bit of good fortune."

Outside, at the base of the monument,
Peter Solomon felt invigorated as he inhaled the cold...
air.

He watched in amusement as Langdon stared intently at the ground,
scratching his head and looking around at the foot of the obelisk.

"Professor...
the cornerstone that contains the Bible is underground.
You can't actually access the book,
but I assure it's there."

"I believe you...
It's just I noticed something."

Langdon...
surveyed the giant plaza on which the Washington Monument stood.

The circular concourse was made entirely of white stone...
except for two decorative courses of dark stone,
which formed two concentric circles around the monument.

"a circle within a circle,"
Langdon said.

"I never realized the Washington Monument stands at the center of a circle within a circle."





"Peter had to laugh.

He misses nothing.

"Yes, the great circumpunct...
the universal symbol for God...
at the crossroads of America...
I'm sure its just a coincidence."

Langdon seemed far off,
gazing skyward now,
his eyes ascending the illuminated spire..."





"Peter sensed Langdon was beginning to see the creation for what it truly was...
a silent reminder of ancient wisdom...
an icon of enlightened man at the heart of a great nation.

Even though Peter could not see the tiny aluminum tip at the top,
he knew it was there,
man's enlightened mind straining toward heaven.

Laus Deo."





"Peter?"

Langdon approached,
looking like a man who'd endured somekind of mystical initiation.

"I almost forgot"...

reaching into his pocket and producing Peter's gold Masonic ring,

"I've been wanting to return this to you all night."

"Thank you, Robert."

Peter held out his left hand and took the ring,
admiring it.

"You know,
all the secrecy and mystery surrounding this ring and the Masonic Pyramid...
it had an enormous effect on my life.
when I was a young man,
the pyramid was given to me with the promise that it hid mystical secrets.
Its mere existence made me believe there were great mysteries of the world.
It piqued my curiosity,
fueled my sense of wonder,
and insired me to open my mind to the Ancient Mysteries."

He smiled quietly...
slipped the ring into his pocket.

"I now realize that the Masonic Pyramid's true purpose was not to reveal the anwsers,
but rather to inspire a fascination with them."

The two men stood in silence for a long while at the foot of the monument.


When Langdon finally spoke,
his tone was serious.

"I need to ask you as a favor, Peter...
as a friend."

"Of course.
Anything."

Langdon made his request...firmly.
Solomom nodded,
knowing he was right.

"I will."

"Right away,"
Langdon added,
motioning to the waiting Escalade.

"Okay...
but one caveat."

Langdon rolled his eyes,
chuckling.

"Somehow you always get the last word."

"Yes,
and there is one final thing I want you and Katherine to see."

"At this hour?"

Langdon checked his watch.

Solomon smiled warmly at his old friend.

"It is Washington's most spectacular treasure...
and something very,
very few people ever have seen"

(TLS 490-94).

[giovonni]

"Katherine Solomon's heart felt light as she hurried up the hill toward the base of the Washington Monument.
She had endured great shock and tragedy tonight...
her thoughts were refocused now,
if only temporarily...
the wonderful news Peter had shared with her eariler...
she had just confirmed with her very own eyes.

My research is safe.
all of it.

Her holographic data drives had been destroyed...
but earlier at the House of the Temple,
Peter had informed her that he had been secretly keeping backups of all her Noetic research...
in the SMSC executive offices.
You know I am utterly fasinated with your work,
he had explained,
and I wanted to follow your progress without distrubing you.

"Katherine?"

A lone fiqure stood in silhouette at the base of the illuminated monument.

"Robert!"

She hurried over and hugged him.

"I heard the good news,"
Langdom whispered.

"You must be relieved."

Her voice cracked with emotion.

"Incredably."

The research Peter had saved was a scientific tour de force~
a massive collection of experiments that proved human thought was a real measurable force in the world.

Katherine's experimets demonstrated the effect of human thought on everything from ice crystals to random-event generators to the movement of subatomic particles.
The results were conclusive and irrefutable,
with the potential to transform skeptics into believers and affect global consciousness on a massive scale.

"Everything is going to change,
Robert.

Everything."

"Peter certainly thinks so."

Katherine glanced around for her brother.

"Hospital,"
Langdon said.

"I insisted he go as a favor to me."

Katherine exhaled, relieved.

"Thank you."

"He told me to wait for you here."

Katherine nodded...

"He said he was bringing you here.
Something about 'Laus Deo?'
He didn't elaborate."

Langdon gave a tired chuckle.

"I'm not sure I entirely understand it myself...
Your brother said quite a few things tonight that I couldn't get my mind around."

"Let me guess,"
Katherine said.

"Ancient Mysteries,
science,
and the Holy Scriptures?"

"Bingo."

"Welcome to my world."
She winked.

"Peter initiated me into this lond ago.
it fueled a lot of my research."

"Intuitively,
some of what he said made sense."

Langdon shook his head.

"But intellectually..."

Katherine smiled and put her arm around him.

"You know,
Robert,
I may be able to help you with that."

*********************************

"Deep inside the Capitol Building,
Architect Warren Bellamy was walking down a deserted hallway

Only one thing left to do...

When he arrived at his office,
he retrieved a very old key from his desk drawer.
The key was black iron,
long and slender,
with faded markings.
He slide it into his pocket and then prepared himself to welcome his guest.

Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon were on their way to the Capitol.
At Peter's request,
Bellamy was to provide them with a very rare opportunity~
the chance to lay eyes upon this building's most magnificent secret...
something that could be revealed only by the Architect"

(TLS 495-6).

[morguana]

hi gi i love reading your thread.....its so engrossing, keep up the good work
, i can almost feel your neurons fireing away........even across the pond
love to you
m x

[giovonni]

To all members who follow this thread~

Please read;

I have a ethical and personal dilemma?

It should be noted, in no way should anyone take my transformative post and imagery of Dan Brown's story (on the thread) as representing the genuine book. It should not be read or taken as a substitute as well.

Though it is quite accurate and follows the storyline with lots of quotes and original dialogue~ it definetly lacks (in wholeness) Dan Brown's wonderful story and writing style~ in telling his entire full version story.

I do not want to spoil or ruin the book for anyone, so I have a question~ that needs to be polled?

At the top of (each) page on this thread is a poll~ please choose

"Do you (the members) want me to finish the story on the thread with the last chapter and epilogue included along with my own personal comments about the book and symbol?"

"Or end it as it is with my last post > excluding the last chapter and epilogue not to be disclosed~ only adding my personal comments about the book and symbol?"

[Karen]

Tied at 2 to 2 so far ...

[Tango]

No... Karen... I LIKE 3's; 3's; 3's....

It's 3 By 3 NOW.....

http://www.sixtysymbols.com/


Trooly,


Tango

[giovonni]

The Lost Symbol~
the last post


The Apotheosis of George Washington
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apo..._of_Washington


Constantino Brumudi's fresco ~
best known work~
left unfinished~ at his death in 1880.

A very rare depiction of a fresco~
fusing science ~ mythical gods and human apotheosis~


"Mythical gods all mixed in with scientific inventers and their creations...
The great promise of man becoming God...
the entire essence of the Ancient Mysteries...
hovering over the Rotunda."






"The founding fathers had envisioned America as a blank canvas,

a fertile field on which the seeds of the mysteries could be sown."





Soaring above...
the great American icon of George Washington...

the father of this country ascending to heaven~

"Hung silently above...
lawmakers,
leaders,
and presidents...
a bold reminder,
a map to the future,
a promise of a time when man would evolve to complete spirtual maturity."





"America's great inventers accompanied by Minerva."

Known as the Roman virgin goddess of wisdom and the arts~ equated with the Greek goddess Athena.
Note, often accompanied with an owl,
her sacred creature and, through this connection,
a symbol of wisdom.

Here~ depicted w a helmet and spear,
points to an electric generator creating power stored in batteries,
next to a printing press,
while Benjamin Franklin, Samuel F. B. Morse and Robert Fulton watch.
Note~ at the left,
a teacher demonstrates the use of dividers.







"The science of Noetics may be new,
but its actually the oldest science on earth~
the study of human thought...

the ancients actually understood thought more profoundly than we do today...

The human mind was the only technology the ancients had at their disposal.

The early philosophers studied it relentlessly.

The ancient texts are obsessed with the power of the human mind.

The Vedas describes the flow of mind energy.

The Pistis Sophia describes universal consciousness.

The Zohar explores the nature of mind spirit.

The Shamanic texts predicts Einsteins 'remote influence' in terms of healing at a distance...

the Bible is encoded with scientific information...

When you start to understand the cryptic parables in the Bible...
you realize its a study of the human mind...

When the Bible tells us to 'go build our temple'...
a temple that we must 'build with no tools and making no noise'...

the text does say your body is a temple...

Corinthians 3:16.
You are a temple of God...
and the Gospel of John says the exact same thing...

the Scriptures are well aware of the powers latent within us...
urging us to harness that power...
urging us to build the temples of our minds...

The Second Coming is the coming of man~
the moment when mankind finally builds the temple of his mind...

The structure is described as being in two parts~
an outer temple called the Holy place and an inner sanctuary called the Holy of Holies.

The two parts are separated from each other by a thin veil...

an actual human brain...
built in two part~
an outer part called the dura mater and an inner part called the pia mater.

These two parts are separated by the arachnoid~
a veil of weblike tissue...

There's a reason they call this your temple...

from the gnostic Gospel of Mary:

Where the mind is, there is the treasure.'"






"Perhaps you heard...
about the brain scans taken of yogis while they meditate?

The human brain,
in advanced states of focus,
will physically create a waxlike substance from the pineal gland.

This brain secretion is unlike anything else in the body.
It has an incredible healing effect,
can literally regenerate cells,
and may be one of the reasons yogis live so long...

This substance has inconceivable properties and can be created only by the mind that is highly tuned to a deeply focused state...

the Bible's account of manna from heaven...

the magical substance that fell from the heavens to nourish the hungry...

The substance was said to heal the sick,
provide everlasting life,

and, strangely,

cause no waste in those that consumed it...

A kind of nourishment that fell from heaven...

Magically heals the body?...

Creates no waste?...

These are code words...

Temple...for 'body'...

Heavens for 'mind.'

Jacob's ladder is your spine.

And manna is this rare brain secretion...

the brain's pineal gland...

the all seeing eye of God...

'when your eye is single,

your body fills with light.'"





"This concept is also represented by the Ajna chakra and the dot on a Hindu's forehead...

and now science is showing us that accessing that power is an actual physical process.

Our brains, if used correctly,

can call forth powers that are quite literally superhuman.

The Bible, like many ancient text,
is a detailed exposition of the most sophisticated machine ever created...
the human mind.

The ancients already knew many of the scientific truths we're now rediscovering...

our minds can generate energy capable of transforming physical matter...

Particles react to our thoughts...
which means our thoughts have the power to change the world...

Our physical bodies have evolved over the ages,
but it is our minds that were created in the image of God...

We are creator's,
and yet we naively play the role of 'the created.'

We see ourselves as helpless sheep bufferted around by the God who made us.
We kneel like frightened children,
begging for help,
for forgiveness,
for good luck...

once we realize that we are truly created in the Creator's image,
we will start to understand,
we, too,
must be Creators.

When we understand this fact,
the doors will burst wide open for human potential...

a passage...
from the work of philosopher Manly P. Hall:

If the infinite had not desired man to be wise,
he would not have bestowed upon him the faculty of knowing.

The Apostheosis of Washington~
the symbolic ascent of man to deity.
The created...
becoming the Creator...

as soon as we humans begin to harness out true power,
we will have enormous control over our world.

We will be able to design reality rather than merely react to it...

That sounds...dangerous...

If thoughts affect the world,
then we must be very careful how we think.

Destructive thoughts have influence,
too,
and we all know it's far easier to destroy than it is to create...

all the lore about needing to protect the ancient wisdom from the unworthy and share it with the enlightened...

the Invisible College,
and the great scientist Isaac Newton's request to Robert Boyle to keep "high silence" about their secret research.

It cannot be communicated,
Newton wrote in 1676,
without immense damage to the world.

There's an interesting twist here...

The great irony is that all religions of the world,
for centuries,
have been urging their followers to embrace the concepts of faith and belief.

Now science,
which for centuries had derided religion as superstition,
must admit that its next big frontier is quite literally the science of faith and belief...

the power of focused conviction and intention.
The same science that eroded our faith in the miraculous is now buiding a bridge back across the chasm it created...

Think of it as simply as changing your perspective,
accepting that the world is not precisely as you imagine.

There's another piece to all this...
the single most astonishing aspect...

And I promise...
if we as humans can honestly grasp this one simple truth...
the world will change over night...

reminding you of the Masonic mantras to 'gather what is scattered'...
to bring 'order from chaos'...
to find
'at-one-ment.'

We have scientifically proven that the power of human thought grows exponentially with the number of minds that share that thought...

Multiple minds working in unison magnify a thought effect..
exponentially...

This is the inherent power of prayer groups,
healing circles,
singing in unison,
and worshipping in mass.

The idea of universal consciousness is no new ethereal New Age concept.
It's a hard-core scientific reality...
and harnessing it has the potential to transform our world.

This is the underlying discovery of Noetic Science.

Plato's writings on "the mind of the world" and the "gathering God"...

Jung's "collective consciousness."

The notion was as simple as it was startling.

God is found in the collection of many...rather than in the One.

"Elohim"...

The Hebrew word for God in the Old Testament!...
The word is plural...
the very first five passages of the Bible referred to God as a plural being,
Elohim.

The Almighty God in Genesis was described not as One... but as Many...

in Latin,
painted within the Apotheosis.

E PLURIBUS UNUM.

"Out of many, one"

(TLS 498-05).



The Apotheosis of Washington
note~ arranged in two concentric rings~
a circle within a circle...
a circumpunct."







out of many~
one

*********************************


infinite consciousness




*********************************


Please note,
I have left out the epilogue from this post,
the above post is the essence of the last chapter and the book.
I sincerely recommend ~ too all those who have not read the "Lost Symbol" ~ to do so!

I will post my personal comments soon~
in regards to this thread, Dan Brown and his book,
and the supposed lost~
'word'.

Where there is love ~ there is always hope!

My blessing too all~
giovonni

[giovonni]

Please note, just post the last chapter of the Lost Symbol above this post.

[Malletzky]

Originally Posted by giovonni

I will post my personal comments soon~
in regards to this thread, Dan Brown and his book,
and the supposed lost~
'word'.

Where there is love ~ there is always hope!

My blessing too all~
giovonni

Well Gio, I'm really interrested to see your personal comments here...

with much and respect
malletzky

[giovonni]

3/3/2010
My block was finally lifted~ early this morning at 1:11 AM

I apologize for the delay in responding with my promised post thread comments. I took seriously ill a while back and have been slowly on the mend.

*********************************

To the Forum~
For many years now, I felt like many humans, that something was amok with the way we were lead to perceive this world we live in. This world just did not make sense? In particular, the ways in which Western cultures were not conducive to and in synchronicity with that of Nature and Mother Earth. After living through some very tumultuous and stressful years trying to adapt and accept (what I began to realize as) these false norms~ I dropped out and began a personal sojourn to find my own way back in making peace with all.

For years, I have conducted my own research into the veiled and sometimes secret hidden realms of ufology and extraterrestrial life on and off this planet. When I first arrived at the Project Avalon Forum in the fall of 2008, I had already spent many hours viewing the Project Camelot video interviews. The Forum, established by Bill and Kerry first introduced me to "The "New Paradigm" book series. The basis for these books were the transcribed 'Messages,' in which I believe originated off planet and later published by George Green. These 'messages' have had an enormous effect in awakening many members and visitors to this forum~ from all around the globe. As Project Avalon has evolved and expanded, it has become a kind of clearing house and discussion platform, in regards to these and other related subject matters.

The Forum has become a true internet crossroads into the collection and discernment of shared and insightful wisdom. Also, it has allowed me the wonderful gift of being able to connect with other like-minded souls~ from around the world. I have truly come to believe, we on this forum~ coming from different countries, cultures, and faiths~ were meant to meet up here. Our self-determined quest for the truth, is the glue that binds us together in our individual journeys towards spiritual enlightenment. My sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who have worked tirelessly (past & present), in maintaining this sites presence and integrity on the internet. The close friendship and bonds that have resulted~ were truly the bonus for me!


*********************************

May the veil of unbelief be lifted from upon America and the entire World

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol~
final comments:


*********************************

On the author:

"America is profoundly anti-intellectual. But the great and hopeful thing about America is that we're not committed to it"
Attributed to Stephen Jay Gould~ 19th Century American financier and railroad builder.




Dan Brown~ is America !!
He is also a wonderful entertaining writer of thrilling detective fiction, who has achieved media pop status and financial success which has translated into a publishers dream come true. Though, it should be noted his fame and fortune did not come easy. As a young aspiring writer, he struggled with his novel writing only achieving real success after his fourth attempt. Many critics have praised him while others have taken his literary abilities apart. That said, his talent too capture and enthral millions of readers not only in America, but around the world, seems to know no bounds!

This brief bio should give some clues and insight into why Brown's books might appeal to those who are on this forum and who have followed this thread.

"Dan Brown was born June 22, 1964 and raised in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, the eldest of three children. Brown grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, where his father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher emeritus of mathematics, and wrote textbooks from 1968 until his retirement in 1982. Both of Brown's parents are also singer/musicians and served as church choir masters, with his mother serving as church organist. Brown was raised as an Episcopalian.

Brown's interest in secrets and puzzles stems from their presence in his household as a child, where codes and ciphers were the lynchpin tying together the mathematics, music and languages in which his parents worked. The young Brown spent hours working out anagrams and crossword puzzles, and he and his siblings participated in elaborate treasure hunts devised by their father on birthdays and holidays.

After graduating from Amherst, Brown dabbled with a musical career. In 1991 he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as singer-songwriter and pianist. To support himself, he taught classes at Beverly Hills Preparatory School. While on holiday in Tahiti in 1993,Brown read Sidney Sheldon's novel The Doomsday Conspiracy, and was inspired to become a writer of thrillers. In 1996, Brown quit teaching to become a full-time writer. Note, Digital Fortress his first novel, was published in 1998.

Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says of his book The Da Vinci Code that it is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."


*********************************





The Book:

Everyone loves a mystery!
Ah~ Who could resist a suspenseful thriller novel~ which includes man kinds internal conflict between good and evil~ with the hopeful prospects of revealing the secret truths into the meaning of human existence upon this planet? There is no doubt, Dan Brown's narratives can be quite long and winded, sprinkled with lots of nouns and adjectives, not to mention those every page turning~ short chapters. For some readers this might be bit annoying, but not for me. Since childhood, I have been labeled with having attention deficit. That said, Dan Brown's ability to teach and inform his readers in an entertaining informative way~ drew me~ the forever seeking knowledge student~ back every time my wandering mind tried to slip off.

I was drawn too Dan Brown's two previous books “Angels and Demons” and The Da Vinci Code,” due to my early education and confirmation into the Roman Catholic Church. Later in my life, I even lived in a monastery as a monk. I had always been suspect of and have questioned why the church’s patriarchal leadership excluded women? Both of these books greatly interested and intrigued me with they’re insights and attempts into lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding the Catholic Church.

During the last decade, I had witnessed much of what~ I had been taught and grown up to believe in come undone. My faith in my Church and trust in my beloved country's government also had become unhinged. Even my relationship with my family and friends seemed to be in jeopardy. "The Lost Symbol" happened at timely and crucial juncture in my life; It offered up an opportunity for a reconciliation with my past and present, a kind of incarnation awakening.

So ~ when it was announced Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' book was centered here in Washington, it caught my radar fast! I have had a life long bond and love with the city of Washington D.C. I grew up in the D.C. metro area, and currently I am living here. My early childhood is rooted into the city's beautiful symbolic landmarks. I know its history's and its streets better than most. These personal factors added to my excitement and interest in the books release.


Reading this book, allowed me the opportunity to look closely into what formed my strong first impressions and loving sentiments towards this city. The book also helped me gain insight into understanding that heartache and disappointment that is sometimes necessary and part of one's living and learning experiences upon this plane. In a sense, the book and thread provided a kind of therapy for me, helping me put all these life experience issues (karmic effects) into perspective.


*********************************

Many Freemasons were mighty relieved when The Lost Symbol was released - for months they'd expected Dan Brown to portray the Craft in a negative light. Instead, the novel was a big love-in - a fact that surprised many people.

Note:
Dan Brown writes a letter to the Scottish Rite Freemasonry, U.S.A.
Dan Brown, author of the novel The Lost Symbol, was asked to address the 2009 Biennial Session of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction in Washington DC, October 4-6, 2009, but because of his schedule, he could not be there.

Here is the letter he wrote to the Southern Jurisdiction.

October 6, 2009
"Guests of the Southern Jurisdiction,
It is my great honor to be invited to greet you via this letter. I had hoped I might be able to join you in person tonight, but the launch of my novel The Lost Symbol has me far from Washington. In the past few weeks, as you might imagine, I have been repeatedly asked what attracted me to the Masons so strongly as to make it a central point of my new book. My reply is always the same: "In a world where men do battle over whose definition of God is most accurate, I cannot adequately express the deep respect and admiration I feel toward an organization in which men of differing faiths are able to ‘break bread together’ in a bond of brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie."Please accept my humble thanks for the noble example you set for humankind. It is my sincere hope that the Masonic community recognizes The Lost Symbol for what it truly is…an earnest attempt to reverentially explore the history and beauty of Masonic Philosophy.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Brown"

originated from here;
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.co...ws.php?uid=149


I personally have no problems with the Freemasons as an organization. The early American Freemasons who first settled and establish the first colonies, were key in literally laying the foundations not only of Washington D.C., but also that of the entire continent. I also do not have any problems with any fellowship groups that encourage and support civic responsibility, as well as contribute to charitable endeavors.

That said, I believe like many on this forum who hail from all over the world, that the veil of secrecy must be lifted from upon this planet. Truly the time has come to end this elitist and evolutionary backward stance. For to continue and allow this, will surely hasten and signal the final demise of our global environment~ by a human species truly gone mad!

The Lost Symbol~ is expected to be made into a film by Columbia Pictures for release in 2012. In February 2010, it was confirmed that Columbia Pictures will be making the film, which will find Robert Langdon being summoned to Washington D.C., where he will be decoding the symbols of the Freemasons. Tom Hanks is expected to reprise his role as Langdon. Brian Grazer and John Calley have signed on to produce the third installment, while it has not been confirmed if Ron Howard will return to direct.

It has also been reported~ Dan Brown says that he currently has outlines for at least 12 future books, one of which involves a famous composer's "all factual" associations with a secret society. Speculation is that this may mean Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was also a Freemason.


*********************************




Why The Thread?

My first intent in regards to this thread, was only to alert my fellow forum members and visitors of the book's forthcoming release. I had to wait a week before obtaining a copy of it. During that time, I scanned for and read all the initial reviews, which gave me much insight into the book’s story line. After beginning the novel, I saw the potential for creating an accompanying photo-log of the imagery. I felt this would enhance the reading experience for those like myself, who might enjoyed seeing the amazing imagery described in the book. Often when I read, my mind's eye becomes a visual sensory aide that assist me in visualizing the subject matter, it literally transforms the material into associated images. Sometimes, I can be a very slow reader due to my ADD. This process helps me stay focused, and allows me to fully comprehend and enjoy the reading experience. The narrative (book) actually becomes a kind of story board in my head.

Note, Dan Brown was given unprecedented access to many of the locations mentioned in the book. My personal experiences and knowledge of these locations were my only sources of references. I could of personally taken many of the photos posted, but that would of been quite time consuming, with access to many locations prohibited now during these post 911 days. So my challenge was using a search engine in finding images and photos as close as possible to the authors description. After finishing and fully dissecting the book, I decided to combine some of the books critical dialogue with the books descriptive scenes~ and then post them in a serial format on the thread. The fun for me, was in the selecting and matching the images with the dialogue~ sometimes with surprisingly uncanny results. I have often used this process when posting text, pictures and videos~ on this forum.


******************************

Early Memories of Washington D. C.

The Old Soldiers Home
http://www.defense.gov/specials/heroes/history1.html

And the Civil War era Fort Totten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_To...shington,_D.C.


I literally grew up within the shadows of the US Capitol Building~ just a couple of miles due north over looking the Capitol Building Dome, sets two other Washington historical sites~ Both of these places were located in my neighborhood. I was very lucky to have both of them as sort of backdrops to my childhood. I would wander the vast grounds of the Old Soldier's Home and Fort Totten, on my bike with my dog Rinny in toll. My mother and uncle both worked at the Old Soldier's Home. It was often noted by the nun’s at Saint Gabriel, for me to leave school early at lunchtime~ not to return for the rest of the day, only to be found later by my mother, up at the Soldiers Home amongst my friends~ the veterans. At that time, the majority of the men that lived at the Home were veterans of the First and Second World Wars. I would often sit and listen, while these men would go on about their lives and experiences. The tales would often be rants of past military adventures; Often their stories would center on the circumstances of receiving their wounds and injuries acquired during war. I remember many of these men suffered quietly from neurological disorders, as well as the physical pain from these injuries. Especially the veterans from the First War World, who survived from the gasings.

One dear soul in particular, a friend of my father ( a former immigrant from Albania), with whom I was very fond and close too, would often take me on day trips to visit all the great buildings and monuments in Washington’s federal triangle area. These wonderful excursions, set the foundations that began my great love and affection towards my country and beloved city. My dear friend (Pete), like many of the old soldiers had no family left. Years later, I would come to realize our friendship represented all he had left in this world, except for the constant pain from his wounds. I remember he died the week JFK was shot and was buried the day of the assassination. That week during November 1963, represented the day the American dream died within me. After that the veil began to be lifted from upon my eyes and mind. America might of been called the beautiful, but it was truly not the land of the free. Washington became the center stage of the civil rights movement in Amerca. A few years later, after Martin Luther King was murdered, my beloved city was set ablaze by fire and riots. Soon the adventure in Vietnam would escalate, and Robert Kennedy would be silenced forever. I was sent off to a catholic boarding school. The veil had been finally lifted.



*********************************

Symbolic Language~


"To live in the world without becoming aware of the
meaning of the world is like wandering about in a
great library without touching the books."
The Secret Teachings of All Ages


From a Hindu proverb;

Everyone is a house with four rooms~ a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.

You and I know human consciousness is not literally a house. The house analogy of this proverb is an excellent example of the employment of symbolic language to express what we don’t yet know through comparison to what is known and familiar.

"The Domain of Scientific Knowledge lies in the more commonly shared exterior rooms of the physical and mental rooms of our house.

The Domain of Subjective Knowingness lies in the more private rooms of emotional knowing and what I think of as our intuitive awareness of perfection, of how things ought to be. To find out who we are, how we feel and what we most value, we must visit these interior rooms."


*********************************

The 'word'

I really wanted to believe the author’s premiss that there could be some lost ancient wisdom~ hidden somewhere in Washington D.C.? I also realized Dan Brown’s great capacity to seamlessly blend fact and fiction into his previous novels. Could there be something missing from the vast depositories of knowledge stored in the libraries around the world? Probably not, for the world we wander, is covered (blatant) with the symbols that point to the truth. We just need to left the veil of unbelief to truly see it. I have read and even heard, many readers of “The Lost Symbol,” were disappointed with the authors ending? But for me, there were numerous symbolic messages (clues) sprinkled throughout the book. One ‘word in particular though actually reached out to me! The word is <> “at onement.”

For It is a wonderful and noble thought that creates the desire to be at
at onement with all. But for me, this dream of at onement has a twofold double edge meaning. This so-called new age term, was derived from the word atonement (originally coined by John Wycliffe, a 14th century English theologian). It is taken from a Hebrew verb term~ in English translated~ to atone. Its definition in the Christian- Judaism tradition, is to achieve forgiveness or pardon usually from the God Almighty. It also represents and defines the sacrifice Jesus Christ made upon the Cross for the ‘atonement’ of human sin.

At onement in the human and cosmic sense has come to mean and represent one consciousness within the universe. So~ if one believes that the universe is one in consciousness, then what separates this human experience from it? Hindu mystics call it Maya (illusion). For to live upon this plane we are submerged in~ live and breath in this illusion. And the greatest illusion is that separateness~ we have bought into by allowing the veil of unbelief to fall upon us here on earth. So how can one individual human find their way back into reunification with the one universal consciousness~ what separates one’s own atonement with that of the many cosmic term of at onement ??

After contemplating this for a while~ I remembered!
Many years ago while professing to become a Franciscan friar, a profound message was given to me. It came by way of an old and very humble friar priest. Shortly before leaving the monastery where we both lived, he advised and told me to always remember~ that no religious conversion would guarantee bringing oneself back into the fold with the God Almighty. He went on to say that any unification with the true source of light, was a singular journey, in which all souls must fair alone. I found his advice very surprising and intriguing considering that this weathered old man, had dedicated and served his church and order faithfully for over fifty years. Gradually, while serving in my vocation, I began to realized the true wisdom of his advice. From deep down in my heart an awareness began to emerge from within my true self. I realized~ we truly do walk alone on this earth.

It was a powerful realization, that the path to salvation and transcending from upon this plane, literally meant a reconciliation (an atonement) with myself~ first. For there is a rub to this life. To be ‘at onement’ isn’t just sweetness and joy, its also pain and sorrow. Buddha said, life is suffering, but no one wants to suffer! Life isn’t what we always desire it to be~ it just simply is.

It has always been difficult for me to be quiet or still my mind, so I could enter my interior rooms. For most here meditation offers a path to a retreat from this realm. I do not like to meditate, but have found my own way inward when tapping into my intuitive spirit voice. Whatever way one goes about achieving this stillness, it evolves reaching down into the depths of ones source of creative thinking~ that allows you to believe in what you already know~ and what you want to do~ without even knowing it. It is you~ the God within that speaks the only truth upon this plane. It is only this voice of truth that will release the chains that have held us all too this sub- creation prison planet.


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A while back my dear friend Carmen, gave me a prayer to recite and suggested I add to it~ what I wanted and desired most in life? With her help, I created that list. I recite it several times a day to keep myself focused on what I want to manifest in my life~
Here is a portion of that list~ I will share with you all~


I AM <> GOD I AM <> UNLIMITED GOD <> I AM~

I Will My Inner Spirit Soul To Take Charge Of My Life~
I Am Filled With The Power and Knowingness ~ Of My Holy ~ Holy Spirit~
For I Offer Up My Troubled Surface Mind And Broken Heart as Rent
With Love~ So That I May Live Anew~

Lazarus, Come Forth~
Teach Me From Within To Realize The Unlimited Quality Of My Soul~

May The Veil Of Unbelief Be Lifted From Upon Me
To > Open Up My Spirit- Mind And Body To A Second Birth~
To > Purify My Surface Mind And Erase All The Falseness Learned~
To > Fully Raise My Consciousness~ To Its Apex~
I~ Desire~ Too Always Be Full Of Joy~ And Be At Peace Within~
To~ Keep My Focused Surface Mind Upon The Holy Song
Of The Ascension Attitudes~Of Love- Praise and Gratitude~ With Devotion
Which~ Arises From My Hearts Center Towards the God~ of All There Is~

I ~Desire For All My Thoughts and Emotions~
To Resonate and Dwell In The Light Of Eternal Love~
With Trust Through Honesty And Integrity~
Towards All~ With Good Vibrations~ Feeling’s And Intent~

This Day~ My Spirit's Energy Raises The Vibrational Frequencies~
To Restore The Truth~ Peace~ Harmony And Balance To Mother Earth ~

For < I >Am A Human Being Becoming> I Desire To Become~ At-one-ment With Myself ~
So That I May Be Rejoined Too The Many> That Are The One In Affinity.

where there is love~ there is always hope
giovonni

[rhythm]

Hey Gio

This thread has been

most amazin to follow ....

and by all the hits it has recieved

im not the only one who feels that way

we been mates for some time now

and i know how much you put into this thread

im kinda sad that is finished in a way as i dont like to see

it go down into the bowels of avalon ... maby i will keep bumping it....

enyway just wanted to tell you how much appreciated you are

and loved and respected ... im also please your health seems to be much improved .

thanks for listening to my rammbling on and on skpe

and being a most tresured friend ...we it seem are not....

so lost after all ...always friend .. love always...

rhythmmm girl ...

[rhythm]

Saw this and thought of you ..