Dan Brown's~ Lost Symbol

[giovonni]

Dan Brown's~ long awaited and highly secretive new novel is due out soon~

http://joyhog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/lost-symbol.jpg

Much speculation into its content and what that symbol really is?????

Any ideas or insights into all this hype :wink2:

UPDATED September 15th, 2009

September 15th, 2009

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8-clGLjjeho/SlSVBwa9PrI/AAAAAAAAAAU/nfvShNcTZYo/s320/Cover+of+The+Lost+Symbol,+Today+Show.jpg
This afternoon on NPR~radio here in Washington DC Dan Brown the author of The Da Vinci Code, and Angels and Demons~ new book The Lost Symbol was released today.

Set in Washington, D.C., and focused on Freemasonry, Brown's new novel continues the tale of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.

Dan Brownhttp://www.topnews.in/files/Dan-Brown101.jpg

Dan Brown's website:
http://www.danbrown.com/#/theLostSymbol



Here is a link to NPR's "ALL Things Considered" program (today) and a 8 minute portion of the interview;

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112751885

Also :thumb_yello:

below is an excerpt: from 'The Lost Symbol'



The Lost Symbol
By Dan Brown

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

Fact:

In 1991, a document was locked in the safe of the director of the CIA. The document is still there today. Its cryptic text includes references to an ancient portal and an unknown location underground. The document also contains the phrase "It's buried out there somewhere."

All organizations in this novel exist, including the Freemasons, the Invisible College, the Office of Security, the SMSC, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

All rituals, science, artwork, and monuments in this novel are real.

Prologue

House of the Temple
8:33 P.M.

The secret is how to die.

Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die.

The thirty-four-year-old initiate gazed down at the human skull cradled in his palms. The skull was hollow, like a bowl, filled with bloodred wine.

Drink it, he told himself. You have nothing to fear.

As was tradition, he had begun this journey adorned in the ritualistic garb of a medieval heretic being led to the gallows, his loose-fitting shirt gaping open to reveal his pale chest, his left pant leg rolled up to the knee, and his right sleeve rolled up to the elbow. Around his neck hung a heavy rope noose — a "cable-tow" as the brethren called it. Tonight, however, like the brethren bearing witness, he was dressed as a master.

The assembly of brothers encircling him all were adorned in their full regalia of lambskin aprons, sashes, and white gloves. Around their necks hung ceremonial jewels that glistened like ghostly eyes in the muted light. Many of these men held powerful stations in life, and yet the initiate knew their worldly ranks meant nothing within these walls. Here all men were equals, sworn brothers sharing a mystical bond.

As he surveyed the daunting assembly, the initiate wondered who on the outside would ever believe that this collection of men would assemble in one place . . . much less this place. The room looked like a holy sanctuary from the ancient world.

The truth, however, was stranger still.

I am just blocks away from the White House.

This colossal edifice, located at 1733 Sixteenth Street NW in Washington, D.C., was a replica of a pre-Christian temple — the temple of King Mausolus, the original mausoleum . . . a place to be taken after death. Outside the main entrance, two seventeen-ton sphinxes guarded the bronze doors. The interior was an ornate labyrinth of ritualistic chambers, halls, sealed vaults, libraries, and even a hollow wall that held the remains of two human bodies. The initiate had been told every room in this building held a secret, and yet he knew no room held deeper secrets than the gigantic chamber in which he was currently kneeling with a skull cradled in his palms.

The Temple Room.

This room was a perfect square. And cavernous. The ceiling soared an astonishing one hundred feet overhead, supported by monolithic columns of green granite. A tiered gallery of dark Russian walnut seats with hand-tooled pigskin encircled the room. A thirty-three-foot-tall throne dominated the western wall, with a concealed pipe organ opposite it. The walls were a kaleidoscope of ancient symbols . . . Egyptian, Hebraic, astronomical, alchemical, and others yet unknown.

Tonight, the Temple Room was lit by a series of precisely arranged candles. Their dim glow was aided only by a pale shaft of moonlight that filtered down through the expansive oculus in the ceiling and illuminated the room's most startling feature — an enormous altar hewn from a solid block of polished Belgian black marble, situated dead center of the square chamber.

The secret is how to die, the initiate reminded himself.

"It is time," a voice whispered.

The initiate let his gaze climb the distinguished white-robed figure standing before him. The Supreme Worshipful Master. The man, in his late fifties, was an American icon, well loved, robust, and incalculably wealthy. His once-dark hair was turning silver, and his famous visage reflected a lifetime of power and a vigorous intellect.

"Take the oath," the Worshipful Master said, his voice soft like falling snow. "Complete your journey."

The initiate's journey, like all such journeys, had begun at the first degree. On that night, in a ritual similar to this one, the Worshipful Master had blindfolded him with a velvet hoodwink and pressed a ceremonial dagger to his bare chest, demanding: "Do you seriously declare on your honor, uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motive, that you freely and voluntarily offer yourself as a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of this brotherhood?"

"I do," the initiate had lied.

"Then let this be a sting to your consciousness," the master had warned him, "as well as instant death should you ever betray the secrets to be imparted to you."

At the time, the initiate had felt no fear. They will never know my true purpose here.

Tonight, however, he sensed a foreboding solemnity in the Temple Room, and his mind began replaying all the dire warnings he had been given on his journey, threats of terrible consequences if he ever shared the ancient secrets he was about to learn: Throat cut from ear to ear . . . tongue torn out by its roots . . . bowels taken out and burned . . . scattered to the four winds of heaven . . . heart plucked out and given to the beasts of the field —

"Brother," the gray-eyed master said, placing his left hand on the initiate's shoulder. "Take the final oath."

Steeling himself for the last step of his journey, the initiate shifted his muscular frame and turned his attention back to the skull cradled in his palms. The crimson wine looked almost black in the dim candlelight. The chamber had fallen deathly silent, and he could feel all of the witnesses watching him, waiting for him to take his final oath and join their elite ranks.

Tonight, he thought, something is taking place within these walls that has never before occurred in the history of this brotherhood. Not once, in centuries.

He knew it would be the spark . . . and it would give him unfathomable power. Energized, he drew a breath and spoke aloud the same words that countless men had spoken before him in countries all over the world.

"May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me . . . should I ever knowingly or willfully violate my oath."

His words echoed in the hollow space.

Then all was quiet.

Steadying his hands, the initiate raised the skull to his mouth and felt his lips touch the dry bone. He closed his eyes and tipped the skull toward his mouth, drinking the wine in long, deep swallows. When the last drop was gone, he lowered the skull.

For an instant, he thought he felt his lungs growing tight, and his heart began to pound wildly. My God, they know! Then, as quickly as it came, the feeling passed.

A pleasant warmth began to stream through his body. The initiate exhaled, smiling inwardly as he gazed up at the unsuspecting gray-eyed man who had foolishly admitted him into this brotherhood's most secretive ranks.

Soon you will lose everything you hold most dear.


Chapter 1

The Otis elevator climbing the south pillar of the Eiffel Tower was overflowing with tourists. Inside the cramped lift, an austere businessman in a pressed suit gazed down at the boy beside him. "You look pale, son. You should have stayed on the ground."

"I'm okay . . ." the boy answered, struggling to control his anxiety. "I'll get out on the next level." I can't breathe.

The man leaned closer. "I thought by now you would have gotten over this." He brushed the child's cheek affectionately.

The boy felt ashamed to disappoint his father, but he could barely hear through the ringing in his ears. I can't breathe. I've got to get out of this box!

The elevator operator was saying something reassuring about the lift's articulated pistons and puddled-iron construction. Far beneath them, the streets of Paris stretched out in all directions.

Almost there, the boy told himself, craning his neck and looking up at the unloading platform. Just hold on.

As the lift angled steeply toward the upper viewing deck, the shaft began to narrow, its massive struts contracting into a tight, vertical tunnel.

"Dad, I don't think — "

Suddenly a staccato crack echoed overhead. The carriage jerked, swaying awkwardly to one side. Frayed cables began whipping around the carriage, thrashing like snakes. The boy reached out for his father.

"Dad!"

Their eyes locked for one terrifying second.

Then the bottom dropped out.

Robert Langdon jolted upright in his soft leather seat, startling out of the semiconscious daydream. He was sitting all alone in the enormous cabin of a Falcon 2000EX corporate jet as it bounced its way through turbulence. In the background, the dual Pratt & Whitney engines hummed evenly.

"Mr. Langdon?" The intercom crackled overhead. "We're on final approach."

Langdon sat up straight and slid his lecture notes back into his leather daybag. He'd been halfway through reviewing Masonic symbology when his mind had drifted. The daydream about his late father, Langdon suspected, had been stirred by this morning's unexpected invitation from Langdon's longtime mentor, Peter Solomon.

The other man I never want to disappoint.

The fifty-eight-year-old philanthropist, historian, and scientist had taken Langdon under his wing nearly thirty years ago, in many ways filling the void left by Langdon's father's death. Despite the man's influential family dynasty and massive wealth, Langdon had found humility and warmth in Solomon's soft gray eyes.

Outside the window the sun had set, but Langdon could still make out the slender silhouette of the world's largest obelisk, rising on the horizon like the spire of an ancient gnomon. The 555-foot marble-faced obelisk marked this nation's heart. All around the spire, the meticulous geometry of streets and monuments radiated outward.

Even from the air, Washington, D.C., exuded an almost mystical power.

Langdon loved this city, and as the jet touched down, he felt a rising excitement about what lay ahead. The jet taxied to a private terminal somewhere in the vast expanse of Dulles International Airport and came to a stop.

Langdon gathered his things, thanked the pilots, and stepped out of the jet's luxurious interior onto the foldout staircase. The cold January air felt liberating.

Breathe, Robert, he thought, appreciating the wide-open spaces.

A blanket of white fog crept across the runway, and Langdon had the sensation he was stepping into a marsh as he descended onto the misty tarmac.

"Hello! Hello!" a singsong British voice shouted from across the tarmac. "Professor Langdon?"

Langdon looked up to see a middle-aged woman with a badge and clipboard hurrying toward him, waving happily as he approached. Curly blond hair protruded from under a stylish knit wool hat.

"Welcome to Washington, sir!"

Langdon smiled. "Thank you."

"My name is Pam, from passenger services." The woman spoke with an exuberance that was almost unsettling. "If you'll come with me, sir, your car is waiting."

Langdon followed her across the runway toward the Signature terminal, which was surrounded by glistening private jets. A taxi stand for the rich and famous.

"I hate to embarrass you, Professor," the woman said, sounding sheepish, "but you are the Robert Langdon who writes books about symbols and religion, aren't you?"

Langdon hesitated and then nodded.

"I thought so!" she said, beaming. "My book group read your book about the sacred feminine and the church! What a delicious scandal that one caused! You do enjoy putting the fox in the henhouse!"

Langdon smiled. "Scandal wasn't really my intention."

The woman seemed to sense Langdon was not in the mood to discuss his work. "I'm sorry. Listen to me rattling on. I know you probably get tired of being recognized . . . but it's your own fault." She playfully motioned to his clothing. "Your uniform gave you away."

My uniform? Langdon glanced down at his attire. He was wearing his usual charcoal turtleneck, Harris Tweed jacket, khakis, and collegiate cordovan loafers . . . his standard attire for the classroom, lecture circuit, author photos, and social events.

The woman laughed. "Those turtlenecks you wear are so dated. You'd look much sharper in a tie!"

No chance, Langdon thought. Little nooses.

Neckties had been required six days a week when Langdon attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and despite the headmaster's romantic claims that the origin of the cravat went back to the silk fascalia worn by Roman orators to warm their vocal cords, Langdon knew that, etymologically, cravat actually derived from a ruthless band of "Croat" mercenaries who donned knotted neckerchiefs before they stormed into battle. To this day, this ancient battle garb was donned by modern office warriors hoping to intimidate their enemies in daily boardroom battles.

"Thanks for the advice," Langdon said with a chuckle. "I'll consider a tie in the future."

Mercifully, a professional-looking man in a dark suit got out of a sleek Lincoln Town Car parked near the terminal and held up his finger. "Mr. Langdon? I'm Charles with Beltway Limousine." He opened the passenger door. "Good evening, sir. Welcome to Washington."

Langdon tipped Pam for her hospitality and then climbed into the plush interior of the Town Car. The driver showed him the temperature controls, the bottled water, and the basket of hot muffins. Seconds later, Langdon was speeding away on a private access road. So this is how the other half lives.

As the driver gunned the car up Windsock Drive, he consulted his passenger manifest and placed a quick call. "This is Beltway Limousine," the driver said with professional efficiency. "I was asked to confirm once my passenger had landed." He paused. "Yes, sir. Your guest, Mr. Langdon, has arrived, and I will deliver him to the Capitol Building by seven P.M. You're welcome, sir." He hung up.

Langdon had to smile. No stone left unturned. Peter Solomon's attention to detail was one of his most potent assets, allowing him to manage his substantial power with apparent ease. A few billion dollars in the bank doesn't hurt either.

Langdon settled into the plush leather seat and closed his eyes as the noise of the airport faded behind him. The U.S. Capitol was a half hour away, and he appreciated the time alone to gather his thoughts. Everything had happened so quickly today that Langdon only now had begun to think in earnest about the incredible evening that lay ahead.

Arriving under a veil of secrecy, Langdon thought, amused by the prospect.

Ten miles from the Capitol Building, a lone figure was eagerly preparing for Robert Langdon's arrival.

From The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Copyright 2009 by Dan Brown. Published by Doubleday Books. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

If you want to plan your own Dan Brown-inspired adventure in DC, here are a few locations you won’t want to miss:
check out this link
http://beta.washington.org/visiting/experience-dc/the-lost-symbol

[iainl140285]

Was the symbol lost, hidden or forgotten??:mfr_lol::wink2:

The pic above looks like the masonic compas, which is weird since its the second time today I have come across it:
This was the other. Due for release November - Assassains Creed 2:lmao:
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2715/symbolu.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

The Lost Symbol, since its connected to Dan Brown, I would speculate it has something to do with part of the key to the stars.

AS ABOVE SO BELOW :wink2:

[Swanny]

Dan Brown is doing a great job, if you want to know about the illuminate then just read angels and demons :thumb_yello:

[mntruthseeker]

I did read Angels and Demons.


and this will have to be my next book

Thanks Swammy


Is that suppose to be our liberty bell?

[giovonni]

The Freemason Lodge Wasington DC
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/images/house_of_the_temple.jpg
The Lost Symbol: Dan Brown’s Pentagram City
Dan Brown’s new book—set in Washington—is expected to feature another secret society with an elaborate history and illustrious membership: the Freemasons.

By Sophie Gilbert Published Wednesday, August 26, 2009

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_X7igbyFfqhw/SHmfauc9RQI/AAAAAAAAAeM/5FfGL1-Ymwc/s400/Satanic+pentagram.jpg
from the Washingtonian.com~ Magazine
http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/13413.html?msg=99




ALSO~

Here is an intersting side note;

Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol, to usher in ebook revolution
The Lost Symbol, the new book by Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, has the potential to create a surge of interest in electronic books, according to experts.

By Ian Johnston

His new work, which is due out on September 15, has a print run of 6.5 million, one of the largest orders in the history of publishing, but Knopf Doubleday, the author's US publisher, has announced that an electronic version will also be issued on the same day.

This will enable the book to be downloaded and read on computers or specialist devices such as the Sony Reader, the Kindle ebook and Apple Tablet.

It is thought Brown's new book – to be published in Britain by Random House – could prove a turning point for the popularity of such machines.

Joel Rickett, editorial director of Penguin's Viking Books, told The Observer newspaper: "The ebook is very quickly becoming a publishing reality and The Lost Symbol will be one of the fastest-selling books of recent times.

"Once people can flip between books, look up references online and switch to an audio reading, everything will change very quickly."

He added: "Even more than J K Rowling's Harry Potter titles, Dan Brown has shown that a book can become genuinely mass market and this helped keep supermarkets' interest and helped publishers develop their methods, especially online.

"The Da Vinci Code kept changing what was expected of the readership. People would think everyone who was ever going to buy that book had already bought it and then, the next week, 20,000 more would sell and another 30,000 after that."

He added that the quality of specialist ebook readers was a key factor. "Apple have huge knack of coming up with gadgets that are nice to use, as well as effective. So far, there is nothing that is as pleasurable as reading print. Part of it will be the way it works and part will be the way it looks," Mr Rickett said.

However Karolina Sutton, a literary agent, pointed out a disadvantage of computer books compared to their paper rivals.

"Like any new technology it has its limitations. It's not fun to run out of power as the protagonist is about to reveal a deadly secret."

Note~ the book will be released 15/9/09


original link;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6039724/Dan-Browns-new-book-The-Lost-Symbol-to-usher-in-ebook-revolution.html

[mntruthseeker]

There are people already screaming about kindle

My friend tried to put her books through them and now she is at a standstill

They monitore what is being downloaded and NO I wouldn't trust any electronic system for a book

[Swanny]

Love that Tom Hanks plays the chap in the films, he is my favourite actor :thumb_yello:
Shame that people don't realise what is actually being told in these books :thumbdown:

[mntruthseeker]

yes it really is swammy.

I know I watched it a couple of times and thought "boring" but now I just sit there afraid to leave the room.

Hopefully more will catch on. its portrayed differently when they show it on the ole boob tube

[777 The Great Work]

:lol3:

[LightSurfer]

Thank you 777 TGW,

I'm totally with you on that.

After the release of Angels and Demons on the big screen, the CERN website got pimped up for the sheeple.

LS

[peaceandlove]

Freemasons Await Dan Brown Novel `The Lost Symbol'

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer – Tue Sep 15, 6:51 am ET

WASHINGTON – The lodge room of the Naval Masonic Hall is a colorful and somewhat inscrutable sight for the nonmember, with its blue walls, Egyptian symbols, checkered floor in the center and high ceiling painted with gold stars.

Countless secrets supposedly have been shared in this and thousands of similar rooms around the world. Facts of life have been debated, honors bestowed, rituals enacted. You would need to belong to a lodge to learn what really goes on.

Or you could simply ask.

Continues: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_en_ot/us_books_brown_masons

[giovonni]

September 15th, 2009

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8-clGLjjeho/SlSVBwa9PrI/AAAAAAAAAAU/nfvShNcTZYo/s320/Cover+of+The+Lost+Symbol,+Today+Show.jpg
This afternoon on NPR~radio here in Washington DC Dan Brown the author of The Da Vinci Code, and Angels and Demons~ new book The Lost Symbol was released today.

Set in Washington, D.C., and focused on Freemasonry, Brown's new novel continues the tale of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.

Dan Brownhttp://www.topnews.in/files/Dan-Brown101.jpg



Here is a link to NPR's "ALL Things Considered" program (today) and a 8 minute portion of the interview;

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112751885

Also :thumb_yello:

below is an excerpt: from 'The Lost Symbol'



The Lost Symbol
By Dan Brown

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

Fact:

In 1991, a document was locked in the safe of the director of the CIA. The document is still there today. Its cryptic text includes references to an ancient portal and an unknown location underground. The document also contains the phrase "It's buried out there somewhere."

All organizations in this novel exist, including the Freemasons, the Invisible College, the Office of Security, the SMSC, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

All rituals, science, artwork, and monuments in this novel are real.

Prologue

House of the Temple
8:33 P.M.

The secret is how to die.

Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die.

The thirty-four-year-old initiate gazed down at the human skull cradled in his palms. The skull was hollow, like a bowl, filled with bloodred wine.

Drink it, he told himself. You have nothing to fear.

As was tradition, he had begun this journey adorned in the ritualistic garb of a medieval heretic being led to the gallows, his loose-fitting shirt gaping open to reveal his pale chest, his left pant leg rolled up to the knee, and his right sleeve rolled up to the elbow. Around his neck hung a heavy rope noose — a "cable-tow" as the brethren called it. Tonight, however, like the brethren bearing witness, he was dressed as a master.

The assembly of brothers encircling him all were adorned in their full regalia of lambskin aprons, sashes, and white gloves. Around their necks hung ceremonial jewels that glistened like ghostly eyes in the muted light. Many of these men held powerful stations in life, and yet the initiate knew their worldly ranks meant nothing within these walls. Here all men were equals, sworn brothers sharing a mystical bond.

As he surveyed the daunting assembly, the initiate wondered who on the outside would ever believe that this collection of men would assemble in one place . . . much less this place. The room looked like a holy sanctuary from the ancient world.

The truth, however, was stranger still.

I am just blocks away from the White House.

This colossal edifice, located at 1733 Sixteenth Street NW in Washington, D.C., was a replica of a pre-Christian temple — the temple of King Mausolus, the original mausoleum . . . a place to be taken after death. Outside the main entrance, two seventeen-ton sphinxes guarded the bronze doors. The interior was an ornate labyrinth of ritualistic chambers, halls, sealed vaults, libraries, and even a hollow wall that held the remains of two human bodies. The initiate had been told every room in this building held a secret, and yet he knew no room held deeper secrets than the gigantic chamber in which he was currently kneeling with a skull cradled in his palms.

The Temple Room.

This room was a perfect square. And cavernous. The ceiling soared an astonishing one hundred feet overhead, supported by monolithic columns of green granite. A tiered gallery of dark Russian walnut seats with hand-tooled pigskin encircled the room. A thirty-three-foot-tall throne dominated the western wall, with a concealed pipe organ opposite it. The walls were a kaleidoscope of ancient symbols . . . Egyptian, Hebraic, astronomical, alchemical, and others yet unknown.

Tonight, the Temple Room was lit by a series of precisely arranged candles. Their dim glow was aided only by a pale shaft of moonlight that filtered down through the expansive oculus in the ceiling and illuminated the room's most startling feature — an enormous altar hewn from a solid block of polished Belgian black marble, situated dead center of the square chamber.

The secret is how to die, the initiate reminded himself.

"It is time," a voice whispered.

The initiate let his gaze climb the distinguished white-robed figure standing before him. The Supreme Worshipful Master. The man, in his late fifties, was an American icon, well loved, robust, and incalculably wealthy. His once-dark hair was turning silver, and his famous visage reflected a lifetime of power and a vigorous intellect.

"Take the oath," the Worshipful Master said, his voice soft like falling snow. "Complete your journey."

The initiate's journey, like all such journeys, had begun at the first degree. On that night, in a ritual similar to this one, the Worshipful Master had blindfolded him with a velvet hoodwink and pressed a ceremonial dagger to his bare chest, demanding: "Do you seriously declare on your honor, uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motive, that you freely and voluntarily offer yourself as a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of this brotherhood?"

"I do," the initiate had lied.

"Then let this be a sting to your consciousness," the master had warned him, "as well as instant death should you ever betray the secrets to be imparted to you."

At the time, the initiate had felt no fear. They will never know my true purpose here.

Tonight, however, he sensed a foreboding solemnity in the Temple Room, and his mind began replaying all the dire warnings he had been given on his journey, threats of terrible consequences if he ever shared the ancient secrets he was about to learn: Throat cut from ear to ear . . . tongue torn out by its roots . . . bowels taken out and burned . . . scattered to the four winds of heaven . . . heart plucked out and given to the beasts of the field —

"Brother," the gray-eyed master said, placing his left hand on the initiate's shoulder. "Take the final oath."

Steeling himself for the last step of his journey, the initiate shifted his muscular frame and turned his attention back to the skull cradled in his palms. The crimson wine looked almost black in the dim candlelight. The chamber had fallen deathly silent, and he could feel all of the witnesses watching him, waiting for him to take his final oath and join their elite ranks.

Tonight, he thought, something is taking place within these walls that has never before occurred in the history of this brotherhood. Not once, in centuries.

He knew it would be the spark . . . and it would give him unfathomable power. Energized, he drew a breath and spoke aloud the same words that countless men had spoken before him in countries all over the world.

"May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me . . . should I ever knowingly or willfully violate my oath."

His words echoed in the hollow space.

Then all was quiet.

Steadying his hands, the initiate raised the skull to his mouth and felt his lips touch the dry bone. He closed his eyes and tipped the skull toward his mouth, drinking the wine in long, deep swallows. When the last drop was gone, he lowered the skull.

For an instant, he thought he felt his lungs growing tight, and his heart began to pound wildly. My God, they know! Then, as quickly as it came, the feeling passed.

A pleasant warmth began to stream through his body. The initiate exhaled, smiling inwardly as he gazed up at the unsuspecting gray-eyed man who had foolishly admitted him into this brotherhood's most secretive ranks.

Soon you will lose everything you hold most dear.


Chapter 1

The Otis elevator climbing the south pillar of the Eiffel Tower was overflowing with tourists. Inside the cramped lift, an austere businessman in a pressed suit gazed down at the boy beside him. "You look pale, son. You should have stayed on the ground."

"I'm okay . . ." the boy answered, struggling to control his anxiety. "I'll get out on the next level." I can't breathe.

The man leaned closer. "I thought by now you would have gotten over this." He brushed the child's cheek affectionately.

The boy felt ashamed to disappoint his father, but he could barely hear through the ringing in his ears. I can't breathe. I've got to get out of this box!

The elevator operator was saying something reassuring about the lift's articulated pistons and puddled-iron construction. Far beneath them, the streets of Paris stretched out in all directions.

Almost there, the boy told himself, craning his neck and looking up at the unloading platform. Just hold on.

As the lift angled steeply toward the upper viewing deck, the shaft began to narrow, its massive struts contracting into a tight, vertical tunnel.

"Dad, I don't think — "

Suddenly a staccato crack echoed overhead. The carriage jerked, swaying awkwardly to one side. Frayed cables began whipping around the carriage, thrashing like snakes. The boy reached out for his father.

"Dad!"

Their eyes locked for one terrifying second.

Then the bottom dropped out.

Robert Langdon jolted upright in his soft leather seat, startling out of the semiconscious daydream. He was sitting all alone in the enormous cabin of a Falcon 2000EX corporate jet as it bounced its way through turbulence. In the background, the dual Pratt & Whitney engines hummed evenly.

"Mr. Langdon?" The intercom crackled overhead. "We're on final approach."

Langdon sat up straight and slid his lecture notes back into his leather daybag. He'd been halfway through reviewing Masonic symbology when his mind had drifted. The daydream about his late father, Langdon suspected, had been stirred by this morning's unexpected invitation from Langdon's longtime mentor, Peter Solomon.

The other man I never want to disappoint.

The fifty-eight-year-old philanthropist, historian, and scientist had taken Langdon under his wing nearly thirty years ago, in many ways filling the void left by Langdon's father's death. Despite the man's influential family dynasty and massive wealth, Langdon had found humility and warmth in Solomon's soft gray eyes.

Outside the window the sun had set, but Langdon could still make out the slender silhouette of the world's largest obelisk, rising on the horizon like the spire of an ancient gnomon. The 555-foot marble-faced obelisk marked this nation's heart. All around the spire, the meticulous geometry of streets and monuments radiated outward.

Even from the air, Washington, D.C., exuded an almost mystical power.

Langdon loved this city, and as the jet touched down, he felt a rising excitement about what lay ahead. The jet taxied to a private terminal somewhere in the vast expanse of Dulles International Airport and came to a stop.

Langdon gathered his things, thanked the pilots, and stepped out of the jet's luxurious interior onto the foldout staircase. The cold January air felt liberating.

Breathe, Robert, he thought, appreciating the wide-open spaces.

A blanket of white fog crept across the runway, and Langdon had the sensation he was stepping into a marsh as he descended onto the misty tarmac.

"Hello! Hello!" a singsong British voice shouted from across the tarmac. "Professor Langdon?"

Langdon looked up to see a middle-aged woman with a badge and clipboard hurrying toward him, waving happily as he approached. Curly blond hair protruded from under a stylish knit wool hat.

"Welcome to Washington, sir!"

Langdon smiled. "Thank you."

"My name is Pam, from passenger services." The woman spoke with an exuberance that was almost unsettling. "If you'll come with me, sir, your car is waiting."

Langdon followed her across the runway toward the Signature terminal, which was surrounded by glistening private jets. A taxi stand for the rich and famous.

"I hate to embarrass you, Professor," the woman said, sounding sheepish, "but you are the Robert Langdon who writes books about symbols and religion, aren't you?"

Langdon hesitated and then nodded.

"I thought so!" she said, beaming. "My book group read your book about the sacred feminine and the church! What a delicious scandal that one caused! You do enjoy putting the fox in the henhouse!"

Langdon smiled. "Scandal wasn't really my intention."

The woman seemed to sense Langdon was not in the mood to discuss his work. "I'm sorry. Listen to me rattling on. I know you probably get tired of being recognized . . . but it's your own fault." She playfully motioned to his clothing. "Your uniform gave you away."

My uniform? Langdon glanced down at his attire. He was wearing his usual charcoal turtleneck, Harris Tweed jacket, khakis, and collegiate cordovan loafers . . . his standard attire for the classroom, lecture circuit, author photos, and social events.

The woman laughed. "Those turtlenecks you wear are so dated. You'd look much sharper in a tie!"

No chance, Langdon thought. Little nooses.

Neckties had been required six days a week when Langdon attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and despite the headmaster's romantic claims that the origin of the cravat went back to the silk fascalia worn by Roman orators to warm their vocal cords, Langdon knew that, etymologically, cravat actually derived from a ruthless band of "Croat" mercenaries who donned knotted neckerchiefs before they stormed into battle. To this day, this ancient battle garb was donned by modern office warriors hoping to intimidate their enemies in daily boardroom battles.

"Thanks for the advice," Langdon said with a chuckle. "I'll consider a tie in the future."

Mercifully, a professional-looking man in a dark suit got out of a sleek Lincoln Town Car parked near the terminal and held up his finger. "Mr. Langdon? I'm Charles with Beltway Limousine." He opened the passenger door. "Good evening, sir. Welcome to Washington."

Langdon tipped Pam for her hospitality and then climbed into the plush interior of the Town Car. The driver showed him the temperature controls, the bottled water, and the basket of hot muffins. Seconds later, Langdon was speeding away on a private access road. So this is how the other half lives.

As the driver gunned the car up Windsock Drive, he consulted his passenger manifest and placed a quick call. "This is Beltway Limousine," the driver said with professional efficiency. "I was asked to confirm once my passenger had landed." He paused. "Yes, sir. Your guest, Mr. Langdon, has arrived, and I will deliver him to the Capitol Building by seven P.M. You're welcome, sir." He hung up.

Langdon had to smile. No stone left unturned. Peter Solomon's attention to detail was one of his most potent assets, allowing him to manage his substantial power with apparent ease. A few billion dollars in the bank doesn't hurt either.

Langdon settled into the plush leather seat and closed his eyes as the noise of the airport faded behind him. The U.S. Capitol was a half hour away, and he appreciated the time alone to gather his thoughts. Everything had happened so quickly today that Langdon only now had begun to think in earnest about the incredible evening that lay ahead.

Arriving under a veil of secrecy, Langdon thought, amused by the prospect.

Ten miles from the Capitol Building, a lone figure was eagerly preparing for Robert Langdon's arrival.

From The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Copyright 2009 by Dan Brown. Published by Doubleday Books. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

If you want to plan your own Dan Brown-inspired adventure in DC, here are a few locations you won’t want to miss:
check out this link
http://beta.washington.org/visiting/experience-dc/the-lost-symbol

[TRANCOSO]

Here you'll find a lot (& more) about the origin of the Lost Symbol:
www.keyofsolomon.org

[giovonni]

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol on Kindle is Amazon top seller
The Kindle e-reader edition of The Lost Symbol, the new novel by The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, is the top-selling book on Amazon.
By Tom Chivers
Published: 3:07PM BST 16 Sep 2009

The Amazon Kindle
http://www.techsuave.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/amazon-kindle-e-reader-300x300.jpg

The Kindle edition of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, his follow-up to 2003’s smash hit The Da Vinci Code, has become the top-selling item on Amazon.com.

The e-reader edition is outselling the hardback copy of the novel, which had previously become the sixth best selling book of 2009 on pre-publication orders alone.

Commentators are wondering whether the book is heralding a new era in publishing. While Amazon is offering almost 50 per cent off the hardback copies, $16.17 instead of $29.99, the Kindle edition is available at just $9.99 – and there is no wait for delivery.

The news does not mean that the Kindle edition is outselling the physical copies overall. Kindle editions are only available through Amazon, while the hardback can be bought elsewhere both online and on the High Street.

Bloggers at technology website fastcompany.com say there simply are not enough Kindles in existence for them to rival total sales of hard copies. However, as the Kindle gains in popularity and new devices such as the Apple iTablet come to the market, electronic editions may soon take off. If Dan Brown takes another six years to write his next book, he may find that it sells most of its copies electronically.

The Kindle and its successors the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX have been on sale since November 2007. The latest model, the DX, can hold up to 3,500 books in its 4GB internal memory.






original story here;
from the Telegraph.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6198072/Dan-Browns-The-Lost-Symbol-on-Kindle-is-Amazon-top-seller.html

[Swanny]

Asda are selling the lost symbol for £5 and thats the hardback :thumb_yello:

[TempestGarden]

The book kinda intrigues me, but I haven't read any of his other books nor saw the movie.

I have heard that Dan Brown is supposed to be a disinfo agent though for the Illuminati. Apparently he does this all just to get people to read into his story and dismiss all of this as total fiction.

[Jacqui D]

Yes it's a big ruse! the lost symbol well maybe we would all be better looking within!:wink2::zip:

[Swanny]

I tried to buy it from asda tonight but they had sold out.
Asked a woman and she said they get a delivery everyday and everyday it sells out
Going to reserve a copy tomorrow :thumb_yello:

[giovonni]

Swanny its worth the wait :thumb_yello:

http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/mikep/WindowsLiveWriter/Myfavouritebooksatthemoment_B464/Animated_book_worm_reading_book_hg_clr.gif

[giovonni]

Some of the numerous sites and symbols mentioned in The Lost Symbol ~

http://media.loudounextra.com/img/photos/2007/11/08/10015861H1304559_t764a.JPG
Dulles International Airport~ just outside Washington in nearby Virginna.


http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/historic/83_3821.gif
Smithsonian Museum Support Center (SMSC)
the Smithsonian's Institutes Silver Hill Maryland storage facility.

"This is the world's largest and most technologically advanced museums and also one of the world's best-kept secrets. It houses more pieces than the Hermitage, the Vatican Museum, and the New York Metropolitan...combined. Yet despite its magnificant collection, few members of the public are ever invited inside its heavily guarded walls." from the Lost Symbol

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BZaPGsbLyHM/SM8zTVCxDTI/AAAAAAAADPg/1UeK-u79HkE/s400/Federal+Triangle.jpg
Early grid-map of the Federal Triangle area in DC
The White House- U S Capitol Building- The Washington Monument

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CT279_Capito_G_20081201155431.jpg
Note entirely underground below> the US Capitol Visitor Center while under construction.


http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/assets_c/2008/12/Capitol%20Hill%20Visitors%20Center%20small-thumb-425x292.jpg
This statue is a copy of the one that stands a-top the Capitol Dome below.

http://www.digital-images.net/Images/WashingtonDC/CapitolDome_5401.jpg



http://baltimoresun.image2.trb.com/balnews/media/photo/2008-11/43604965.jpg
Vistor Center's Main Hall


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3207784293_d0c63636a0.jpg


http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2009/03/large_capitol%20visitors%20center.JPG
inside angle view of Visitor Center's Main Entrance Hall

http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/National_Statuary_Hall_Collection.jpg
National Statuary Hall~ first assembly place~ of the US Congress~
Inside US Capitol, just off to the right of The Capitol Rotunda~
where (in the book) Robert Langdon is scheduled
to give his lecture on symbolism~
too the masonic elite.

http://www.garone.net/tony/random_files/wahington4.jpg
George (in his masonry best)
Laying the Cornerstone to the Capitol Building


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/3295680793_9fd38558a1.jpg
The George Washington Masonic Temple~ in near by Alexandria Virginna

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




Noetic Science~
What Are Noetic Sciences?
The word "noetic" is derived from the Greek word "nous," meaning mind, intelligence or ways of knowing, There is no exact equivalent in English. It refers to "inner knowing," a kind of intuitive consciousnessódirect and immediate access to knowledge beyond what is available to our normal senses or the power of reason.

Noetic sciences are explorations into the nature and potentials of consciousness using multiple ways of knowing -- including intuition, feeling, reason, and the senses. Noetic sciences explore the "inner cosmos" of the mind/consciousness/soul/spirit, and how it relates to the "outer cosmos" of the physical world.

The goal of our work is to support individuals in the transformation of their own consciousness, developing their innate human potentials and creative capacities, as the foundation for a collective transformation towards a global wisdom society.

FIONS strives towards this goal through talks and presentations on subjects related to these ideas, through ongoing groups exploring such topics as dreams, the New Physics, and through active communication among members.


The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell and industrialist Paul N. Temple to encourage and conduct research on human potentials. Institute programs include "extended human capacities," "integral health and healing," and "emerging worldviews." This includes research into topics such as spontaneous remission, meditation, consciousness, alternative healing practices, spirituality, human potential, psychic abilities and survival of consciousness after bodily death, among others. The institute's name is derived from the Greek word nous, meaning mind.



Its Symbol and forums of study.
http://berlinoetics.de/bic00000.gif
"Perhaps the only limits to the human mind
are those we believe in" Willis Harman
http://www.knowledgecenter.com/ions/NoeticMapSmall.jpg


Note;
I will post more periodically :original:

[giovonni]

http://www.fromsingletomarried.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/rotunda-2.jpg
View> inside US Capitol Rotunda

https://www.aatma.fi/imgs/muut_tuotteet/handofmysteeries.jpg
The Hand of the Mysteries


http://warofillusions.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/38818445.jpg


http://www.sonic.net/~tallen/palmtree/ayyarch/images/bimnadaport1.jpg
A lost portal?

[peaceandlove]

On Coast to Coast AM tonight.

10 pm - 2 am PT
Crop Circles

First Hour: Researcher Lynne McTaggart talks about the science behind Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/09/23

Radio Affiliates: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/affiliates

[giovonni]

Thanks PAL
I think Dan Brown~ had ( Lynne McTaggart) in mind
(in) developing the book's character> Katherine Solomon
http://www.whatthebleep.com/images/mctaggart.jpg

http://i43.tower.com/images/mm100959799/field-lynne-mctaggart-audio-cover-art.jpg

[Carmen]

Thanks for all these pics Gio. I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was really timely, an easy flowing read and plenty of learning. Dan Brown is a very clever author. The overall message of the book is excellent and thought provoking.

Love and Light

Carmen

[giovonni]

The US Library of Congress

http://jpllmusicnews.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/library-of-congress.jpg

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books.
More-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress


http://files.myopera.com/RichardCooper/albums/467365/library_of_congress_reading.jpg

The Ultimate Book-Store!:lol3:


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The District of Columbia ~ lots of revealing secretive books and limo's :smoke:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/01/19/obama_limo_kdoqpwnc.jpg

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/11/bush_limo.jpg

[Thunderbird]

Read it on Kindle on my iPhone. it was incredible. shed light on a whole bunch of stuff that I intuited. really amazing book. go Dan.

read it in one night. stayed up till 4 reading it.

[giovonni]

Thanks Carmen and Thunderbird~
For your post and comments :original:

I know Carmen finished in about the same time,
but :mfr_omg:T~Bird on an iphone!:shocked:
you did download it too your kindle right?


http://iphonenews.desinformado.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/apple-iphone-keyboard-281x3001.jpg

[Carmen]

Like I said previously, I think Dan Brown is very switched on. The Da Vinci Code was about the Sacred Feminine, and it was certainly the time for the feminine, Goddess to be brought forward and acknowledged.

This new book brings forth the ancient knowledge, the integrity, character, nobility and honour of the initiate orders throughout history. Its certainly time to bypass the dark controllers (whose time has passed) and to focus and bring forward the knowledge of the Great Ones. The ones who can teach humanity about their Divine Heritage.

Love and Light

Carmen

[giovonni]

A top inside the US Capitol Dome
http://sandstead.com/images/washington/capitol/BRUMIDI_Constantino_Apotheosis_of_Washington_(rotu nda)_fresco_dia_744_in_US_Capitol_source_LS_d100_. jpg
Depicts~The Apotheosis of Washington

The Apotheosis of Washington
details here;http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/apotheosis/Overview.cfm

http://www.clements.umich.edu/Exhibits/g.washington/case.15/15.f.jpg
From man too god ~the transformation of George Washington

[bushycat]

Fascinating, just like our history books.

[Tango]

Covering Head with My Arms first...

I believe that ALL Dan Brown's information is gleaned from Wayne Herschel...

But, Dan, has taken out the Real Tastee tidbits... Dan Winter also did the same

Oh... So, you think I'm talking outta My Butt... Say you want Proof...

See for Yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V0U1ZuXIyw

I just love doubt ers... Go to Wayne's Site:

http://www.oneism.org/


Trooly,


Tango

" I Heat up, I Cool down " " I got words, in my head, so I say them "

I just can't get that song outta My head...

[giovonni]

Thanks Tango
for the video and link :thumb_yello:

Butt:lmao:
Me no a doubter!

I totally> believe in a one cosmic consciousness (universal mind) ~

Just as Dan> is probably dipping into Wayne's mind ~

I thinketh~ (we) all here are tapping into each others ~

Just as you and tone3jaguar > do quite often :naughty:

[giovonni]

The talisman
http://www.theoriginalcelticconnection.co.uk/acatalog/KOS_Good_Fortune_S.jpg
for
The Key of Solomon
http://www.keyofsolomon.net/_images/6%20Solomon%20key%20talisman...jpg
The power to bring order from chaos


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-z0ESKBfMy8/SlOy1S8GRGI/AAAAAAAABCI/uLpsiPssyoM/s400/droithumain2.jpg

[Tango]

Ouch... You, hurt Me to the core... I won't Cheat as Jag...

I won't Parrot others info. If, I can't do the math. Know what I won't defend

myself...

Tango


Thanks Tango
for the video and link :thumb_yello:

Butt:lmao:
Me no a doubter!

I totally> believe in a one cosmic consciousness (universal mind) ~

Just as Dan> is probably dipping into Wayne's mind ~

I thinketh~ (we) all here are tapping into each others ~

Just as you and tone3jaguar > do quite often :naughty:

[giovonni]

http://www.rickveitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/butterfly.jpg
The quest~ for power, knowledge and revenge?

[giovonni]

The Search

A View
Digging deep inside!
http://www.badblue.com/blog/050423-capitol.jpg



Below the Dome
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3562/3665477944_4a5f4af931.jpg



Beneath the Rotunda floor
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/3171858911_3f1792af6e.jpg?v=0



Lies the Cyrpt
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/6/7535665_5c4264528b_o.jpg



Next- the basement
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2386511484_9dfa4fd925.jpg



Then the (exclusive) US Capitol subway
http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/acrosstheworld/04_08_08/IMG_6807.jpg



Below the subway~the SBB levels
http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/photos/images/EHColumns_lg.jpg




Next?? :mfr_omg:
http://essentialhumanities.net/images/arch4_10.JPG



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rkSVAqPIwqE/Sb6kFVqKoyI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/ZeNBRuRl_FM/s1600/Picture+13.png
SSB 13

[giovonni]

For those who are interested

X
http://www.keyofsolomon.net/
marks the spot!

[giovonni]

http://needcoffee.cachefly.net/needcoffee/uploads/2009/04/hanging-with-squid.jpg
What does a dead squid





http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9XFwbxLRgME/SpMayUtfuYI/AAAAAAAAARc/J7Th1TAbL3A/s320/diamond-skull-1.jpg
a skull




http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/352/2/4/FF7DA_new_weapon_scythe_by_video_boy_mal.jpg
a scythe




http://farm1.static.flickr.com/27/59226978_4c2c1e9a06.jpg?v=0
and a unfinished pyramid have in common?






http://images.elfwood.com/art/o/l/ollikka/villain.jpg
the sinister Mal`akh!

[giovonni]

http://www.bomunsa.de/Zen/MEDITATION_ZEN_DO.jpg
seeking order from chaos
Mal`akh~ communing with Luna



http://www.bilderberg.org/vitriol.jpg
The Meditation Room




http://freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bodieslarge1.gif



http://www.excatholicsforchrist.com/images/mas%201.JPG
The Duke of Kent leads a celebration for the 275th anniversary of Grand Lodge)

Worldwide freemasonry can be viewed like two sets of ascending stairs that begin and end together. Any eager young man that takes his first hesitant steps into the unknown world of freemasonry starts his journey with the first three steps. They are: -


1st Degree - entered apprentice

2nd Degree - fellowcraft

3rd Degree - master mason




Most men will be content to rest in this popular position because by now they will have learnt the secret handshakes and other rituals peculiar to this rite. The first three degrees now form the Blue Lodge of Masonry.



Later they will also have to decide at this point of time whether to either accept the Scottish Rite or the York Rite.



Scottish Rite


The popular Scottish Rite is represented with 30 steps or degrees. Personal mystic names will be granted to him in his journey to reach the highest pinnacle in masonry.



Five known Masonic figures of the past will meet and accompany him, and it is stated, guide him in his journey. These are king Solomon, king Cyrus, Sultan, Acolyte and George Washington. (Yes that one!)



Each degree is supposed to teach a moral. To earn a new degree the candidate must prepare himself for what will be asked and expected of him as he examines and learns the rituals.



The 32nd degree is the highest degree a participating mason can ever hope to achieve.



The acclaimed 33rd degree will be awarded to him, if he gets there, by members of the shadowy Supreme Council governing body of the Rite.



The Scottish Rite was started by exiled Scottish migrs in France. If (and he does have a choice), he might decide to journey through the York Rite.



York Rite


The York Rite, according to legend, derives its name from York in England. It was the first Masonic body to be organized. The journeying mason in the York Rite advances thorough ten degrees. These are known by a name and not by a number. They are as following: -





Master Mark

Past Master (Virtual)

Most Excellent Master

Royal Arch Mason

Royal Master

Select Master

Super Excellent Master

Order of the Red Cross

Order of the Knights of Malta

Order of the Knights Temple


Further Scottish Rite degrees



4th Secret Master

5th Perfect Master

6th Intimate Secretary

7th Provost and Judge

8th Intendant of the Building

9th Master elect of nine elu of the nine

10th Elect of fifteen elu of the fifteen

11th Sublime master elected elu of the twelve

12th Grand Master Architect: Master Architect

13th Master of the ninth Arch: Royal Arch of Solomon

14th Grand Elect Mason

15th Knight of the East or Sword

16th Prince of Jerusalem

17th Knight of the East and West

18th Knight of the Rose Cross

19th Grand Pontiff

20th Master Ad Vitam: Master of the Symbolic Lodge

21st Patriarch Noachite

22nd Prince of Libanus: Knight of the Royal Arch

23rd Chief of the tabernacle

24th Prince of the tabernacle

25th Knight of the brazen Serpent

26th Prince of mercy

27th Commander of the temple

28th Knight of the Sun

29th Knight of St. Andrew

30th Grand Elect Knight

31st Grand Inspector Inquisitor

32nd Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret

33rd Sovereign Grand Inspector




Note:
Back in the Dark Ages~ masons were so valued for their mastery in skills of building, that they were allowed to cross borders unhindered~ so as too practice their trade and help build natons~
hence
they were called
Freemasons

[TruthWillSetUFree]

Friday, Oct. 16: Secrets of 'The Lost Symbol'
Posted: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:27 PM by Elizabeth Chuck

One of the world's most popular authors, Dan Brown, sits down for a rare and exclusive interview with NBC News' Matt Lauer to talk about his new book, "The Lost Symbol," the beliefs of the Freemasons, the power of the human mind, whether people can become gods and a little known science that may tie them all together. For the hour-long report, "Secrets of the Lost Symbol," set to air on Friday, Oct. 16 (9:00 p.m. ET), Lauer travels to Washington, D.C. to interview Brown and explore the backdrop and secrets of this new bestseller.

"Secrets of the Lost Symbol" will take viewers behind the scenes of the secretive brotherhood of the Freemasons in attempt to make sense of what is fact and what is fiction for all Brown's fans, and find out from the Freemasons themselves what he got right, and what he got wrong. The broadcast also goes in search of what Brown calls the true meaning of his book and why, he says, its so unlike his others. Additionally, he speaks with Lauer at length about the beliefs of the nation's founding fathers, saying "America wasn't founded a Christian country. It became a Christian country."

To watch the snippet about the show

http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/07/2092154.aspx

[Carmen]

Thanks Truth, that looks really interesting.

[TruthWillSetUFree]

Thanks Truth, that looks really interesting.

Thanks Carmen

I think I will tape it and watch it after work.

It sounds like he did a lot of research into Freemasonry. I didn't think I would want to see Dateline or the movie until I saw the commercial for it, but I think now I would like to check it out.

I'm sure it will have more meaning to those of us who do so much research into these fields as we have a background to base it on.

[Karen]

Posted for Gio who is having technical problems.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidion10.jpg

A small stone pyramid with a code?

http://www.luckymojo.com/celtic-dragon-box.jpg

Inside the small stone box is the deciphering code.

http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/descending-steps-peter-wolledge.jpg

Of an ancient mystery buried deep within the bowels of the Capitol Building!

[morguana]

http://www.keyofsolomon.org/The%20Lost%20Symbol%20Dan%20Brown.php

http://kachina2012.wordpress.com/about/
just a couple of places of interest.....might find interesting, might not :original:
bou x

[TheObserver]

Ain't it oddly fitting since NBC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller that they are the ones promoting Dan Brown the most.
(I wonder what degree freemason Matt Lauer is?) :lol3:

[giovonni]

Thanks boudicca
for the links:thumb_yello:

:mfr_omg:

Yes indeed Observer
30Rock (its on tv right now):lol3:

[giovonni]

http://www.infoanda.com/resources/Freemason.gif

The
secret hides
within The Order


1514 A.D.

A clue??





Then~ comes a call to arms!




http://stalkernomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/walled_garden2.jpg
In a quiet neighborhood just west of Embassy Row in Washington,
there exist a medieval-styled walled garden whose roses, it is said,
spring from twelfth-century plants"

[http://www.parhaminsussex.co.uk/assets/images/Main/WalledGarden.jpg
just within this walled sanctuary~ there's a Carderock gazebo-known as Shadow House.
In the gazebo sits a tiny hunched backed old man with
elfin features. There~ a young helper finds him taking in some air......
the young man brings a strange message from a caller....
"Is there no help for the widows son?"

[giovonni]

http://hiramsway.webs.com/constitutions1782a.jpg
For centuries~ mankind has seeked the answers too the Ancient Mysteries?



http://z.about.com/d/dc/1/0/0/5/EastandWestBuildingsatNight.jpg
Within a piece of art~ at the National Gallery of Art in Washington~ is a clue!



http://dev.laptop.org/~arael/preview/famous_paintings/famous_paintings.xol/painting/Albrecht_Durer-451px-Melencolia_I.jpg
Melencolia I
depicting mankinds struggle to comprehend the Ancient Mysteries~
By Albrecht Durer~ a sixteenth-century German engraver~ artist-alchemist-philosopher and symbolist~
a lifelong student of the Ancient Mysteries~
The ultimate Renissance mind!

Who placed a cryptic grid within his engraving~
A sixteen numbered grid box~
the magic square~
with a cue!

Jeova Sanctus Unus
Latin
for
One True God?


that's the secret???

[giovonni]

http://projectavalon.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=711&pictureid=7675
Could this be a possible celestial portal or a stargate?

[giovonni]

http://www.visitingdc.com/images/botanical-garden-picture.jpg
sweating it out :sweatdrop:
The U.S. Botanical Gardens
A rain forest within the jungles of DC

a perfect place for an interrogation :naughty:

[giovonni]

meanwhile
back to searching for cues...

What's this?
http://www.sinj.com/the-empress-tarot/images/illuminati-seal-red-star.jpg
The Seal of Soloman (superimposed) upon the Great Seal of the United States!


Conspiracy theorists frequently point out that the Freemasons left clues that they created the seal, "for those with eyes to see." The symbol has several meanings, some of which represent complex mathematics. Again, this is a repetition of the Pythagorean tetraktys superimposed over itself, with one in the masculine blade position, pointing upward, and the feminine chalice or yoni position, pointing downward. This is the alchemical union of opposites, masculine and feminine. Also, when these lines are drawn, the points of the hexagram point to the letters A, S, N, O, and M, which theorists then point out is an anagram for MASON. Novus Ordo Seclorum means, New Secular Order, which some choose to relate to the New World Order.

[iainl140285]

Pyramids pyramids everywhere :naughty:
Watch the full vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFespvfshZE

[giovonni]

Thank you iain!

wonderful video, really enjoyed :thumb_yello:

Yes~ pyramids > evermore :lol3:
http://whatisthepyramid.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/baptism.of.christ.da.vinci.1.jpg
THE BAPTISM

On this plane, there is only one way to gratify the hunger~
through the glory of the risen Christ~ by the intergration of one's
surface mind with the omniscience of becoming divine.

In the journey of reunification with > All There Is ~
Each of us must learn how to live upward through thought~
into the realm of feeling~ then into the (true) realm of Being~Divine

[giovonni]

Where was I?

Oh yes
:naughty:

Meanwhile back at Langley, Va.
within the ( all watching) CIA HQ :sneaky2:
http://www.historycommons.org/events-images/a523_cia_headquarters_GlobeXplorer_2050081722-16962.jpg

Director Inoue Sato's System's Security Team
is trying to clean-up
this mystery/mess with a broad sweep!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0420/csmimg/ODU0420_P1.jpg

While our hero and heorine
Robert Langdon & Katherine Solomon
take all on a wild goose ride!

By a DC~ Cab
http://everystockphoto.s3.amazonaws.com/spring_break_washington_395734_l.jpg

and Metro
http://www.visitingdc.com/images/washington-dc-metro-subway.jpg

this might help?
http://www.mullenium.com/Inauguration/Images/MetroMap.jpg

From downtown DC's Freedom Plaza~
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/41/75270114_7ed65c16db.jpg?v=0

To Alexandria's King Street Metro
which just happen's to be next to :mfr_omg:
The GW Masonic Temple!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1328/891488579_2fe74ea27c.jpg

Back to DC's upper NorthWest Tenleytown
http://media.nowpublic.net/images/48/0/4807f344a9bbabb6bb53cf40883a9450.jpg

Now off the grid~
our hero and heroine....
walk past the medievil style garden
with the gazebo > called Shadow House ~

for an arranged secret meeting ~
nearby
at Washington's highest mount.

As they both gaze upwards ~
there it stands
Washington's Mount Sinai


The National Cathedral!
http://www.visitingdc.com/images/national-cathedral-picture.jpg

[giovonni]

Greeting's Too All :original:

My dear friend Carmen (our fellow member),
has been visiting and staying with me ~ here in the Washington area.
It has been so wonderful > for us to finally meet! :thumb_yello:
We have been having a wonderful time experiencing each other
and exploring this very high energy area together :lol3:

note;
I will soon finish up this thread in regards to this book,
so please be patient~ if you are following my photo-log here~
I thank you!

Blessing's too all:wub2:
from both of us
Carmen & Gio

[iainl140285]

:lol3: Sweet :thumb_yello:
Hello to both of you :original:

[burgundia]

Helo Carmen, hello Gio.....good luck to both of you...enjoy.....:wub2::snog::mf_lustslow::serenade ::cheers::drinks_wine::huglove::yay::cup:

[micjer]

Nice work Gio and Carmen. Great pics. I wonder if the mods could merge this thread I started. Should have put it with your work. Sorry.

http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17315

[Tango]

Now see... This, I LIKE... Carmen, is there with you... This makes me Happy.

I bet your meeting was like OLD FRIENDS... Just meeting for conversation...
I hope It didn't take you two, too long to find each other. Experience is the
best teacher...............................

Trooly,


Tango


Greeting's Too All :original:

My dear friend Carman (our fellow member),
has been visiting and staying with me ~ here in the Washington area.
It has been so wonderful > for us to finally meet! :thumb_yello:
We have been having a wonderful time experiencing each other
and exploring this very high energy area together :lol3:

note;
I will soon finish up this thread in regards to this book,
so please be patient~ if you are following my photo-log here~
I thank you!

Blessing's too all:wub2:
from both of us
Carmen & Gio

[mntruthseeker]

Amazing photos GIOVONNI & CARMEN Thanks

[giovonni]

I'm finally back :lmfao:



Where was I ?


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kl2bpfZnxhQ/RjZXeGeByII/AAAAAAAAAIs/449-7kO69yY/s400/158446324_df0abc45a2_b.jpg


Throughout the ages, many lives have been devoted and given to their God in ernest;

"From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to American politics~the name Jesus
had been hyjacked as a ally in all kinds of power struggles. Since the beginning
of tim, the ignorant had always screamed the loudest, herding the unsuspecting
masses and forcing them to do their bidding. They defended their worldly desires
by citing Scriptures they did not understand. They celebrated their intolerance as
proof of their convictions. Now, after all these years, mankind had finally managed
to utterly erode everything that had once been so beautiful about Jesus."
(TLS 327).





Within lies the transformation~ or does it?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/424699358_b024d9a8b1.jpg

[giovonni]

http://www.biblelessons.com/bible6.gif

some real

"GOOD NEWS"

as above as below
ye are gods!


"That which is impenetrable to us really exist. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Verneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion."
Albert Einstein

"The religion of the future, Einstein had predicted, will be a cosmic religion. It will transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology"

(The Lost Symbol 308).





http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/newton5.jpg
Isaacus Neutomuus
Sir Isaac Newton

[giovonni]

Our hero and heroine evade their pursuers and make there way via the Metro train to upper Northwest DC's Tenleytown Station..carrying the heavy bag containing the coveted masonic treasures inside!

Close by....they reach the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral..
moving past the now darkened beautiful gardens that surrounds the Shadow House gazebo.

Now evening time~ the cathedral is almost deserted~ there Professor Langdon and Katherine Solomon hope to find a temporary sanctuary and some answers?

Just inside the great doors~ leading to the long nave's central aisle of the church~ the Reverend Colin Galloway~dean of the cathedral~ who looks like he had been alive forever...nearly blind now.....awaits for them within.



As they seek privacy in the deans small office.....
Professor Langdon removes the treasures
he has been carrying in the bag for the old dean to examine.

Remember the box containing the masonic treasured pyramid?
http://www.luckymojo.com/celtic-dragon-box.jpg

As the old priest lifts the lid..... he examines the inside of the box...
he finds a barely noticeable > small dot within a circle....

As if seeing with one's fingertips...
the old blind priest recognized the symbol?

a circumpunct!
http://picnica.ciao.com/de/248752778.jpg

He asked Professor Lanngdon to...
insert Peter Solomon's masonic 33rd degree ring....
into the circumpunct.....

http://foxjewelry.net/images/bu13ubui.jpg

all is revealed at the thirty third degree!



:mfr_omg:
A box that is transformed into a cross?



http://gothic-goods.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/rosecross1.png

Symbolic alchemy?




Wella! Transformation!!!



http://sacredmint.com/images/product/rose_stone_cross_lg.jpg
But not just any cross~ a Stone Rose Cross

the symbol of
The Rosicrucian
or
The Order of the Ross Cross
formally known as
the Ancient and Mysterical Order Rosae Crucis

Quoted; From the Rosicrucian manifestos.....

"Chapter One: Jehova will redeem humanity by revealing those secrets
which he previously reserved only for the elect.
Chapter Four: The whole world shall become as one book and all the
contradictions of science and theology shall be reconciled.
Chapter Seven: Before the end of the world, God shall create a great
flood of spiritual light to alleviate the suffering of humankind.
Chapter Eight: Before this revelation is possible, the world must sleep
away the intoxication of her poisoned chalice, which was filled
with the false life of the theological vine"
(TLS 327-8).

[giovonni]

As our heros heat up and stir their pot of alchemy....

Sato's security team is honing in...

http://peacelikeariverblog.com/images/2008/117230.jpg


closer...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2004/3638070894_c80601fb05.jpg?v=0


and closer!
http://www.echoparknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/PoliceSearch.JPG




http://www.kestan.com/travel/dc/cathedrl/IMGZ_8826%20Cathedral,%20night%20(good).jpg

[giovonni]

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/uploaded_images/blagojevich09e-792699.jpg
Looks like the gig is up!
And
The Dragon Lady ~ Herself
Director Sato's

is with them :nono:


http://blog.puppetgov.com/wp-content/2008/02/4-command_centre.jpg
You can run ~ but you can't hide for long ~ from Big Brother or Sister :naughty:

[giovonni]

But wait! :mad3:
What did the pyramid reveal while in the pot of boiling water?




Oh yeah!
The Newton Scale- with a base point of zeroth degree and a boiing point for water at~
thats right :naughty:
The king of all alchemical processes
Thirty Three Degrees!




http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidion10.jpg

"The secret hides
within The Order
Eight Franklin Square"

Is that pyramids a real map?
Or
is it really being
sincere :wink2:

Since the days of Michelangelo, sculptors had been hiding the flaws in their work
by smearing hot wax into the cracks and then dabbing the wax with stone dust.
The method was considered cheating, and therefore, any scupture "without wax"-
literally sinecera - was considered "sincere" piece of art" (TLS 358).

Does the Masonic Pyramid
still have secrets left to tell
?





Still
Sato's has her plan~ :naughty:
Sending her agents too catch a villian - free a hostage and keep the lid on it all.


Time too split-up for another goosechase!


Next stop....

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/60/178774717_8493c7ff5c.jpg?v=0



and the Almas Shrine Temple??
Oh no...
not the Shriners!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3225261682_d4eeda900c.jpg






While

our hero's head for Kalaroma Terrace~ towards Mal~akh's fashionable neighborhood
lots of eloquent homes ~ costing lots of money.

http://www.washingtonian.com/page_dbimages/13433/1901%2024th%20St_3583.jpg

http://www.washingtonian.com/page_dbimages/13169/Kalorama.jpg

But Mal~akh's home up in the Kalaroma Heights ~ is considered living on top the heap~ in DC.

http://www.washingtonlife.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/renewspreview0408.jpg

And our villian~ has some surprises enstore in his mansion on the mount~ in his secret basement dungeon of horrors!:sneaky2:

[giovonni]

http://www.creativevillain.co.uk/images/sinister_eyes.jpg

Mal`akh
Practitioner of the Dark Art
His quest
seeker of the Ancient Mysteries
for transformation through enlightenment?





http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/26/world/26france.190.gif
An entity who's either lost its soul~ or just a ruthless sinister rogue?






http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/M-YinYangFlagWeb.jpg

The polarity of negative and positive~
Does the means justify the end?

Transformation requiries sacrifice~
"Mal`akh knew that achieving immortality required a clean break with the material world of male and female.
The androgyne is one" (TLS 324).

Today, eunichs are shunned, but during ancients times, it was accepted and understood; In denying oneself the pleasures of the flesh~ through this drastic sacrifice, for the sake of achieving the kingdom of heaven.

[giovonni]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HeUY-A2efl4/R9ElknOh_KI/AAAAAAAABEU/B9Miz1iHllk/s400/54angels_wings1.jpg
Mal`akh ~ Hebrew ~ Messenger ~ Angel

"Mal`akh had learned a long time ago that through proper applications of the Art, a practitioner could open a portal to the spiritual realm. The invisible forces that existed there, much like man himself, came in many forms, both good and evil. Those of Light healed, protected and sought to bring order to the universe. Those of Dark functioned oppositely...bringing destruction and chaos" (TLS 358).





http://www.crystalinks.com/egygoldeyemelt.jpg

"In ancient Egypt, those who perfected the Art had become the great Adepts of history, evolving beyond the masses to become true practitioners of Light. They moved as gods on earth. They built great temples of initiation to which neophtes traveled from around the world to partake of the wisdom. There arose a race of golden men. for a brief span of time, mankind seemed poised to elevate himself and transcend his earthly bonds~ The golden age of the Ancient Mysteries. And yet man, being of flesh, was susceptible to the sins of the hubris, hatred, impatience, and greed. Over time, there were those who corrupted the Art, perverting it and abusing its power for personal gain. They began using this perverted version to summon dark forces. A different Art evolved... a more potent, immediate, and intoxicating influence.....The illuminated Adepts and their estoteric fraternities witnessed the rising evil and saw man was not using his new found knowledge for the good of his species. And so they hid their wisdom to keep it from the eyes of the unworthy. Eventually, it was lost to history.
With this came the great Fall of Man.
And a lasting Darkness"
(TLS 359).

[giovonni]

"To this day, the noble descendants of the Adepts soldiered on, grasping blindly for the Light, trying to recapture the lost power of their past, trying to keep the darkness at bay. They were the priest and priestesses of the churches, temples, and shrines of all the religions on earth. Time had erased the memories...detached them from their past. They no longer knew the Source from which their potent wisdom had once flowed. When they were asked about the divine mysteries of their forebears, the new custodians of faith vociferously disowned them, condemning them as heresy.


Echos of the ancient Art still resonated in every corner of the globe, from the mystical Kabbalists of Judaism to the esoteric Sufis of Islam"
(TLS 359 -60).


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/St_Peter%27s_Square,_Vatican_City_-_April_2007.jpg/800px-St_Peter%27s_Square,_Vatican_City_-_April_2007.jpg

"Nowhere was the church's mystical past more evident than at her epicenter. In Vatican City, at the heart of St. Peter's Square, stood the great Egyptian obelisk. Carved thriteen hundred years before Jesus took his first breath~ this numinous monolith had no relevance there, no link to modern Christianity. And yet there it was. At the core of Christ's church. A stone beacon, screaming to be heard. A reminder to those few sages who remembered where it all began. The church, born of the womb of the Ancient Mysteries, still bore her rites and symbols"
(TLS 360).



http://www.fineartprintsondemand.com/artists/murillo/christ_on_the_cross-400.jpg

"One symbol above all.



Adoring her alters, vestments, spires, and Scriptures was the singular image of Christianity~ that of a precious sacrificed human being. Christianity~ more than any other faith, understood the transormative power of sacrifice"
(TLS 360).

[no caste]

giovonni - I probably should read this whole thread, before commenting. I probably should read Dan Brown's books, before commenting.

However, the Angels and Demons title is coming to me - we are both. We are the DEMONS we have been waiting for. The angel energy is us, too.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/3006780451_86a22b8ae9.jpg

IMO

[giovonni]

GREETING'S NO CASTE,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST :lol3:

BUT :mfr_omg:
I BELIEVE YOU ANSWERED ALL YOUR OWN QUESTIONS??


TO SHOW MY APPRECIATION FOR THAT
LET ME BUMP YOUR GOOGLE LINK FOR YOU :wink2:
<<No Caste Post history, pre1111>>
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Bu5&q=+site:projectavalon.net+project+avalon+no+caste&ei=NuG-SpaNOoXSsgPr89ka&sa=X&oi=forum_cluster&resnum=1&ct=more-results

[giovonni]

A brief interlude~

Found this recently in the Washington Post~

FYI :original:



http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1437938868_18cbfdbdcc.jpg

Southwest~ of the Mall~ between the U.S. Capitol Building and the Washington Monument~ majestically sits the Smithsonian Castle.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2819569318_6e2634c454.jpg
An authentic Normandy style castle~ America's first Museum


The Smithsonian Institution

Discovering its many secrets

Friday, November 13, 2009

What do you think of when you hear the words "the Smithsonian"? The National Museum of the American Indian? The merry-go-round on the Mall? The inappropriate use of government funds?

What about: Illegitimate Englishman leaves the equivalent of $50 million to $100 million in his will to a place he had never visited and had no connection to?

"There's a lot we don't know about James Smithson," guide John Heyob tells the group standing in front of Smithson's tomb as he gets ready to lead a tour of one of the Smithsonian Institution's most recognizable buildings.

http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Content/Images/Journal/2003/Summer/Giants/Smithson180.jpg

The Smithsonian Castle: You see it in photos, you scurry past it on the way to the Air and Space Museum, you lunch in its garden in the summertime. But the castle itself is worth exploring, too.

The most noteworthy item is, in fact, Smithson's tomb. Smithson died and was buried in Italy in 1829. His remains came to Washington in the early 1900s. There he lies, the reason these artifacts -- the Hope Diamond at the Museum of Natural History, the Star-Spangled Banner at the Museum of American History -- are all here in one place.

To think that, in 1835, some members of Congress didn't want to accept his money. President Andrew Jackson wondered if it was legal to take it. The funds initially went to Smithson's nephew. The will stated that if the nephew died without children, the money would go to the United States. Six years after Smithson died, so did his childless nephew. Smithson's money came to the states in the form of 105 bags of gold, which were then melted down in Philadelphia. Those are some of the fun facts your guide will tell you.

The castle houses pieces from 16 Smithsonian museums. (It's a good place to figure out where to go next.) You'll also see a model of the original design of the castle that was found in the attic in 1965 and is one of the oldest building models in the United States. A couple of impressive-looking chairs from the office of President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, sit in Sherman Hall, the former library in the castle. Stop and catch Ben Stiller's very funny narration of the Smithsonian orientation film after the tour.

Smithson's vague and laconic will instructed that his money be used "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." By taking this 45-minute tour of the castle, you'll be doing just that.

By Moira E. McLaughlin


It is reported ~ but unverified that James Smithson was a Freemason



Words from Peter Solomon (TLS):

"This wonderous castle was America's first real science museum. It was a gift to America from a weathy Bristish scientist who, like our forefather, believed our fledgling country could become the land of enlightenment. He bequeathed to our forefathers a massive fortune and asked them to build at the core of our nation `an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge."

"James Smithson and our forefathers envisioned our great country to be a land of enlightenment...Their great Smithsonian Institution stands as a symbol of science and knowledge at the very core of America. it is a living, breathing, working tribute to our forefathers` dream of America~ a country founded on the principles of knowledge, wisdom, and science."

"My friends don't get me wrong, our forefathers were deeply religious men, but they were Deists~ men who believed in God, but in a universal and open-minded way. The only religious ideal they put forth was religious freedom...America's forefathers had a vision of spiritually enlightened utopia, in which freedom of thought would replace the darkness of our outdated religious institutions.
(TLS 406-7).

[Swanny]

Sainsburys are selling hard back copy of the lost symbol for £5

[giovonni]

What is

http://thepopeofpentecost.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/truth_000.jpg

is there a way to find it and know it?




" I find it wonderous to note that throughout history, all of mankinds disparate philosophies have all concurred on one thing~ that a great enlightenment is coming. In every culture, in every era, in every corner of the world, the human dream has focused on the same exact concept~ the coming apotheosis of man...the impending transformation of our human minds into true potentiality.
What could possibly explain such a synchronicity of beliefs?

Truth

Truth has power. And if we gravitate toward similar ideas, maybe we do so because those ideas are true...written deep within us. And when we hear the truth, even if we don't understand it, we feel that truth resonates within us... vibrating with our unconsious wisdom. Perhaps the truth is not learned by us, but rather, the truth is recalled...remembered...re-cognized...as that which is already inside us"
(TLS 409).

[no caste]

and Metro
http://www.visitingdc.com/images/washington-dc-metro-subway.jpg

Metro Is Still Baffled by Sunday's Deer Incident

http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/photos/2007-11-06-deer.jpg

http://expressnightout.com/content/metro/wheaton/

[giovonni]

Very intriguing~ no caste:shocked:

The Wheaton Station and its (very long) escalator > would almost seem impossible for a deer to navigate down :nono:

The remoteness of the tunnel between Forest Glen and the Wheaton
station makes any logical explanation almost mind boggling as well??

But then again~ maybe~ the deer took the station elevator :lol3:
Or > maybe it's just another Washington mystery
just waiting to be solved :naughty:

Let me know if you find out:thumb_yello:

Note~ I use to live within walking distance of that metro station
in Wheaton, and also worked right next to the White Flint Mall~
May I ask are you a Washingtonian by chance?

[giovonni]

Is there no limits nor end to
Mal`akh's
quest in finding the
magic
verbum significatium?


http://www.deepself.net/en/images/p01-01.jpg
a senory deprivation tank~


http://thecurelist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/sensory-deprivation-tank-300x225.jpg
Oxygenated perfluorocarbon~
Total Liquid Ventiltion = Breathable Liquid!

torture is still torture :sad:

But since ancient times~ it has been believed, taught, and practiced...
"The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power that is transferred"
(TLS 359).

Does transformation require sacrifice?

[no caste]

May I ask are you a Washingtonian by chance?

giovonni - No, I am a deer-ian :original: who has an interest in propaganda and the formation of men's attitudes.*

Like this sword: 2012 comparative

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1437938868_18cbfdbdcc.jpg
Southwest~ of the Mall~ between the U.S. Capitol Building and the Washington Monument~ majestically sits the Smithsonian Castle.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DTkvrpXE1-s/SdYZRiGDqvI/AAAAAAAAABY/766gwl5Yew4/s400/2012+Movie+Poster.jpg

I have nothing against the Smithsonian though. :thumb_yello:

*Author: Jacques Ellul, 1965 (also wrote 'the technological society')

[giovonni]

To bring order from total chaos~

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXfcKEpTbI/AAAAAAAAAkI/_vCpT_JjdpU/s320/dxewfbdgbj7xvtpu3or9xiq0uci.png




http://www.region.com.ar/amela/franklinsquares/img/F-1-2.GIF




http://mathforum.org/alejandre/magic.square/franklin2.gif


"One of history's best known magic squares is the order-eight published in 1769 by American scientist Benjamin Franklin, and which became famous for its inclusions of never before seen "bent diagonal summations." Franklin's obsession with this mystical art form most likely stemmed from his personal associations with the prominent alchemists and mystics of his day, as well as his own belief in astroogy, which were the underpinnings for the predictions made in his Poor Richard's Almanack
(TLS 388).

[giovonni]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l2Q_WJZdCvc/SDCUWjGKyrI/AAAAAAAAAPc/Dd_LM-TBIkk/s320/CARA%2BDUAL%2BPAPER.jpg

"Robert Langdon's mind floated through the emptiness of space. He peered into the infinite void, searching for any points of reference?
He found nothing.
Total darkness. total silence. Total peace.
There was not even the pull of gravity to tell him which way was up.
His body was gone.
This must be death."

All at once, Robert Langdon began to remember. The image tore through him...vivid and distrubing.
He was staring up at a face that was covered with tattoos....
His captor was chanting something.
Verbum signifiatium...Verbum omnificum... Verbum perdo..."
(TLS 402).








http://medicineworld.org/images/blogs/1-2008/bright-light-16250.jpg


"Light!!
The endless void in which Langdon hovered was suddenly filled by a blinding sun. Rays of white-hot light streamed across the blackness of space, burning into his mind...suddenly within the radiant cloud before him, a beautiful silhouette appeared...two eys staring at him across the void...Langdon wondered if he was looking into the face of God.

Sato stared down into the tank, wondering if Professor Langdon had any idea what had happened...After a handful of rebirths and subsequent drownings, the prisoner became so disoriented that he had no idea if he was alive or dead...and he would tell the interrogator absolutely anything"
(TLS 412-3).

[giovonni]

"Sato's starred down into the tank, wondering if Professor Langdon had any idea what had happened. She doubted it. After all, disorientation was the entire purpose of this technology...Sato's wondered if she should wait for a medical team to extract Langdon, but she knew she didn't have much time. I need to know what he knows. "Turn out the lights," she said. "And find me some blankets."

"The blackness had returned, but Langdon could now hear distant whispers echoing across the light-years of emptiness.
Muffled voices...as if the world were about to shake apart.

Disembodied hands were suddenly reaching for him, grabbing his body, trying to yank out of his world...
He felt like a child being born from a womb.
Then it happened.

No!
No please!
I want to go back.

He was convulsing, coughing up liquid. He felt pain in his chest and neck. Excruciating pain...
Cold air poured into his lungs, and he felt like a newborn taking his first breath on earth. This world was excruciating.



Robert Langdon had no idea how much time had passed. The echos of distant chanting still hung in his mind.
Verbum signicatium...Verbum omnificum...



Profesasor Langdon, someone whispered. Do you know, where you are?
Langdon nodded weakly, still coughing.
More important, he had begun to realize what was going on tonight"

(TLS 414-15).

"Wrapped in blankets, Langdon stood on wobbly legs and stared down at the open tank. His body had returned to him, although he wished it had not... This world felt hard and cruel... Langdon had little doubt that Peter had endured a similar experience.



Sato's motioned for Langdon to follow her, and he did, trudging slowly down a narrow hall, deeper into the bizarre lair that he was now seeing for the first time. They entered a square room with a stone table and errie colored lighting. Katherine was here, and Langdon heaved a sigh of relief. Even so the scene was worrisome.
Katherine was lying on her back on a stone table. Blood- soaked towels lay on the floor.
She was sobbing quietly.

"Katherine?" Langdon croaked, barely able to speak. She turned her head, looking disoriented and confused.
"Robert."..."But I...saw you drown!"
"Thank God," she whispered kissing his cheek.
"I don't understand...how..."

"Robert," she said, Peter's alive."
She described his physical condition ~the wheelchair, the strange knife, the illusion to some kind of "sacrifice..."
"He said he was taking Peter to the sacred mountain"

(TLS 416-17).


http://img2.allposters.com/images/RHPOD/548-1923.jpg
A sacred mountain?

[giovonni]

A sacred mountain?

"Professor," Sato pressed, "does that mean anything to you?"
I told him how to solve it.
Sato shook her head. "The pyramid's gone. We've looked. He took it with him."
Langdon remained silent a moment, closing his eyes and trying to recall what he had seen on the base of the pyramid...I may be able to remember enough, but I need you to look up something on the internet..."
"Run a search for "The Order Eight Franklin Square'"

My God.
Is that what he's looking for?
A word?
Is it that simple?

The Lost Word is what he's looking for! that's what he believes is buried here in Washington"
(TLS 417-18).

"I can't remember all the symbols!
Langdon closed his eyes, doing his best to recall the precise locations of the symbols on the bottom of the stone pyramid, but even his edetic memory did not have that degree of recall. He wrote down the few symbols he could remember, placing each one in the location indicated by the Franklin magic square"




Then it came to Langdon
http://mathforum.org/alejandre/magic.square/franklin/abrahams.franklinsq.gif


just like~
abba~ cadabra!!
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/images/eps-gif/MagicSquareDoublyEven_1000.gif


What's this :shocked:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXhbmJGEyI/AAAAAAAAAko/_weY_XF8MeQ/s320/hsawd81lgppushlziy3iyjfhnqd.png
Looks like~ Greek to me? :wink2:

Heredom??

"Heredom n. a significant word in "high degree" Freemasonry, from French Rose Croix rituals, where it refers to a mythical mountain in Scotland, the legendary site of the first such Chapter. From the Greek Hepedou originating from Hieros-domos, Greek for Holy House"

"That's it!" Langdon exclaimed, incredulous. "That's where they went!" Sato had been reading over his shoulder and looked lost. "To a mysthical mountain in Scotland?!"
Langdon shook his head. "No, to a building in Washington whose code name is Heredom."
(TLS 421-22).


The House of the Temple~

http://secretsofthelostsymbol.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/house_of_the_temple.jpg
Known among its breathren as Heredom~
The crown jewel of the Masonic Scottish Rite in America

[giovonni]

http://dcsymbols.com/IMAGES/washmem_north2.jpg
Can you locate Heredom (The Washington DC Masonic Lodge)
within the red outlined key > going up the 16th St. NW. corridor.


The site below~ is a wonderful reference source
is much more detailed > for those interested in
DC and this kind symbolism :thumb_yello:

Note; the first map on the link connects to images
and videos via your cursor>
http://dcsymbols.com/

[giovonni]

"This is the place, he knew.

The Masonic Pyramid had shown the way...

The message could not have been more clear...

The Lost Word is here...somewhere.

Although Mal`akh did not know precisely how to locate it, he was confident that the answer lay in the remaining symbols on the grid. Conveniently, when it came to unlocking the secrets of the Masonic Pyramid and of this building, no one was more qualified to help than Peter Solomon. The Worshipful Master himself...

For Mal`akh, the end felt like it had arrived very suddenly. after all the years of pain and planning, waiting and searching...the moment had now arrived"

(TLS 423).


"He won't find anything." Langdon said, still feeling groggy and disorientated as he followed Sato and the up the ramp out of the basement. "There is no actual Word. It is a metaphor~ a symbol of the Ancient Mysteries...It is said, "Langdon concluded, "that if you can possess and understand the Lost Word...then the Ancient Mysteries will become clear to you...and from Katherine's desription of the untattooed flesh on his head..."I'd say he's hoping to find the Lost Word and inscribe it on his body...Sato moved the group towards the dining room. Outside, the helicopter was warming up, its blades thundering louder and louder"

(TLS 424).




Next stop!
1733 Sixteenth Street NW
Washington D.C.

http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/blackhawk1.jpg



Down Meridan Hill~
http://www.tricorpssecurity.com/Websites/tricorpssecurity/Images/feature/suv.jpg


South~ on 16 th Street NW
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/635689297_991b5f220f.jpg?v=0



Towards~ The White House
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/84/236513137_62f26f6ff0.jpg?v=0

Sits the House of the Temple
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2592238772_e1fc20f6d3.jpg

[giovonni]

"Langdom felt his stomach drop as the CIA helicopter leaped off the lawn...Seated besides him, Sato was yelling up to the pilot. "Head for Dupont Circle!" she shouted over the deafening noise. "We'll set down there!" Startled Langdon turned to her. "Dupont?! Thats blocks from the House of the Temple! We can land in the Temple parking lot!" Sato shook her head. "We need to enter the building quietly. If our target hears us coming~" Langdon argued. "This lunatic is about to murder Peter! maybe the sound of the helicopter will scare him and make him stop!"

Sato stared at him with ice-cold eyes. "As I told you, peter Solomon's saftey is not my primary objective..."In fact, it might be wise if I now apprised you fully of the severity of our crisis tonight"

(TLS 432).


Dupont Circle~ a new landing site~
a few blocks West of the House of the Temple
http://fotosa.ru/stock_photo/Corbis_RF/p_2486938.jpg



Sato reached under her seat and pulled out a sleek titanium briefcase, which she opened to reveal unusually complicated-looking computer...a CIA logo materialized...As Sato logged in, she asked, "Professor, do you remember that blond hairpiece we found in the man's home?"
"Yes."
"Well hidden within that wig was a tiny fiber-optic camera...concealed in the bangs."
"A hidden camera? I don't understand." Sato looked grim. "You will." She launched a file on the laptop...A video window pooped up filling the entire screen. Langdon recoiled in surprise.
What the hell?!
Langdon stared in disbelief. He had read enough about Masonic rituals to recognize exactly what he was looking at... Muurky and dark, the video was of a blindfolded man...A Masonic initiate...preparing to enter the first degree...He was standing before a full-length mirror videotaping his reflection through the camera concealed in his wig...But ...why?

(TLS 432-3).


"The screen faded to black.
New footage appeared...Langdon felt a sudden apprehension.
Oh my God...
Filming in the erratic style of an amateur home video, the camera now panned up to the periphery of the room to reveal a small group of men observing the initiate...Langdon could not make out their faces, but he had no doubt where this ritual was taking place...The powder blue triangular pediment above the master's chair revealed it as the oldest Masonic Lodge in DC...home of George Washington and the Masonic forefathers who laid the cornerstone for the White House and the Capitol Building. The lodge was still active today...
Langdon stared. Am I really witnessing this?

(TLS 433-4).



But what did Langdon see on the video~
apparently taking place~within this building


http://dcsymbols.com/HOT.jpg
House of the Temple~ Washington DC


Through this door...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3712422802_5303ea5fb9.jpg


Down this hall...

http://www.guthriescottishrite.org/tourimages/atrium2.jpg


Within...

http://cleffairy.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/090915-01-masonic-lost-symbol-temple_big.jpg


This lodge room?

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/images/house_of_the_temple_2.jpg


That would possible create a crisis...so drastic that the Director of the CIA Security Force would be so involved...
that the implications could compromise...


those governing...
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/2251/1018551-020225_f_8160y_051_super.jpg


and the security of the U S. Government...


itself :mfr_omg:
http://www.corbisimages.com/images/CB044091.jpg?size=572&uid=C8DF0709-F8FE-4175-952C-15C09333D243
satellite image of Washington D.C.

[giovonni]

http://www.freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/chambeofreflection_feat.png


"Peter Solomon, in addition to overseeing the House of the Temple, was the master of his local lodge. and it was at lodges like this one that a masonic initiate's journey always begins...where he underwent the first three degrees of Freemasonry.
"Brethern," Peter's familiar voice declared, "in the name of the Great Architect of the Universe,
I open this lodge for the practice of Masonry in the first degree!"
(TLS 434).



http://vigilantcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/mason_noose.jpg



A gaval rapped loudly.
Langdon watched in utter disbelief as the video progressed through a quick series of dissolves featuring Peter Solomon performing some of the rituals starker moments.

Pressing a shining dagger to the initiates bare chest... threatening impalement should the initate "inappropriately reveal the Mysteries of the Masonary"...describing the black and white floor as representing "the living and the dead"...outlining punishments that included "having one's throat cut across, one's tongue torn out by its roots, and one's body buried in the rough sands of the sea..."
(TLS 434).



http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/fiction/from_hell/initiation02.jpg



"Langdon stared. Am I really witnessing this? Masonic initiation rites had remained shrouded in secrecy for centuries. The only descriptions that had ever been leaked were written by a handful of estranged brothers...

Especially edited this way. Langdon could tell that the video was an unfair piece of propaganda, omitting all the noblest aspects of the initiation and highlighting only the most disconcerting. If this video were released, Langfdon knew it would become an Internet sensation over-night. The anti-Masonic conspiracy theorists would feed on this like sharks...even though the ritual was innocuous and purely symbolic...

Eerly, the video included a biblical reference to human sacrifice..."the submission of Abraham to the Supreme Being by proffering Isaac, his firstborn son"
(TLS 434).



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3733258813_b0ef2027e9.jpg



"The video footage shifted now.
Same room. different night. A larger group of masons looking on. Peter Solomon was observing from the master's chair. This was the second degree...More intense now. Kneeling at the alter...vowing to "forever conceal the ennigmas existing within the Freemasonary"...consenting to the penalty of "having one's chest cavity ripped open and plusing heart cast upon the surface of the earth as offal for the ravenous beasts"...

Langdon's own heart was pulsing wildly now as the video shifted yet again. Another night. a much larger crowd. A coffin-shaped "tracing board" on the floor"
(TLS 435).



http://vigilantcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/masonic-symbols-6.jpg



"The third degree.
This was the death ritual~the most rigorous of all the degrees~ the moment in which the initate was forced "to face the final challenge of personal extinction." This gruling interrogation was in fact the source of the common pharse to give someone the third degree. And although Langdon was very familiar with academic accounts of it, he was in no way prepared for what he know saw.

The murder.

In violent rapid intercuts, the video displayed a chilling, victim's point-of-view account of the initiate's brutal murder. There were simulated blows to the head, including one with the Mason's stone maul...The attack was mimed of course, and yet its effect on camera was bloodcurdling...

After the deathblows, the initiate~ now "dead to his former self~ was lowered into a symbolic coffin, where his eyes were shut and his arms were crossed like those of a corpse. The masonic brothers rose and mournfully cicrled his dead body while a pipe organ played the march of the dead.

The maccabre scene was deeply distrubing.

And it got worse.
As the men gathered around the slain brother, the hidden camera clearly displayed their faces...

Oh God...
The scene changed again"
(TLS 435).



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kJLrriuC968/SlYV4LrUKAI/AAAAAAAABBo/Oz3yIJXtUGQ/s400/Mummy-boris-karloff-coffin-smaller.jpg



"The House of the Temple...the video kept moving...A powerful pipe organ played in the distance...and a new image materialized.
The Temple Room.

Langdon swallowed hard...Beneath the oculas, the black marble alter shone in the moonlight. Assembled around it, seated on hand tooled pigskin chairs, awaited a somber council of distinguish thirty third degree Masons, present to bear witness. The video now panned across their faces with slow and deliberate intention.
Langdon stared in horror...Sure enough, seated around the alter, adorned in their long silk gloves, Masonic aporns, and glistewning jewels, were some of the country's most powerful men...Langdon wanted only to look away, but he could not. The scene was utterly mesmerizing, alarming even to him. In an instant, he had come to understand the source of Sato's anxiety and concern"
(TLS 436).



The caput mortuum
http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/pics/VANITAS1.jpg



"Now on screen, the shot dissolved into a single shocking image.
A human skull...filled with dark crimson liquid. The famed caput mortuum was being offered forth to the initiate...
The Fifth Libation...to see it calmly witnessed by America's most powerful men...this was as arresting an image as any Langdon had ever seen.
The initiate took the skull in his hands... "May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me "he declared, "should I ever knowingly or willfully violate my oath."

Obviously, the initiate had intended to violate his oath beyond all imagination...Langdon could barely get his mind around what would happen if this video were made public. No one would understand. The government would be thrown into upheaval.
The truth will be twisted, Langdon knew. As it always is with the Masons...
For a brief instant, Langdon felt a glimmer of hope...
I'm dreaming, Langdon knew. This video will create chaos...

God help us...

Without a word, Sato reached over, closed the briefcase, and lifted it off his lap. Langdon turned to her trying to speak, but he could find no words. It didn't matter. Understanding was written all over his face. Sato was right.
Tonight was a national-security crisis...of unimaginable proportions"
(TLS 437-8).

[giovonni]

Mean~while back at the Temple~


http://secretsofthelostsymbol.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/house_of_the_temple.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3348352762_cdc4981dce.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jXMIsK3dV50/ScvA0y_EoTI/AAAAAAAAKE0/uVdbKb0Qqc8/s400/404389773_b8074b11c4.jpg


"The energy was growing.

Mal'akh could feel it pulsing within him, moving up and down his body as he wheeled Peter Solomon towards the alter...all that remained now was to locate the final ingredient.
"Verbum significatium," he whispered to himself. "Verbum omnificum."

Mal`akh parked Peter's wheelchair besides the alter and then cirle around and unzipped the heavy daybag that sat on Peter's lap. Reaching inside, he lifted out the stone pyramid..."all these years," he taunted, "and you never knew how the pyramid kept her secrets"..."and this tailisman,"he continued, extracting the golden capstone, "did indeed bring order from chaos, exactly as promised...
Behold, your symbolon is complete"
(TLS 427).


http://us.123rf.com/168nwm/InvisibleV/InvisibleV0609/InvisibleV060900066.jpg


http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidion10.jpg


"Peter's face contorted, and he tried in vain to speak...Mal`akh roughly yanked out the gag...."Katherine..."
"Please," Peter begged, his voice ragged. "send an ambulance for her..."
"I will do exactly that. But first you must tell me how to access the secret staircase."
Peter's expression turned to one of disbelief.

"What?!"

"The staircase. Masonic legend speaks of stairs that that descends hundreds of feet to the secret location where the Lost Word is buried."
Peter now looked panicked.
"You know the legend," Mal`akh baited.
"a secret staircase hidden beneath a stone..."
(TLS 427-8).


A staircase beneath a stone??
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1126/872720351_f1427cfbc8.jpg


"Obviously, this is the right place. The entrance to the staircase must be hidden on one of the floors beneath us."

"There is no secret staircase in this building!"
Peter shouted...

"Peter, I have all night..."

"Katherine, however, does not. If you want her to live, you will tell me how to access the staircase..."

Mal`akh calmly produced the sheet of paper on which he had reorgainized the grid of symbols from the base of the pyramid.

"This is the masonic Pyramid's final message. Your friend Robert Langdon helped me decipher it."

Mal`akh raised the paper and held it in front of Peter's eyes...
Not only had the sixty four symbols been orgainized into clearly meaningful groups...
but an actual image had materialized out of chaos.

An image of a staircase...beneath a pyramid"
(TLS 428).


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXim21z2MI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1ImmR0t-BE8/s320/vrdfhws1kz1pes1domu0bdn5prs.png


"Peter Solomon stared in disbelief at the grid of symbols before him. The Masonic Pyramid had kept its secret for generations.
Now, suddenly, it was being unveiled...he could understand why the tattooed man believed what he believed...

The pyramids final code...

He thinks there is a hidden staircase beneath the pyramid called Heredom.
He misunderstands these symbols.

"Where is it?"

The tattooed man demanded.

"Tell me how to find the staircase, and I will save Katherine."
I wish I could do that...But the staircase is not real. The myth of the staircase was purely symbolic...

The man with the tattoos simply stared at him...
You know how to find it, Mal`akh thought. You know something you're not telling me...

The Lost word is not a metaphor...
it is real...
The Word is capable of bring unfathomable power to anyone who grasps its true meaning...

"Peter," Mal`akh now said, staring into his captives eyes, "when you looked at the grid of symbols...you say something...this grid means something to you.Tell me.

"I will tell you nothing until you send help to Katherine!"
Mal`akh smiled at him...he turned to Langdon's daybag and started removing the items he packed in his basement...

A folded silk cloth. Pure white
A silver censor. Egyptian myrrh.
A vial of Peter's blood. Mixed with ash.
A black crow's fearther. His sacred stylus.
The sacrificial knife.
Forged of the iron from a meteorite in the desert of Canaan.


"You think I am afraid to die?" Peter shouted...

"If Katherine is gone, I have nothing left!

You've murdered my entire family!
You've taken everything from me!"

"Not everything," Mal`akh replied...

He reached into the daybag and pulled out the laptop...
He turned it on and looked over at his captive.

"I'm afraid you have not yet grasped the true nature of your predicament"
(TLS 428-30).


http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/ealisa/ealisa0904/ealisa090400081/4742514.jpg

[giovonni]

Another brief interlude

FYI

http://thereaganwing.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/washington-capstone.jpg
Back in 2007
The Bush administration removes (hid :naughty:) “God” from Washington Monument display-

"Bless America" :lmfao:

Park Service restores 'God'
Inscription declaring praise to Creator

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily.com

In response to public protest sparked by an exclusive WND report, the National Park Service today told WND it is rebuilding the display of the replica of the cap on the Washington Monument so that the Latin inscription "Laus Deo" – meaning "Praise be to God" – is no longer obscured from public view.

As WND reported, Pastor Todd DuBord of Lake Almanor Community Church in California noticed the problem with the current display during a recent visit to Washington and wrote to the Park Service requesting that the problem be fixed.

The actual 100-ounce aluminum cap on the peak of the 555-foot stone monolith includes engravings on its four sides. Since the inscriptions are not legible from the ground, the Park Service displayed a replica inside the monument but placed the side with "Laus Deo" against a wall so it couldn't be seen.

David Barna, director of communications and public affairs for the Park Service in Washington, told WND the original placement of the replica was a mistake and the concealment of the reference to God wasn't intentional.

He said the Park Service got 28,000 e-mails today raising the issue.

"It was stupid," he told WND. "We're going to fix it.

Barna said there is a room available for the display where a bookstore used to be located.

"We have this room everybody goes to," he said. "We'll have the cap in the middle of the room, with access on all four sides, as well as interpretative displays for the quotes. We're going to fix this."

A prepared statement about the issue noted, "In recent days, it has been brought to the National Park Service's attention that a replica aluminum capstone representing the top of the Washington Monument that is on display on the Monument's 490-foot level has not been fully visible to the public.

"As a result, the National Park Service is exploring methods to make the replica capstone visually accessible from all angles so that all visitors may be able to see and read both the replica capstone and any related interpretive material in display cases that would be situated near the replica capstone," the statement said.

The Park Service said the replica is oriented now in the same direction as the original, but in its current display position "is visible on three sides, with the fourth side currently not visible to visitors."

"Additionally, the National Park Service will provide new interpretive information that will feature all of the capstone inscriptions in full, giving visitors the opportunity to fully understand the display," the statement said.

"We appreciate this information being brought to our attention, and we agree that the public should be able to learn as much as possible about the monument," said National Mall & Memorial Parks Superintendent Peggy O'Dell.

"This was clearly an oversight in this exhibit, and we will take measures so all visitors are able to see this exhibit."

"We are very pleased with the National Park Service's commitment to change the capstone replica display so that future generations can learn the complete history of the Washington Monument, including the religious one. The public needs to know that the builders of the Monument 'praised God' (LAUS DEO) for its completion, and that they did not regard its inscription on the capstone as a violation of Church and State," said Pastor DuBord. "From classroom texts to historic sites, it's time we stop tolerating the removal and revisions of our Christian heritage. It's time we accepted the words of Edmund Burke, 'Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.' I thank the NPS for their fast action and rectifying this problem, and I look foward to seeing the new display at the Washington Monument. Let's hope it's detailed and tells us why they would have included such an inclusion, all by itself on one side of the capstone."

It was the second report in recent weeks of officials in Washington removing "God" from the public square. WND reported the architect of the Capitol banned religious references in certificates that accompany flags flown over the Capitol. But that ruling later was rescinded.

DuBord, whose past research shows Thomas Jefferson actually advocated a "gate" between church and state, and uncovered officials at the U.S. Supreme Court lying about the nation's Christian heritage, also uncovered a "reinterpretation" of history at Monticello.

DuBord also lobbied those organizations to restore accuracy in their recounting of the nation's Christian heritage.

At the Washington Monument, he said he even tried to press his head "firmly against the wall above the replica and tried to catch an angle of light, while squinting to see any writing at all."

"I could barely make out some etching looking down from that bird's eye view, but there was simply no way I would have known what it said unless I already knew the saying was there – 'Laus Deo,'" DuBord said.

"Surely, I thought, if the one side of the replica is hidden from public sight, they have certainly written something about it," he continued. However, "There was no description of 'Laus Deo' on the front side of the replica stand. There was also no description of 'Laus Deo' on the large information display on the wall in back of the replica. There was nothing there, absolutely nothing – no way for any visitor to ever know that the words, 'Laus Deo,' ('Praise be to God'), were inscribed on the original cap!"

The pastor said rangers at the monument were unable to help him with an explanation for the display.

After returning home, DuBord investigated and found that not only had the cap replica been repositioned, the description also was edited to remove God.

The 2000 description, he said, was:

APEX OF THE MONUMENT Reproduction The builders searched for an appropriate metal for the apex that would not tarnish and would act as a lightning rod. They chose one of the rarest metals of the time, aluminum. The casting was inscribed with the phrase, Laus Deo, (Praise be to God).
The last sentence was edited out for the 2007 display, he said, which includes only:


CAP OF THE MONUMENT Reproduction The builders searched for appropriate metal for the cap that would not tarnish and would act as a lightning rod. They chose one of the rarest metals of the time – aluminum.

The description of the capstone likewise was changed to remove the reference to God, with the 2000 description on the left, "God-less" description on the right


The three sides of the replica visible to visitors include this information:

North Face: Joint Commission at Setting of Capstone. Chester A. Arthur. W.W. Corcoran, Chairman. M.E. Bell. Edward Clark. John Newton. Act of August 2, 1876.

West Face: Corner Stone laid on bed of foundation July 4, 1848. First stone at height of 152 feet laid August 7, 1990. Capstone set December 6, 1884.

South Face: Chief engineer and architect, Thos. Lincoln Casey, Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Assistants: George W. David, Captain, 14th Infantry, Bernard R. Green, Civil Engineer. Master Mechanic, P.H. McLaughlin.

It's the East Face, facing the Capitol, that contains Laus Deo.

DuBord's letter to the Park Service explained that he cares about such historical marks.

"If the creators of the Monument were so grateful for their Heavenly Father (God) that they inscribed a praise specifically to Him alone on one side of the cap, shall we then show disrespect to them and God by covering it up?

"If the National Park Service is seeking to preserve such historic sites with integrity and dignity as their creators intended them to be understood, then it seems only right that a full disclosure and education of the capstone’s inscription be known to the public inside the Monument, just as it is on the NPS website," he said.

original article;
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=44289

[giovonni]

http://www.thomasdunnphoto.com/galleries/misc/Washington_Monument_and_Tree.jpg

Here's Wikipedia's link
for more info about
The Washington Monument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument

[Moxie]

Thanks Transcoso for your prompt to go to keyofsolomon.net
..... whew, it's the rest of the story that Dan Brown will most likely include in his next book.
When I have time, I may offer more here. Til then, I
encourage everyone to spend a whole day there, it's fascinating!

[DOMINIC 777]

Like I said previously, I think Dan Brown is very switched on. The Da Vinci Code was about the Sacred Feminine, and it was certainly the time for the feminine, Goddess to be brought forward and acknowledged.

This new book brings forth the ancient knowledge, the integrity, character, nobility and honour of the initiate orders throughout history. Its certainly time to bypass the dark controllers (whose time has passed) and to focus and bring forward the knowledge of the Great Ones. The ones who can teach humanity about their Divine Heritage.

Love and Light

Carmen

Hello Carmen,
Who are the Great Ones ? AND WHERE DO THEY ABIDE?
LOL

[giovonni]

Back to
The Lost Symbol~

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3348352762_cdc4981dce.jpg

"Dressed in his loincloth, Mal`akh padded back and forth in front of Peter Solomon's wheelchair. "Peter," he whispered, enjoying every moment of his captive's horror, "you forgot you have a second family...your Masonic brothers. And I will destroy them, too...
unless you help me."
Solomon looked almost catatonic..."please," he finally stammered...

"If this video gets out..."

"If?"

Mal`akh laughed.

"If it gets out?"

He motioned to the small to the small cellular modem plugged into the side of his laptop.

"I'm connected to the world."

"You wouldn't..."

I will, Mal`akh thought, enjoying Solomon's horror. "You have the power to stop me," he said, "And to save your sister. But first you have to tell me what I want to know. The lost Word is hidden somewhere..."Perhaps this will help inspire you." Mal`akh reached over Peter's shoulders and hit a few keys on the laptop...The screen now displayed a video file addressed to a long list of major media networks...

Mal`akh smiled.

"I think its time we share, don't you?"

"Don't."

Mal`akh reached down and clicked the send button on the program.
Peter jerked aganist his bonds..."


http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/ealisa/ealisa0904/ealisa090400081/4742514.jpg


"Relax Peter," Mal`akh whispered.

"Its a massive file. It will take a few minutes to go out."
He pointed to the progress bar:


SENDING MESSAGE: 2% COMPLETE


"If you tell me what I want to know, I'll stop the e-mail, and nobody will ever see this."
Peter was ashen as the task bar inched forward."


SENDIND MESSAGE: 4% COMPLETE


"The legend says the Masonic Pyramid will unveil the Lost Word.
This is the pyramids final code.

"I believe you know how to read it."

Mal`akh glanced over at the laptop."


SENDING MESSAGE: 8% COMPLETE


"Mal`akh returned his eyes to Peter...his gray eyes blazing now with hatred.
Hate me, Mal`akh thought. The greater the emotion, the more potent the energy that will be released when the ritual is completed"


"Peter Solomon was desperately trying to fiquire out what to do. All he could see in his mind were the images of Katherine bleeding in the basement...and of the video he had just witnessed...He turned his head...The progress bar was alkmost a third of the way filled."


SENDING MESSAGE: 29% COMPLETE


The tattooed man was now walking slow circles around the square alter, swinging a lit censor and chanting to himself. Thick puffs of white smoke swirled up toward the skylight...The man's eyes...seemed to be in a demonic trance.
Peter turned his gaze to the ancient knife...on the white silk cloth spread across the alter....Would he find a way to save his sister and his brotherhood...He glanced down at the grid of symbols"
(TLS 439-41).


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXim21z2MI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1ImmR0t-BE8/s320/vrdfhws1kz1pes1domu0bdn5prs.png


"Peter Solomon knew exactly what he needed to do. Taking a deep breath...he began to speak.
All great truths are simple.
Mal`akh had learned that a long time ago.
The solution that Peter Solomon was now explaining was so graceful and pure that Mal`akh was sure that it could only be true...the pyramid's final code was... was far simpler than he ever imagined.
The Lost word was right before my eyes.
Soon I am complete"
(TLS 442).



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



Meanway~
Back with our hero~

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/images/m60-uh60m144.jpg


"Langdon held his breath as the helicopter dropped from the sky toward Dupont Circle..."


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2307/1606919174_6218272a8f.jpg?v=0


"A handful of pedestrians scattered as the aircraft decended through an opening in the trees and landed hard on the lawn just south of the famous two-tierd fountain designed by the same two men who created the Lincoln Memorial..."


http://www.film.dc.gov/film/lib/film/DupontCircle-biker.jpg


"Thirty seconds later, Langdon was riding...in a SUV, tearing up New Hampshire avenue toward the House of the Temple"
(TLS 441).


http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/07_02/SUV.jpg

[Carmen]

Ah! Dominic, The Great Ones! Who be they? and Where be they?

They are the ones who thought outside of the box, outside of the tribe. They came with a mission, a great purpose, to advance mankind. To give to struggling humanity new ideas, a new vision. To inspire, to light the spark of Freedom.

Unfortunately, they were vilified, hunted, shunned, murdered. Their gifts to humanity were usually recognised long after their passing. Humanity's level of consciousness had to advance considerably to understand to any degree, and advance even more to accept the knowledge given. They came from the future to advance the present!

To name some ; Jesus of Nazareth, Budda, Pythagoras, Appolonius of Tyana, Einstein, Neils Bohr, Victor Schauberger, Nicolas Tesla, Peace Pilgrim, Handel, Tolkein, Shakespeare, George Washington, Joan of Arc, etc, etc etc.

I do not know who were Masons but some of them were. And where are they? In the dimensions beyond this one.

Actually, there are two answers to your question. The other Great Ones are Us, only now wiping the sleep from our eyes and questioning the Tribal edicts!!!!!!:wink2:

Love:wub2::wub2::wub2::wub2:

Carmen

Ps Thank you Gio, for this wonderful thread. It truly brings Dan Browns book to life and is of great interest to many many people.

[giovonni]

http://www.washingtonlife.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/renewspreview0408.jpg

"In Kalorama Heights...
Inside the house Kathereine Solomon was feeling stronger with every passing moment. The infusion of lactated Ringer's solution had successfully raised her blood pressure and quelled her throbbing headache.
She was resting now...Her nerves felt fryed, and she was increasingly anxious for news about her brother...
The CIA forensic team had not arrived, and the agent who stayed behind was still searching the premises...
Unable to sit idly, Katherine pulled herself to her feet...
She found Bellamy in the study.
The Architect was standing at an open drawer, his back to her...
She walked up behind him...The old man lurched and turned, quickly shutting the drawer...
"What's wrong?!" She glanced down at the drawer.
"What's in the drawer?"
Bellamy's tear-filled eyes held hers for a long, sorrowful moment.
Finally he spoke.
"You and I wondered why ...this man seemed to hate your family...
"I just found the answer"
(TLS 443).


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






"In the chamber at the top of the House of the Temple..."


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3348352762_cdc4981dce.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jXMIsK3dV50/ScvA0y_EoTI/AAAAAAAAKE0/uVdbKb0Qqc8/s400/404389773_b8074b11c4.jpg


"Mal`akh stood before the great alter and gently massaged the virgin skin atop his head...
The final ingredient had been found at last...
The time had come...
Mal`akh retrieved the vial of Peter's darkened blood and uncorked it. with his captive looking on, he dipped the nib of the crows feather into the crimson tincture and raised it to the sacred circle of flesh atop his head...
His great transformation was finally at hand.
When the Lost Word is written on the mind of man, he is then ready to recieve unimaginable power...
He needed no mirror...only...his minds eye.
Slowly, meticulously, he began inscribing the Lost Word inside the circular ouroboros on his scalp.
Peter Solomon looked on with an expression of horror.
When Mal`akh finished, he closed his eyes...
For the first time in his life, he felt a sensation he had never known...
I am at one...a true masterpiece.

Perfect and complete.

I gave you what you asked for. Peter's voice intruded.
"Send help to Katherine. And stop that file."

Mal`akh...smiled.
"You and I are not quite finished."
He turned to the alter and picked up the sacrificial knife, running his fingers across the sleek blade"
(TLS 444-5).


http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/akedah%20e1.jpg

"This ancient knife was commissioned by God, for use in a human sacrifice"...
The account appears in Holy Scripture...
It was believed to be the exact knife used by Abraham at the Aledah~
the near sacrifice of his son...as depicted in Genesis....
Tonight, the Akedah knife would fulfill its destiny"

"Mal`akh...crouched down... to sever the ropes binding Peter to his wheelchair...Peter whinced...
"why are you doing this to me?
What do you think this will accomplish?"
"You of all people should understand," Mal`akh replied.
"You study the ancient ways...the power of the mysteries relies on the sacrifice...on releasing a human soul from its body.
It has been this way since the beginning."


http://voiceoftherevolution.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/walking-into-the-light.jpg


"You know nothing of sacrifice, Peter said, his voice seething...
Excellent, Mal`akh thought. Feed your hatred. It will only make this easier...
"You consider me a sacred offering?"

Mal`akh now laugh..."you really don't understand yet, do you?"
Peter gave him an odd look.
"Do you know why I have a deprivation tank in my home?"
Mal`akh placed his hands on his hips and flexed his elaborately decorated body...
"I have been practicing...preparing...when I am only mind...
when I am released from this mortal shell...
when I have offered up this beautiful body to the gods in sacrifice....

I am the pure white lamb!"

Peter's mouth fell open but no words came out...
"Don't you see...Peter...I am the gift."

(TLS 445-6).



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CjluhlGKKVo/Sir3q7pp21I/AAAAAAAAAv8/XhVrIQTd120/s400/33isaac.jpg



"Mal`akh reached down and grasped Peter Solomon's left hand, pressing the handle of the Akedah knife into his palm.

The left hand serves the darkness.
This too, had been planned...

Mal`akh could fathom no sacrifice more potent and symbolic...
performed on this alter, by this man, with this knife, plunged into the heart of an offering whose mortal flesh was wrapped...
in a shround of mystical symbols"
(TLS 445-7).

[giovonni]

"The secret is how to die."

"With this offering of self, Mal`akh would establish himself in the hierarchy of demons...
I have served them, and they will receive me as a god.

Peter did not move.

He simply stared down at the ancient knife gripped in his hand"

(TLS 446-7).


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KcFkeN0I6po/RmYXLtKSGaI/AAAAAAAAAcw/8p2hzB4qxnk/s400/knife+-+in+hand.jpg



"I will you," Mal`akh taunted, "I am a willing sacrifice.
Your final role has been written.
You will transform me.
You will liberate me from my body.
You will do this, or lose your sister and your brotherhood...

Consider this your final punishment."

Peter's eyes rose slowly to meet Mal`akh's.

"Killing you? A punishment?

Do you think I will hesitate?

You murdered my son. My mother. My entire family."

"No!"

Mal`akh exploded...

"You are wrong!

I did not murder your family!

You Did!

It was your choice"...

Peter's knuckles turned white, his fingers clenching the knife in rage...

"You know nothing"...

"I know everything!"

Mal`akh fired back.

"I was there...

What kind of father gives a child the choice between "weath and wisdom'
and expects him to know how to handle it!

What kind of father leaves his own son in a prison instead of flying him home to safety!"

Mal`akh now moved in front of Peter and crouched down,
placing his tattooed face only inches from his face.

"But most important...what kind of father can look his son in the eyes...
even after all these years...and not even recognize him!"

"Yes Father. Its me."

Mal`akh had waited years for this moment...
to take revenge on the man who had abandoned him...
to watch the full weight of his words...
crush Peter Solomon's soul...

Peter's face was now as pale as death...

"My own father made the decision to leave me in prison...

I vowed that he had rejected me for the last time.

I was no longer his son.

Zachary Solomon ceased to exist."

Two glistening teardrops welled suddenly in his father's eyes..."

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/05/31/young10b.jpg


"All the warden wanted was money," Mal`akh said, but you refused.
It never occured to you, though,
that my money was just as green as yours.

The warden did not care who paid him...
When I offered to pay him handsomely,
he selected a sickly inmate about my size...
and beat him beyond recognition.

The photo you saw...
the sealed casket you buried...
they were not mine.
They belonged to a stranger."

Peter's tear-streaked face contorted now with anguish and disbelief.

"Oh my God...Zachary."

"Not anymore."

When Zachary walked out of prison, he was transformed"

(447-8).

[giovonni]

Sheridan's Circle~ Kalorama~ DC
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/3990922469_b6f33c8dc8.jpg

"At that moment In Kalorama Heights, Katherine Solomon stood over the open desk drawer and gazed down at...
a fetishist's collection of old newspaper articles and photographs.

"I don't understand"...

This lunatic was obviously obsessed with my family, but~"
It was then she saw the photographs...

But that's impossible...

All of the photos were of Zachary Solomon...gradually getting older...
some kind of pictorial auto biography chronicling a slow transformation...
She looked on in horror as Zachary's body began mutating, his muscles bulging...his facial features morphing...from the use of steroids.
His frame seemed to double in mass...
a haunting fierceness crept into his eyes.

I don't even recognize this man!

He looked nothing like Katherine's memories of her young nephew...
Then she saw a photo of his bare body...
adorned with...tattoos.
Her heart almost stopped.

"Oh my God..."

(TLS 449).


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

Just then~
Langdon and a team of agents were arriving at the House of the Temple~

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2754986675_452d6815a6.jpg

"Right turn! Langdon shouted from the backseat of the commandeered...SUV.
Simkins stared up at the massive structure.
It looked like someone had built a pyramid on top of Rome's Pantheon.

"Dont turn!" Langdon ordered...
Simkins obeyed, driving alongside the east side of the building...

"Look!" Langdon said...

"They're here."

Simkins parked the SUV and killed the engine.
Quietly everyone got out...

Simkins stared up at the monolithic structure.

"You say the Temple Room is at the top?"
Langdon nodded...
"That flat area on top of the pyramid is actually a skylight."

Simkin spun back...

"The temple Room has a skylight?"
Langdon gave him an odd look.

"Of course.
An oculus to heaven...
directly above the alter."

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/3348347682_f6f10501d5.jpg
Upper Chamber Skylight




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


Meanwhile....

"The UH60 sat idling at Dupont Circle...

Simkins voice crackled over the radio.
"Director?"

"Sato here." she barked.

"we're entering the building...

I have some additional recon for you."

"Go ahead."

"Mr Langdon just imformed me...
the room in which the target is most likely located has a very large skylight."

Sato considered the information...

"Undestood.
Thank you."

Sato...turned to the pilot.
"Take her up"

(TLS 450-451).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/2237206333_270dd50266.jpg
The Temple's~ back entrance~way

[giovonni]

A brief interlude:



http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1183/1312641710_88a5543b13_m.jpg



A personal observation

Lets shed some light and insight~

too a paradoxical situation~

On the "sins of the fathers"

From The Bible's ~ Old Testaments

"Deut. 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me...

Deut. 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin."

Do these verses reveal a major contradiction in the Bible? Does one teach individual responsibility for sin, while another teaches that one can be punished for the sin of another?

Do these contradict? There are a couple of answers to this one.

"One is to say that Deuteronomy 24:16 refers to punishments meted out for crimes, as does a verse cited in Ezekiel. Verses cited in Isaiah, and others, in contrast, refer to punishments and sufferings that are the natural results of one persons' actions "rolling downhill" on another person. It may also be added that "four generations" in Deut. 5:9 and elsewhere refers to the normal lifespan of a human being, so that essentially, the verse means that punishment will be meted out over the lifetime a person alone."


Sources:
Bloc.Zk121 - Block, Daniel. Ezekiel Chaters 1-21. Eerdmans, 1997.
Chr.SPPS - Christensen, Duane L. A Song of Power and the Power of Song. Eisenbrauns, 1993.
Kam.CPHB - Kaminsky, Joel S. Corporate Punishment in the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
Matt.Zk18 - Matties, Gordon H. Ezekiel 18 and the Rhetoric of Moral Discourse. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
VR.Dt - von Rad, Gerhard. Deuteronomy. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966.
Wein.Dt111 - Weinfeld, Moshe. Deuteronomy 1-11. Doubleday, 1991.

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


Back too~ the Lost Symbol



"Like any parent who had lost a child, Peter Solomon had often imagined how how old his boy would be now...
what he would be like...
and what he would have become.
Peter Solomon now had his answers...

The fact that evil could spring from an innocent child in a loving family remained one of the paradoxes of the human soul.
Peter had been forced to accept...
that although his own blood flowed in his son's veins,
the heart pumping that blood was his own.

Unique and singular...
as if ramdonly chosen from the universe.

My son...he killed my mother, my friend...and possibly my sister.

An icy numbness flooded Peter's heart...

The man's eyes...
although like Peter's, were those of a total stranger,
filled with hatred and a vengefulness that was almost other worldly."

"For an instant, Solomon felt like he was floating outside his body.

He no longer recognized himself.

He was missing a hand...totally bald...sitting in a wheelchair...clutching an ancient knife.

"finish it!" the man shouted...

"Killing me is the only way you can save Katherine...
the only way to save your brotherhood!"

Solomon felt his gaze move to the laptop and cellular modem on the pigskin chair."

SENDING MESSAGE: 92% COMPLETE

"There is still time"...

"You know its the only choice.

Release me from my mortal shell."

"Please," Solomon said.
"Don't do this..."

"Which will it be?

Will you kill your son to save your sister?

Will you kill your son to save your brotherhood?

Your country?

Or will you wait until's its too late?"

"Peter's heart ached.

You are not Zachary...

Zachary died long long ago.

Whatever you are...
and wherever you came from...
you are not of me.

And although Peter Solomon did not believe his own words,
he knew he had to make a choice.

He was out of time"

(TLS 452-3).


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


"Find the Grand Staircase!

Robert Langdon dashed through the darkened hallways...
Simkins remained close on his heels...
Langdon turned and ran toward the sweeping marble staircase...

"This leads directly to the Temple Room,"
he whispered as the two men ascended as quickly and quietly as possible"

(TLS- 453).


http://www.manitoba-eh.ca/Manit-Legis-Grand-Staircase-W-Tr.jpg



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



Inside the Temple Room~


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3712422802_5303ea5fb9.jpg


"Peter Solomon had risen from his wheelchair...
standing now, facing the alter, gripping the knife...
Mal`akh coaxed, luring him toward the alter...
laying his own body down on the white shroud...

"Do what you need to do."

Mal`akh reclined fully now on his back,
gazing up through the oculus...The secret is how to die.
This moment could not be any more perfect.

Adorned with the Lost word of all the ages,
I offer myself by left hand of my father.

Mal`akh drew a deep breath.
Receive me, demons for this is my body, which is offered for you."

"Standing over Mal`akh, Peter Solomon was trembling...

He looked one last time toward the modem and the laptop...
"Make the choice," Mal`akh whispered.

"Release me from my flesh...

Help me shed the body that clothes my soul."

Peter's tearful eyes seemed to be staring through Mal`akh...

He threw back and screamed in anguish as he raised the knife"

(TLS 455).

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

"Robert Langdon and Agent Simkins arrived breathless outside the Temple Room doors as a bloodcurdling scream erupted from within.

It was Peter's voice.
Langdon was certain.

Peter's cry was one of absolute agony.

I'm too late!

Langdon seized the handles and yanked open the doors.
The horrific scene before him confirmed his worst fears...

Before Langdon could move, the man was driving the knife down towards the body that lay outstretched on the alter...

Mal`akh had closed his eyes...

his transformation had arrived.
Incredibly, he felt no pain...

A thunderous vibration filled his body, deafening and deep.
The room began shaking, and a brillant white light blinded him from above.
The heavens roared...

Mal`akh knew it had happened.

Exactly as he had planned."


http://rotorcraft.arc.nasa.gov/research/images/uh60.gif


"Langdon did not remember sprinting towards the alter as the helicopter appeared overhead...
Langdon saw a bright light sweep down through the oculus and illuminate the alter...

the helicopter's searchlights blazed down from above.

The chopper thundered in low, its skids practically touching the expansive wall of glass.
On front of the helicopter, a strange looking gun rotated, aiming downward through the glass.

The red beam of its laser scope through the skylight...
directly towards Langdon and Solomon.

No!

But there was no gunfire...an errie ripple of energy...
shimmered through his cells.

Behind his head, on the pigskin chair,
the laptop hissed strangely...
its screen suddenly flashed to black.

Unfortunately, the last visable message had been clear.

SENDING MESSAGE: 100% COMPLETE


Pull up! Damn it! Up!

The UH-60 pilot threw his rotors into overdrive,
trying to keep his skids from touching any part of the large glass skylight...
the six thousand pounds of lift force...
was already straining the glass to its breaking point...


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/3348347682_f6f10501d5.jpg


Up Now!

He tipped the nose trying to skim away,
but that was all it took.

The temple Room's massive oculus exploded in a swril of glass and wind...
sending a torrent of jagged shards plummeting into the room below.
Stars falling from heaven"

(TLS 455-6).


http://www.lutheransonline.com/lo/038/FSLO-1028087059-364038.jpg
As if ~a righteous symbolic glass-knife fell from the Heavens~



"Mal akh stared up into the beautiful white light and saw a veil of shimmering jewels fluttering toward him...
accelerating...
racing to shroud him in their splender.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yieZeKOdb2c/ShzIGr7CrHI/AAAAAAAACfo/CDPl27QnKr8/s400/shattered+glass1.jpg


Suddenly there was pain.

Everywhere...

His blood filled mouth cried out...
the pain ripped him from his trance.
Th white above transformed itself...

suddenly, as if by magic,

a dark helicopter was suspended above him,
its thundering blades driving an icy wind down into the Temple Room,
chilling Mal`akh to the core...

Mal`akh turned his head and saw the Akedah knife lying broken by his side,
smashed upon the granite alter...
covered in a blanket of shattered glass.

Even after everything I did to him...
Peter Solomon averted the knife.
He refused to spill my blood.

With welling horror,

Mal`akh raised his head...
his own body...
was to have been his great offering.
But it lay in tatters...
drenched in blood...
huge shards of glass pertruding from his flesh in all directions.

Weakly, Mal`akh lowered his head...
and stared up throught the open space in the roof.
The helicopter was gone now...

Wid-eyed Mal`akh lay gasping for breath...
all alone on the great alter"

(TLS 456-7).

[giovonni]

"The secret is how to die."


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3348352762_cdc4981dce.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jXMIsK3dV50/ScvA0y_EoTI/AAAAAAAAKE0/uVdbKb0Qqc8/s400/404389773_b8074b11c4.jpg


"Mal`akh knew it had all gone wrong.
There was no brillant light.
No wonderous reception.
Only darkness and excruciating pain.

There were voices...
human voices...
one of them...
belonging to Robert Langdon.

How could this be?

"She's okey," Langdon kept repeating
Katherine is fine, Peter.
Your sister is okay."

Mal`akh could no longer see...
Unfamiliar voices...
shouting now,
talking urgently with Langdon about the laptop and video file.

Mal`akh sensed that a lone individual had quietly approached...

"I don't know if you can here me,
Peter Solomon whispered in his ear.

"But I want you to know something."

He touched a finger to the sacred spot atop Mal`akh's skull.

"what you wrote here..."
He paused.

"this is not the Lost Word."

Of course it is, Mal`akh thought...

In the idiom of symbology,
there was one symbol that reigned supreme above all others...

The oldest and most universal,
this symbol fused all the ancient traditions...
a single sollitary image...

The circumpunct.
The symbol of the Source.
The origin of all things."


http://picnica.ciao.com/de/248752778.jpg


"Mal`akh had had inscribed the great symbol of the circumpunct on his scalp...
he felt an upwelling of power and satisfaction...

The forces of darkness were waiting for him...
this was to be his moment of glory...

And yet, at the last instant,
everything had gone horribly wrong.

Peter...behind him now,
speaking words that Mal`akh could barely fathom.

"I lied to you,"
he was saying...

"You left me no choice.
If I had revealed to you the true Lost Word,
you would have never believed me,
nor would you have understood."

The Lost word is...not the circumpunct?

"The truth is...
the Lost Word is known to all...
but recognized by very few...

You remain incomplete,"

Peter said gently placing his palm on top of Mal`akh's head.

"Your work is not yet done.
But wherever you are going,
please know this..
you were loved."

For some reason,
the gentle touch of his father's...
felt like it was burning through him...
he felt a rush of blistering energy surging through his physical shell...

every cell in his body...now dissolving.

In an instant, all of his worldly pain evaporated.

Transformation. Its happening.

I am gazing down upon myself...

I feel an upwelling of rage...and confusion.

I am trapped here, hovering...

tethered to my earthly shell.

My father gently runs a soft palm across my face to close my fading eyes.

i feel the tether release."


http://www.rickhocker.com/transformation_large.jpg


"A billowing veil materializes around me...
Suddenly time accelerates...

I am plunginging into an abyass...

I hear whispering...

I sense a gathering force...surrounding me.

Ominous and powerful.
Dark and commanding..

This is my triumph...
for some reason, I am filled not ...with joy,
but rather with boundless fear.

The force...swriling around me...
threatening to tear me apart...

I am facing all the dark souls who have gone before me.

I am screaming in infinite terror...

as the darkness swallows me whole"

(TLS 458-60).


http://taddelay.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/hell_the_alternative.jpg

[Derek]

notice that the cover is a pyramid

[giovonni]

notice that the cover is a pyramid

thanks~ for stopping by Derek :lol3:

I notice that also :lmfao:

[giovonni]

Hey dude! :mad3: take a break!

http://ewpopwatch.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/lost-symbol-lost_l.jpg

The Lost Symbol~ intermission~

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



The code not even the CIA can crack

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/images/1102-05.jpgCracking 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.


http://realtalklive.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/kryptos.jpg
kryptos~ the virtual tour
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtual-tour/kryptos/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/2009/05/04/kryptoscode/

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

http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2007/0706/cia_hq_0615.jpg
CIA virtual tour here;
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtual-tour/virtual-tour-flash/index.html
CIA homepage;
https://www.cia.gov/index.html

[giovonni]

Back to
The Lost Symbol~

http://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/ss/upward_bound/Wash%20DC%20Pics/WashNatCathedral.jpg

"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).

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


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1183/1312641710_88a5543b13_m.jpg

"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."


http://infohost.nmt.edu/~holstien/Blog_Images/pole.jpg


"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."


http://rotorcraft.arc.nasa.gov/research/images/uh60.gif


"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."


http://www.srmason-sj.org/web/temple-files/hall-of-honor/hallofhonor.jpg


"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.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3347518325_4559565640.jpg


"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).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3348355866_48ab9dfd6b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3348359880_d1989733b7.jpg


"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).

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXim21z2MI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1ImmR0t-BE8/s320/vrdfhws1kz1pes1domu0bdn5prs.png

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."

http://picnica.ciao.com/de/248752778.jpg


"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..."


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXim21z2MI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1ImmR0t-BE8/s320/vrdfhws1kz1pes1domu0bdn5prs.png


"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!"


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXk1DDBxcI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ulEdnvOLEQ8/s320/6z5t8cgxfozas7ydiwy4s4uqr1x.png


"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 :original: 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."



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXk1DDBxcI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ulEdnvOLEQ8/s320/6z5t8cgxfozas7ydiwy4s4uqr1x.png


"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]

http://kelso.stormfront.org/Kelsoimages/JamieKelsoNickGriffin.jpg

[giovonni]

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6xq1KvXYv_0/R8YNaB6z6RI/AAAAAAAACWc/LXqmR57GgM0/washington+monument+003.jpg

[morguana]

hi gi:lol3:, 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.

http://sn126w.snt126.mail.live.com/att/GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=0&messageId=c24b14fd-ff18-11de-898e-001e0bcc8910&Aux=14|0|8CC613CA97C6070||

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 :naughty:

"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 :mad3:
FEAR of/
Control of
It has been said that man's greatest fear and nemesis is woman:wub2:
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
http://www.happybuddhayoga.com/library/sky-laughing-buddha1.jpg

[giovonni]

Back to the Lost Symbol~



http://kelso.stormfront.org/Kelsoimages/JamieKelsoNickGriffin.jpg


"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."



http://www.moriefamily.com/photos/2008%2001%20258.jpg





http://tparty.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345159f569e201287595ed42970c-400wi
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.



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OZEW1KPpFOI/SQfNcCHqLWI/AAAAAAAABMQ/4Kp9GCNDeLM/s400/Washinton+Monument+top.bmp


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."


http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/images/hortop.gif


"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."


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AOqJ6UJMek8/SrXk1DDBxcI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ulEdnvOLEQ8/s320/6z5t8cgxfozas7ydiwy4s4uqr1x.png


"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."


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/4135471723_00f0fe7133.jpg


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


http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/38798e6f-350e-4df5-9d5f-f7a94fc4741b.jpg

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."


http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/50/0b/52/view-from-the-washington.jpg

"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."


http://images.travelpod.com/users/lrhalladay/3.1227084540.potomac-from-inside-washington-monument.jpg


"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."


http://images.politico.com/global/news/090927_freemasons_reut_297.jpg

"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).




http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/091215/GAL-09Dec15-3355/media/PHO-09Dec15-193590.jpg

[giovonni]

"In the beginning was the Word."


http://www.american-architecture.info/USA/USA-Washington/National_Cathedral_Center.jpg


"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


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2266/2088100735_d540fd452a.jpg

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."



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/4047741162_062e872e95.jpg

"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."



http://www.hypno-therapists.co.uk/images/collier-oracle.jpg


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
~http://www.directtrafficmedia.co.uk/News/Images/391833025906/Borders_Viral_Marketing_Cracks_Code_of_The_Lost_Sy mbol_xlarge.jpg


"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).

__________________________________________________ _________________________


http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/ot-in-1/images/28-00.gif

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."


http://www.nikolasschiller.com/video/images/washington_monument_zoom.jpg


"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..."


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3249067429_884db9e628.jpg?v=0


"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."


http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/ARTH/Images/ARTH200/body/Greenough_Geo_Washington.jpg


"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]

http://www.ethankbirchard.com/images/blogshots/dc_protest/dc_washington_monument2.jpg


"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).


http://images.publicradio.org/content/2009/02/24/20090224_capitol2_33.jpg

[morguana]

hi gi:lol3: i love reading your thread.....its so engrossing, keep up the good work
:thumb_yello:, 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_Apotheosis_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."



http://z.about.com/d/dc/1/0/E/o/CapitolDome.jpg
http://stlstreets.com/uploaded_images/P2120123-770728.jpg

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

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



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Brumidi,_Constantino_-_Apotheosis_of_Washington,_detail-_Washington_enthroned_-_1865.jpg

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."



http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/july2009/lauren_7.jpg

"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.



http://sciphilos.info/docs_pages/images/deism.jpg



"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.'"



http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/0_images2009/crypto1.jpg


"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.'"


http://kimolsen.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/thirdeye.gif


"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).


http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0fBp9X23NX7AJ/610x.jpg
The Apotheosis of Washington
note~ arranged in two concentric rings~
a circle within a circle...
a circumpunct."


http://www.royalanecdotes.com/wp-content/ApotheosisWashington.jpg



http://love-for-good.com/love-of-my-life/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/500-568px-Brumidi_Constantino_-_Apotheosis_of_Washington_detail_E_Pluribus_Unum_-_1865_.BMP
out of many~
one

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


infinite consciousness
http://www.mi2g.com/cgi/mi2g/press/images/h_consciousness.jpg



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


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'. :wink2:

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]

I will post my personal comments soon~
in regards to this thread, Dan Brown and his book,
and the supposed lost~
'word'. :wink2:

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...:thumb_yello:

with much :wub2: 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.

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

http://www.angelbeing.com/images/peace.jpg

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!


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





http://www.veteranshour.com/qas80429-N-5240C-009.jpg

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.


http://images.filedby.com/images/creators/252455_dan_brown_small.jpg

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."


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


http://www.directtrafficmedia.co.uk/News/Images/391833025906/Borders_Viral_Marketing_Cracks_Code_of_The_Lost_Sy mbol_xlarge.jpg


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.com/phpnews/show_news.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.


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


http://craftyavenue.com/store/images/1105_LinenThreadBrown.jpg

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.


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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_Totten,_Washington,_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.



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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."


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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.

http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/media/news__events_autogen/contemplation_qrtlySP09.jpg


where there is love~ there is always hope
giovonni

[rhythm]

Hey Gio :original:

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 :wink2:

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:naughty:....

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 :mad3:

and being a most tresured friend :tongue2:...we it seem are not:nono:....

so lost after all :wink2:...always friend .. love always:wub2:...

rhythmmm girl ...

[rhythm]

http://img.allposters.com/6/LRG/10/1066/N8OL000Z.jpg

Saw this and thought of you ..:original:

[giovonni]

Thank you Dear Rhytmmmm:wub2:

if it hadn't been for You, Tango, lightbeing, Karen, and everyone here who helped in healing my troubled body and soul recently.

I would of never finished this darn thread!
:wall:


http://homepage.mac.com/omegaosx/.Pictures/dead_thread.jpg

:lol3:

[rhythm]

http://www.instructables.com/image/FNKUF05LWAET9K4X2H/Onion-soup.jpg

hey GIO what you need is a nice

bowl of onion soup:naughty:

[rhythm]

http://informazone.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/ice-cream.jpg

followed by some yummy ice cream :original:you deserve some treats

after all this hard work xxxxx