Mind over Matter – The Lost Symbol

Posted by kenshin03 on Dec 11, 2009 in books, tech | 0 comments

It’s easy to ridicule The Lost Symbol, for the abundance of all Dan Brown clichés littered around its four hundred pages. Indeed, after a few novels and two major block buster movies in the space of a few years, not to mention seven seasons of 24, the formula has long been beaten and tired.

Apparently that didn’t deter Brown from ripping the spine from his previous works and reconstructing a new story around it. From the photocopied plot line to the latest offerings from Brown’s (limited) stereotype character moulds, little was left to the imagination. Hell, it was as if the author was deterring us from thinking too much about the characters themselves.

Having said that, being an International Best Seller, there is so much more in store than a second rate cat-chases-mouse thriller. Some of these were truly fascinating and deserve a bit of casual study. This is what this post is about.

Chamber of Reflections

A reminder of the caves where primitive men lived. A symbol of regression, By meditating on the inevitability of death, a Mason gains a valuable perspective on the fleeting nature of life. When emerged from the chamber, a person shall be as if born like a new man.

Symbolisms:

The Skull - caput mortuum, the epitome of decline and decay. Man’s final transformation through decay; it’s a reminder that we all shed our mortal flesh one day.

Bread and Water - symbols of simplicity, a pointer to how one should conduct his life. The elements necessary to life, but even though food and the material body are indispensable, they remind the candidate that the physical aspect should not be the main objective in one’s existence.

Sulphur is symbolical of the spirit, Salt is a symbol for wisdom. Alchemical catalysts that facilitate transformation.

Hourglass - a reminder of mortality. The transformational power of time.

V.I.T.R.I.O.L.(U.M.) - one must search within oneself, as the truth is hidden there, and this truth is the real solution to our problems.

Candle – formative primordial fire and the awakening of man from his ignorant slumber: transformation through illumination.

Scythe – transformative nourishment of nature: the reaping of nature’s gifts.

Mirror – speculum, or to scrutinize…which is what one does in the Chamber of Reflections.

References:
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/gmd1999/pondering.html

Noetic Science

Foundation of Noetics – “human thought could and did influence the world around us because of a relationship with the world, and that non-rational thought could relate to reason”.

Institute of Noetic Sciences – “founded in 1975 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell after returning from space on an Apollo 14 mission. The core principle belief of the institute is there is no true or solid universe – rather everything is influenced by our perceptions.”

The idea distills into the general concept of mind over matter – that we have the ability to influence ourselves on a biological level, as well as influence others using non-verbal communication.

References:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2384174/noetic_science_and_the_true_power_of_pg3.html?cat=4

Thermal Trails

“Thermal-imaging equipment had become so sensitive to heat differentials that it could detect not only a person’s location . . . but their previous locations.” – so it said in the book. Very science fiction like indeed.

I haven’t been able to find a credible source to substantiate the power of such an imaginary device, until coming across this, which stated some $15,000 cam that is handy for tracking:

When someone stole a front-end loader in Cheney, Kentucky, last year, a quick-thinking sergeant trained the TacSight on the roadway. “I saw their tracks,” the officer said, “as if God himself had painted arrows on the roadway.” Amen.

This is a personal favourite. Sincere == Sin-cera == without wax.

And these were just a tiny fraction of the novel concepts and ideas introduced in The Lost Symbol. It was said the experience of reading a good novel is akin to crossing a door to another world, but in this case, the doors being opened were within hidden in the world we thought we knew. Fascinating.

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