Didier Dambrin (or widely known as Gol), the genesis behind the juicy brilliance of Fruity Loops said it best in his own words on Sonar and Cubase:
"They are classics. You know, like books, that you wished you had read, but don't want to read. They're the ones that are supposed be used, but are too scary because of their complexity, and you don't really 'want' to learn them. So if you don't actually have to learn them, it's hard to start, and I never dared to."
I call it the There-Goes-The-Ego Syndrome or simply, the Get Go. Curiosity is one of men's best virtues despite its shortcomings but it tends to be whisked away when men's ego is suddenly under the impression of being tested. Those who're infected with this, tends to wane it out rather than rise up to the challenge since it will make them boldly vulnerable to these 'attacks' and be casted as an average, testosterone-fuelled modern-day male. It keeps the cool and enigma intact. But like every disease, there's always a cure. In the case of this syndrome, time is truly of the essence of it. You'll wake up someday realizing a piece of a puzzle is missing in you and you might never find it again. It's a longing feeling as if you need to satisfy your lifelong thirst. The puzzle must be completed.
Somehow the same feeling resonated in me when I saw a copy of Dan Brown's much-lauded Da Vinci's Code neatly tucked in Zeid's bottom dresser.
Prior to this, I've 'evaded' several 'incidents' that is potentially giving away the content of the whole book (a common Get Go symptom) without even reading it. The TV documentary, the dedicated blogs, the talks amongst cliques and all sorts of things you could imagine. That evasion almost led me to evading the book itself.
Picking it up out of boredom and a need to be occupied (read: awayyy from the text books), I can't seem to bring myself to pull a bookmark and catch a breather as the rush of it all was far beyond astounding. Like having your most wanted birthday presents if I should say so. I was more than halfway through when this ancient passage that was the foundation of the Grail legend made yours truly smirked in full conviction.
Vous ne trouves pas le Saint-Graal, c'est le Saint-Graal qui vous trouveOr in translation,
You do not find the Grail, the Grail finds youWell, true enough. The book somehow found me.
To praise Brown as a master at his craft is a total overstatement. Unless it is referred to his well-knitted way of compiling and documenting things. Apart from the usual character-driven drama that made things some sort of an escapism into instant reality, what he presented was not a story of revelation of sorts, he just brought the already-present tale to the most accessible platform known to man; books. And for that, he should be labeled as a curator than an author. A worthy, creditable effort, nonetheless. The concept of faith is historic and -referring a term commonly known to my course mates- a going-concern. One should never question one's faith for as generic as a religion is, faith is an entity deeply rooted from a person's past experiences. So to question or not the extent of truth featured in the novel, it's a lifetime quest best be put on hold.
By incorporating the meticulous usefulness of the Fibonacci Sequence as an intricate weave of sparks that inspired the many turning points in this novel, it's a surefire no-brainer why the piece received so many enigmatic-laden praises the world over. As it is as interesting as the Divine Proportion, the Atbash Cipher, the Iambic Pentameter and all sorts of amazing findings, nothing caught my fancy more than the novel's heart. That is, of the sacred feminine.
It's a given fact that women is behind -and beside- every man's success. But it never did occur to what origins that the old adage spewed from. Highly unlikely but most probably, not until the unveiling of Da Vinci's original layer of paint of his famous fresco, The Last Supper. The discovery of Mary Magdelene at the right hand of Jesus might just be the explanation if not the correct conclusion.
When the true form of male (an upside down V) and female (the alphabet V) symbols are explained, so many things occurred to me. I'll use the novel's exact wordings to explain the symbols:
"This symbol (the upside down V) is the original icon for male. A rudimentary phallus. This icon is formally known as the blade, and it represents aggression and manhood. In fact, this exact phallus symbol is still used today on modern military uniform to denote rank."
"The female symbol as you might imagine, is the exact opposite. This is called the chalice. It resembles a cup or vessel, and more importantly, it resembles the shape of a woman's womb. This symbol communicates feminity, womanhood, and fertility."
It somehow explains to me why Venus is regarded as
the goddess and why the zodiac sign Virgo is often simbolized by an image of a female. The letter V itself acts as the ancient sign in our modern time.
Apart from the mentioned military denotation, I saw other things in tune with that. Either by luck or a dumb struck, you be the judge.
Notice how virtually every household in the world is built? Yes, the roofs. Even considering the basic logic of gravity which could only be allowed by such architectural design, the roofs are in the similar shape of the ancient symbol for male. The rudimentary phallus. The blade. Further enforcing the possibility of the origin of another tired and true phrase, 'man of the house'. Also, as it was claimed that Constantine the Great was a lifelong pagan (he was said to be baptized on his deathbed, too week to protest. Chose Christianity as the official religion for he was afraid of the possible divide of Rome) that infused old pagan beliefs into the growing Christian tradition, it wouldn't hurt to say that the church's roof structure is of the same effect to a certain point. His then brilliant move somehow reminded me of the now in-hiding Ayah Pin who might possibly attempted to pull the same act but as we all knew, failed miserably.
Somehow I found another wild connection to this.
During the supreme height of the Sultany of Malacca (probably to this very day albeit in different forms), Tanah Melayu is divided into two customs, the Temenggong and the Pepatih. As we all know, the former is widely practiced not only in Malacca, but every state else in the country and the latter belongs exclusively to Negeri Sembilan.
Here's the fun part.
The Pepatih custom is and always will be associated with the Minangkabau. The custom is concerned with the supremacy and just of the female rather than the male where a woman elder is in charge of everything political and is subjected to royal-like treatments. Much like the organizational chart of a beehive. Back then, the men had no qualms of this practice and seemingly content and celebrative of the entire custom. The prominent presence of the Minangkabau is felt most dominantly in its architectural trademark. Its roof to be precise. It is made as so, if it were to be looked closely from one end to the other -regardless of its frontal triangular feature-, that a certain familiar shape will surface. Yes, the ancient female sign. The V. The chalice. The vessel. The 'wildness' of this connection is not entirely a spontaneous reaction as I remembered learning the fact that before the arrival of Islam, most of the occupants in Tanah Melayu was practicing pagan-leaning teachings if not the ways of the pagan itself. And by coupling it into the Pepatih custom, it really showed how the men who came up with the structure's concept, was fully aware of the same phrase that echoed in the novel.
White gives birth to blackEvery man sprang from womanWith these findings, it somehow strengthens the theory presented in the book. I'm not really entirely with the whole concept nor I remember being doubtful about it, it just feels 'appropriate'. Am I being biased? I couldn't find a reason to do so. Another passage in the novel tingled my senses with excitement. It was in my opinion, an ultimatum summation on history itself.
"History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated and the winner writes the history books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'. By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account."
It made a clear sense if not a perfect one. It seemed that the claim that was made on the sacred feminity being demonized by the Church -and followed by a two-millennia cover up- provided the best question to the above summation of an answer. As it was mentioned, the two thousand years that spanned from the time of Christ's birth was the astrological Age Of Pisces (an ideal belief that man must be told what to do by the higher powers because man is incapable of thinking for himself) and so it seems that now we are in the Age Of Aquarius (whose ideals claim that man will learn the truth and be able to think for himself). The brief period between these two ages is referred to as the End Of Days, which is commonly known as the end of the world. The Apocalypse (a misconception as suggested in the book). Somehow, it caused a funny stir. In layman terms, males have been trying precariously to eradicate female influence and to an extreme; existence from the realms of this world (partially explaining the Jahilliyah Arabs' practice of burying their female infant alive) but yet, an old saying that goes 'if there is a surplus of females than that of males, the world is nearing its end' seemed to be the most fitting irony ever. Another thing that got me innocently chuckling was when I read this:
"Hieros Gamos had nothing to do with eroticism. It was a spiritual act. Historically, intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God. The ancients believe that the male was spiritually incomplete until he had carnal knowledge of the sacred feminine. Physical union with the female remained the sole means through which man could become spiritually complete and ultimately achieve gnosis. Knowledge of the divine. Since the days of Isis, sex rites had been considered man's only bridge from earth to heaven. By communicating with woman man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God."
When I read the lines of '......intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God', I chuckled not out of pornographic reference, but of a common understanding that can be seen in none other than pornographic materials itself. Notice it yet? The "Oh God!"s is most evident. Even an extend of condoning the "Yes!" after each orgasmic act as a sign of 'experiencing God' couldn't mean any harm as it is physiologically-proven that the male climax was accompanied by a split second entirely devoid of thought. A brief mental vacuum. A moment of clarity during which God could be glimpsed. The very nature of sex itself was misconceived as this is the fact that was laid.
"The ancients' view of sex was entirely opposite from ours today. Sex begot new life. The ultimate miracle. The ability of the women to produce life from her womb made her sacred. Intercourse was the revered union of the two halves of the human spirit -male and female- through which the male could find spiritual wholeness and communion with God. The Hieros Gamos ritual is not a perversion. It's a deeply sacrosanct ceremony."
Then, a thought came to me. Could it be that today's advanced cloning technology be a part of the occurrence of the Age Of Aquarius? Have the truth of the ultimate miracle been learned and that man is already more than able to think for himself?
Instantly a sudden, gripping notion surfaced. If it is so, would men one day suffer the same fate as the Knights Templar on Friday the 13th? Only one logical explanation supports that theory; Kiamat. The Judgment Day.
Closing the last page of this sprawling piece of literature, I realized something wickedly hilarious. A question was raised on why the truth and theory -after being much told through famous publications- aren't widely known to the masses? The answer was:
"These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time. The Bible."
The wicked part was realizing the potential in that statement. If the world we live now is indeed the new age, than the Da Vinci's Code is the new Bible.
Wait, how did the book turned out?
Oh yeah, It's a #1 New York Times Bestseller.
*It was never my intention to ride on any shotgun when I began writing this. It is not to champion anything of any sort. It is not a bunch of statements but only opinions that are not in the vein of questioning the unquestionable -faith- nor this is meant to encourage the shift of it. I am the least articulate being on the planet to be discussing of this matter of celestial scales. I only did this because I can. And to add, I am unfortunately against the making of it on to the silver screen because the only best visual potrayal of the whole affair is best be done the HBO way a la Rome. Excuse the many inaccuracies if discovered in this piece of mind for the only reference made is limited to the mentioned novel and recollections of past events and experiences. Criticism is the mightiest pen and I'm the open book.
