There may be a stairway to heaven, but there is a gateway to hell. Most ancient people around the globe believed in an underworld or hell. After a person died, their spirit or soul would have to traverse that underworld to be judged by gods or demons.
So universal was that notion, that key elements of the gateway to the underworld emerged:
1. Ancient cultures believed that erupting volcanoes were the openings to the underworld. this brought about the fire and brimstone picture of that place.
2. Ancient people believed that there were several gateways around the world, mostly on remote islands, including Helka north of Iceland.
3. Islands are created by the volcanic eruption and cooling of molten lava above the ocean's surface. Hawaii is the most famous U.S. volcanic island chain. It's native people had great respect for their fire god, Pele.
4. Volcanoes and their associated caves were found to sacred places by many ancient peoples. Some believed that the caves were closer to their dead ancestors, who may have needed their prayers or offerings in order to escape the punishment of hell.
5. Volcanoes, because of their violent explosive and destructive nature, were feared by natives. And this fear associated with an afterlife under ground in a pit of fire was enough to start the basis of all modern religions. What you did in life on earth would have consequences in the after life.
LOST's setting had many of these aspects. The main story is set on a Pacific volcanic island. Early in the story, Jack found a cave with fresh water (life) and death (Adam & Eve). The frozen donkey wheel was deep underground which had in hieroglyphs the words "Earth gates." The island rumbled like an earthquake or volcanic eruption during the time travel sequences. All of the candidates were put through tests to be judged as successor guardian. Everyone on the island feared some form of retribution or punishment for their past behavior. Michael ended up trapped on the island as a whisper (spirit) because he killed Ana Lucia and Libby. The island contained supernatural elements, including the element of movement and stealth.
The ancients believed that these gates were the nexus point between various dimensions. It is a place where humans could actually traverse to hell while still being alive. Likewise, the demons who controlled hell could leave and make it into the human world. Recall, MIB called Jacob "the Devil." Likewise, MIB/Flocke was called an evil incarnate. They could have been demons who foraged into the human world to purge, test and judge souls.
In The End, it is inferred that the island was some sort of gateway for the main characters to find their way into the sideways world (after life).
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
REAL LIFE
Every time I hear or read of an ocean airplane crash, I think of LOST.
The usual investigation runs its course, first with air controllers reporting a plane missing from radar or loss of communications with the cockpit. Then jets are used to follow the flight path to find a debris field. Satellites attempt to lock in on the 48 hour battery powered emergency beacons in the tail section. Vessels are marshaled to the recovery area to search.
But this weekend's news continues to be a real mystery.
More than 48 hours after a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane with 239 people on board disappeared from radar screens, a multinational search team consisting of dozens of ships and aircraft had failed to find any sign of the aircraft's fate.
Malaysia's civil aviation operations said they are pursuing "every angle," including the possibility of an attempted hijacking, in an effort to understand what happened that caused the plane to vanish early Saturday morning, local time.
There was no radio contact with the pilots of the plane. There was no evidence of any distress. The weather was good. Adding to the questions is the fact that two passengers managed to board the ill-fated aircraft – which was scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing -- using stolen passports. This raised the question of hijacking, or terrorism, but nothing is certain.
Searchers were dealt a double blow Monday when a floating yellow object that was believed to be a life raft from the plane when it was spotted Sunday turned out to be the moss-covered cap of a cable reel, according to Vietnam's civil aviation authority. Earlier in the day, Vietnamese officials said that they had not been able to locate a rectangular object that appeared to be one of the plane's doors.
Vietnam's search and rescue coordination center said Monday that four planes and seven ships from Vietnam were searching for the rectangular object but nothing had been found.
In addition, Malaysian maritime officials found some oil slicks in the South China Sea and sent a sample to a lab to see if it came from the plane, but the results were negative.
A plane that falls from the sky from cruising altitude would have broken a part upon impact with the water. Various pieces of the plane would have floated to the surface. Even if the plane had attempted a water landing, elements of the plane including life rafts, could have been deployed in the minutes before the fuselage would sink.
Another possibility is that the plane was hijacked to a remote airstrip. But who would want to steal a Boeing 777 aircraft with 239 people on board?
Experts have begun the speculation, and started running their calculations about the plane.
For example, a plane at 35,000 feet at cruising speed, would take approximately 3 1/2 minutes to crash into the ocean. This gives the navigator or copilot enough time to make a distress call or signal.
If both engines failed, the plane could glide for approximately 20 minutes. This would give the flight crew plenty of time to communicate their emergency and prepare for a water landing.
Bu this Malaysia Airlines plane has vanished without a trace.
It is another reminder of how art mimics life.
UPDATE:
MARCH 11, 2014
The usual investigation runs its course, first with air controllers reporting a plane missing from radar or loss of communications with the cockpit. Then jets are used to follow the flight path to find a debris field. Satellites attempt to lock in on the 48 hour battery powered emergency beacons in the tail section. Vessels are marshaled to the recovery area to search.
But this weekend's news continues to be a real mystery.
More than 48 hours after a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane with 239 people on board disappeared from radar screens, a multinational search team consisting of dozens of ships and aircraft had failed to find any sign of the aircraft's fate.
Malaysia's civil aviation operations said they are pursuing "every angle," including the possibility of an attempted hijacking, in an effort to understand what happened that caused the plane to vanish early Saturday morning, local time.
There was no radio contact with the pilots of the plane. There was no evidence of any distress. The weather was good. Adding to the questions is the fact that two passengers managed to board the ill-fated aircraft – which was scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing -- using stolen passports. This raised the question of hijacking, or terrorism, but nothing is certain.
Searchers were dealt a double blow Monday when a floating yellow object that was believed to be a life raft from the plane when it was spotted Sunday turned out to be the moss-covered cap of a cable reel, according to Vietnam's civil aviation authority. Earlier in the day, Vietnamese officials said that they had not been able to locate a rectangular object that appeared to be one of the plane's doors.
Vietnam's search and rescue coordination center said Monday that four planes and seven ships from Vietnam were searching for the rectangular object but nothing had been found.
In addition, Malaysian maritime officials found some oil slicks in the South China Sea and sent a sample to a lab to see if it came from the plane, but the results were negative.
A plane that falls from the sky from cruising altitude would have broken a part upon impact with the water. Various pieces of the plane would have floated to the surface. Even if the plane had attempted a water landing, elements of the plane including life rafts, could have been deployed in the minutes before the fuselage would sink.
Another possibility is that the plane was hijacked to a remote airstrip. But who would want to steal a Boeing 777 aircraft with 239 people on board?
Experts have begun the speculation, and started running their calculations about the plane.
For example, a plane at 35,000 feet at cruising speed, would take approximately 3 1/2 minutes to crash into the ocean. This gives the navigator or copilot enough time to make a distress call or signal.
If both engines failed, the plane could glide for approximately 20 minutes. This would give the flight crew plenty of time to communicate their emergency and prepare for a water landing.
Bu this Malaysia Airlines plane has vanished without a trace.
It is another reminder of how art mimics life.
UPDATE:
MARCH 11, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The
Malaysian military has radar data showing the missing Boeing 777
jetliner changed course and made it to the Malacca Strait, hundreds of
kilometers (miles) from the last position recorded by civilian
authorities, according to a senior military official.
The
development injects more mystery into the investigation of the
disappearance of Saturday's flight, and raises questions about why the
aircraft was not transmitting signals detectable by civilian radar.
Local
newspaper Berita Harian quoted Malaysian air force chief Gen. Rodzali
Daud as saying radar at a military base had detected the airliner at
2:40 a.m. near Pulau Perak at the northern approach to the strait, a
busy waterway that separates the western coast of Malaysia and
Indonesia's Sumatra island.
"After that, the signal from the plane was lost," he was quoted as saying.
A
high-ranking military official involved in the investigation confirmed
the report and also said the plane was believed to be flying low. The
official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the information.
Authorities
had earlier said the plane, which took off at 12:20 a.m. and was headed
to Beijing, may have attempted to turn back to Kuala Lumpur, but they
expressed surprise that it would do so without informing ground control.
SOKEMEN
The anagram contained in "smoke monster" reveals SOKEMEN STORM.
Sokemen are defined as middle ages European tenants on property who provide specified services or payment of rent but not military service to the free holder.
The smoke monster was never explained in the series. But the producers and writers were keen on sticking anagrams into the show.
If the smoke monster(s) were island "tenants," it would appear from legend of the Others that the smoke monster(s) were "security guards" protecting the island from outsiders. But who were the land owners?
Crazy Mother and Jacob were "guardians" of the island, not owners. A guardian is a person who is appointed to look after a person or property because of a legal disability, including being a minor.
A storm is a violent airborne force of nature that has destructive powers. The manifestation of smokey in smoke form does transform into a deadly tornado.
So we have a potential hierarchy on the island:
The island's owner.
The island guardian who manages the island for the owner.
The island's tenant(s), who are smoke monsters.
Working up, since the smoke monsters are supernatural beings, one can then assume that the island itself is a supernatural place.
We know the island guardians were immortal beings, who could grant immortality to other souls who arrived on the island (as Jacob did to Alpert). But that immortality could be extinguished, apparently by a non-guardian under vague circumstances such as reversion to a human form. This suggests that the island guardians were not humans, but manifestations of human beings such as spirits.
Logically, the island owner would be someone who has greater power or authority over immortals, spirits or supernatural beings. But somehow, that person is put into check by some form of immaturity or status. It could be a god, or child-god. Or, the island could be its own intelligence - - - as native American Indians believed that all things, human, earth, stone, sky and animal, had souls - - - but unable to communicate to the world around it.
The idea that the smoke monster(s) are allowed to live on the island in exchange for protecting it is a intriguing possibility to explain the motivations of MIB/Flocke. Perhaps, the smoke monster(s), including Jacob, could not evolve except on the island. Or that they were bound to their island tenancy like sharecroppers or slaves to the island master. And the only way to break that lease was to die at the hands of lowly but non-evil human beings who were not corrupted by the island power. (This seems unlikely in the case of Ben, who lusted for power, as he killed Jacob.)
If the smoke monster(s) were killed off in the series, then what would happen to the island? Normally, one needs someone to work the land in order to preserve it. If there were no spiritual tenants to keep the balance on the island, would it have sunk to the bottom of the ocean, killing everyone else on it? That is a possibility as Hurley's guardianship reign seemed as short as Jack's.
Sokemen are defined as middle ages European tenants on property who provide specified services or payment of rent but not military service to the free holder.
The smoke monster was never explained in the series. But the producers and writers were keen on sticking anagrams into the show.
If the smoke monster(s) were island "tenants," it would appear from legend of the Others that the smoke monster(s) were "security guards" protecting the island from outsiders. But who were the land owners?
Crazy Mother and Jacob were "guardians" of the island, not owners. A guardian is a person who is appointed to look after a person or property because of a legal disability, including being a minor.
A storm is a violent airborne force of nature that has destructive powers. The manifestation of smokey in smoke form does transform into a deadly tornado.
So we have a potential hierarchy on the island:
The island's owner.
The island guardian who manages the island for the owner.
The island's tenant(s), who are smoke monsters.
Working up, since the smoke monsters are supernatural beings, one can then assume that the island itself is a supernatural place.
We know the island guardians were immortal beings, who could grant immortality to other souls who arrived on the island (as Jacob did to Alpert). But that immortality could be extinguished, apparently by a non-guardian under vague circumstances such as reversion to a human form. This suggests that the island guardians were not humans, but manifestations of human beings such as spirits.
Logically, the island owner would be someone who has greater power or authority over immortals, spirits or supernatural beings. But somehow, that person is put into check by some form of immaturity or status. It could be a god, or child-god. Or, the island could be its own intelligence - - - as native American Indians believed that all things, human, earth, stone, sky and animal, had souls - - - but unable to communicate to the world around it.
The idea that the smoke monster(s) are allowed to live on the island in exchange for protecting it is a intriguing possibility to explain the motivations of MIB/Flocke. Perhaps, the smoke monster(s), including Jacob, could not evolve except on the island. Or that they were bound to their island tenancy like sharecroppers or slaves to the island master. And the only way to break that lease was to die at the hands of lowly but non-evil human beings who were not corrupted by the island power. (This seems unlikely in the case of Ben, who lusted for power, as he killed Jacob.)
If the smoke monster(s) were killed off in the series, then what would happen to the island? Normally, one needs someone to work the land in order to preserve it. If there were no spiritual tenants to keep the balance on the island, would it have sunk to the bottom of the ocean, killing everyone else on it? That is a possibility as Hurley's guardianship reign seemed as short as Jack's.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
CANDIDATE FORMULA
What did it really take to be a candidate?
If we start the basic premise that the Island was divided by both Jacob and MIB, then we have one part of the formula. Jacob and MIB appeared to have a distant rivalry for control over the island. It was such a long rivalry, that it became a mere game to them. A game which may have had the ultimate ending of both of them ceasing to exist.
Jacob was the person who brought people to the island.
MIB was the person who challenged the candidates to determine if they would corrupt themselves.
But at the same time, Jacob was also manipulating people on the island - - - including the Others who apparently worshipped him.
As events played out on the Island, the candidates were divided by the Others (through kidnapping, deals, and deaths).
So a basic formula emerges:
If we examine this further, how did the story events play out? How did a new guardian emerge from all of the candidates. Both Jacob and MIB had to be eliminated from the equation. To do so, the formula would be reworked to form
CANDIDATE x (JACOB + MIB) = ISLAND x OTHERS
If Jacob and MIB were eliminated to zero, then NOTHING equals the Islands and Others.
But what if Jacob and MIB merged into "one" as two halves of an Egyptian soul in the underworld, then the formula turns to work out as
CANDIDATE = ISLAND x OTHERS.
For a candidate to succeed Jacob or MIB, he or she would need both the factors of the Island and the Others. A candidate cannot guard nothing, so the island must remain a physical place that contains displaced people.
Then we get to a similar vein with Hurley's guardianship. If Hurley and Ben take the place of Jacob and MIB in the equation, then we they become "one," in death, then a new candidate becomes a guardian.
If we start the basic premise that the Island was divided by both Jacob and MIB, then we have one part of the formula. Jacob and MIB appeared to have a distant rivalry for control over the island. It was such a long rivalry, that it became a mere game to them. A game which may have had the ultimate ending of both of them ceasing to exist.
Jacob was the person who brought people to the island.
MIB was the person who challenged the candidates to determine if they would corrupt themselves.
But at the same time, Jacob was also manipulating people on the island - - - including the Others who apparently worshipped him.
As events played out on the Island, the candidates were divided by the Others (through kidnapping, deals, and deaths).
So a basic formula emerges:
CANDIDATE x (JACOB + MIB) = ISLAND x OTHERS
If Jacob and MIB were eliminated to zero, then NOTHING equals the Islands and Others.
But what if Jacob and MIB merged into "one" as two halves of an Egyptian soul in the underworld, then the formula turns to work out as
CANDIDATE = ISLAND x OTHERS.
For a candidate to succeed Jacob or MIB, he or she would need both the factors of the Island and the Others. A candidate cannot guard nothing, so the island must remain a physical place that contains displaced people.
Then we get to a similar vein with Hurley's guardianship. If Hurley and Ben take the place of Jacob and MIB in the equation, then we they become "one," in death, then a new candidate becomes a guardian.
Friday, March 7, 2014
BASIC ELEMENTS REVIEWED
But two characters pop out alone: Penny and Eloise.
They are related by marriage. Penny is the daughter of Widmore. We can infer from his back story that when he left the island to the main land, he had a child (Penny) which led to his banishment. He later married Eloise and together they had a child, Daniel, the scientific genius for whom Eloise desperately protected in the sideways world.
Penny grew up as part of the privilege class in England. She has aspects of being spoiled, but also has a rebellious streak against her father (as would later turn into her affection for Desmond). Desmond was the anti-Widmore, a man with little ambition, unmarketable skills and lack of commitment. Dez was a drifter, a loner, and man without a cause. Penny never needed Desmond, but when Desmond tried to win her back and lost at seas, he found out that he needed her.
Eloise was part of the plot to get Desmond away from Penny. Eloise was the watch clerk who told Desmond about life's "course correction," people die no matter what events intervene to delay it. Desmond was told he had a great role to play, but he did not believe it. That role was to set sail in a solo race to crash into the island - - - to be trapped there pushing a button that would keep the island in a snow globe.
The reason why Eloise wanted Desmond removed from Penny's life was that she was protecting Daniel from awakening. She knew that Penny had feelings for Desmond, and if Penny re-awakened those feelings in the sideways world, Eloise fantasy after life would be destroyed. So she kept Penny's happiness at bay for the sake of her own selfish goal of being with her son forever.
Her son, if he remembered Eloise killing him in the time travel episode, could have gone off with the other island castaways to the church and into the light, never to be seen again. Sending Desmond to the island prison was a way to prevent that event from happening.
Without that, Eloise would have no bonds to keep her in the sideways dream. Her perfect marriage to Widmore was a ruse since he had not awakened to the island past - - - and their feud/break-up over the island's control. Penny would not be awakened if Desmond was kept at bay, traveling the world at the behest of Widmore (or more likely Eloise's prodding him). Penny would have continued on in a privileged status that she had pre-Desmond relationship, not knowing what she was missing in her life.
If the baseline for the show was love, then the stories of Penny and Eloise demonstrate two sides of the same coin. Penny, in a blissful ignorance and Eloise, in a conning manipulation in the sideways realm. But in the island sphere, it is proactive Penny trying to re-connect to lost Desmond, while Eloise tries to right her wrong caused Daniel. One is a mother's love to an extreme, and the other is a couple's triumph over tragedy.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
BASIC ELEMENTS
Boil down the individual characters into cells or molecule representation, this is what the diagram represents.
By looking at LOST in this simple simplicity, one can see possible hidden (or subliminal) connections between the characters.
You can analyze the diagram many different ways:
By same letters being grouped together.
By adding a positive or negative to each type to see if there is base attraction or connection.
By looking to see what letters have no companion.
By looking to see patterns.
By looking to see what is out of place.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
POSSESSIVE SOULS
Here is a new theory derived from Japanese folklore.
In Nara, the birth place of Japanese culture. there are stories of nature, culture, history; folk stories, and tradition there. "Tsukumo-gami" are things that existed for a long time that develops a self-awareness and soul. This is a unique idea that things have souls. For example, when you lose an important thing on your desk, without becoming frustrated you should think of it this way. "It is trying to come back to me!" Then you won't get so frustrated or you'll be happy when you see them again. This is very Japanese way of thinking that every possession has its own soul.
It is something hidden in plain sight. It is a very interesting concept.
What strikes me now is that fans were really pulled into what Desmond said about his attempted escape from the island.
Desmond described the Island as a snow globe after experiencing navigational problems trying to escape it. Desmond had tried to flee the Island in his boat, but he steered due west rather than the necessary bearing. As a result, he arrived back at the Island.
JACK: So, before you ran off, I guess you just forgot to mention that you still have a sailboat. Why'd you come back?
DESMOND [laughing]: Do you think I did it on purpose? I was sailing for two and half weeks, bearing due West and making 9 knots. I should have been in Fiji in less than a week. But the first piece of land I saw wasn't Fiji, was it? No. No, it was here -- this, this island. And you know why? Because this is it. This is all there is left. This ocean and this place here. We are stuck in a bloody snow globe. There's no outside world. There's no escape. So, just go away, huh. Let me drink.
There were also other references to snow globes in the series. Hurley's comic book contained a picture of a dome covering a magical city. There was also a snow globe on the counter of the shop where Michael pawned his watch. And there was a large blue globe on the top shelf of a bookcase in Aaron's bedroom.
The explanation of the castaways being trapped on the island was that they were caught in a snow globe created by unique magnetic energy. Except, what if it was more literal?
Snow globes are souvenir items that depict a time, event or place. The classic example is a winter holiday scene. The item is jostled and plastic snow is churned about in the fluid to create a winter scene.
Instead of an explanation that the show was all inside Hurley's head, put it inside of a tropical snow globe that over time developed its own souls. All the characters were actually animated from the elements of the globe.
The light at the end could represent many different things. It could represent an actual light switch in the globe that turns on a lamp so people can see the scene more clearly. Or, it could mean the actual light of the sun being shown coming into a broken element of the casing (releasing the souls being bonded inside the globe into the real world).
Such a complex and magical premise was never considered in the original pilot script or the writer's guide. The premise seems more suited to Japanese anime, where tales of humans being intertwined in a spirit world are common stories. But the idea that the island was a snow globe, and that its objects inside it developed consciousness or souls, has its own wonderful possibilities.
In Nara, the birth place of Japanese culture. there are stories of nature, culture, history; folk stories, and tradition there. "Tsukumo-gami" are things that existed for a long time that develops a self-awareness and soul. This is a unique idea that things have souls. For example, when you lose an important thing on your desk, without becoming frustrated you should think of it this way. "It is trying to come back to me!" Then you won't get so frustrated or you'll be happy when you see them again. This is very Japanese way of thinking that every possession has its own soul.
It is something hidden in plain sight. It is a very interesting concept.
What strikes me now is that fans were really pulled into what Desmond said about his attempted escape from the island.
Desmond described the Island as a snow globe after experiencing navigational problems trying to escape it. Desmond had tried to flee the Island in his boat, but he steered due west rather than the necessary bearing. As a result, he arrived back at the Island.
JACK: So, before you ran off, I guess you just forgot to mention that you still have a sailboat. Why'd you come back?
DESMOND [laughing]: Do you think I did it on purpose? I was sailing for two and half weeks, bearing due West and making 9 knots. I should have been in Fiji in less than a week. But the first piece of land I saw wasn't Fiji, was it? No. No, it was here -- this, this island. And you know why? Because this is it. This is all there is left. This ocean and this place here. We are stuck in a bloody snow globe. There's no outside world. There's no escape. So, just go away, huh. Let me drink.
There were also other references to snow globes in the series. Hurley's comic book contained a picture of a dome covering a magical city. There was also a snow globe on the counter of the shop where Michael pawned his watch. And there was a large blue globe on the top shelf of a bookcase in Aaron's bedroom.
The explanation of the castaways being trapped on the island was that they were caught in a snow globe created by unique magnetic energy. Except, what if it was more literal?
Snow globes are souvenir items that depict a time, event or place. The classic example is a winter holiday scene. The item is jostled and plastic snow is churned about in the fluid to create a winter scene.
Instead of an explanation that the show was all inside Hurley's head, put it inside of a tropical snow globe that over time developed its own souls. All the characters were actually animated from the elements of the globe.
The light at the end could represent many different things. It could represent an actual light switch in the globe that turns on a lamp so people can see the scene more clearly. Or, it could mean the actual light of the sun being shown coming into a broken element of the casing (releasing the souls being bonded inside the globe into the real world).
Such a complex and magical premise was never considered in the original pilot script or the writer's guide. The premise seems more suited to Japanese anime, where tales of humans being intertwined in a spirit world are common stories. But the idea that the island was a snow globe, and that its objects inside it developed consciousness or souls, has its own wonderful possibilities.
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