Saturday, January 30, 2010

THE FINAL THEORY PART TWO

Greek civilization had its prominence in ancient Egypt.

Alexander the Great conquered Egypt at an early stage of his great journey of conquests. He respected the pharaonic religions and customs and he was declared by the priest, Pharaoh of Egypt. This meant that an Outsider could become the Leader of Egyptian society. In the order of power, the gods ruled the earth and spirit worlds, the Pharaoh was the leader of the kingdom, the priests served both the gods and their leader, and then the people were the followers. When Ilana remarked that Frank could be "a candidate" we think a new leader of the followers or Others. This would follow the tradition of an Outsider becoming a ruler in Egypt.

Alexander the Great established the city of Alexandria. After his death, his enormous empire was divided among his generals. Egypt was given to Ptolmeny I Soter, whose descendants would give Egypt her final royal dynasty - a glittering one, but largely Greek in flavor.

The initial objective of Ptolemy's reign was to establish firm and broad boundaries to his newly-acquired kingdom. That led to almost continuous warfare against other leading members of Alexander's circle. Ptolemy and his descendants show respect to Egypt's most cherished traditions - those of religion - and turn them to their own advantage. Alexandria becomes the centre of the Greek and Hellenistic world and the center of international commerce, art and sciences. The Lighthouse was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Library was the biggest library in the world until it was destroyed. It appeared to contain all the knowledge of mankind. Scholars today believe the ancient scientists had all the technical and scientific knowledge to create water and steam powered machines, computer gears, and complex calculating clocks, which we would consider modern engineering in the 20th Century.

The last Pharaoh was a Greek princess, Cleopatra. This is an interesting connection because recently I remarked that Kate's personality reminded me of Cleopatra, in the fact that she seemed to bounce back and forth toward men in power or control. She is not one not to use her sex appeal to get want she wants. Cleopatra was twenty-one when she first met Julius Caesar in 48 BCE. She was twenty-eight when she first met Mark Antony. She is thirty-nine when she applied the asp to her breast in 30 BCE, a year after her soldiers were defeated in the Battle of Actium. With her defeat, Egypt remained under Roman control for the next six centuries.

As the Middle East was the cross roads of the Silk and Spice Roads, conquests from Asian tribes like the Huns, to Muslim forces, has created a melting pot of blood shed, revenge, war to world war domination. After the world wars, the British controlled much of North Africa. But the British divided into states in which the people living there found untenable. It resulted in more conflicts. The cultural and institutional nature of revenge and territorial conflicts has created a never ending cycle of warfare in the region.

So, the Island contains fragments from all the great human civilizations, who have passed through the Island at some point during time.

And this may be the context of MIB lament to Jacob that men who come to the Island use their primal motivation to fight, war, destroy and corrupt a peaceful place like the island.

I have come to conclude that the Island is its own character in this long narrative. The Island has not been given a Name. Which is curious. For if the Island's name was given early on, then the big mystery may be solved: what is the Island?

Two large clues have been hidden in plain sight: the Hatch countdown timer warning message, and the symbols around the Frozen Donkey Wheel.

Both the Hatch and the FDW sit upon what has been described as a unique electromagnetic property. Some theorists have speculated that it would be a wormhole, or a dimensional rift in the space-time continuum. Others have speculated that it could be the energy force from alien technology, a time machine.

I speculate that Jughead's atomic bomb did not go off at the end of Season 5. The white flash was the island being moved to save Eloise (the leader) and her unborn child. As we have seen, turning the FDW "moves" the Island from its location, and deposits the turner in North Africa at a different time period. We also have seen if the FDW is not set properly, people can "time skip" on the island.

It is clear that Dharma and the Others have knowledge of the special electromagnetic properties of the island. Dharma appears to have less working knowledge of the matter, as it was setting up stations in order to observe and understand it before making use of it. The Others, including Ben as their leader, know HOW to use it - - - especially in the case of emergencies. Moving the FDW is like a fail safe key to move the Island so Outsiders cannot find it.

At the Hatch site, we see that Radzinsky's reckless drilling causes the pocket of EM to suck all metal objects down to the underground source. I am speculating since the Judghead device did not explode, WHH and Dharma followed Faraday's advice and buried the bomb deep in a concrete bunker that Desmond remarked reminded him of Cherynobl. Then, in order to contain the pressures of the drilled EM pocket, the Hatch station was constructed next to the concrete bomb bunker. The Hatch's purpose had to be to equalize the EM destructive downward forces against the Island surface. As a result of these opposite forces, pressure would build up that had to be released every 108 minutes in order to keep the forces in balance. It was so important, that it could not be left to computers alone. What happens when the Numbers were not put into the release controller in time? All Hell would break loose, and the warning on the clock would turn to state:

HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH.

As previously discussed, the warning message clearly indicates a "He," a person or entity, being released (escapes) a place of death (Hell? the Underworld? a Prison?) It must be a reference to keeping a destructive (evil) force at bay for the benefit of the Island inhabitants.

The entity is not Smokey, because it has been seen throughout the Island when the Hatch was operating properly. Ben even summoned "protection" from the underground tunnel under the Barracks by releasing water down a hole to release Smokey from his Temple lair. Why water is the que to get Smokey on the loose is interesting; ancient scientists used water as the power source to start complex machines and illusions in Temple ceremonies. It is possible that Smokey is an ancient steampunk security system designed to wipe out evil forces that come to the Island.

Another story line focal point has been the Frozen Donkey Wheel. This is the chamber where both Ben and Locke met their destiny moments of sacrificing part of themselves for the sake of a bigger purpose, protecting the Island. Hidden deep below ground, allegedly near a pocket of special energy, in a cold chamber is a wooden gear wheel surrounded by more Egyptian glyphs, translated to mean:

OPEN SIDE (EARTH) GATES TO ETERNITIES.

This has to be the best evidence of what the Island is: a nexus point between worlds. Since the Island has been built up by deference to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the phrase can easily be broken down to state that is device allows one to open an earth portal (a gate) to the afterlife. The pyramids and Sphinx were designed as part of Temples to make sure that rulers and leaders would be able to make their dangerous journey through the afterlife to paradise. The Temples were aligned with cosmic and heavenly objects and stars to make sure that the journey would match the myth of Ra's nightly cycle through the underworld.

In ancient Egyptian culture, departed souls would reach a pagan paradise where they would toil in the fields of the gods, while others would go into the underworld to have their heart weighed in the final judgment on whether they would pass onto eternal paradise. The Island could the the intersection of different, supernatural realms of good and evil. This could explain why our perception natural laws and physics seem not to apply to aspects of Island as a reason why there is no scientific or scientific theory explanation for the supernatural elements in the show. The Island is a different realm, a bridge between Earth (and its laws of physics) and a spirit world (where anything goes).

My Nexus-Buffer Theory is premised on the adaptation that Lost is a variation of Paradise Lost (with elements of Dante’s Inferno and Egyptian mythology of the battle between Horus and Seth).

In Milton’s world view, the universe was represented just like the mobile above Aaron’s crib. The universe of planets, sun and stars was encapsulated by waters which fed the Earth and kept the raging forces of Chaos at bay. Outside the Universe sphere are the separate spheres of Heaven and Hell. In Dante’s work, after the rebellion in heaven, Satan and his devils were cast into Hell in the midst of Chaos. God then created a new universe which housed a new creature, Man, on Earth. Satan built a bridge to Earth through Chaos and brought evil to mankind, which lead to the banishment of man from Eden to the mortality of Earth. In the Egyptian world, followers or non-believers would pass to the pagan paradise, fields like on Earth, where they would toil to serve the departed leaders and gods forever. These pagan workers would not really know that they had passed on to another world or realm because they did not believe in it. The true religious believers would have to pass many tests through the underworld in order to get to the final chamber to have their heart weighed against a feather. If the heart was weighed down by sin or evil, final judgment would be punishment and the end of one's existence. If the heart weighed less than a feather, then the person's body and soul would be reconstituted in heaven (paradise) for all the eternities. In a religion context, the Garden of Eden could be considered a way station between pagan Earth and the Heavens. Once Adam and Eve disobeyed God's will (being tricked by Satan as a snake to eat the forbidden fruit, an apple), they were banished to Earth to toil like the animals. (There may be a clue in the last ABC promo for the premiere of LOST, a flash of the statement "Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit." Sounds biblical to me.)

In another religion context, man has both a body and soul. Upon death on earth, one’s soul travels to another plane of existence. Some religions base that upon the sins of the past; others various stages of enlightenment and reincarnation; hell (punishment), purgatory (penance), limbo (pagan paradise) or heaven (resurrection, eternal paradise). In the afterlife, souls have new bodies (vessels). Various stages of the afterlife may be present in the ether of the after world, as the soul is cleansed of its mortal sins toward a path of enlightenment on final judgment. The mind would control afterlife matter.

In Egypt, conflicts during one's lifetime may continue in one's afterlife. The ancient gods would continually fight among themselves both in the living world and in the underworld. All in the name of gaining control or power over the Kingdoms. In biblical readings, God ruled the heavens and paradise. He created a Son to whom he gave great power, which made other loyal angels jealous. When called to task about this new power structure, many angels rebelled against God, but God and his Son were victorious and cast those who challenged them into the abyss of Chaos or Hell (concept of Fallen Angels or Demons). Satan was the leader of the Fallen Angels, who continued to plot his return through the interference and growth of evil on Earth.

What was left in Milton and Dante’s works was the revenge of Satan against God. There is an inference that Satan at some time would rise up to fight another battle for heaven. As Satan had found a path to invade his spiritual form to Earth, it would probably be much harder to breach the gates of heaven.

Thus, we get to the Island. The Island is a way station, a nexus point between the gates of heaven and the afterlife universe. The Hatch and the Numbers were the mechanism to maintain an electromagnetic barrier between the nexus bridge and the gates of heaven so Satan’s minions could not invade. When the numbers were not imputed to vent the EM, an alarm would sound, an internal barrier would drop and symbols would appear to say “He escapes place of Death.” Once the EM force field was down, breached or compromised, the nexus point (island) was exposed - - and other souls (devils) could arrive through either Chaos or through a gate to Earth to take control of this strategic place.

The basic assumption watching the show is that the characters are alive. They survived the plane crash. But in the jumbled time looping, flash back and flash forward story lines, is that really confirmed as true? It is possible to speculate that the passengers on 815 were already in their afterlives, having already died prior to Flight 815. In the flashbacks, there are clues that these characters died: examples -- Hurley: deck collapse; Kate: car accidents; Sayid: Iraq war casualty; Rose: terminal cancer; Rousseau: shipwreck; Desmond: lost at sea in small boat. They may not actually know they are "dead" per se, as their mind and soul is just beginning its long journey through the afterlife and judgment. (In ancient Egyptian culture, various parts of the body and soul transmute into the afterlife to be reconstructed after various stages of being in the afterlife.) How everyone got on the plane is like the comment from Defending Your Life, how one imagines their demise is how they are transported to the next level of existence. But if one comes to grips with the concept that the Island is itself a spiritual realm, it does not matter if the 815 characters are alive or dead . . . they are in a magical place where the concept of one's own death can be suspended, altered, changed or determined by higher forces than nature.

Three characters have been called "special." If one looks at their situation with a more objective notion of time and place, one could conclude that they were either stillborn, or died shortly after birth. This would mean that they had no mortal sins. Ben (premature and born on roadside), Locke (mother hit by car, premature), and Alex (mother shipwrecked or died of the sickness). When Ben stated that he was born on the island, it may be a reference that he was actually arrived in the afterlife as a "rarity," a human soul without mortal sin. This would imply that he would have angelic powers. But those powers could be corrupted by other, fallen angels or Satan’s minions.

And this could be the ultimate struggle Jacob and MIB were discussing on the beach

THE FINAL THEORY PART ONE

I am wrapping up my final hiatus recaps to go ALL IN! on an Egyptian myth based literary stew in order to try to predict what LOST is all about. It is a literary stew because it is a variation of Egyptian-Greek-Roman myths and modern religion stories weaved, like Jacob's tapestry, to tell a story of man and his god(s). It is odd that with all the Egyptian mythology, there is only one character with an Egyptian name: Horus. Richard(us) implies a Roman name. Olivia, Eloise: English. Jacob: Hebrew. It is like all the island names correlate to all the nations who once conquered North Africa. And hence the enhanced verse about many different civilizations leaving their marks on the Island. First, the ancient Egyptian elements to LOST:

Jacob's tapestry holds many clues. At the top, the sun rays flow from the symbol for the Eye of Horus (Ra). The mural also contains non-Egyptian themes including Greek letters. This is to symbolize the long work through the centuries and different cultures (progress) which Jacob has been tending to on the Island.

My composite translation/interpretation of Jacob's Tapestry (from various sources); from top to bottom:

Greek text: "May the gods grant you all your heart (soul) desires."

Next: the Eye of Ra with 17 sun rays (with hands) to 17 Egyptians flanked by two thrones. The sun rays with hands is a symbol used by the Cult of Aten, thought to be the first "single deity" religious belief. The two thrones may represent the split kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt.

Next: 8 dancers giving offerings to the heavens.

Next: Greek text "May the gods grant you happiness."

Next: 5 people toiling in the fields. The representation looks like a depiction of the shabtis, a deceased pharoah's servants in the afterlife who toil in the eternal fields of the gods.

Next: 3 Egyptian ships crossing the waters. The tapestry found in Jacob's cabin would appear to be from the lower right corner, towards where the ships are sailing. A soul crossing the river is symbolic of the journey to the Maat for final judgment.

Bottom: Greek text "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

The Eye of Horus represents the right eye of the Egyptian falcon god Horus. It represents the sun, and it was associated with the Sun God Ra. The mirror image, or the left eye, represented the moon, the God called Thoth. And here is the duality of the storyline: light and dark. The power of the sun rules the day light, and the power of the moon rules the night. There is a natural balance depicted between those forces in nature.

According to the myth, the left eye was torn from Horus by his murderous uncle Seth, and magically restored by Thoth, who was considered the god of magic. Some stories state that after the eye was restored, Horus made a gift of the eye to Osiris, which allowed this solar god to rule the underworld (which explains the phases of the moon as the eye is torn from the sky every month).

Together, the eyes represent the whole of the universe. LOST has continually focused on close up shots of eyes opening as a jumping point for a story line. The never ending cycle that Jacob and the MIB (Seth) discuss on the beach is the solar cycle. In Egyptian myth, this solar cycle represent's Ra's nightly journey through the underworld where he would defeat monsters and enemies in order to rise to power each morning upon the Earth.

The Eye of Horus was extremely important in Egyptian society. In the Ancient Egyptian measurement system, the Eye Of Horus was used a form of fractional notation, each of the parts of the eye representing a different fraction. The parts of the eye were divided as follows:

* 1/2 was represented by smell,

* 1/4 was represented by sight or the sensation of light,

* 1/8 was represented by thought,

* 1/16 was represented by hearing,

* 1/32 was represented by taste,

* 1/64 was represented by touch.

These fractions were used as the basis of all medicine and prescriptions. In math, they add up to 63/64; so it was said the last 1/64th was Thoth's magic.

I also found that these numbers (2,4,8,16, 32, 64) are the same numbers on the Doubling Cube in the game of backgammon (Locke and Walt's early white/dark discussion as an metaphor for the game of good vs. evil). The great evil story was Seth tricking his ruling brother, Osiris, to a feast in his honor. But Seth killed his brother, carved up his body into pieces, and cast them across the Nile valley. Osiris' wife gathered up the pieces and went to the underworld where Thoth's magic reunited the parts to create the judgment god of the underworld.

I also thought that Jacob touching six people may be a clue that he was hiding one his six traits in them, to be re-combined like Osiris' body parts when the "touched" 815ers are all reunited in the same time and place.

If that is the case, it would be a perfect example of Sawyer's creed, "what's in it for me?" In Jacob's case, he has devised a way to be reincarnated (again?)

The ancient Egyptians had complex rules for man on earth, preparation for the afterlife, and one's body and soul journeying through the afterlife to paradise or punishment. In Egyptian culture, Man was regarded as a complex being that could exist both before and after death in different manifestations, known as kheperu. The physical body was one of these modes of existence, as were also the heart, the shadow and the name, which embodied a person's distinct identity.

Over the centuries the Egyptians evolved several different concepts of human survival after death. These ideas were first formulated to ensure safe passage for the dead king into the hereafter, but over time people of lower status were able to share in the same destiny. Common to all of the concepts was the idea that resurrection was achieved through integrating the deceased into the natural processes of the cosmos.

During life, the body was known as "khet" meaning form or appearance.
At the time of death the corpse was known as "khat".
When the corpse was transformed into a mummy, it was known as "sah". Mummification was considered the transfiguration of the corpse into a new body which was "filled with magic."

The Egyptians believed that a person's essence or soul was composed of several elements that at the point of death would become separate entities:

The "ka"

The "ka" was considered to be the essential ingredient or dimension that differentiated a living person from a dead one; considered to be the "life force" or "sustenance."

Each individual's "ka" would come into existence at the moment of birth, subsequently serving as their "double."

Although every individual would eventually die, their "ka" would continue to live on after their death, and as such it would require exactly the same sort of sustenance as the living person would have enjoyed during their life. The "ka" would be provided with genuine food offerings, to be absorbed into their life preserving force.

After death, the "ka" would be at rest while the body was prepared and transformed into a mummy. The "ka" then needed to be reactivated so that the spiritual transformation of rebirth could take place. The deceased could then travel to join their "ka," and the link to the land of living through their tomb would then be established. It would be the person's "ba" that would make this journey.

The "ba"

The "ba" is considered to be an individual's distinctive manifestation, similar to our concept of personality which make each human unique. It was necessary for the deceased to journey from their tomb to rejoin their "ka" if they were to be transformed into an "akh." As the physical body could not do this, it was the job of the individual's "ba" to do so.

In order for the physical bodies of the deceased to survive the afterlife, they had to be reunited with their "ba" every night.

Closely linked to the physical body, the "ba" was considered to have the same physical needs as the living body. These needs included earthly pleasures such as food and drink.

The journey of the "ba" was still only a part of the final transformation of the deceased. Another journey followed, to the sky, sunlight and stars, and it was in these celestial realms that the deceased hoped to reach higher status, second only to a god, and resurrection as an "akh."

The "Akh"

The "akh" is the fully resurrected and glorified form of the deceased in the Afterlife. An "akh" comes close to our concept of a ghost or spirit, as it was believed that the "akh" could reach beyond the limits of the tomb to have both positive and negative effects on the realm of earthly life. The deceased was now free to roam on and over the earth. After the successful union of the "ba" with its "ka." the deceased was considered enduring and unchanged for eternity.

Jacob's tapestry was housed in the foot of an ancient statue of Tawaret. Tawaret mythology changed during the various Egyptian kingdoms. She was once an evil god which combined all early Egyptian fears (crocodiles, hippos and lions). She became a less evil, motherly figure when it was shown that aggressive Nile hippos were usually female, protecting their young. Even then, it was said that she consorted with a crocodile god. Then in the latter kingdoms, she was seen as the wife of Apep, the serpent god of the underworld. So if you mash-up the stories, she is both evil and protective. Some have speculated that since the statue's demise (destruction), the Island has had feritility/birth problems with the Island inhabitants.

Friday, January 29, 2010

PROGRESS TO ONE END

The key conversation between Jacob and MIB was on the beach, when the 1800s wooden ship is being brought to the Island:

MIB: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
JACOB: You are wrong.
MIB: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.

Who brought the people to the island? JACOB
How did the people get to the island? JACOB
What do the people do once they get to the island? Fight, destroy and corrupt.
When does this cycle end? Once.
Why does Jacob keep bringing people to the island? For Progress.

It is almost like Jacob is bringing human souls to the Island to be lab rats in a complex human mind maze. People, being human, revert to basic human, primal instincts: fighting, destroying, corrupting one another, then killing each other.

It is like a human experiment where test subjects are running through a series of tests or maze to solve the problem and get a reward. But in this case, the reward is poison or toxic. The lab mice are running around, and even if their hunger leads them to the cheese, the cheese is toxic so the human race fails (again and again). Only when a lab rat realizes that the cheese reward is not to be eaten (it is poison), does the human race find greater intelligence than primal animals. The greater intelligence is the End to unlock humanity failings.

EGADS!

From EW, a quote from TPTB on Season 6 premiere:

“I wish it was already here. The audience may hate it. The audience may not hate it. But at least they will finally see it, and when they do, it will be a relief.”

Ah, that does not sound too confident.
Some viewers may HATE it? That's really strong, but even though they HATE it, it will be a relief?

Does not put one in a confident frame of mind.

LA X

There is some question of what S6E1 episode title, "LA X" means. If we go back to my tangent to the Periodic Table of Elements:

La is the symbol for lanthanum, a silvery-white rare earth metal. It comes from the Greek word for ESCAPE NOTICE.

X is the symbol for TEN or in math, an independent variable.

LA X could then represent the phrase THE TENTH ESCAPE NOTICE, which could trigger a response from higher forces (They're Coming! as Jacob said).

It would tie nicely into the Hatch's warning symbols from the countdown timer which said HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

DARK AND LIGHT

If you believe that the context of the show is a variation of an Egyptian myth, one of the most powerful stories was the journey of Ra, the Sun god, through the underworld each night. Ra's power was that of the sun (day light). But as the sun passed into darkness each night, it was told that it was because the sun god had to make a journey through the underworld, then after a successful voyage, return to rise the next day. In the underworld, Ra would be challenged by the god of darkness who would want to kill Ra in order to seize the entire world. During the journey, Ra would be helped by lesser gods and aides who would fend off attacks.

It was interesting to note, that Flocke waited until night fall before demanding to see Jacob.
And when we first saw Jacob in the base of the Tawaret foot, he appeared cowering in the corner of the room, afraid. This would be consistent with the theory of Ra, being a solar god being only powerful during the daylight. At night, he would be open to attack. One of the rules could be that Jacob is light and MIB is dark; and their full powers manifest themselves during those passages of time.

As also speculated, it appears that Jacob and MIB are rivals, but may not be able to directly kill each other. MIB needed to find a loophole. That is why Flocke (MIB) got Ben, a loyal follower, to turn and kill Jacob.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

THE INCIDENT

I watched the enhanced version last night and afterward came to one major conclusion.

The white out at the end of the Incident was not the bomb going off. Juliet was hitting the device with less impact force than the fall down the shaft. The sequence made the viewer think that is what happened.

I believe the white flash at the end of the episode represents Eloise (possibly through Richard) turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel.

It was when Richard said that he was protecting his leader, Eloise, when he knocked her out to protect her and her baby that I thought the only way for Richard to protect her was to get her off the island by turning the FDW. This would explain how Eloise got off the island. It would also explain why it took her a long time to find the island because it moved when she left it.

And with the bomb not exploding makes case that WHH. The bomb was sealed in the concrete tomb that Sayid said reminded him of Chernobyl when Jack and Sayid were investigating the Swan Station. Dharma buried the bomb in concrete, and made the Hatch station next to it with the word Quarantine on the door. The bomb not exploding gets the elements back into place before the 815 crash.

Turning the FDW at the end of the episode probably moved the island like a pendulum back toward a flash forward reset. My guess, based on the ABC promo of the timer clock resetting to 109.11 to September 11, 2004. This date is significant because it is around the time the major characters had to make choices on whether to go to Australia and/or get on Flight 815 13 days later.

The enhanced version also made reference to heavy Egyptian mythology concepts, or variations on those elements. It also made constant references to Jacob's touches to 815 survivors, as we have discussed for months on the fan boards. If there is going to be a mid-September 2004 reset, Flight 815 will not land at LAX but it will crash again on the Island.


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

NEW PROMO

On today's ABC LOST web page, there was the main banner stating "Who will Kate choose?" She is standing between Jack and Sawyer. I don't want the show to go down the soap opera road.

The official video teaser for Season 6 is all about changing destiny. Certain events are rewound: Locke falling up eight stories, the plane bits reassembling themselves in mid air; the beach engine explosion reversing itself; and Charlie not drowning . . . all inference is to a reset in the time line.

The questions raised in the promo:

Who will live?
Who will die?
Who will return?

It ends with Everything Will Change. The video features three very odd items:

There is a person on a radio making a mayday call from what appears to be in the darkness: Boone. Second, there is a quick flash of a word frame: Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit. And Third, the 108.00 minute count down timer goes from the Warning signs to 109.11. 9/11?

Monday, January 25, 2010

THE TIME MACHINE

The loss of the ancient world's single greatest archive of knowledge, the Library of Alexandria, has been lamented for ages. But how and why it was lost is still a mystery. The mystery exists not for lack of suspects but from an excess of them.

Alexandria had long been known for it's violent and volatile politics. Christians, Jews and Pagans all lived together in the city. One ancient writer claimed that there was no people who loved a fight more than those of Alexandria. Diverse groups crossed path in this ancient city, and rivalries and conflicts manifested themselves.

The Museum or Royal Library of Alexandria was founded in 283 BC. The Museum was a place of study which included lecture areas, gardens, a zoo, and shrines for each of the nine muses as well as the Library itself. It has been estimated that at one time the Library of Alexandria held over half a million documents from Assyria, Greece, Persia, Egypt, India and many other nations. More than 100 scholars lived at the Museum full time to perform research, write, lecture or translate and copy documents. The library was so large it actually had another branch or "daughter" library at the Temple of Serapis.

It was at the Library of Alexandria that the scientific method was first conceived and put into practice, and its empirical standards applied in one of the first and certainly strongest homes for serious textual criticism. As the same text often existed in several different versions, comparative textual criticism was crucial for ensuring their veracity. Once ascertained, canonical copies would then be made for scholars, royalty and wealthy bibliophiles the world over, this commerce bringing income to the library. But this area was in constant conflict as foreigners came to conquer the land time and time again. Ancient and modern sources identify four possible occasions for the partial or complete destruction of the Library of Alexandria:

1. Julius Caesar's Fire in The Alexandrian War, in 48 BC
2. The attack of Aurelian in the third century AD;
3. The decree of Theophilus in AD 391;
4. The Muslim conquest in AD 642 or thereafter.

There are some mild parallels to the ancient Library of Alexandria and LOST. The Island has various "science" stations which were experimenting with mind control, polar bears, fertility, etc. It could be compared to the lecture areas in the ancient museum. As in real life, knowledge is power and ultimate knowledge is ultimate power. If one does not understand it, then one must destroy it. And that is what a new king or Pharaoh feared most: someone using the vast array of knowledge against him.

As MIB told Jacob, they come, they fight, they destroy . . . nothing changes. It appears that the visitors to Alexandria came, fought and destroyed the ancient city time and time again. In the end, the greatest "loss" was the vast knowledge contained in the library scrolls. Today's scientists, archaeologists and engineers cannot grasp how the ancient Egyptian could build the huge pyramid complexes when modern mechanical building devices can not recreate the construction. Only bits and pieces of the lost knowledge have been found, which have led to historians be astonished to find the principles of steam engineering 2000 years before its "modern" invention. It is like taking our technology and science today and looking 2000 years in the future: what would our civilization be like? All the sci-fi wonders, Star Trek concepts, immortality, space travel, hover cars are imaginative possibilities with thousand of years of study, experiment and application.

This may have been brought up by the theorists who believe LOST is about the lost city of Atlantis, or an alien spaceship (snow globe) or a parallel dimension, but I have not seen is actual explanation in the blogsphere: that the Island is a Time Machine. Many people have the HG Wells concept of a time machine as a carriage with lots of lights and levers. But in a literary sense, the lost Library of Alexandria is a time capsule where scholars could go back in time and read the knowledge of ancient genius, and then at the same time read about the mythic future from the poets and writers. The physical signs of knowledge on the Island has been Egyptian, Greek, Latin (Roman) and English, all civilizations that prized scientific knowledge. And all those civilizations used knowledge to improve the art of warfare to conquer and control their enemies. It would explain how the "island" could vanish without displacing any water in the ocean; it is not a physical, volcanic structure. The mechanical noises associated with Smokey are a clue to the mechanical nature of the island.

In the end, there will need to be a supernatural explanation for the premise of the show. Stringing together the pieces of historical data to weave a tapestry of time travel, one could argue that the Island is the physical representation of all of mankind's knowledge (a modern Library of Alexandria) with roots in ancient past, long forgotten but by a few priests or scholars, who are the guardians of this powerful secret: that the Island is made up of unique matter and energy which can be manipulated into a time machine. If one can control this knowledge, one could not have to predict future events because they could be known before they happen. What happens will happen, and a person with foresight can be in the right position to profit from that knowledge. And with knowledge of the future, comes total power. That is why men would be desperate to find the Island and kill anyone to take it back. If the Island is a Time Machine, then one could manipulate it to become an immortal god on Earth.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

WALKABOUT DESTINY

Locke has returned to the Center of the Storyline at the end of Season 5. He appears to have been in control of his own free will for the first time in his life. But was he?

From "Walkabout" in Season 1, Flashback:

RANDY: Well, tell me, what's a Walkabout? [reading from a brochure]: "Experience the dream journeys of the fabled Australian Outback."

LOCKE: You have no right taking that off my desk.

RANDY: So, you wander around hunting and gathering food, right? On foot?

LOCKE: Not that you would understand, but a Walkabout is a journey of spiritual renewal, where one derives strength from the earth. And becomes inseparable from it. I have vacation days, I'm going, Randy. I've already made a reservation.

GL12: Wow. John you're really doing it, huh? You tell Helen yet?

RANDY: Helen? Well, what's this Locke, you've actually got a woman in your life.

LOCKE: That's none of your business.

RANDY: What is it with you Locke? Why do you torture yourself? I mean, imagining you're some hunter? Walkabouts? Wake up, you can't do any of that.

LOCKE: Norman Croucher.

RANDY: What? Norman what?

LOCKE: Norman Croucher. Norman Croucher, double amputee, no legs. He climbed to the top of Mt. Everest. Why? It was his destiny.

RANDY: That's what you think you've got, old man? Destiny?

LOCKE: JUST DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO.

End of Flashback, Back to the Island:

KATE: [off camera at first] He's hurt. John? Can you hear me? Locke?

[Locke is still lying there.]

KATE: John you okay?

[Shot from the foot angle again.]

KATE: Locke?

LOCKE: [moving] I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine, Helen, I just got the wind knocked out of me is all.

KATE: Helen?

LOCKE: What?

KATE: YOU CALLED ME HELEN.

LOCKE: Did I?

[Kate is tending to Michael, making a tourniquet.]

LOCKE: Which way did that boar go?

KATE: Michael's hurt. We have to get him back to camp.

LOCKE: Yeah, you take him back to camp. I'm going to get that boar.

[Kate looks shocked.]

KATE: What are you talking about?

LOCKE: I'm fine. I can do this.

KATE: John, you can't.

LOCKE: Don't tell me what I can't do.

Another Flashback, to travel agent in Sydney:

AGENT: The Walkabouts we arrange here are not just some stroll through the park. It's trekking across vast stretches of desert, rafting bloody treacherous waters.

LOCKE: Look, you've got no idea who you're talking to. I'm well aware of what's involved, believe me. I probably know more than you on the subject.

AGENT: In any case, it's a trying ordeal for someone in peak physical condition, let alone …

LOCKE: Look, I booked this tour a month ago, you've already got my money. Now, I demand a place on that bus.

AGENT: You misrepresented yourself …

LOCKE: I never lied.

AGENT: By omission, Mr. Locke. You neglected to tell us about your condition.

LOCKE: My condition is not an issue. I've lived with it for 4 years. It's never kept me from doing anything.

AGENT: Look, unfortunately it is an issue for our insurance company. I can't keep the bus waiting any longer. It isn't fair to the other people.

LOCKE: Hey, don't talk to me about fair.

AGENT: I can get you on a plane back to Sydney on our dime. That's the best I can do.

LOCKE: No. I don't want to go back to Sydney. Look I've been preparing for this for years. Just put me on the bus, right now, I can do this.

AGENT: No, you can't.

LOCKE: Hey, hey, don't you walk away from me. [The wheelchair reveal]. You don't know who you're dealing with. Don't ever tell me what I can't do, ever. This is destiny. This is destiny. This is my destiny. (yelling) I'm supposed to do this, dammit. DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO. DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T . . . .

His whole life was defined by what other people were telling him what he had to do. Like a volcano, there was inner anger building up inside of him. In the end, there was nothing he could do. He was merely a pawn, magnified to the fullest when Anthony Cooper, his father, conned him out of a kidney, and tossed him through a window to his paralyzed state, both mentally and physically. The shocking plot twist was that Locke was once in a wheelchair but now "cured" on the Island.The oddest part of this Locke-centric episode was his comment to Kate when he was awakening: he called her "Helen," his former girlfriend. With all the theories of time resets, that the time line could be rewritten, or destiny changed; is it possible that Locke was re-living a memory of a Walkabout with Helen?


Friday, January 22, 2010

DISTILLED SPIRITS

In order to get to the essence of the Numbers dogma, I decided to distill them down to see what I could get:

4- 8 -- 15-16 -- 23-42

4 ---- --- 1 ----- --- 19

3 ----- ------ 18


15

I distilled the Numbers down to the Number 15.

That was an interesting overlap. Then I asked myself, "who was the 15th character on LOST?" So, I googled the question to see if anyone had ever asked it. Well, a long time ago someone on the Fuselage boards apparently asked that question, in the scheme that it is believed the show is about 15 main characters. However, ABC lists only 14 major characters on its show website.

ABC had listed the 14 main characters as Jack, Kate, Boone, Charlie, Hurley, Shannon, Walt, Sayid, Michael, Sawyer, Locke, Jin, Sun and Claire.

Bringing those characters up to date: Jack (in 1977), Kate (1977), Boone (dead), Charlie (dead), Hurley (1977), Shannon (dead), Walt (off island, 2007), Sayid (1977), Michael (dead), Sawyer (1977), Locke (dead and reanimated in 2007), Jin (1977), Sun (2007) and Claire (alive? dead? with Christian in 2007?)

So who could be the 15th main character? Jacob? MIB? Too new to the story line. Ben? A fan favorite but not at the beginning of the show. No, the 15th main character has been seen from the beginning but not understood. The Island and/or its Spirits have been presented by the supernatural elements within the story structure.

Does the Number 15 have any other possible significance? According to many theorists, the Numbers represent the Valenzetti Equation which presupposes the doomsday of mankind. The Numbers represent certain tipping point events: 4 (nuclear fire), 8 (chemical warfare), 15 (biological warfare), 16 (conventional warfare), 23 (pandemic) and 42 (overpopulation). Many of those themes are imbedded in the story line: Jughead, chemical purge of Dharma, armed soldiers like Keamy, and maternity issues. In the real world, mankind has experienced those events on a global scale, except a biological world war (Number 15). It could be said that each Number represents a major event, and when all six events take place, it is like the end of a combination lock which opens the cascade of mankind's destruction.

Just like Faraday had his experimental lab in order to teach his lab rat the maze without learning by trial and error, the Island could be a place inhabited by spirits who are trying to help mankind stop destroying itself before it is too late when the Number 15 event occurs.

CRASH JACK

After rewatching a blended fan video of what happened during the 815 crash in S1E1, I noticed for the first time what Jack was wearing: a dark tie with light blue but large stars. Could this be the pilot Easter Egg? Stars represent the heavens. Christian, as ghost dad, calls Vincent to go find and wake up Jack in the jungle. Jack opens his eye as Vincent approaches him.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

THAI JACK

In "Stranger in Strange Land," wandering Jack is in Thailand with a mysterious woman named Achara. She gets involved with Jack, who is on an alcohol-drug binge. The woman almost has a shaman effect on Jack.

The tattoo that Achara designed on Jack's arm translates to "He walks among us, but is not one of us."

Who walks among us but is not one of us?
A foreigner? A spy? A conqueror? An agent for destruction?

If "us" refers to humans:

Ghosts? Spirits? Angels? Demons?

HOLMES OR WATSON?

TPTB have said that viewers have enough clues within the first five seasons to figure out the solution to LOST. There can only be two solutions to LOST.

First, a Sherlock Holmes style final staged unraveling and explanation of the show. All the characters will be gathered together by someone (ageless Alpert, perhaps), who will recount their lives, their lies, their back stabs, their plans, their dreams, their motives, their crimes, their issues and their redemptions. He would then relate those personal items into the mechanism we call the Island, the master plan, or the end game.

Second, a Dr. Watson as coroner moment, where all the characters are shown to have died well before the 815 flight. Throughout the show, there have been tiny, glossed over facts about the main characters lives which could be the sole reality in a complex afterlife test. If you believe that the characters are dead, it is possible that they were dead before the plane crashed on the island. (The plane crash as a metaphor for passing onto the next plane of existence.) For example:
Hurley could have died in the porch collapse;
Kate could have died in the house explosion she set;
Sayid could have died during the Gulf War;
Jack could have died in drug overdose or beating during his odd Thailand beach trip (which does not fit properly into career time line);
Locke could have died at birth;
Sawyer could have been killed by his father in a murder-suicide;
Charlie could have died the rocker drug OD;
Eko could have died during his drug wars;
Claire could have died in auto accident;
Ben could have died at birth in the woods;
Ana Lucia could have died after being shot as a police woman;
Rose could have died of cancer; and
Michael could have died as result of being hit by a car.

It appears more than coincidence that the LOST characters have had life-death moments well before the island is shown in their lives. The journey to the afterlife may take many forms of transport (think Defending Your Life). The journey through the afterlife may take many forms, many tests and many dangers (think Egyptian myth of good and bad underworld gods). Time and space may have no meaning in the realm of the dead; the flashbacks or flashforwards may be dreams or nightmares or tests to determine whether the present (the time for judgment) affects a character's soul. I could see the end result is the realization of the characters that the lives they thought they lived were merely illusions (the name of the boat in the marina).

VISITORS AND LANGUAGE

Are there clues in what types of people inhabited the island throughout its history?

The most ancient writings we have seen have been Egyptian hieroglyphs. How a Pacific Island is filled with temples and a statue to Tawaret is a location mystery. But there is the FDW connection to Tunisia, North Africa, near ancient Egypt when Charlotte found the Dharma polar bear skeleton and Ben/Locke found themselves teleported after turning the wheel. If the island is a gate or portal to the underworld, the Egyptian pyramids or lost temples could be the physical doorway under the sands of time.

When then have Greek in Jacob's statue tapestry. The Greeks were ancient invaders who took over much of the Middle East. The influence of language, science and military campaigns could have influenced the native population.

Next, we have the Others use of Latin to secretly communicate in the presence of outsiders. This could relate to the Roman Empire taking control of the Middle East. The Romans destroyed past civilization structures and replaced them with their own culture and language.

Next, we have English language. There is the clipper ship during the Jacob-MIB talk on the beach, which could be the Black Rock. This is how English language could have arrived to the island, or earlier with the British control of North Africa during the world war.

The island seems to have "absorbed" the same march of conquerors as we have seen in the struggles in the Middle East.

Is the coming "war" a metaphor for the current Israeli-Palestine conflict?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

LOST ENDING

How will Season 6 end?
Well, looking back on my notes, way back in Season 4, I quipped about how LOST could end:

Camera pans sky to show a large airplane breaking up over the island. As the debris falls, the camera pans back to Locke, viewing it from the Barracks. He shouts: "Jack! Sawyer! There may be survivors. I want you to go, now! Observe. Don't get involved. And I want lists back in three days."

THE RULES: WIDMORE

We have seen Widmore being banished from the Island by Ben. We believe Widmore's banishment was for leaving the island and having a child (Penny) with an off-islander.

When Ben leaves the Island after Alex's death, he confronts Widmore off-island. Ben claim that Widmore "broke the rules" by killing his daughter, Alex. Widmore does not reply, except to say that he "knows" what Ben is, and that Ben had stolen the island from him.

So there are two Rule violation allegations against Widmore, which he does not expressly deny:

1. Leaving the island and having a family with a non-islander is a no-no; subject to banishment from the island.
2. Killing an islander's child (Ben's Alex) is a no-no; Ben vows an eye-for-an-eye penalty.

We can guess that killing non-island natives is okay (Ben led the Purge of Dharma). We can also assume that killing one's own parent is okay (Ben with his father) or even revered (Locke "killing" Cooper to gain favor with the Others). But to kill another clan member is wrong.

THE RULES: FLAME

In Season 3, Sayid and Kate ascended to the upper level of the Flame with one of the Others, Beatrice Klugh, as a hostage. When they came outside the Flame station, Mikhail (Patchy), was holding Locke hostage. During this stand-off, Beatrice and Mikhail began shouting to each other in Russian.
(Lostpedia Translation from Russian)

--Beatrice: "We can't risk it, you know the rules."

--Mikhail: "There's still a way out."

--Beatrice: "We won't let them into the territory. You know what to do. It is an order."

--Beatrice: "(English) Just do it, Mikhail!"

(Mikhail takes aim at Beatrice)

--Mikhail: "(English) Forgive me"

(Mikhail then shoots Beatrice)

There are undefined Rules. Beatrice refers to "the territory" and "orders" not to allow people into a specific location. This is a possible reference to the Truce that time skipping Sawyer started with Horace and Alpert. The Hostiles did not want Dharma running around the Island, putting in new stations, having too many people running free. But it would appear that Dharma did not stop building stations outside their early territory as the Swan was being constructed in three years after Sawyer's truce. It still does not explain why Beatrice preferred death than capture or allowing a breach of the truce.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TO REBOOT

To re-boot or not to re-boot. That is the question.

If Juliet detonated the Jughead bomb (reality aside), then if the Rules of Continuity are the same, she would have the same result as Desmond when he turned the fail safe key in the Hatch. The time line did not reset, skip or move. Desmond had conscious mind travel, but his body stayed in 2004 on the Island.

If the bomb went off, speculation is that it would re-set the 1977 time skippers back in sync with the rest of the 815ers, circa Jacob's death. It would be a literary cue to get all the characters back on the same page to resolve their interpersonal conflicts, but it would not resolve the underlying Island supernatural properties. We still do not know what are the Island rules. You would think that they would apply equally to Desmond and to Juliet. If that is true, then Juliet would survive the explosion-implosion at the drill site, but transport her memories to her off-island self which in turn, would cause her not to go to the Island in 2001. Her new mission could be to stop the other prisoners (the 815ers) from not boarding the plane that crashes in 2004, and thus changing history.

Even that premise does not help to resolve the Big Questions. It almost serves to erase the past five seasons of story lines and personal conflicts in exchange for one final sprint to the finish line.

Monday, January 18, 2010

THE ISLAND

Why does the Island have no name?

WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENED

The great debate is whether Juliet's Jughead detonation will reset the time line or set an alternative time line. The whole concept of the 1977 bomb strains the WHH rule since the bomb and/or the Swan station would not exist in 2004 when Desmond turns the fail safe key.

Unless, the bomb explosion is the WHH defining moment. It always creates a reset in this world. As MIB fumed on the beach to Jacob that his human arrivals to the island always created problems: they come, they fight, they destroy. Destroy the island?

The bomb going off may be a metaphoric "calling someone's bluff" in poker. Boom, hand over. Then the cards (characters) are reshuffled for another hand to see who blows up the bomb and wins the hand.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

LOST SUPPER THIRD PHOTO

TPTB are really messing with our heads. There is now a third Lost Supper picture roaming the internet. It contains more changes. In comparison to the second Lost Supper picture:

1. Miles and Claire have re-switched positions.
2. Most of the beer cans are gone, except ones in front of Ilana and Miles.
3. Locke is the only person in the same pose.
4. Cola bottle has turned into wine, and the peanut butter jars are missing.
5. Alpert is pouring wine into Claire's coconut shell; Sayid is offering a shell to Kate; and Jin is pouring wine for Sun.
6. Kate is holding down her right arm with her left hand.
7. Hurley is the only person touching his face with his hand.
8. Hurley is looking up to the sky to his left; Miles eyes are following his.
9. Ben stares at Frank who is looking down the wing table.
10. Jack has placed his hands on his hips, looking down on Locke.
11. Sawyer has turned toward Kate, with more relaxed pose, toward Sayid's offer.
12. Ilana eyes stare down the table, possibly a stare down with Kate.
13. People to Locke's right: Sawyer, Kate, Sayid, Claire, Alpert and Ilana.
14. People to Locke's left: Jack, Jin, Sun, Miles, Ben, Hurley and Frank.

It is also interesting to note that in these Lost Supper pictures, the person most likely to look like Jesus, Desmond, is missing. He is not in any of them. Has his story line run its course, or does he have a bigger role by not being present at this gathering. Also missing from the gathering are Jacob, MIB, Rose, Bernard, Vincent, Christian and Cindy (with the Scarf).

I am also getting the vibe that Kate is like Cleopatra. She hangs around with men who she perceives having power. She is seated at the first seat next to Locke, who appeared to have
taken control of the Island at the end of S5.

Friday, January 15, 2010

GNAWING QUESTIONS PART 2

More unanswered gnawing questions like ticks drilling through one's eye lids:

1. After being released by the Others at the ferry landing, why did not Hurley tell his comrades that Michael had left the island with Walt by boat?

2. Why was Hurley let go by the Others?

3. Why do people on the island call Hurley "Hurley" when his name is Hugo?

4. If WHH, when did it first happen?

5. Are flashbacks really flashbacks of real events?

6. Why were the Numbers required to be used to reset the Hatch timer when one could use a simple reset key?

7. Why did Patchey seemingly "die" numerous times on the island but to return to reign havoc on the 815ers?

8. How could the Island "stop" Michael from committing suicide in NY?

9. Is there a connection between having special powers if you arrive on the island in a suit and tie?

10. Did Claire die when the Barrack house she was in exploded during the raid?

Thursday, January 14, 2010

BANYAN TREES

During the course of the show, Smokey has been seen chasing people through the jungle. One of the safe places which apparently stops or repels Smokey is the banyan tree. Why?

A banyan tree has aerial roots which attach to a host tree which grows a cage like structure around the host, eventually killing it. This leaves a hollow area inside the banyan. The Angi Purana believe that the banyan tree symbolizes fertility and women who want children worship those trees. In Indian cultures the tree is considered an "immortality tree." Ghosts and spirits are thought to live within those trees. In Thailand, people believe the trees are home to spirits and genii who have magical powers. In Hindu areas, the tree can provide fulfillment of wishes and material gains through enlightenment. In other Asian cultures, the banyan is thought to be a shelter given by god to his devotees; a sanctuary.

The use of the banyan tree as a shelter against an attack by Smokey gives us a clue into what Smokey may be: manifestation of an evil spirit. The trees contain good spirits which repel the advances of Smokey. Or, if Smokey goes inside the outer root cage, it could be magically trapped like a genii in a bottle.

Other evidence that Smokey is repelled by god like spirits could be rain. We do not see Smokey outside in the rain. The rain is often considered a blessing from god, especially in areas of drought.

ORIGINAL LOST

An article in the August, 2007 issue of Chicago Magazine had an interesting background on the ABC show we call LOST. When Tom Hanks' successful movie, Cast Away, ended its run, ABC executives thought it would be a good idea for a television drama. They contacted a production company who put a writer, Jeffrey Leiber, to work on a pilot script. The original script concept by Leiber was apparently to combine elements of Cast Away, Survivor and Lord of the Flies. The project was green lighted and he wrote the pilot for NOWHERE.

The premise was that a plane crashes on a remote Pacific Island. There are survivors who have to cope with this tragic situation, then later forge a new island society when rescue never arrives to save them. The focal point was to be a conflict between two half brothers, raised differently by their father: Truman, a rumpled Harry Potter looking 28 year old, and the other, Ross, a 30 year old successful businessman. The brothers would fight for control on who would lead this new island society.

After the pilot was written, ABC reversed course on the project. They decided to ask the hot, young director, JJ Abrams, to look it over. He thought the story line was unsustainable, but maybe it could go somewhere if you threw in supernatural elements. ABC then gave the project over to Abrams, who was too busy to handle it, so he dished it off to D&C to shoot the pilot episode on a re-write fly.

Leiber was axed out of the project, but an arbitration ruling gave him 60 percent creator credit for the pilot (the similarities of the characters, traits, descriptions), even though he stated that the show itself had changed dramatically from what he had in mind.

So the origins of LOST was a story of survivors cut off from society, and the struggles between two brothers for leadership of a new island society - - - with supernatural mysteries.

How does this foundation equate after five seasons? The recent introduction of Jacob and MIB as antagonists over the control of the island would fit into the foundational structure of the original pilot. Both would appear to have supernatural powers or be supernatural beings. The facet that is lost is the struggle to rebuild an island society since the constant idea of rescue or leaving the island was paramount to the survivors. However, in light of the Jacob-MIB conflict, it would be disappointing to find that the survivors were merely interchangeable pawns in that conflict.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

TIME TO REPRESENT











In the underground chamber where Ben was judged by Smokey, there was a wall carving depicting what appears to be Smokey and the Egyptian deity Anubis.

Anubis is the jackal god of the afterlife. He was the protector of the deceased and their souls on their long journey through the afterlife. In later dynasties, he was replaced by Osiris, the god-king of the underworld.

Set was depicted as a serpent who tricked Osiris so he could become the ruler of Egypt. He killed Osiris and cast his body throughout the Nile. Osiris' wife collected the body parts, reconstructed them, and had a son, Horace, who waged war against Set. Horace prevailed, and Osiris returned to become a ruler of the underworld.

It is possible that the graphic represents the mythic conflict between Egyptian gods Set and Osiris (Anubis) with MIB as Set and Jacob as Anubis.

JACOB AND THE MONSTER

In the pivot final scene of S5, Flocke (Fake Locke or Dead Locke) is recognized by Jacob as the MIB from the beach scene. Flocke acknowledges that he (MIB) had found the loophole to kill Jacob. The only motivation we know of is that MIB did not want Jacob to continually bring human (souls) to the Island. All they do, MIB insisted, was fight, kill and make a mess of things. This is the Conflict. The loophole the apparent solution to the Conflict.

Some comments on the relationship between Jacob and MIB. Both are apparently equals in some regard. They must have equal status or equal powers on or through the Island. The balance of power may be as simple as one controlling above ground and the other controlling above ground. They cannot directly kill each other, otherwise MIB would have killed Jacob on the beach. However, one can apparently get a human soul to do the evil deed under the right circumstances (the loophole).

Since we are fairly certain that MIB can manifest himself as Smokey, there is an open question on how Jacob can manifest himself.

It may get down to contact or touch.

We have seen Jacob "touch" the following characters: Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Locke, Ilana, Sayid and Hurley. All those contacts occurred off-island in public places.

We have seen MIB, as Smokey, have contact with the following characters: Seth the Pilot, Locke, Eko, Kate (scanned), Juliet (scanned), Nikki & Paulo (spiders), Ben (as shot boy taken to the underground chamber), and Alpert (? who took Ben into the underground chamber).

We can also suspect that since MIB is Flocke, that he can reincarnate the Dead who arrive on the Island: Christian and Locke. We have also seen MIB ghost in contact with Claire and Aaron (though Christian).

When we compare the Lists, we find that only one character was physically touched by both Jacob and MIB: Locke. And the tipping point in MIB's favor was bringing Dead Locke to the Island so MIB could reincarnate into Flocke, to lead follower Ben into a treasonous rage which results in Ben killing Jacob (the loophole) for MIB.

It may be a simple as a game of tag: with MIB "tagging" Locke twice to Jacob's once in so far as MIB creating and controlling Flocke in the end.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

THEY'RE COMING

"They're coming!"

This was part of the cliff hanger story line from S5. Ben has just stabbed Jacob in the base of the statue, and Jacob gives New Locke (MIB) the warning that THEY are coming. New Locke (MIB) seems alarmed by the warning. Many questions, but the most important:

Who are THEY? The term means two or more people. One could quickly imagine Widmore, but his soldiers of fortune already came to the Island are were defeated. In addition, Widmore hinted to Locke that there was a war on the horizon which would mean outsiders attempting to take control of the Island. Could it be character(s) we already know, like Mrs. Hawking and the Brother from Desmond's monastery? In a religious context, could it be angels? In a reversal, could it be underworld demons? With the increasing number of Egyptian symbols, could it be the return of the last time traveling Pharaoh? What would the natives or Others fear the most? A return of the military? The return of the Dharma? More random people falling out of planes?

Monday, January 11, 2010

CONCEPT OF TIME PART 2

In modern society, we view time as a linear concept and count it out in order of seconds, minutes, hours, days like, - - - 1, 2, 3, 4.

There is a phrase that states "History repeats itself." We believe that since people are creatures of habit, things do appear to have circular patterns but time itself moves on. But in ancient Mayan culture, they viewed time as literally repeating itself - - - 1, 2, 3, then 1 again. The Mayans believed that a person's life was destined by a predetermined fate. Some scholars now speculate that the Mayan Long Count calendar which ends in 2012 (because of several rare and unique cosmic astronomic events) was actually the beginning point and the Mayan calendars were created going backward from that that End point.

Now taking the concept into the froth of LOST's themes of time, free will and faith: If a person's life is merely a matter of fate, any free will decisions, if any, would not change the outcome. It is like a lab rat running a maze; there may be minor twists or turns and dead ends, but there is only one solution (outcome). If one back tracks in the maze (going back to a point seen earlier in time), WHH is still correct. But WHH does not change the overall structure of the total maze, since even by trial, error or luck the lab rat will finish the puzzle because the End was constructed before the Beginning.

PHOTOSHOP


The LOST community was in a tizzy over the President having the State of the Union speech on the evening of the S6 premiere. Well, fans really should not worry . . . or maybe they should!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

LOST SUPPER: SECOND PHOTO


There is a second Lost Supper photo (with the characters facing straight into the camera).

Upon further review, both photos show the building rubble in the background as a Dharma station (logo), with over grown jungle on top of it. Also, Ilana is sitting on a broken airline seat, with another on the opposite end of the table (wing).

The second Lost Supper photo has changes I noticed or observations:

1. John is the only one unchanged, still posed in Jesus position;
2. Kate is posed in the Peter position, but she is the only person with her hand on her face;
3. 7 are seated, 7 are standing, but Alpert, Sayid and Frank assume the same pose leaning on the wing;
4. characters who have changed places: Miles (Claire's old spot), Claire (Hurley), Hurley (Miles), Sun (Ben), Ben (Sun).
5. I found the new arrangement closer with the following people "covering" a person's back so to speak: Jack behind Locke, Sun behind Jin, Ben behind Claire, Sawyer behind Kate.
6. there is now a white cup in front of Ilana, Miles (not Claire) and Jin;
7. the people now to the left of Locke are Jack, Jin, Ben, Hurley, Sun, Claire and Frank;
8. the people now to the right of Locke are Sawyer, Kate, Sayid, Miles, Alpert and Ilana.
9. Also, the second photo's background is the same, but the lightning is slightly different (a reference to Faraday's initial comments about the light on the island?)

Friday, January 8, 2010

CONCEPT OF TIME

If there was ever a muddy mosh pit in the LOST mythology, the concept of Time would probably be a leading candidate. It is something strange happening on the Island, but not readily explained by anyone.

Linear Time Line. This is the modern, Western approach to the concept of Time. It is a straight line calendar. The second hand on the clock determines the present.

Circular Time. This is more an ancient philosophy that time is a cycle, so time continually repeats itself. The repeating seasons is an agricultural society's vision of Time.

Multiple Time. This is a view that Time is more than one dimensional concept. The ancient Mayan civilization had several methods of keeping time: a 260 day calendar which may have represented the harvest cycle or fertility; a 365-day solar calendar which mirrors our modern viewpoint of a year; and a cosmic calendar with aligns and predicts the position of heavenly bodies in the universe. The Mayans combined their different calendars like gears to create what is called a Long Count calendar, which was believed to have predicted cycles of change and eras in mankind for more than 5,000 years. (Note: the 2012 doomsday pundits state that the Mayans thousands of years ago correctly predicted the unique solar alignment of our Sun being positioned directly in the path of the dark rift (center) of the Milky Way which would occur on 12-21-2012. This event only occurs every 26,000 years. People believe that this a bad omen and significant change in the Earth and mankind.)

Yet, within the LOST mythology, there is growing evidence points that the passage of Time is completely different on the Island as compared to people situated off-Island.

Season 4, Daniel, a physicist, ordered Regina to fire a rocket from the freighter. A digital clock was planted inside the rocket as its payload. The payload arrived at Daniel's position 31 minutes after Regina said it reached the target. Daniel confirmed this by comparing the time on the clock inside the rocket with the time clock he had on the Island. After this episode, I calculated that the Island would be traveling approximately 93 miles per hour away from the anchored freighter at the time the rocket was launched toward it.

Also in Season 4, the helicopter appears to take two days to reach the freighter according to observers on the Island and freighter. However, when seen from the helicopter perspective off the Island, it only takes a matter of minutes to arrive.

Why is one stationary mass (Island) in the same relative location move differently than another mass (freighter or helicopter)?

Explanations of the inconsistencies led to more gray areas.

First, we were told that it was possible for conscious mind time travel. Daniel "taught" his lab rat the solution of the maze in the future, so Eloise could make the transverse during the first attempt in the present. Desmond had these mind flashes after he turned the fail safe key in the Hatch.

Second, in Season 5, people on the Island began physically skipping through time. According to Daniel Time is like a street. People can move forward on that street, they can move in reverse, but they can not ever create a new street. If they try to do anything different, they will fail every time. This began the concept of "whatever happened, happened" (WHH).

The problem with WHH is that at some point, the first time skip into the past will change the present by virtue of going back into the past. Example, when the 815ers were flashed back to 1974 Dharmaville, they could not have been there before (i.e. Kate was born in 1977). So the very presence of the 815ers in the past changes how the 1974 event time line would have unfolded without their presence.

How Time will be explained as a concept and in practice in the final story line may be one of those mysteries TPTB may sweep under the rug.

NEXUS-BUFFER THEORY

Nexus-Buffer Theory is premised on the speculation that Lost is a modern adaptation of Paradise Lost (with elements of Dante’s Inferno).

In Milton’s world view, the universe was represented just like the mobile above Aaron’s crib. The universe of planets, sun and stars was encapsulated by waters which fed the Earth and kept the raging forces of Chaos at bay. Outside the Universe sphere are the separate spheres of Heaven and Hell. In Dante’s work, after the rebellion in heaven, Satan and his devils were cast into Hell in the midst of Chaos. God then created a new universe which housed a new creature, Man, on Earth. Satan built a bridge to Earth through Chaos and brought evil to mankind, which lead to the banishment of man from Eden to the mortality of Earth.

In religion context, man has both a body and soul. Upon death on earth, one’s soul travels to another plane of existence. Some religions base that upon the sins of the past; others various stages of enlightenment and reincarnation; hell (punishment), purgatory (penance), limbo (pagan paradise) or heaven (resurrection, eternal paradise). In the afterlife, souls have new bodies (vessels). Various stages of the afterlife may be present in the ether of the after world, as the soul is cleansed of its mortal sins toward a path of enlightenment on final judgment. The mind would control afterlife matter.

What was left in Milton and Dante’s works was the revenge of Satan against God. There is an inference that Satan at some time would rise up to fight another battle for heaven. As Satan had found a path to invade his spiritual form to Earth, it would probably be much harder to breach the gates of heaven.

Thus, we get to the Island. The Island is a way station, a nexus point between the gates of heaven and the afterlife universe. The Hatch and the Numbers were the mechanism to maintain an electromagnetic barrier between the nexus bridge and the gates of heaven so Satan’s minions could not invade. When the numbers were not imputed to vent the EM, an alarm would sound, an internal barrier would drop and symbols would appear. I translated those Egyptian symbols to say “He escapes place of death.” Once the EM force field was down, breached or compromised, the nexus point (island) was exposed - - and other souls (devils) could arrive through either Chaos or through a gate to Earth to take control of this strategic place.

The basic assumption watching the show is that the characters are alive. They survived the plane crash. But in the jumbled time looping, flash back and flash forward story lines, is that really confirmed as true? It is possible to speculate that the passengers on 815 were already in their afterlives, having already died prior to Flight 815. In the flashbacks, there are clues that these characters died: examples -- Hurley: deck collapse; Kate: car accidents; Sayid: Iraq war casualty; Rose: terminal cancer; Rousseau: shipwreck; Desmond: lost at sea in small boat. They may not actually know they are "dead" per se, as their mind and soul is just beginning its long journey through the afterlife and judgment. (In ancient Egyptian culture, various parts of the body and soul transmute into the afterlife to be reconstructed after various stages of being in the afterlife.) How everyone got on the plane is like the comment from Defending Your Life, how one imagines their demise is how they are transported to the next level of existence.

Three characters have been called "special." If one looks at their situation with a more objective notion of time and place, one could conclude that they were either stillborn, or died shortly after birth. This would mean that they had no mortal sins. Ben (premature and born on roadside), Locke (mother hit by car, premature), and Alex (mother shipwrecked or died of the sickness). When Ben stated that he was born on the island, it may be a reference that he was actually arrived in the afterlife as a "rarity," a human soul without mortal sin. This would imply that he would have angelic powers. But those powers could be corrupted by other, fallen angels or Satan’s minions.

In ancient Egyptian culture (since LOST has increased its references to it as the seasons have come to pass), departed souls would reach a pagan paradise where they would toil in the fields of the gods, while others would go into the underworld to have their heart weighed in the final judgment on whether they would pass onto eternal paradise.

The Island could the the intersection of different, supernatural realms of good and evil. This could explain why our natural laws and physics seem not to apply to aspects of Island.

THE WARNING MESSAGE

As I have stated before, I translated Hatch's countdown timer warning message to mean HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH. The TPTB vaguely confirmed that the message was "the underworld." But if a show touts its crisp writing and layered mysteries, it should mean more than just a general description of a place.

The following tries to fit together a few of puzzle piece mysteries into a coherent theory. With the dusty memories of dissection of sentences in grammar and frogs in science, what does the warning really say?

HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH.

What are place(s) of Death? In the modern context of various religions, after life is either a singularity of heaven or hell, or a complex system of stages, forehells, limbo, steps, reincarnation and/or multiple lives. In the context of a warning, a place of Death should connote a bad place like Hell.

What does escape mean? The first definition of escape is to break free of confinement or control. Prisoners escape from their prison cells. So, is there a prison in Hell? In literature, Hell itself is a form of punishment for evil souls. Hell has seven Lodges, matching the seven Levels of Heaven. Medieval scholars worked out the different kinds sinners allocated to each Lodge, and each sub-section of each Lodge. Satan, naturally, is at the very bottom.

So is the warning about someone escaping the bonds of Hell, like Satan?

Although many parts of Hell are ablaze with fire, Satan himself dwells in a frozen lake of ice -- at least, according to the poet Dante. One of the strange, contradictory aspects of the LOST mythology that deep underground is the location of the Frozen Donkey Wheel. Instead of the normal Earth geophysics of the temperature getting hotter the farther one digs towards the Earth's molten core, the FDW is located in a freezing cold chamber of Ice. Is the aspect of a frozen chamber deep within the Earth's core a reference to Hell's frozen lake or to cold of deep space or both?

There have been biblical references to character names throughout the story line. One which perked up viewers was the mysterious Abaddon. From modern understanding, Abaddon was a person from Hell, and therefore assumed to have evil intentions, part of the Bad Team. The perception of modern Hell is that it is an asylum run by evil demons, cut off from bounty of paradise, because of their transgressions against God. However, in further researching the subject matter, I have found that older spiritual texts stated the following:

Holy angels may also be found in Hell, dealing out punishments, controlling operations and keeping Satan and his minions in check. One such angel is Abaddon, known as the Angel of the Abyss, who keeps the keys of Hell.

This interpretation puts an 180 degree spin on the character of Abaddon. He may have been from the underworld, but he could have been the Warden keeping evil at bay.

We can go off on a few tangents here with this relevation: if Abaddon kept the KEYS to Hell, then he would have controlled its locks. John Locke, for example. If people or their souls are the manifestation of "keys" used to control the underworld, we have seen Abaddon having a keen interest and guidance with Locke. And what if this "key" allows one to open the Island's so-called "Magic Box?"

The Warning Message HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH only occurred when the Numbers were not typed into the computer every 108 minutes. We have been told that the Numbers were used as a code to vent a build up of electromagnetic pressure. (Why this task had to have a human input rather than computer automatic control is a later discussion point.) If true, we get an analogy that the Hatch was like a cover on a pressure cooker. The collective evil spiritual force pressure continually attacks or presses against the control gate keeping demons at bay. If the pressure is not released in a controlled fashion, the gate would be breached and Satan (or his minions) would escape Hell. Desmond's fail safe key would have been the last resort to implode the Hatch to seal this gate permanently.

The HE is the message is not Smokey. Smokey was described by Rousseau as a "security system." Ben summoned it as an indiscriminate island protector against Widmore's armed men. Smokey had been running around the island before the Hatch warning. In the context of the Hatch security and warning message, Smokey could really be an entity solely designed to seek out escaped demons from Hell, devour or punish them. When Smokey scanned Juliet in the jungle, it could be that it was determining whether Juliet (or her soul) was good or evil. If good, Smokey left her alone. In the case of Eko, Smokey confronted him and Eko showed no remorse for his evil past and therefore was punished. (I once remarked after the Jughead episode that Smokey may be a kin to Godzilla, a radioactive being protecting the island in a good and evil sense.)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

THE NUMBERS: THE KEY AND THE BOX

References to LOST's mythical Numbers and the tie to a forgotten metaphor:

The Numbers were stamped on the Hatch door. The Hatch was created in the 1970s before the Purge (around 1979). When Hurley saw the numbers on the Hatch door, he tried to stop Locke from opening it because the Numbers were cursed.

Sam Toomey was a Pacific naval officer who heard the Numbers during his time at a listening post, some 16 years before Flight 815 crashed on the island (around 1988). His widow said that Sam used the Numbers, which brought him bad luck. Eventually, Sam committed suicide.

Around the same time, Rousseau and her crew her the Numbers on a radio transmission. When they were shipwrecked on the island, they traced the transmission to a radio tower near the Black Rock. Soon, Rousseau said her crew got "sick" and died. She went to the tower to change the message from the Numbers to her distress call. She also believed that the Numbers caused bad luck and her pain.

Leonard, a patient at the Santa Rosa Mental Hospital, heard the Numbers from Sam. Hurley met Leonard at the SRMH. Leonard would constantly repeat the Numbers over and over and over again. When Hurley goes to the hospital to tell Leonard that he used the Numbers to win the lottery in 2004, Leonard becomes hysterical, screaming Hurley had "opened the box" and he must get away from those Numbers or it "won't stop."

So, Leonard basically told Hurley that the Numbers were a KEY that unlocked a BOX that would cause a string of BAD events.

The only other major reference to a BOX was when the term was used by Ben to explain one of the secrets of the island to Locke in "The Man from Tallahassee:"

Benjamin Linus: Let me put it so you'll understand. Picture a box. You know something about boxes, don't you John? What if I told you that, somewhere on this island, there is a very large box and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted to be in it when you opened that box, there it would be? What would you say about that, John?

The man Ben claimed to have delivered from the Magic Box was Anthony Cooper, Locke's father. Cooper said that he was driving along, was hit in a car accident, and then suddenly found himself bound and gagged in the room. Cooper believed he had died, and that they were all dead.

When Locke pressed Ben for more about the Magic Box in "The Brig," Ben snapped back that "the Box is a metaphor, John." Despite this, Ben continued to maintain that by some agency things that people on the island wanted or needed would show up.

Tracing back the Numbers as referenced in the show, the Numbers appear earlier than Rousseau or Hurley's knowledge of them. In the Hatch, the Numbers were used as code to ward off a disastrous event. In ancient cultures, numbers, chants, and spells were keys used to ward off evil spirits.

TRANSLATIONS

One of the focal points of the story was the Hatch, the mysterious underground station that contained the Countdown Timer. The Numbers had to be put into a computer every 108 minutes. When the Numbers were not put into the computer in time, a warning issued and the clock numbers turned into Egyptian symbols. Which raised an obvious question: why would a timer clock suddenly turn into ancient Egyptian symbols?

Through some amateur Egyptology sleuthing, I translated the symbols to mean:

HE ESCAPES PLACE OF DEATH.

Another story line focal point has been the Frozen Donkey Wheel. Hidden deep below ground, allegedly near a pocket of special energy, in a cold chamber was a wooden gear wheel surrounded by more Egyptian glyphs. I translated those symbols to mean:

OPEN SIDE (EARTH) GATES TO ETERNITIES.

THE NUMBERS: PERIODIC TABLE


We have been obsessed with the Numbers. They have been center stage since the beginning of LOST. It has been symbolic as a curse in Hurley's mind. The following is my self professed Tangent of the Show nominee:

When watching the episode where Jack is the school janitor and he is cleaning the school room , I observed there was something odd to the right of the blackboard. On further investigation, it was a chart of the Periodic Elements. However, there was one of the elements blocked in red on the chart, like an island. So, I squinted and counted the rows and columns over to find it was the 4th row, 8th element in . . . oh, those pesky Numbers. So the highlighted element could not be a shear coincidence, right?

Well, it turns out that it is element 26, Fe (Iron), the most common ferromagnetic material. It is also an early reference to Mars, the red planet. And what is the symbol for Mars? It is the MALE FERTILITY symbol.

So I decided to run The Numbers through the Periodic Chart:

4: Be (Beryllium) is a rare element caused from the Big Bang (CREATION). It is used as a hardening element in alloys, and radiation filter (but it is highly toxic).

8: O (Oxygen) means SHARP. It is used to smelt iron ore to purify it. It is a basic foundation for organic LIFE in photosynthesis and respiration.

15: P (Phosphorus) means LIGHT BEARER. It is never found as a free element in nature, but it is an essential element for living cells.

16: S (Sulfur) is a pure element in nature and essential to life. It is associated with BRIMSTONE and HELL.

23: V (Vanadium) is named for the norse goddess of beauty and FEMALE FERTILITY.
It is a natural element which is part of steel smelter slag in the production of alloys. It is also a catalyst to produce sulfuric acid. And some life forms use it as the center for enzyme production.

42: Mo (Molybdenum) is from the Greek word LEAD. It has a high melting point and is used in high strength steel alloys. It is not a free element found in nature but is found in oxidized minerals. There is a theory that Mo in minerals in early oceans allowed free oxygen to be used by early life forms as a catalyst which allowed more complex organisms to evolve (EVOLUTION). There are more than 20 Mo-based enzymes in animals and higher organisms.


So, I speculated whether The Numbers could be the following formula to explain the show?

MALE FERTILITY + CREATION + LIFE + LIGHT BEARER + HELL + FEMALE FERTILITY + EVOLUTION = LOST.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

LOST SUPPER OBSERVATIONS

I posted the following on a LOST community site of my observations on the Lost Supper graphic that has been buzzing around the Net:

1. the table is a plane wing;
2. 2 human skulls are beneath them;
3. John is posed in Jesus position;
4. Kate is posed in the Peter position;
5. 7 are seated, 7 are standing;
6. the debris behind them is a modern building (re-bar seen) and not the Hatch because it imploded;
7. the table contains Dharma beer, cola, and two jars of peanut butter;
8. there is a white cup in front of Ilana, Clare and Jin;
9. there is a beer in front of Ilana, Clare, Sayid, Kate, Hurley, Miles and John;
10. the people without drinks are Sawyer, Jack, Ben, Sun and Frank;
11. the people to the left of Locke are Jack, Jin, Ben, Hurley, Sun, Miles and Frank;
12. the people to the right of Locke are Sawyer, Kate, Sayid, Claire, Alpert and Ilana.

Is this graphic supposed to symbolize which team(s) the characters will be on?