In ancient Egyptian mythology, when a person dies his or her body needed to be preserved so it could be reunited with the person's soul in the afterlife.
This ritual mummification has mysterious origins that archaeologists and scientists do not quite understand how a culture created such a complex death ritual.
In simple terms, when a person passes away their body "is at rest," but its spirit or soul, embarks on a journey through the underworld. There are many tests, dangers and judgments in this passage toward eternal paradise.
The disunion of the body and soul is the key element. Once the soul completes its journey, its body is resurrected in the after life to be joined back together again. This reconstruction apparently would incorporate all the deceased memories, personality, position and power had as a human being.
This ritual does have a parallel in the LOST universe.
It is hard to grapple with the fact that the characters were in the sideways world, but could not remember their past, especially their island time. If you look at the memory cycle of the main characters it was:
PRE-FLIGHT 815 . . . . . ISLAND CRASH . . . . . . . SIDEWAYS WORLD AWAKENING
There are a few ways to comprehend this disconnect.
First, the characters were killed in the plane crash, but their "souls" continued to live on to journey through the underworld (the island) on their way to be reunited with their bodies in the sideways world (the awakening). It would then seem that the body and brain would contain the hardware in which to access the memories of the departed, especially those "unknown" or new ones of the soul's passage through the underworld.
Second, the characters were killed in the plane crash, but their "bodies" continued to live on in reincarnated form at a base level while their souls left this plane of existence to create the sideways world purgatory (limbo - - - waiting for their bodies to return). The ancient Egyptians respect for the dead body could be the answer here, since the body is the vessel for the soul. The "new" body could have the physical attributes to move in the plane of another dimension to be re-fused with the old body in the after life.
Third, the characters barely survived the crash but part of their spiritual being prematurely fled to the afterlife (and then had to create a second world, the sideways narrative, in order to provide a beacon for its full soul to find it.) The characters continue to live out their lives, both on and off the island, only coming to re-connect with their departed soul fragment after their death. But this does explain the delay in the reunification of the soul and body with the deep memories of the island time. The island experience is what brought the characters together.
One theory was that Eloise was suppressing the final unification of the body and spirits of the island friends so she could keep her son, Daniel, from awakening and realizing that she had killed him while he time traveled on the island. Only a strong emotional hit or jolt awakened the characters in the sideways world.
These elements do fit in the heavy Egyptian themes on the island but do not fully fit together in the sideways context.
Showing posts with label underworld. Show all posts
Showing posts with label underworld. Show all posts
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
SOUL REVERSAL
I was watching an old anime recently in which a young girl was forced into an arranged marriage that she did not want. As a result, she collapsed because of the internalized emotional trauma to the extent that her soul left her body.
In many mystic cultures, a person's soul is considered an independent entity that resides within a human being. Human bodies are the bio-chemical machine shells in which a soul lives.
The concept of a soul living a human body because of a highly emotional situation can be used as a theory on the LOST story line.
Specifically, the sideways world arc is the place of dead which we assume are the souls of the departed.
In the sideways story, Flight 815 arrives safely in LA. We know that this is an elaborate and complex collective illusion based upon the facts stated in the ending. So, the sideways story must begin when Flight 815 crashes on the island. It means that the characters souls left their bodies as part of the emotional trauma of the plane crash.
But in a fantasy genre, that does not mean that the characters who crashed on the island were dead. Their souls had left their bodies, but their bodies continued to live, perhaps on the raw emotions that caused their souls to leave.
A "soul" is defined as the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. It is a person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. It is also described as theemotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic expression.
This soul escape to the sideways realm can explain why many of the island characters lacked a moral sensibility. The characters relied on basic instincts and self-reliance in order to survive. It can also explain why many people never "died" on the island because their souls were still alive and not in their bodies to sever the mortal links on Earth. There continued to be a sideways connection to keep the bodies alive . . . the "constant" that Faraday did not quite understand. It was when the souls made a full "reconnection" with their human bodies and actually died did the memories of the disembodied soul remembered the island events ("awaken').
In many mystic cultures, a person's soul is considered an independent entity that resides within a human being. Human bodies are the bio-chemical machine shells in which a soul lives.
The concept of a soul living a human body because of a highly emotional situation can be used as a theory on the LOST story line.
Specifically, the sideways world arc is the place of dead which we assume are the souls of the departed.
In the sideways story, Flight 815 arrives safely in LA. We know that this is an elaborate and complex collective illusion based upon the facts stated in the ending. So, the sideways story must begin when Flight 815 crashes on the island. It means that the characters souls left their bodies as part of the emotional trauma of the plane crash.
But in a fantasy genre, that does not mean that the characters who crashed on the island were dead. Their souls had left their bodies, but their bodies continued to live, perhaps on the raw emotions that caused their souls to leave.
A "soul" is defined as the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. It is a person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. It is also described as theemotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic expression.
This soul escape to the sideways realm can explain why many of the island characters lacked a moral sensibility. The characters relied on basic instincts and self-reliance in order to survive. It can also explain why many people never "died" on the island because their souls were still alive and not in their bodies to sever the mortal links on Earth. There continued to be a sideways connection to keep the bodies alive . . . the "constant" that Faraday did not quite understand. It was when the souls made a full "reconnection" with their human bodies and actually died did the memories of the disembodied soul remembered the island events ("awaken').
Thursday, September 18, 2014
NEW QUESTION
There is a new gnawing question that just popped into my head. It is like "Who is Buried in Grant's Tomb?"
Who is buried in the Temple?
It is a major question because under Egyptian death rituals, the Pharaohs built temples as part of a complex burial mythology. The island temple was filled with hieroglyphs, many with passages from the Book of the Dead, an ancient text on how a soul can manage the journey through the underworld to paradise.
Since the temple was built on the island with Egyptian mythology and construction, one must assume that an Egyptian demi-god had it built in his honor. In the tradition of the culture, the temple would have been built in the king's life time, and his priests would manage the ceremonies when the king died so that he would be guaranteed passage to the stars. The priests would break a part the body, organs into separate vessels, to be reunited in the after life. There would be offerings of gold, food, beer, servants and weapons that the king could use during his journey through the underworld as they believed that the soul took a human form in its path through the after life.
After death, the priests and their followers would be charged with maintaining the temple and praying for the soul of their departed leader. But over a long period of time, one could imagine that their ranks would thin and their time on the island would die out.
Egyptian culture was the first civilization. It predates the empires of Greece and Rome. As such, parts of it remain in today's current societal foundations. As such, since it goes back thousands of years, the temple on the island could be that of a "lost" Pharaoh. Some scholars believe that the ancient Egyptians did possess the engineering knowledge to create ocean faring boats to explore the seas. As such, a conquering king could have made it to the Pacific with a large crew of soldiers and servants. Once shipwrecked, he would have ordered a temple be built in order to fulfill his destiny.
In a series that loved its complex back stories (like Alpert's), this could have been a good one - - - and set a solid foundation for the LOST mythology. Given the detail in the temple sets, one would think that some one gave it a great deal of thought - - - a great deal of importance that was somehow itself lost in the story line as it went forward.
So who was buried in the temple? We will never know.
But what happened to the king? We can assume that his passage to the stars may have been interrupted, intercepted or thwarted by the mere fact that his temple was not in Egypt, and aligned to magical stars of Orion. If his temple was not properly "aligned with the stars," his soul (ba and ka) could never reunite in paradise, so in essence, his spirit would be trapped on the island.
A spirit trapped on the island seems to fit the profile of the smoke monster. It wanted to leave the island to go "home," which could mean Egypt or even the after life paradise promised in the ancient texts. After thousands of years, the spirit would become angry, frustrated and desperate. The spirit would know how things should happen, and who should help him in this time (his priests and servants). But once they were gone, it had to wait for humans to shipwreck on the island in order to fashion a way out of its island limbo.
The spirit could have convinced many men or women that it was a god. It may have promised immortality and special favors such as power or wealth. Whether Crazy Mother was the final Egyptian follower of the Pharaoh or whether Alpert eyeshadow took on the markings of an ancient Egyptian priest, they seem resigned to their own fate to serve the island (spirit) in its quest to find a loophole in trap. Desperate, the spirit recruits more and more priests to his service, such as Jacob to find humans with the ability to cross time and space (realms) or Dogen to revitalize the reincarnation rituals inside the temple pool. Everything done on the island by modern man had the tangential goal of helping bridge the present with the after life.
The hieroglyphs in the frozen donkey wheel chamber indicated the words "travel" or "open Earth" gates. This is a possible portal to the after life which needed a human being (and its life force) to operate. The smoke monster became frustrated with the humans who came to the island, as they turned corrupt and failed in their mission to worship him or help him escape Earth. The guardian of the island must be considered the High Priest of the Temple, who has the special knowledge of the ages, i.e. the after life. If one can control the power of life and death, that person could control the universe. And that is probably the true corruption that frustrated the spirit the most.
The real LOST story may be the island plight of the unknown, trapped Pharaoh spirit. For the most important and revealing quote in the show was from MIB to Jacob:
“They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.”
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Who is buried in the Temple?
It is a major question because under Egyptian death rituals, the Pharaohs built temples as part of a complex burial mythology. The island temple was filled with hieroglyphs, many with passages from the Book of the Dead, an ancient text on how a soul can manage the journey through the underworld to paradise.
Since the temple was built on the island with Egyptian mythology and construction, one must assume that an Egyptian demi-god had it built in his honor. In the tradition of the culture, the temple would have been built in the king's life time, and his priests would manage the ceremonies when the king died so that he would be guaranteed passage to the stars. The priests would break a part the body, organs into separate vessels, to be reunited in the after life. There would be offerings of gold, food, beer, servants and weapons that the king could use during his journey through the underworld as they believed that the soul took a human form in its path through the after life.
After death, the priests and their followers would be charged with maintaining the temple and praying for the soul of their departed leader. But over a long period of time, one could imagine that their ranks would thin and their time on the island would die out.
Egyptian culture was the first civilization. It predates the empires of Greece and Rome. As such, parts of it remain in today's current societal foundations. As such, since it goes back thousands of years, the temple on the island could be that of a "lost" Pharaoh. Some scholars believe that the ancient Egyptians did possess the engineering knowledge to create ocean faring boats to explore the seas. As such, a conquering king could have made it to the Pacific with a large crew of soldiers and servants. Once shipwrecked, he would have ordered a temple be built in order to fulfill his destiny.
In a series that loved its complex back stories (like Alpert's), this could have been a good one - - - and set a solid foundation for the LOST mythology. Given the detail in the temple sets, one would think that some one gave it a great deal of thought - - - a great deal of importance that was somehow itself lost in the story line as it went forward.
So who was buried in the temple? We will never know.
But what happened to the king? We can assume that his passage to the stars may have been interrupted, intercepted or thwarted by the mere fact that his temple was not in Egypt, and aligned to magical stars of Orion. If his temple was not properly "aligned with the stars," his soul (ba and ka) could never reunite in paradise, so in essence, his spirit would be trapped on the island.
A spirit trapped on the island seems to fit the profile of the smoke monster. It wanted to leave the island to go "home," which could mean Egypt or even the after life paradise promised in the ancient texts. After thousands of years, the spirit would become angry, frustrated and desperate. The spirit would know how things should happen, and who should help him in this time (his priests and servants). But once they were gone, it had to wait for humans to shipwreck on the island in order to fashion a way out of its island limbo.
The spirit could have convinced many men or women that it was a god. It may have promised immortality and special favors such as power or wealth. Whether Crazy Mother was the final Egyptian follower of the Pharaoh or whether Alpert eyeshadow took on the markings of an ancient Egyptian priest, they seem resigned to their own fate to serve the island (spirit) in its quest to find a loophole in trap. Desperate, the spirit recruits more and more priests to his service, such as Jacob to find humans with the ability to cross time and space (realms) or Dogen to revitalize the reincarnation rituals inside the temple pool. Everything done on the island by modern man had the tangential goal of helping bridge the present with the after life.
The hieroglyphs in the frozen donkey wheel chamber indicated the words "travel" or "open Earth" gates. This is a possible portal to the after life which needed a human being (and its life force) to operate. The smoke monster became frustrated with the humans who came to the island, as they turned corrupt and failed in their mission to worship him or help him escape Earth. The guardian of the island must be considered the High Priest of the Temple, who has the special knowledge of the ages, i.e. the after life. If one can control the power of life and death, that person could control the universe. And that is probably the true corruption that frustrated the spirit the most.
The real LOST story may be the island plight of the unknown, trapped Pharaoh spirit. For the most important and revealing quote in the show was from MIB to Jacob:
“They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.”
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
LEVELS OF DEATH
There is still a nagging question about the sideways purgatory stinger. First, it came out of left field and led many viewers to question the first season plane crash as being unsurvivable. Second, it clearly stated that all the characters were in fact dead, but some died long before and others long after Jack did. But Jack realized his death in the church before we saw him actually "die" on the island. Third, the story telling vehicle of flashbacks, flash forwards and leaps in time create an uncertainty of WHEN the characters "died."
If death is the ending, when did the characters actually die?
It is not as simple answer. For those who steadfastly believe that the characters survived the plane crash, then bear in mind in the scheme of LOST universe, the characters were "alive" in their own perception and interaction with people and objects in the sideways world. It was "real" to them, even though they did not realize it was not the Earth existence we know as life.
As such, there is no prohibition that this perception of a sideways "real" life could extend to the island world, or even to each character's flashback or background events. In other words, LOST may have been a show about death from the very beginning.
I speculated long ago that deep within the background stories of the main characters, there were chilling life and death moments which we were led to believe each character survived. But what if they did not?
No one knows what happens after death. Many cultures believe a human soul must travel through inter-dimensional portals to find paradise. Some religions believe a soul is judged in hell or the various levels of the underworld before it is cleansed or purged of its sins to be worthy for heaven.
The LOST universe could be a construction of various levels or stages of the after life. If during childhood, the main characters were killed by the accidents or traumatic events in their lives, then those child souls could have been given an opportunity to perceive or "live" a new life in a sideways world like existence. Those could be contained in the recent or adult flashbacks; illusions and dreams of children coming to "life." Once those souls ran their course in their first after life level, they were rounded up and boarded Flight 815 for the next level of spiritual attainment, the island. With themes like sacrifice, trust, redemption and judgment, the island is the ideal place for a religious component or a place where lost souls could get rid of regrets or selfish desires in order to move on to the next level of spiritual existence.
It is probably hard to imagine that the characters who boarded Flight 815 in Sydney were already dead. But it does make sense in reference to the season finale in the church. The characters died at different times in different places and they could not move on without finding each other. The whole series then did not have to follow Earth bound concepts of linear time, physics, time or any form of relativity because it was not of this planet.
Now, the show's creators and writers would dismiss this theory as nonsense because they continue to be adamant that the characters did not die in the plane crash. Again, it may be parsing words, but if they were already "dead" before the plane crash, then it would be true that they would not die in the conventional sense in the plane crash on the island.
For example, Locke's "miracle birth" aftermath was actually the beginning of his soul's first life in the after life. It would have been highly improbable that a premature baby injured in a car collision in rural America in the 1950s would have survived the trauma with limited medical technology. This theory is bolstered by the fact that an immortal, Richard Alpert, visited him in the hospital.
Jacob was then not recruiting human beings but lost souls who were given a second chance to live a normal (abet fantasy) life.
It would also explain why Michael, after he left the island, could not kill himself. Mr. Friendly told him that the island was not through with him; he had work to do. A supernatural place was affecting Michael's suicide attempts; therefore, off-island was also a realm of supernatural actions. They could be classified as one in the same. If the island was a place of death then so to would be the off-island.
And then there is the Aaron problem. How could he be "born" twice? He was "born" just as the series ended in the sideways purgatory where everyone present was already dead (but just not aware of it). Aaron was so born earlier on the island. How could that be when the island did not or could not allow births of babies (if the island is hell or the after life that makes sense: who can bring new human life in the after life that is made up solely of souls). So this gets the trace back to Claire and her auto accident which severely injured and ultimately killed her mother. It could have also killed herself and her baby, leading the moments after the accident her first stage in the after life. Since Aaron was never born, he was always a spirit in the show who would manifest himself when Claire needed him.
This levels of death theory tries to unify the various aspects of a disjointed story line under one single premise: death.
If death is the ending, when did the characters actually die?
It is not as simple answer. For those who steadfastly believe that the characters survived the plane crash, then bear in mind in the scheme of LOST universe, the characters were "alive" in their own perception and interaction with people and objects in the sideways world. It was "real" to them, even though they did not realize it was not the Earth existence we know as life.
As such, there is no prohibition that this perception of a sideways "real" life could extend to the island world, or even to each character's flashback or background events. In other words, LOST may have been a show about death from the very beginning.
No one knows what happens after death. Many cultures believe a human soul must travel through inter-dimensional portals to find paradise. Some religions believe a soul is judged in hell or the various levels of the underworld before it is cleansed or purged of its sins to be worthy for heaven.
The LOST universe could be a construction of various levels or stages of the after life. If during childhood, the main characters were killed by the accidents or traumatic events in their lives, then those child souls could have been given an opportunity to perceive or "live" a new life in a sideways world like existence. Those could be contained in the recent or adult flashbacks; illusions and dreams of children coming to "life." Once those souls ran their course in their first after life level, they were rounded up and boarded Flight 815 for the next level of spiritual attainment, the island. With themes like sacrifice, trust, redemption and judgment, the island is the ideal place for a religious component or a place where lost souls could get rid of regrets or selfish desires in order to move on to the next level of spiritual existence.
It is probably hard to imagine that the characters who boarded Flight 815 in Sydney were already dead. But it does make sense in reference to the season finale in the church. The characters died at different times in different places and they could not move on without finding each other. The whole series then did not have to follow Earth bound concepts of linear time, physics, time or any form of relativity because it was not of this planet.
Now, the show's creators and writers would dismiss this theory as nonsense because they continue to be adamant that the characters did not die in the plane crash. Again, it may be parsing words, but if they were already "dead" before the plane crash, then it would be true that they would not die in the conventional sense in the plane crash on the island.
For example, Locke's "miracle birth" aftermath was actually the beginning of his soul's first life in the after life. It would have been highly improbable that a premature baby injured in a car collision in rural America in the 1950s would have survived the trauma with limited medical technology. This theory is bolstered by the fact that an immortal, Richard Alpert, visited him in the hospital.
Jacob was then not recruiting human beings but lost souls who were given a second chance to live a normal (abet fantasy) life.
It would also explain why Michael, after he left the island, could not kill himself. Mr. Friendly told him that the island was not through with him; he had work to do. A supernatural place was affecting Michael's suicide attempts; therefore, off-island was also a realm of supernatural actions. They could be classified as one in the same. If the island was a place of death then so to would be the off-island.
And then there is the Aaron problem. How could he be "born" twice? He was "born" just as the series ended in the sideways purgatory where everyone present was already dead (but just not aware of it). Aaron was so born earlier on the island. How could that be when the island did not or could not allow births of babies (if the island is hell or the after life that makes sense: who can bring new human life in the after life that is made up solely of souls). So this gets the trace back to Claire and her auto accident which severely injured and ultimately killed her mother. It could have also killed herself and her baby, leading the moments after the accident her first stage in the after life. Since Aaron was never born, he was always a spirit in the show who would manifest himself when Claire needed him.
This levels of death theory tries to unify the various aspects of a disjointed story line under one single premise: death.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
THE TOLL
A new clue opens this discussion of the big premise.
"We Sin Toll."
It is an anagram. TPTB loved to put anagram Easter eggs throughout the series.
We can all agree that Flight 815 was the biggest piece of the puzzle. It was of critical importance because those 324 people on board were either destined, kidnapped, trapped or caught by the island.
There were great pushes and pulls to get the main characters on that flight. Sun was supposed to leave Jin at the airport to flee her marriage, but relented at the end. Hurley rushed through the terminal and barely got on board. Sayid was not supposed to be on the flight at all, but he made a last minute change to stay a day to bury a friend that he had betrayed. It was more than just coincidence that the passenger manifest turned into cherry picking candidates for Jacob's lighthouse.
Jacob said that he had spied his candidates from the island. He knew about them. He had gone to see them. He touched them. He found each of them to have a common trait: a miserable life like his own. That is why he brought them to the island.
The question is whether Jacob manipulated each candidate or gave them the free will option to follow him. It would seem that Jacob had power over them and supernatural powers to get them to the island.
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries the souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay for passage was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person. Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years (which may explain the island "whispers," trapped spirits who cannot move on.)
It is possible that Jacob was Charon, the ferryman who directed souls toward their after life journey.
Which brings us back to the new anagram.
There was always a question on where Jack was seated on the plane. There was confusion of whether it was Seat 23 A, 23 B or just before the crash, 23 C. In the plane scenes, there was no one seated next to Jack. However, during the eulogy at the memorial service for the dead passengers (Claire using the passenger manifest), Harold Wollstein was named as the person who was seated in 23 C.
We never saw Wollstein, in person or his body in the wreckage. However, the anagram for "Wollstein" is "We Sin Toll."
Was he, or better yet, Seat 23 C, the trigger for the ferry ride to the after life? In a plane load of sinners, was Jack marked to be the "toll" for everyone who "survived" the crash to begin their journey through the levels of the underworld to arrive in their sideways after life? In order for anyone associated with Jack to have a chance for a happy ending in heaven, Jack had to sacrifice himself on their behalf. Is that why Jack was last to awaken? Is that why Jack had no other life after MIB's defeat (like we presume Sawyer, Claire, Kate, Miles and Frank did after they left the island)?
If you believe in the big premise that the passengers died in the plane crash, but "lived" on in the underworld called the island, then Jack's "destiny" to become the island guardian and to save his friends souls would all be tied back to Jack being on Flight 815, and in the seat of from which "the devil" (as Jacob was called by MIB) extracted his toll.
"We Sin Toll."
It is an anagram. TPTB loved to put anagram Easter eggs throughout the series.
We can all agree that Flight 815 was the biggest piece of the puzzle. It was of critical importance because those 324 people on board were either destined, kidnapped, trapped or caught by the island.
There were great pushes and pulls to get the main characters on that flight. Sun was supposed to leave Jin at the airport to flee her marriage, but relented at the end. Hurley rushed through the terminal and barely got on board. Sayid was not supposed to be on the flight at all, but he made a last minute change to stay a day to bury a friend that he had betrayed. It was more than just coincidence that the passenger manifest turned into cherry picking candidates for Jacob's lighthouse.
Jacob said that he had spied his candidates from the island. He knew about them. He had gone to see them. He touched them. He found each of them to have a common trait: a miserable life like his own. That is why he brought them to the island.
The question is whether Jacob manipulated each candidate or gave them the free will option to follow him. It would seem that Jacob had power over them and supernatural powers to get them to the island.
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries the souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay for passage was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person. Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years (which may explain the island "whispers," trapped spirits who cannot move on.)
It is possible that Jacob was Charon, the ferryman who directed souls toward their after life journey.
Which brings us back to the new anagram.
There was always a question on where Jack was seated on the plane. There was confusion of whether it was Seat 23 A, 23 B or just before the crash, 23 C. In the plane scenes, there was no one seated next to Jack. However, during the eulogy at the memorial service for the dead passengers (Claire using the passenger manifest), Harold Wollstein was named as the person who was seated in 23 C.
We never saw Wollstein, in person or his body in the wreckage. However, the anagram for "Wollstein" is "We Sin Toll."
Was he, or better yet, Seat 23 C, the trigger for the ferry ride to the after life? In a plane load of sinners, was Jack marked to be the "toll" for everyone who "survived" the crash to begin their journey through the levels of the underworld to arrive in their sideways after life? In order for anyone associated with Jack to have a chance for a happy ending in heaven, Jack had to sacrifice himself on their behalf. Is that why Jack was last to awaken? Is that why Jack had no other life after MIB's defeat (like we presume Sawyer, Claire, Kate, Miles and Frank did after they left the island)?
If you believe in the big premise that the passengers died in the plane crash, but "lived" on in the underworld called the island, then Jack's "destiny" to become the island guardian and to save his friends souls would all be tied back to Jack being on Flight 815, and in the seat of from which "the devil" (as Jacob was called by MIB) extracted his toll.
Monday, November 11, 2013
THOTH
If the island had name, it would have been Thoth.
Thoth was an ancient Egyptian god-like being who was said to have represented knowledge, science, magic and guidance of souls through the passage in the underworld.
He was often depicted as a half-man, half Ibis. He often helped Ra, the Sun God, through his nightly passage through the underworld. The image of a winged god of knowledge is also found in other cultures, including ancient religions of Hindu, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Thoth's roles in Egyptian mythology were both numerous and varied. First, Thoth served as a mediating power, especially between the forces of good and evil, making sure neither had a decisive victory over the other. This aspect was particularly relevant in his arbitration of the conflict between Set and Horus. Likewise, Thoth's mediation role was also evident in his netherworldly alter ego A'an, the god of equilibrium, who monitored the posthumous judgment of deceased mortals and recorded the results in a celestial ledger.
Thoth was also understood to serve as the scribe of the gods, and was credited with the invention of writing and alphabets. As a result, he was also acknowledged as the progenitor of all works of science, religion, philosophy and magic. In the Hellenistic period, the Greeks further declared him the inventor of astronomy, astrology, numerology, mathematics, geometry, surveying, medicine, botany, theology, civilized government, the alphabet, reading, writing, and oratory. The Greeks further claimed he was the true author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and divine.
Thoth was also characterized as a creator deity: the self-begotten and self-produced One. In this context, he was understood to be the master of both physical and moral law, both of which corresponded to the proper understanding and application of Ma'at. As such, he was credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them, and to direct the motions of the heavenly bodies.
In this particular context of the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth's this-worldly and other-worldly power was almost unlimited, rivaling both Ra and Osiris.
Thoth was also prominent in the Osiris myth, being of great aid to Isis. After Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he gave her the words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated and bring forth Horus, named for his uncle. When Horus was slain, Thoth gave the formula to resurrect him as well.
Mythological accounts also assign him credit for the creation of the 365 day calendar. According to this tale, the sky goddess Nut was cursed with barrenness by Shu, who declared that she would be unable to conceive during any of the months of the year. Coming to her aid, Thoth, the crafty god, discovered a loophole—since the lunar calendar year was only 360 days long, the addition of days that were not contained in any given month would circumvent the hex. Thus, Thoth gambled with Khonsu, the moon, for 1/72nd of its light (five days) and won. During these five days, the goddess conceived and gave birth to Osiris, Set, Isis, Nepthys, and (in some versions) Kheru-ur (Horus the Elder, Face of Heaven). For his exploits, Thoth was acknowledged as "Lord of Time."
All of Thoth's powers dovetail nicely into the various aspects of the elements of the island.
Throughout the series, the conflicts between the forces of good and evil resulted with neither having a decisive victory over the other. The ideas of lists and missions and judgments follow Thoth's monitoring of the posthumous judgment of deceased mortals on ledgers. The island was filled with themes of science, religion, philosophy and magic. It would appear that the island had certain unbroken "rules," as stated in the Jacob-MIB conflict which may represent Thoth's mastery of both physical and moral law. In his myths, there are great stories about being a guardian in the underworld and healer of infertility. Infertility and guardianship of the island were two prominent themes in the series. Also, Sayid's resurrection from the dead in the Temple waters was surrounded by columns of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs which were probably the formula for the ceremony and magic.
The island would best be described as Thoth or his domain. It is apparent that there may have been an unseen entity behind the curtain beyond Jacob or MIB. With all his powers, Thoth seems to fit the bill as being the man behind such a supernatural curtain.
Thoth was an ancient Egyptian god-like being who was said to have represented knowledge, science, magic and guidance of souls through the passage in the underworld.
He was often depicted as a half-man, half Ibis. He often helped Ra, the Sun God, through his nightly passage through the underworld. The image of a winged god of knowledge is also found in other cultures, including ancient religions of Hindu, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Thoth's roles in Egyptian mythology were both numerous and varied. First, Thoth served as a mediating power, especially between the forces of good and evil, making sure neither had a decisive victory over the other. This aspect was particularly relevant in his arbitration of the conflict between Set and Horus. Likewise, Thoth's mediation role was also evident in his netherworldly alter ego A'an, the god of equilibrium, who monitored the posthumous judgment of deceased mortals and recorded the results in a celestial ledger.
Thoth was also understood to serve as the scribe of the gods, and was credited with the invention of writing and alphabets. As a result, he was also acknowledged as the progenitor of all works of science, religion, philosophy and magic. In the Hellenistic period, the Greeks further declared him the inventor of astronomy, astrology, numerology, mathematics, geometry, surveying, medicine, botany, theology, civilized government, the alphabet, reading, writing, and oratory. The Greeks further claimed he was the true author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and divine.
Thoth was also characterized as a creator deity: the self-begotten and self-produced One. In this context, he was understood to be the master of both physical and moral law, both of which corresponded to the proper understanding and application of Ma'at. As such, he was credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them, and to direct the motions of the heavenly bodies.
In this particular context of the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth's this-worldly and other-worldly power was almost unlimited, rivaling both Ra and Osiris.
Thoth was also prominent in the Osiris myth, being of great aid to Isis. After Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he gave her the words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated and bring forth Horus, named for his uncle. When Horus was slain, Thoth gave the formula to resurrect him as well.
Mythological accounts also assign him credit for the creation of the 365 day calendar. According to this tale, the sky goddess Nut was cursed with barrenness by Shu, who declared that she would be unable to conceive during any of the months of the year. Coming to her aid, Thoth, the crafty god, discovered a loophole—since the lunar calendar year was only 360 days long, the addition of days that were not contained in any given month would circumvent the hex. Thus, Thoth gambled with Khonsu, the moon, for 1/72nd of its light (five days) and won. During these five days, the goddess conceived and gave birth to Osiris, Set, Isis, Nepthys, and (in some versions) Kheru-ur (Horus the Elder, Face of Heaven). For his exploits, Thoth was acknowledged as "Lord of Time."
All of Thoth's powers dovetail nicely into the various aspects of the elements of the island.
Throughout the series, the conflicts between the forces of good and evil resulted with neither having a decisive victory over the other. The ideas of lists and missions and judgments follow Thoth's monitoring of the posthumous judgment of deceased mortals on ledgers. The island was filled with themes of science, religion, philosophy and magic. It would appear that the island had certain unbroken "rules," as stated in the Jacob-MIB conflict which may represent Thoth's mastery of both physical and moral law. In his myths, there are great stories about being a guardian in the underworld and healer of infertility. Infertility and guardianship of the island were two prominent themes in the series. Also, Sayid's resurrection from the dead in the Temple waters was surrounded by columns of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs which were probably the formula for the ceremony and magic.
The island would best be described as Thoth or his domain. It is apparent that there may have been an unseen entity behind the curtain beyond Jacob or MIB. With all his powers, Thoth seems to fit the bill as being the man behind such a supernatural curtain.
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