DaVinci Code Decoded

DA VINCI CODE: “A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one.”
A Review by John Puzzo

The ‘Da Vinci Code,’ by Dan Brown…a novel calculated to attack the Christian faith to its core by disavowing the divinity of Christ, has in the three short years since its April 2003 debut, become a world phenomenon with 60 million copies of the book in print in 12 different languages. A blockbuster movie based on the book has been released and earned $212M, making it one of the highest grossing films of all time. The Da Vinci Code has banned in the Philippines, a predominately Catholic nation.

In his book, Brown defends the ancient heresy of Arianism, first proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, who challenged the growing Christian faith by teaching that Christ is not divine but a created being.

…but Brown goes much further than that: Jump to the third to the last sentence of the book, found in the epilogue. This short sentence could be the book's chillingly obvious subtitle:
“A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one.” In the Christian faith, the outcast one is not Mary Magdalene, but Satan…

A prominent ‘DaVinci Code’ character proclaims Christ and the Church to be the major force behind, “…all manner of crushed passion, murder, suffering, and oppression in the world” - the exact opposite of Christ’s life, teachings, and purpose. It is absurd to dress the Church in the clothing of its excesses - absurd, but useful to cynics and to those who would harm Christianity.

On his website, author Brown declares, “While the book's characters and their actions are obviously not real, the artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel all exist…” To take Brown literally, readers must be willing to accept his assertion that there is a powerful conspiracy influencing historical events in the world, a theme he continues in his follow-up book, “Angels and Demons.” http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html),

One of the important rituals that have an essential place in both the book and film is the orgy that the young Sophie witnesses on her grandfather-guardian’s estate…what are we to take from this scene?

The premise of Brown’s book is a resurrection of Gnostic teachings. Even the main character, ‘Sophie,’ portrayed as the last living descendent of Christ, is the name for the Gnostic Queen of the ages, the feminine divine ‘Sophia,’ whose persistent recurrence in Gnostic texts is indicative of her central importance to Gnostics.

In Gnostic tradition, the term ‘Sophia' (Σoφíα, Greek for "wisdom") is the final and lowest emanation of God…until the next cycle, for Gnostics believe cyclic regeneration is the natural order.
This manifestation of the Divine Feminine, Inanna, also known as Ishtar, Ashtart, Astarte, Asherah (and sometimes identified as Lilith), was at one time honored throughout the Near East. She brought fertility, grace and a woman's wisdom to that ancient world.

The later male monotheisms of the region would begin by making her the focus of their bitter hatred as they destroyed her sacred groves, demolished her temples, and strove to disinherit all womankind.

Many conspiracy theories begin with the same premise Brown does in his book: an endless cycle of chaos and the re-ordering of society after predetermined solutions are applied to manufactured crises, always with the seed of a new crisis planted in the fertile soil of the old one.

When they mention Christ at all, Gnostics teach that he took the form of the man, Jesus, in order to teach man how to achieve gnosis…’special knowledge’ that will give man godlike insight and power, but not salvation.

The Gnostics were contemporaries of Christ and may even pre-date Christ in written history. Gnostics value and teach knowledge over faith, a challenge that has been issued to God’s creation since the beginning of time.

Some Gnostics call themselves Christians and claim that Jesus came to save mankind from God! This is blasphemy indeed, and such beliefs have given rise to Satan worship by believers who regard Satan as ‘Lucifer,’ the light-giver. (Greek: Prometheus)

In the Garden of Eden, Satan offered to mankind the means to be equal with God: ‘special knowledge.’ Eve was seduced by the serpent with this promise of receiving knowledge that would make her “…like God…”

ISAIAH 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
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14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
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14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
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The Gnostic Jesus is the Jesus of the Da Vinci Code:

“Much has been stated about the Hierophant Jesus, however, the fact is that nobody knows his personal biography. The tendency to castrate [remove Christ’s ‘man-nature’ and make him God] the Hierophant Jesus exists.

“The Christian sects depict an infrasexual Jesus, effeminate, weak; yet at times angry, like a whimsical woman. Naturally, all of this is absurd. The fact is that nobody knows the personal life of Jesus, because we do not have his biography.

“Only with the faculties of objective clairvoyance can we study the life of Jesus in the Akasic Records of Nature... We know the life of the Great Master and we know that Jesus was really a complete man in the fullest sense of the word.

“Jesus had a priestess wife, because he was not an infrasexual. The wife of Jesus was evidently a complete Lady Adept, endowed with great secret powers.

“Jesus travelled through Europe and was a member of a Mediterranean Mystery School. Jesus studied in Egypt and practised Sexual Magic with his priestess inside one of the pyramids. That is how he recapitulated the initiations and later achieved the Venustic Initiation.“ Jesus travelled through Persia, India, etc.

“Thus, the Great Master was a Master in the most complete sense of the word. Jesus lived the drama of the Passion; nonetheless, he was not the only one who has lived it.

“Prior to him, some Initiates like Hermes, Quetzalcoatl, Krishna, Orpheus, Buddha etc., lived it. After Him, a few others have lived it. The drama of the Passion is cosmic.

“Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier and a Hebrew woman. The Great Hierophant was of medium stature and with fair skin, lightly tanned by the rays of the Sun. The Great Master had black hair and a beard of the same color. His eyes were like two ineffable nights.

“The word Nazarene comes from nazar, meaning “a man with a straight nose.” Jesus did not have the hooked, Jewish type of nose. The Great Master had a straight nose. This is typical of the white European race.

“Jesus was only Jewish on the side of the Hebrew Mary; however, on his father’s side he was of the white Celtic race. His father was a Roman soldier.

The priestess wife of the Master Jesus was also of white race and had great esoteric powers, as she demonstrated when traveling with the Nazarene through the countries of the Mediterranean in the lands of Europe.

“Jesus was a complete man. Jesus was not the castrated one who many religions depicted. Jesus followed the Path of the Perfect Matrimony. Jesus formed the Christ within himself by practicing Sexual Magic with his wife.

“What we are stating will shock fanatics. Nevertheless, when scientists have the Akasic records of nature in their power, then these people will see that we were right, because they will be able to see for themselves the life of Jesus by means of ultramodern television (it does not matter what name will be given to those devices in that age)." See: The Perfect Matrimony.” (gnosticteachings.org: glossary)
http://www.gnosticteachings.org/index.php?option=com_glossary&func=display&letter=J&Itemid=46&catid=77&page=1

In Dan Brown’s book and through the movie character played by Tom Hanks, professor of Symbology, deep, cinematic symbolism is employed as theatric illustration and real symbols are used to show the power of symbols historically.

For instance, the combination of blood and water occurs in the opening sequences: The murdered man is shown bloodied, Tom Hanks’ character pours himself a glass of clean, clear water, drinks some, and engages in a symbolic ‘washing of the hands’ as he begins his speech. These are clear images drawn from Christian tradition: Pilate washes his hands of Jesus as he turns Him over to be crucified.

Hanks’ character in the movie, and therefore in the writing and direction of the scene, is a prelude to Dan Brown’s crucifixion of Christ in his book and the movie’s faithful (to the book) staging of the scene, of course, minus any redemptive virtues…

“Pilate, in the presence of all the people, “took [a bowl of] water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it!” (Matthew 27:24)

Brown’s character does the same thing in this introductory scene, turning Christ over to be crucified once again, this time on the cross of popular opinion.

one man’s terror is another man’s refuge.

To an audience that has come to hear his lecture on symbols, Hanks’ character opens with familiar ‘evil’ symbols such as the KKK (in the form of white-hooded men) and the Nazi swastika, but actually these are something else…the hooded men are a sect of Spanish priests and the swastika is shown in ancient drawings from India and Egypt that are unrelated to Nazism (but are they?)…the Hanks character is teaching that one man’s terror is another man’s refuge.

There are many other symbols in the film, some of them more (and less) obvious:
The homo-erotic, self-flagellant, murdering albino warlock-monk: evil incarnate.
The “Oz” symbol on the vestibule floor of the Bank (representative of ‘Gold’)
The mark made on the neck of Sophie made by Silas’ dagger (a lance head: a reference to the Maltese Cross, which is four lance heads on centerpoint and itself a reference to Crusaders. Templar’s, etc.).
The symbol for ‘female’ on the bus traveler’s cell phone (in, ‘Quicksilver.net’)
Little Sophie running through a field of poppies – symbol of death and rebirth

One symbol, however, is noticeably absent: there is no depiction of the Gnostic ‘Oroborous.’ This is important omission because the book and film deal exclusively with Christianity and Gnostic teachings, good and evil, truth and falsehood.

The Gnostic solar deity associated with the Biblical Yahweh, Yeshu (Jesus), and the pagan god, Baal, is the ‘Abraxas.’ The symbol of Abraxas is a dragon, or serpent, devouring its tail or some like figure (see below).

Amulets and seals bearing these images were used in the thirteenth century in the seals of the Knights Templar. By medieval times the Abraxas had been relegated to the ranks of demons. The symbol for Abraxas is the ancient ‘Oroborous:’


Interestingly, this symbol has been used by the spiritual inheritors of Gnostic tradition, along with the motto, “Ordo ab Chao,” (“Order out of Chaos”) and the ‘advent of an Enlightened Planetary Civilization’ … without faith:

Masonic/ Qabalah Mystical symbol of the endless serpent, Baal, the eye of Horus & the Triangle: Talmudic mystery Babylon who worship unto the Serpent.


33rd Degree Masonic Symbol, with Ororobous

OF GOD AND RELIGION

“A Mason is obliged by his Tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist nor an irreligious Libertine. But though in ancient Times Masons were charged in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country or Nation, whatever it was, yet ‘tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves; that is, to be good Men and true, or Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or Persuasions they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among Persons that must have remained at a perpetual Distance.” (from: “Charges of a Freemason,” Rev. James Anderson, as directed by the Grand Lodge of England “to publish the old Gothic Constitutions in a new and better method…” 1723)

In and of itself this ‘charge’ is nothing more than a declaration by a group of like-minded individuals to live a certain, admittedly high minded way of life, yet one that is incompatible with and hostile to the Christian faith:

James 2:19
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble." (KJV)

(Matthew 28:18). God the Father has given all power and authority to Jesus Christ, after His death and resurrection. Jesus taught, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

THE litmus test for all persons on earth since Jesus’ birth and offer of salvation is whether they correctly believed in Jesus Christ. The Bible states that Jesus is:

· The Creator of the Universe and all that is in it (John 1:1-14)
· Coequal with God the Father, and sitting at His right hand in glory (Matthew 22:44; 26:64; Mark 16:19; Luke 20:42-43; Acts 2:33-36; 5:31-32; Romans 8:34-39; Ephesians 1:20-22; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:1-14, quoting Psalm 2:7, where God the Father address His Son as God; 1 Peter 3:22)
· The New Testament of our Bible thus clearly and consistently states this Truth, that Jesus Christ is God, and that all authority has been given to Him, including the authority for Final Judgment.

2 John 1:7
“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (KJV)

1 John 4:2-3 states that the test for the spirit of Antichrist is belief that Jesus Christ is Messiah. Any person who denies this is the spirit of Antichrist. Freemasonry refuses to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Messiah come in the flesh as a man.

All Christians are taught, in the 1st Commandment, to have no other God but the God of the Bible. To this end, Christians cannot accept, as Masons require, that there is any “Religion in which all Men agree…” To a Mason, this apparently means ‘good works,’ fair dealing, and promoting friendship.

The New Testament has a different view of ‘good works’ without a foundation in Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved by faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Two of the most esteemed Masons in the world give a more troubling answer. First, in “Morals and Dogma”, 33rd degree Freemason Albert Pike writes on page 321:

“The Apocalypse [book of Revelation] is, to those who receive the alone, and despises all the pomp and works of Lucifer. Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not!”

In the above quote, Albert Pike is writing to Masons, saying that the “Light of the World” is not Jesus Christ, but rather it is “LUCIFER.”

Second reference - Lucifer is the god of Freemasonry is made by 33 degree Freemason, Manly P. Hall, who, in The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, writes on page 48:
“When the Mason learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his Craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands.”

Of course, Scripture informs us that when Lucifer, who was an archangel, created by Almighty God, aspired to become equal to God, he (Lucifer) was cast out of heaven and became Satan (Luke 10:18).

Part I. Ordo ab Chao
“Order out of Chaos,’ engraved on the Masonic 33 degree symbol (see above), is often referred to as the Hegelian Dialectic after the philosopher and Mason, George Hegel, wrote about the concept’s effectiveness in controlling society.

Hegel described it as, “THESIS -- ANTITHESIS – SYNTHESIS,” what could not have been achieved under normal, open circumstances and with the cooperation of society can be accomplished out of crisis.

Part II. “Chao ab Ordo
The other half of the platform of course, is “Chao ab Ordo…” (Chaos out of Order) and thus completes the circle/cycle. Not so much the lesser of evils, but the evil of lessers.

The scientific concept that "iron sharpens iron" has a political corollary: "Crisis leads to opportunity." Fear and confusion lead the masses to desire peace and security while others work to invent and then capitalize on chaos to generate anger, fear, and frustration and then benefit from peoples' desperate clamor for order. In Greek Mythology,

"Fix things, do something now…" is just what is happening at this moment (2006) in our country’s crisis with illegal immigration, the Iraq War, Terrorism, etc., each a crisis with a long and quantifiable history and predictable result: a new set of problems.

Brown’s book centers around the theory that Christ did not die on the cross (hence – no Resurrection, no defeat over eternal death and eternal separation from God, and thus, no salvation.), but goes one step further, that Christ and Mary Magdalene produced offspring and these offspring have been protected through the ages by the Priory of Sion.

There indeed was a ‘Priory of Sion.’ Historically, the priory split in 1090. In 1118, they evolved into the Knights Templar in Continental Europe, in France. 70 years later, according to some scholars, there was another split, and in 1188, Rosicrucianism emerged.

Scholars other than Brown have shown that this split led to the formation of parallel (and competing) secret societies and these have spawned legions of major and minor historical players, organizations, personalities…and new obsessions. Brown doesn’t’ mention the details but he does champion several of the players.

In the rabbit warren of conspiracy theories not every burrow is occupied by warm and fuzzy rabbits. Some rabbit holes contain snakes.

©John Puzzo, Cape Coral, Florida, 2006.