OPINIONS ON The Da Vinci Code movie / book

[Marlantis Buzz]

40+ million has been made on this topic by those getting the word out. I have not read the book but soon to see the movie. My question is...as a member knowing a bit more now about this once secret code, what has beein learned by you so far from this latest marketing subject. Have any of you out there leaned any formulas from them...do you know what the da Vinchi code is? Not my code...theirs. I saw a paper back issue yesterday. There wasn't one page of images or icons. The owner of the book knew of my work. I pointed out there were no pictures. He bought it only hours prior and wasn't happy...

I'm not here to throw rocks at them, I just want to receive imput so that when it's my turn, some bases are covered.

So please...step up to the mic and tell me what you think about anything on this subject. Like, do you now know what the latest is on the Grail subject. Then show me. I'm currently working four Grail coded locations. Do they say how many there are. Where is this info on what contest code breaker thing they are throwing? Did the movie change your opinion on what is really going on? Could you know walk up to a sealed chamber let's say under Giza and be able to decipher near the opening...Danger, bad thins will happen to you beyond this point. Do you know know who is the old Knight watching over the Grail? What is the icon forthe golden fleese? How does the fountain of youth apply to all this and how did da Vinci learn this code. Hell, anything just tell us what your thoughts are on any relative issue. Thanks ahead of time.

[Alpha]

Haven't read the book yet Buzz...on my to get list.

Here's a link for all from Wikipedia....pretty good summary there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code

[Kamalam]

I read the book a long time ago, so I'll try to remember what I can...

Brown is not exactly the world's best writer - where he excels is his use of pacing and the cliffhanger. That said, I did learn more about the subject matter than I had known previously. And, I would like to learn even more, especially in such a user-friendly form.

I think the ending of the book was basically a let down after following these characters and wanting *some* kind of satisfaction/ discovery revealed. Maybe that was the setup for book no. 2 - but still.

I probably will wait until the movie comes out on dvd - I've seen clips and read the reviews - and it looks like Ron Howard totally missed the mark on translating book to movie. What a shame!

Buzz, any insight you can add to Da Vinci would be appreciated!

[Marlantis Buzz]

Kamalam, I think you are correct as I'm seeing and hearing at home. I've been invited by various friends these past few days to go see the movie. I plan to later this week. After, I'll make a more detailed report accordingly. We should give Ron Howard credit though just for giving this subject (THE CODE) more exposure none the less. A foundation has been set for the normal people in the unaware land of Toadstool Ville.

[Marlantis Buzz]

I just posted the following in another forum under this subject. I may if time allows do so again in a particular forum I joined 4 1/2 years ago where I received 95% ZERO NEGATIVE ROCK THROWING NAME CALLING SUPPORT...just to see if things have change by those focused on Atlantis which many hold degrees, allowing them to get away with being rude. Been a few years since I peekedi in last aand they were still at it.

I'd love just 30 minutes with Ron Howard to discuss my fellings but I'm sure he has a great crew that have related pretty much what I've got to say. I sure hope so...if not RON, Let's do lunch. I'll let you buy.

My statement is this...

Even though I haven't read the book or seen the movie, I work the code(s )like this. Most of you out there don't even know it exhists and that's not your fault...but the time line is lifting on their terms it seems knowing more and more people will stumble on to it. It is very difficult to learn on your own and wasn't designed by us at our level. Good movie or not, those not knowing anything about it will at least know one of many styles does exhist and has for thousands of years. Many people have died over this code having learned of it without invitation or for example labled as a dangerous witch by those who feared one having knowledge of it's mechanics might have an upper edge. The debunkers of this code who enjoy listening to themselves mouth off have not a clue this code is all around them every where they go . Those LEFT over from the last time...Atlantis let's say...used it to get by however they could to survive. Many advanced ahead of the rest and lived well doing so. History has been altered and modified to hide this code yet it is what one needs to view our HOLLOW RE-CORDS...which are just that...a record-ing. This Code can be misread and is so currently by many doing their best not to. I've done it myself...but it has to be respected and understood to exhist for if there is to be world peace one needs to know of this info toward getting there. Those out there that refer to it as a bunch of BS are either paid to say so or just unfortunately caught in the ignorant world designed for them to be that way while those in control continue doing so their way...with code in hand.

The movie good or a "B" has nevertheless, participated in the change that is taking place. Joe Six Pack(s), the wanna-be big shots in Steve Stunning Land, the faithful soap viewers with no knowledge of basic history and or anthro are holding things up and need to learn what's going on...less effort in survival will result, less lives will be wasted, and the real meaning behind art and science will have more respesct.


Respectfully,

Marlantis Buzz

[Tara]

I read the book quite a while back. I read it as a mystery/thriller and didn't give it that much thought. Until recently, all the balhblahblah form the catholic church and other groups has been mostly background noise. All this hoopla around the movie got me thinking. When people are that angry and jumping up and down it's about fear. What are they afraid of? What is one of the the most important things the church is keeping buried under the vatican on it's 25 mi. book shelves?

I'm thinking, knowedlge of Sophia, the Godess of Wisdom and the concept of the Sacred Feminine. Where Magdala actually fits in I have no idea but the Sacred Feminie, Buzz, that's very powerful stuff.

[Marlantis Buzz]

The movie and / or book must have a delayed trigger in them for those in the next few years that will be catching up and suddenly know they need a copy to use toward their research in working this science...thus Ron Howard sells his product twice or more times. If he didn't, then he has failed at his level. I would sure do it. Perpetual marketing...hey sounds good. The 25 miles of shelves on it's own is a message that only those in the know would understand.

[Project]

For only 7.99 you too could read about the actual mysteries, the actual story, not the made-up holywould one Real researchers doing real research, uncovering real mysteries, that really affect you. Did I mention the word real?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044...Fencoding=UTF8

[Alpha]

Kennedy's spin in an interesting and integrated article on the the seeming evolution of human kind, religion, ritual etc. and the controversial media blitz with The Da Vinci Code. Certainly may explain or make one think about the global supression of the female energy since the beginning of time. What do you think about what she has to say?


**warning - the content may be extrememly controversial to some and perhaps offensive . No disrespect to anyones belief system is intended **


Aliens, Vampires, and The Da Vinci Code

by Judy Kennedy

For some time the world has eagerly awaited the premier of the film version of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. For the few not familiar with the story, a Harvard symbologist is swept up in a mysterious web of intrigue over an unsolved murder revolving around a secret society. Clues to the society’s most preciously guarded secret abound in the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci – a former member of this society. The secret reveals what the Holy Grail really symbolizes – the sacred bloodline that culminated in the marriage between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ whose descendants live among us today. While most critics agree that the book is a thrilling confluence of fact and fiction, many argue over which part is fact and which is fiction. Regardless, the book and the movie neglect to mention the true origin of this sacred bloodline and why it was considered royal to begin with. That brings in the connection with aliens and vampires. Those not privy to this knowledge (because knowledge is power) might think it even more bizarre than the initial controversy, but historical evidence for this story also exists.

The authors whose material Brown bases his book upon suggest that the progeny of Jesus and Mary eventually became the foundation for the ruling Merovingian dynasty of early France. But what about the time before Jesus and Mary? What about their ancestors? Beginning with Jesus and Mary is missing half the story. The other half is obscured in the forbidden history and archeology of the previous millennia. Sir Laurence Gardner, distinguished scholar, historian, and internationally known sovereign genealogist reveals much in his books Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed and Genesis of the Grail Kings: The Explosive Story of Genetic Cloning and the Ancient Bloodline of Jesus.

Da Vinci Code enthusiasts remember that according to leading theologians, the modern Bible was deliberately edited and practically re-written to reinforce the ruling elite’s point of view. The real message of Jesus and all true spiritual leaders is the sanctity of gnosis – the discovery of truth for oneself without having to rely on the spiritual authority of another person or religious institution. As long as people can access “God” or a sense of inner divinity (the “Christ” within or “Higher Self”) directly through their own spiritual practice, there is no need for an outer intermediary in the form of a priest, guru, king, or what have you. Appropriately, this experiential awareness encourages and fosters independence, self-reliance, and autonomy which are natural repellents to tyranny and social control on the part of government and institutionalized religion. Previously hidden Biblical records discovered in the 20th century celebrate this gnosis contradicting earlier Church dogma.

Until the advent of archeology in the 1800s, the Church controlled the documentation of history in the West. Life on Earth, according to Genesis, began around 4004 B.C.E. in the Middle East. It wasn’t until ancient cuneiform tablets from that region were translated that we learned differently. Distinguished scholar and best-selling author Zecharia Sitchin discovered that the book of Genesis is actually a condensed copy of earlier Sumerian records with vital information omitted, such as -- there is no God. There never was a God – but there were gods. These gods were known to the Sumerians as the Anunnaki and to the Hebrews as the Nefilim. These terms translate to “those who came down from the heavens” – in other words, extraterrestrials. Coming from a civilization a little more advanced than the present, they genetically engineered a new species combining their DNA with that of an Earth hominid. The result? Us – Homo sapiens.

The Anunnaki gave us the gift of civilization and the monarchy form of government. A series of cloning experiments initially resulted in two strains of humanity – the difference being that one had more Anunnaki DNA than the other. The line richest in alien blood was used to establish a royal bloodline of kings and queens as planetary custodians and intermediaries between the Anunnaki and humanity. The ancient mystery schools were founded in order to train these custodians who were expected to uphold a strict code of service to the masses – what Gardner calls the “Grail code.” In time, the bloodline was diluted, the teachings corrupted, and the code was forgotten along with most of the truth. What precious little knowledge remained went underground giving rise to the esoteric orders behind various spiritual traditions, including the so-called “secret societies” of later times.

The bloodline advanced through the antediluvian kings of Sumer, the Egyptian dynasties, the descendants of Abraham all the way down to the royal houses of Israel and in particular, the house of David from which Jesus descended. The attributes that separated Jesus from the rest (other than he was the “son” of the “gods”) were an incredible discipline, unsurpassed wisdom, boundless unconditional love, with a brilliant display of supernormal powers. Supersensory awareness was a particular genetic trait of our extraterrestrial ancestors which they sought to enhance through specific spiritual practices. This awareness was accompanied by extraordinary longevity which gave rise to legends of their immortality. This was the primary reason why they considered themselves and their royal bloodline especially equipped with sovereign capacity. By virtue of their special blood they deemed themselves more capable and worthy to rule. But blood alone is not enough to save the day. It requires a special tuning of the heart and mind (as Jesus taught so well) in order to become a truly enlightened instrument for the benefit of one and all.

So what does this have to do with vampires? “There’s power in the blood” as sure as the Christian gospel sings. Witness the Old Testament stories about blood sacrifice, blood atonement, and decrees sanctioning and then prohibiting the ingestion of blood. The New Testament glorifies the blood of the lamb -- Jesus Christ --- as it is figuratively shared in holy communion at the last supper and caught in a cup as he bled on the cross spawning the legend of the Holy Grail. Many tribal customs celebrate drinking the blood of a fallen foe in battle in order to assimilate their strength and courage. Aside from drinking blood, bloodletting of any kind, animal or human, in the context of a sacrificial ritual or a heinous crime, releases a vital invisible energy that can be scooped up and redirected by the blood-letter. Primitive shamans, black magicians, and criminal psychopaths know this well. It was once customary for an Italian woman to save a few drops of her menstrual blood in a small vial for a time when she could get the man of her choice to ingest it because it was believed that would bound him to her forever.

A taboo against menstrual blood exists in many cultures. A woman’s blood was especially feared because of its power, literally and symbolically. Patriarchs taught it was unclean and that women should be shunned during their periods. However, earlier custom from an age which celebrated the sacred feminine through worship of a Mother Goddess taught young girls to honor and revere this special power that alone belongs to them. Menstruation was regarded as a sacred right of passage filled with awe and wonder. The monthly period is a time of heightened sensitivity – sexually, emotionally, and psychically. Early women knew this and used this time for solace, solitude, and reflection. Today, menstruating women suffer persecution for alleged PMS “bitchiness.” A woman’s frustration with PMS probably arises because she is not taking enough time to rest and renew herself. Instead she is thwarted by detrimental social conditioning. Rather than heeding her intuition and self-nurturing instincts and taking a well-deserved retreat, she continues to let the demands of others bleed her dry. In this context, society is the vampire. But that’s not the particular vampire I’m talking about.

The legend about sacrificing a virgin to the dragon in order to save the village was based on a real practice. According to the records, the virgin’s blood was so special because they drank it. The Anunnaki venerated the menstrual blood of their “goddesses” and called it “star fire.” The fire of the kundalini feeds the star in the head – the chakra or energy vortex corresponding to the pineal gland or “third eye.” In order to activate the third eye enabling clairvoyance, the pineal and pituitary glands must be saturated with enormous amounts of particular hormones and chemical substances, including oxytocin, prolactin, serotonin, adenosyne triphosphate, dopamine, telomerase (currently under investigation for its anti-aging properties), retinal, and melatonin. These in turn stimulate the release of DMT (di-methyl-tryptamine) – a naturally occurring psychedelic drug in the human body. Menstrual blood is rich in all these substances, and was especially concentrated in the Anunnaki. Therefore, their females willingly shared it in ritual fashion. These supersensory abilities are inherent, however dormant they may appear in the average person. The Anunnaki just sought to enhance them in the same manner that many individuals attempt to do today through illegal drug abuse. The parallel is exact and frightening because the body habituates to a drug through its overuse. The more the drug is used to attain a particular state of awareness, the more it damages the body’s ability to attain that state naturally until it cannot attain it at all.

The spiritual alchemy that is taught in the esoteric mystery schools is soundly based on physiological principles. A fully functioning “dragon body” (such as Jesus had) is represented by the Gnostic symbol of the Ouroboros – the serpent biting its own tail. The invisible dragon body becomes a complete body of light endlessly circulating cosmic energy between the physical body and the zero point energy that’s all around us. Even though we’re always plugged into this energy, the switch may not be turned on. That’s what alchemy does. Through various transformations in the blood, the switch is flipped so that a continuous circuit is permanently established. But this cannot happen without some initial rewiring. The hormonal secretions (like water) conduct magnetic resonance and higher frequencies processed through the pineal/pituitary “radio-receiver.” For the whole system to work properly for the benefit of one and all, a strong anchoring of those frequencies must occur in the heart center synchronized with all the other chakras in the energy field through the continual cultivation of compassion. Unfortunately, many Anunnaki neglected this important step.

The Holy Grail symbolizes many things. In addition to the royal bloodline it also alludes to the chalice containing star fire, which by its very shape is symbolic of the womb. The Holy Grail supposedly contained the blood of Christ. Obviously, Jesus didn’t have periods. That blood came from his wounds as he bled on the cross. Yet less than a day before this event, he was passing a cup around to his disciples saying, “This is my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me.” So what’s this really all about?

The Bible contains contradictory edicts. For example, after the flood, the “Lord” (true translation: Anunnaki overlord) forbade Noah and his clan from ingesting blood, suggesting that it had been a practice for some. Noah was a hybrid and therefore part of the royal priestly bloodline. He was also Enki’s protégé. Enki and Enlil were Anunnaki half-brothers of the highest rank. Enlil viewed the entire human experiment as a failure and therefore planned its demise via the great flood. Enki, however, took sympathy on humanity. In fact, he introduced us mere mortals to the mystery schools and warned Noah of the impending deluge. Translators say that any reference to the Lord in the Bible is actually to Enlil or Enki. Whenever the “wrath of God” is experienced, it’s usually a reference to Enlil – the human hater. Whenever benevolent action takes place, however, it is a reference to the good Lord Enki.

So which Lord forbade humans from drinking blood? Gardner believes it was the wrathful Enlil who did not want humans to be on equal level with the Anunnaki and so sought to hinder their spiritual development. I disagree. The verse in question also says “for in the image of God made he man.” Enlil did not make man. Enki and his sister Ninhursag were in charge of the genetic experiments. In addition, this particular Lord told Noah to “replenish the Earth and multiply.” A hating god with murderous intent would not say that. Common sense says it had to be Enki, who, as before the flood, was continuing to provide loving guidance to Noah and his family. Therefore, the wise and beneficent Lord Enki would have a good reason for making such a command, and this was it: Continuing to ingest star fire in the form of menstrual blood is the equivalent of bad or “black magick” which in the long run will do more damage than good. There was and still is a better way. That Enki gave the command rather than Enlil is also supported by further research into the records by Sitchin.

A sacred sexuality practice exists in the Eastern and Western mystery traditions, but the purpose is not for accumulating power or material advantage. If done with a consensual partner heterosexually and with love, the act becomes a spiritual communion with the Beloved and a vehicle for recognizing oneness with the Higher Self. Seeing your sexual partner as a deity helps to awaken the divinity within and honors the integration of the sacred masculine and feminine energies that form the basis for all manifestation. It is called the “Great Rite” and is depicted in Brown’s book. In modern neopagan traditions, this particular ritual is more often figuratively practiced with a blade and a chalice. Mixing sexual juices and ritually imbibing them is a rare practice these days because of health risks. Prince Nicholas De Vere, however, a former research associate of Gardner’s and a self-pronounced “royal vampire” -- proudly informs us that the star fire drinking ritual is still practiced by royal vampires with voluntary females.

The Great Rite has also been the primary way of perpetuating the royal bloodline. A parallel branch to the Merovingian was the House of Avalon in Great Britain. Arranged marriages between half-siblings initiated with the Great Rite were common; however these attempts at genetic manipulation through incestuous intermarriage just further corrupted a gene pool that was already weakened by the destructive effects of elitism and chemical dependency. Today no special bloodline exists that bestows special powers and privileges, nor does there need to be. Everyone is equally capable of transformation. They only need learn how – and that has been the mission of all genuine mystery schools throughout the ages.

The Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians became two popular branches of these schools in the West. According to Gardner, the term Rosi-crusis does not translate to rosy cross, but really stems from the old Greek ‘rose’ meaning dew, and ‘crusis’ meaning ‘fire-cup’. Therefore the Rosi-crusis was the dew-cup of fire or fiery cup of the waters. These waters are the byproducts of a woman’s menstrual cycle – hence star fire. Gardner contends that the ancient ritual of drinking star fire was symbolically co-opted by the Church in the ritual mass of Holy Communion. Women were feared and hated by the Church because they were the holders of the royal lineage and the powerful star fire. Mary Magdalene and many other women were priestesses in this bloodline providing babies and ministry. The Church could not have that. Therefore, any reference to “power in the blood” had to be about a man’s blood and in particular, the blood of Jesus who became the poster boy for their patriarchal God. Therefore their efforts to malign and discredit his feminine counterpart who was in actuality his consort, companion, and spiritual colleague grew into a massive and largely successful campaign to erase women from history and religion altogether.

Although the royal bloodline began long before Jesus and Mary, it continued through their heirs. But does this mean that Jesus, Mary, and their disciples participated in the ancient star fire ritual? Probably not. Why? For one, remember the prior edict by the good Lord Enki forbidding this practice. Secondly, they did not need to. Jesus, the Serpent of Wisdom that he was, along with all genuine Gnostics, Rosicrucians, Knights Templars, Freemasons, Witches, Alchemists and other followers of the Western Mysteries in the tradition of Enki, created ritual that would reinforce the sacred principles through their symbolic meaning. This is why Jesus chose to emblematically share his blood with his disciples in a powerful acknowledgment that his blood was their blood – his power was their power – his claim to divinity was their claim to divinity. “And you will do even greater thing than I.” “Do this in remembrance of me” means make yourself an embodiment of the Holy Grail – the Sacred Adytum – a receptacle for the Holy Spirit or cosmic energy to shine forth for the benefit of one and all. It is the temple not made with hands, but with the inner conviction, devotion and understanding of a true spiritual aspirant, whose compassion and wisdom together complete the transmutation of personality into the gold of fully illumined awareness. Jesus was the great example – not the great exception.

Of course any good wizard can go bad. Throughout the centuries there were many who strayed and reverted to the older Anunnaki way, taking what they perceived as a short cut to illumination through drugs, star fire, and other harmful methods. Aleister Crowley and Dracula are good examples. Gardner says that Dracula was feared more for his extensive knowledge of occultism and alchemy than for his streak of cruelty because he was a member of the sacred Order of the Dragon and a descendant of this royal bloodline. This branch of the bloodline eventually made its way to the British Isles where descendants still live today. Among them – Prince Nicholas De Vere previously mentioned. De Vere claims that his sovereign family has suffered a horrible injustice at the hands of the “client peasant race” of humanity. He believes that the royal vampires are rightful shepherds of the human flock, and that divine right is inherited – not made. We know this is not true because true mastery comes not from mastery over others, but from self-mastery, as the world’s great spiritual sages have always exemplified.

Fortunately, not all modern day vampires are “royal.” Vampires today are as diverse a group of people as any other subculture and not all of them drink blood. Many are actually “psychic vampires” feeding off the energy of others. True vampires bear no resemblance to the sensational creatures featured in cinema. Today’s typical vampire is a law abiding citizen feeding only on healthy voluntary donors. They agree that anything less is dangerous and criminal. While I will defend the civil rights of vampires as much as anyone’s, the need to be a vampire or identify with vampirism is redundant. We are all vampires in a sense because we all feed on cosmic energy and the energy of everyone and everything. But to think that one must depend on the source of that energy as always coming from “another” external to oneself and to the point of addiction is coming from a perspective of lack, not abundance. We already have everything we need. Spiritual practice and occult methods from the schools of Ageless Wisdom enable us to actualize it.

There are no chosen ones. The desire to become special is something we all have to get over, because we’re all – each and everyone of us – already special! The spark of divinity lies within every living thing in the cosmos – whether it be an extraterrestrial, a vampire, a direct descendant of Jesus Christ or that of Adolf Hitler. Furthermore, no true “secret societies” exist in this era of technological wizardry. Historically, the sharing of these secrets had to go underground for reasons enumerated in The Da Vinci Code and elsewhere in order to avoid persecution. Even today these topics remain controversial and are subject to censorship because people fear the unknown. The only way to overcome that fear is to make it known – share the secrets – tell the truth. And as the evidence shows, the truth is often stranger than fiction. The word occult simply means “hidden.” In ancient Egypt, reading, writing and mathematics were considered occult arts because they were reserved for the few. Now they are common place so no longer occult. Supersensory awareness and the manifestation of seemingly supernormal abilities are just expressions of energies lying dormant within us all. These lesser-known aspects of spirituality are usually attributed to extraterrestrials, psychics, and the world’s great sages, like Jesus. Even less acknowledged is that the key to awakening is not to be found in these temporary states of bliss and omniscience, but in the cultivated trait of compassionate wisdom. When we realize that, the Holy Grail will belong to everyone.

**********

References:

Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, Anchor Books, 2003.
Nicholas De Vere and Tracy R. Twyman, The Dragon Legacy: The Secret History of an Ancient Bloodline, Book Tree, 2004.
Laurence Gardner, Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed, Barnes & Noble, 1996.
Laurence Gardner, Genesis of the Grail Kings: The Explosive Story of Genetic Cloning and the Ancient Bloodline of Jesus, Fair Winds, 2001.
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, Vintage Books, 1981.
Zecharia Sitchin, The 12th Planet: Book 1 of the Earth Chronicles, Avon Books, 1976.
Zecharia Sitchin, The Lost Book of Enki, Bear & Company, 2002.
Katherine Ramsland, Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today, HarperPrism, 1998.

[Marlantis Buzz]

Great follow-up Alpha...kind of makes one wonder how can we keep up with all this information....we can't...at least not just one person. Much of this info covers overlay position and unless one knows the formula totem, it's almost impossible to even know what to do. Some years back Joseph Noah made a comment about THE OTHER CODE, this one, where the information changes every couple of minutes. He wasn't kidding. Even though it changes every couple of minutes, there is still a level we can and are to comprehend. The sad part is most people can't even accept the fact there is even this particular level. The topic of first contact. As far as I'm concerned this code is first contact. It's been going on for thousands of years...makes you wonder what I just said...yes, makes me wonder too.

[Project]

I don't understand why Jesus would be important at all... Obviously if he scammed all that stuff like dying on the cross, riding on a donkey, all a set up (because he had studied the old testament, and knew what he had to do to look like the son of god), then he was evidently not the child of god, and therefore is not holy or important. Michael Baigent made a great argument for Jesus as terrorist or guerilla fighter/leader.

What about the bloodline of the Dalai Lama? He's been around longer than the J-man. How about Wotan or Neptune? How about Shiva or Vishnu? Where is their secret bloodline?

We are so wrapped up in the little tiny corner of history we think is important, we are necessarily not understanding what it is all about. One man in history does not a civilization make. One fictional book does not a mystery produce. One bad author does not an answer give.

[Marlantis Buzz]

Trial and error...

[joequinn]

I read The Da Vinci Code when it first appeared, and I reread it shortly before I saw the movie last month. I found the book interesting to read, but I thought that its main hypothesis was highly improbable, and I valued the book as nothing more than a page-turning thriller. I have been a big fan of Ron Howard the director, Akiva Goldsmith the scriptwriter, and Tom Hanks the actor for quite a number of years, but I wish that all three had stayed away from this material, since I do not believe that there is any way that any director, any scriptwriter and any actor could possibly translate The Da Vinci Code onto the screen in a way that would be simultaneously faithful to the material and interesting to the audience. I found the film to be quite faithful to the material as well as quite sensitive to the religious beliefs of many of the people who would see it, but I was left somewhat cold by it. I certainly did not experience the electrifying response that I had, say, to Brokeback Mountain or Matchpoint or The Constant Gardener.

There is one point that I do wish to mention. Perhaps the most memorable character in the film is the wacked-out, self-flagellating albino assassin monk (played, memorably, by up-n-coming actor Paul Bettany). The reactionary Catholic organization Opus Dei has complained loudly about his characterization, and I am sure that many people leaving the film believe that Ron Brown and Ron Howard were quite unfair to this unpopular, but pious, Catholic organization. I have been doing quite a lot of research on Opus Dei during the past few months, and I find this sympathy to be totally misplaced. Opus Dei is a Catholic fascist institution that is a mortal threat to American democracy; it must be watched carefully; and, when necessary, it must be combated.

I would be hard for me to capsulize dozens of pages of research into a paragraph or two, so let me just state the outlines of my case against Opus Dei and leave the details for later. Over the course of the past quarter of a century, Opus Dei has severely infiltrated the U.S. Congress, the Supreme Court, the FBI and the military-industrial-intelligence complex. It is not widely known, for example, that the reactionary Republican Senator from Kansas, Sam Brownback, is an Opus Dei convert, even as he serves one of the most fundamentalistically Protestant states in the Union. In his conversion to Opus Dei Catholicism, Brownback was assisted heavily by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), who is one of the strongest forces in Congress representing the Christian Right. Many, many FBI agents are members of Opus Dei, as was Clinton’s highly controversial FBI director, Louis Freeh. Indeed, the jury is still out as to what assistance Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent and devoted Opus Dei member who was subsequently convicted for spying for the Russians, provided in getting Freeh chosen as FBI Director in the first place or what may have been the true reasons why he shopped information to the allegedly atheistic Russians to the supposed detriment of his rigidly conservative Catholic beliefs.

Many people are noticing that Florida’s Ave Maria University, founded by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan and protected by Catholic convert Governor Jeb Bush, has become a meeting ground for Vatican Cardinals and military-industrial-intelligence complex operatives, some of whom appeared at Ave Maria's 25 March Gyrene Gala, M.C.ed by no other than The News Hour’s Jim Lehrer. But the most alarming intrusion of Opus Dei into American political life concerns the Supreme Court. It is not appreciated by most that, for the first time in its history, the Supreme Court is dominated by Roman Catholics (Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito), all five of whom lurched the Court violently to the right on 29 May when they ruled, in Garcetti v. Ceballos, against First Amendment rights for public agency whistleblowers. I discovered that four of these five (i.e. all but Kennedy) have direct Opus Dei ties: indeed, to this day Scalia attends a traditional Catholic Sunday Mass in Falls Church, VA, with his good friend, former FBI director Louis Freeh. Scalia has been the most open --- or perhaps the least discrete --- about his Opus Dei ties, but Roberts, Thomas and Alito also have strong connections with the organization.

The case against Opus Dei does not stop at the borders of the United States. The recent election of the quite conservative Peruvian President Alan Garcia was assisted in great measure by the support of Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani, the Archbishop of Perú and the first member of Opus Dei to receive a red hat as a member of the College of Cardinals. This individual, who is suspected by many Peruvians to this day (perhaps unjustly) of having had a hand in the assassination of his Jesuit, anti-Opus Dei predecessor, was a great assistance to the fascist ruler Alberto Fujimori. Indeed, on the day that Cipriani was installed as Archbishop of Perú, members of the congregation got up in the pews and shouted in unison, “Christ, save us from Cipriani!” The whole history of Pope John Paul II’s involvement with Opus Dei is subject to the wildest speculation, but since your eyes are doubtlessly glazed over by the information I already have given you, I think that it might be a good time for me to stop the exposition…

Just remember these facts the next time that somebody tells you that Opus Dei took a highly undeserved beating in The Da Vinci Code. And if you don’t believe that they are facts, then check them out for yourself… You will be surprised by what you find. I certainly was.