As a boy, I remember how much fun it was having secret clubs, secret meetings, secret symbols, which no one shared except best friends. In my neighborhood, we spoke a form of pig Latin as a coded way of communicating. "Where are you going?" became "ehre-whay are-ay ou-yay oing-gay?" Let's face it, secrets are fascinating just because they arouse our curiosity.

It would appear that the symbolism in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is equally exciting. It comes from a variety of sources, practically all of which are mysteriously oblique. Simon Cox in his book, Decoding The Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Expert Guide to the Facts Behind the Fiction, makes an attempt to explain what a lot of these symbols stand for, many of which the fictitious Robert Langdon encounters on his quest for the ultimate Ancient Mysteries.

So what are they? It appears The Mysteries are a summation of secret wisdom collected down through the ages, passed on from generation to generation through mystery schools. "Some of the earliest mystery schools we find were in ancient Greece." These schools had their origin when people attempted to study and understand the "philosophy and mysticism" of their own time (circa 1600 BC). Often this early doctrine was puzzling and oblique, subject to many interpretations which gave rise to various mystery schools of thought.

As an example, one can imagine how Plato's philosophical concept of souls pre-existing in an ideal world could lead to much questioning — then acceptance, repudiation, or some middle ground. His doctrine of the demiurge's existence seemed equally mysterious and open to interpretation.

The mental paradigms from different Greek schools and other poignant schools of thought often became associated with symbols representing difficult core concepts and ideas. Thus, adherents to a particular philosophy linked together to share various beliefs and symbols. Sacred dramas were performed to pass these Ancient Mysteries from one generation to the next.

Article Author: Regis Schilken

Regis Schilken's stories reflect his search for meaning in a very human but frightening way. Three of his books have been published: The Oculi Incident, The Island Off Stony Point, and a third, You Know When was just recently released. …

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