More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
The goal of tattooing was never beauty. The goal was change. From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000 B.C., to the tattooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerging changed beings.
“Sorry, but the word occult, despite conjuring images of devil worship, actually means ‘hidden’ or ‘obscured.’ In times of religious oppression, knowledge that was counterdoctrinal had to be kept hidden or ‘occult,’ and because the church felt threatened by this, they redefined anything ‘occult’ as evil, and the prejudice survived.”
what are the three prerequisites for an ideology to be considered a religion?” “ABC,” one woman offered. “Assure, Believe, Convert.” “Correct,” Langdon said. “Religions assure salvation; religions believe in a precise theology; and religions convert nonbelievers.”
Masonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.”
Experiments at facilities like the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in California and the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR) had categorically proven that human thought, if properly focused, had the ability to affect and change physical mass. Their experiments were no “spoon-bending” parlor tricks, but rather highly controlled inquiries that all produced the same extraordinary result: our thoughts actually interacted with the physical world, whether or not we knew it, effecting change all the way down to the subatomic realm.
“Modern polarity is nothing but the ‘dual world’ described by Krishna here in the Bhagavad Gita over two thousand years ago. A dozen other books in here, including the Kybalion, talk about binary systems and the opposing forces in nature.”
“The sacred Hindu Vendantic scriptures known as the Upanishads.” He dropped the tome heavily on the first. “Heisenberg and Schrödinger studied this text and credited it with helping them formulate some of their theories.”
Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, its impact is in the hands of the user.”
lead-to-gold was nothing but a metaphor for tapping into true human potential—that of taking a dull, ignorant mind and transforming it into a bright, enlightened one.
“The Temple of Vesta in Rome,” Langdon said, “was circular, with a gaping hole in the floor, through which the sacred fire of enlightenment could be tended by a sisterhood of virgins whose job it was to ensure the flame never went out.” Sato shrugged. “This Rotunda is a circle, but I see no gaping hole in this floor.” “No, not anymore, but for years the center of this room had a large opening precisely where Peter’s hand is now.” Langdon motioned to the floor. “In fact, you can still see the marks in the floor from the railing that kept people from falling in.”
It’s from the ancient Greek: apo—‘to become,’ theos—‘god.’ ” Anderson looked amazed. “Apotheosis means ‘to become God’? I had no idea.” “What am I missing?” Sato demanded. “Ma’am,” Langdon said, “the largest painting in this building is called The Apotheosis of Washington. And it clearly depicts George Washington being transformed into a god.” Sato looked doubtful. “I’ve never seen anything of the sort.” “Actually, I’m sure you have.” Langdon raised his index finger, pointing straight up. “It’s directly over your head.”
THE APOTHEOSIS OF Washington—a 4,664-square-foot fresco that covers the canopy of the Capitol Rotunda—was completed in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi.
“Knowledge is power, and the right knowledge lets man perform miraculous, almost godlike tasks.”
‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ ”
This pointing-hand gesture—with its index finger and thumb extended upward—is a well-known symbol of the Ancient Mysteries, and it appears all over the world in ancient art. This same gesture appears in three of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous encoded masterpieces—The Last Supper, Adoration of the Magi, and Saint John the Baptist
Wealth is commonplace, but wisdom is rare.”
The term magic square referred not to something mystical but to something mathematical—it was the name given to a grid of consecutive numbers arranged in such a way that all the rows, columns, and diagonals added up to the same thing. Created some four thousand years ago by mathematicians in Egypt and India, magic squares were still believed by some to hold magical powers. Katherine had read that even nowadays devout Indians drew special three-by-three magic squares called the Kubera Kolam on their pooja altars. Primarily, though, modern man had relegated magic squares to the category of
...more
History, if it has taught us anything at all, has taught us that the strange ideas we deride today will one day be our celebrated truths.
‘That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.’ ”
Since the days of Michelangelo, sculptors had been hiding the flaws in their work by smearing hot wax into the cracks and then dabbing the wax with stone dust. The method was considered cheating, and therefore, any sculpture “without wax”—literally sine cera—was considered a “sincere” piece of art.
Solomon chuckled. “Who here studies Greek?” Several hands went up. “What does the word apocalypse literally mean?” “It means,” one student began, and then paused as if surprised. “Apocalypse means ‘to unveil’ … or ‘to reveal.’ ”
Oxygenated perfluorocarbons. This new technology—known as Total Liquid Ventilation (TLV)—was so counterintuitive that few believed it existed. Breathable liquid. Liquid breathing had been a reality since 1966, when Leland C. Clark successfully kept alive a mouse that had been submerged for several hours in an oxygenated perfluorocarbon. In 1989, TLV technology made a dramatic appearance in the movie The Abyss, although few viewers realized that they were watching real science. Total Liquid Ventilation had been born of modern medicine’s attempts to help premature babies breathe by returning
...more
WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OURSELVES ALONE DIES WITH US; WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OTHERS AND THE WORLD REMAINS AND IS IMMORTAL.
TIME IS A RIVER … AND BOOKS ARE BOATS. MANY VOLUMES START DOWN THAT STREAM, ONLY TO BE WRECKED AND LOST BEYOND RECALL IN ITS SANDS. ONLY A FEW, A VERY FEW, ENDURE THE TESTINGS OF TIME AND LIVE TO BLESS THE AGES FOLLOWING.
Well-directed thought is a learned skill. To manifest an intention requires laserlike focus, full sensory visualization, and a profound belief.
