Sometimes when you least expect it . . . Love Happens

A few days ago I was standing in front of a redbox® DVD rental machine scanning the titles of new releases and with Valentine’s Day looming on the horizon I was hoping to find a movie that promised romance—a chick flick. Love Happens appeared as if it might suffice and I went for the bait . . . hook, line, and sinker. The next day, after I returned the rented copy to its redbox® machine, I stopped on my way home to purchase a copy of this movie. And now that I’ve watched it multiple times and understand the repercussions, I suspect there was something more than a special date on the calendar that influenced my selection.

The cover for the movie includes a quote from Dan Kois of The Washington Post who describes it as “A Rare Hollywood Romance.” But Love Happens isn’t a romantic movie according to 21st century expectations. In literature, the genre called “romance” is rooted in the 12th century tales of Chrétien de Troyes which were written for a secular audience and often incorporated a deeper, underlying message. Love Happens is a true “medieval romance” specially conjured for today’s audience. As I watched it, I saw the layers of the story open up as if it were a rose in bloom.

I was wrong . . . in the same way that Robert Langdon was wrong when he went to Temple Church in search of a knight interred by "a pope.” Actually, Langdon wasn’t wrong . . . he was just early. All along I've been thinking that the Holy Bible is part of the five-book gemstone that brings the medieval tale to life. But it isn’t; it's the other way around. Looking back upon the legend of the map to the grail as a guide, which consists of five imaginary stories connected by details and woven with threads belonging to real life . . . Love Happens represents the fifth “book” even though the movie isn’t derived from a novel. Like the fifth letter in Burke's name, the movie captures something that represents a silent portion of the original tale.

The working title of the script written by Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson was Brand New Day before they changed it to Love Happens . . . kind of like how John Steinbeck changed the name of his book from Something that Happened to Of Mice and Men. And as Forrest Gump might say, "shit happens" in the story that amazingly transforms into love happening.

Aaron Eckhart plays the leading man, Dr. Burke Ryan, a psychologist and self-help author who arrives in Seattle to teach a seminar on overcoming grief. Jennifer Aniston plays the leading lady, a woman fed up with a cheating boyfriend who also happens to own the florist shop— Eloise's Garden—that services the hotel where Burke is staying for one week. Aniston portrays Eloise . . . but beneath the name, the details that make Eloise who she is belong entirely to Eleanor of Aquitaine.

In the opening scene of Love Happens, the camera swoops in on a pair of hands that are busy with the task of slicing lemons. Burke begins to narrate the book he wrote: “Chapter one: Sometimes, despite your best efforts otherwise, life gives you lemons. When that happens friend, you can wear a sour face . . . or make lemonade.”

Burke makes his lemonade with Grey Goose Vodka—distilled and bottled in France—which takes on greater meaning when we learn that his wife made him promise that in the event something happened, he would release Rocky, her pet parrot (white cockatiel), into the wild. When he finally admits that he had failed to accomplish this, Eloise suggests he can take care of “two birds with one stone.” And yes, she was referring to something else. Together, they transport the parrot in the back of an old Ford Falcon van and venture into a forest of majestic trees that has a river winding through it.

Symbolically you might say that the white falcon that swooped in and struck a goose, leaving three drops of blood on the snow in The Story of the Grail has reappeared . . . and is finally talking. On a more personal level, Burke's release of the parrot is symbolic of letting go of his wife. And reaching back in time to another life in reality, the wife was the one who lovingly repeated her husband's words and wanted all the world to hear them.

Burke has issues concerning riding in elevators just like Robert Langdon. He chooses a red tie for his kick-off presentation . . . which he begins with a story about a college football team that wins a national championship, straight out of Forrest Gump. He is the author of a best-selling book, A Path Through Grief, that's intended to help the audience take control of their lives and begin living life with meaning and purpose, as does The Story of the Grail. He's promoting his book with the tagline “A-Okay!” and prompts the audience to respond that they are "A-Okay!” . . . just like William Vance describes himself in his final appearance in The Last Templar.

Burke literally crashes into Eloise as he’s walking down the hall while not watching where he's going. He finds a pen on the floor and discovers that she has a quirky habit of writing strange words on the wall behind paintings in the hotel. He takes a white rose bud from one of her floral arrangements and puts it in the lapel of his suit, only to be called out for it when she follows him into the men’s room and they have their first confrontation. Later, Burke submits an order through Marty, a helper at Eloise's Garden, for a bouquet of white roses. The message that is relayed suggests that Eloise will know where the flowers need to be delivered.

Roses have different meanings depending on their color. A white rosebud speaks of youthful ignorance and innocence, an age that is immature or new to the ways of the world. To correlate it to a season in life, the rosebud signifies springtime.

A white rose symbolizes sincerity of intentions, purity in purpose, and affection that comes straight from the heart—as free of blemishes as virgin snow. White roses are called the "flower of light" and represent everlasting love that is stronger than death; they suggest an eternal love that is undying and all sustaining. “White rose speaks of love that is sustained more by loyalty, reverence, and humility than by red-blooded passion. In the 'language of the flowers’ a bouquet of white roses says ‘I am worthy of you,’” as a bride stands before her groom.

"The most famous meanings of the white rose arise from mythology. Many of these surround Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of Love, who sprang forth into life from the foaming sea, and where the foam fell to the ground, white roses grew. "(Source: http://www.roseforlove.com/the-meanings-of-white-roses-ezp-36)

The "three suits" from Unicom that are coming to town are symbolically tied to the unicorn which in medieval times, as you might expect, carried multiple meanings ranging from the Incarnation of Christ to the lover attracted to his lady like the unicorn is attracted to a virgin. Lady lore would tell you that the unicorn could only be captured if it was first lured by a virgin, at whose feet it would fall asleep. In The Da Vinci Code Teabing refers to Sophie as a virgin and later says, "And codes? I imagine they lie down for you like lovers," in an unspoken allusion to the single-horned beast.

Burke misses an important business meeting when he opts to join Eloise and her friends at the local coffee house where Marty participates in a poetry slam, mixing iambic pentameter with a little haiku.

Lane Marshall is Burke's business manager and follows a trail of clues to find him. Actually, he admits it was pretty simple; he inquired of the concierge whom Burke had asked directions from . . . just like Perceval asks for directions to the holy hermit and is told to follow the sticks and branches knotted and tied that mark the way.

Lane: So, who are these fine folks that you’re consorting with?
Burke: Just people I’ve met.
Lane: Yeah?
Burke: Her name’s Eloise.
Lane: Well, what hath struck the earth? Details.

Lane Marshall is a composite of the real life knight named William Marshal and one of Chrétien de Troyes’ imaginary characters named Lancelot, who was himself a composite of William Marshal and Abelard. In another time and in another story, Lancelot secretly shared an adulterous love with the queen and went in search of her when she was kidnapped in the forest and stolen away. It was an imaginary tale woven with threads of details belonging to an event that happened to Eleanor of Aquitaine in real life. In the course of the tale The Knight of the Cart, Lancelot loses his horse and is forced to ride in a cart which, in the 12th century, was a mode of transportation typically reserved for criminals. He hesitates . . . and somehow the queen knows that for a fleeting moment he considered his reputation over his love for her.

In Love Happens, Eloise arranges for Burke to enjoy a special ride in a cart which lifts them above the fray and becomes the first step in their budding relationship.

Traces of William Marshal also appear in Walter's circumstances. Walter is a contractor—a carpenter—whose sister asked him to attend the seminar because the grief and guilt he carries concerning his son's death. Walter's son is named Stephen.

In reality, William Marshal's father was the hereditary keeper of the horses for the Anglo-Norman kings, but he switched his allegiance and negotiated alliances to gain personal power. In the midst of a conflict, John fitz Gilbert gave his young son, William Marshal, as a hostage to King Stephen but then he broke his promise and told the king he could do whatever he wanted with the child because he "had a hammer and anvils to make more and better sons."

Within Love Happens, Walter's healing comes in the aisles of Home Depot where he is seen swinging a hammer and gathering tools to take up his life exactly where he left off living it.

Looking back, William Marshal grew up to become one of the greatest knights of the 12th century, known for his prowess, strength, and agility in tournaments and war and was equally famous for being a man of his word. Not only are details belonging to him woven into multiple characters in this modern day story, in the older tales he could be seen in both Lancelot and Gawain in The Story of the Grail, who takes his seat to the right of the king.

William Marshal promised the Templars that he would end his days amongst them and be buried in a Templar House. He officially joined the Order on his death bed and was buried at Temple Church; Robert Langdon came upon his effigy when he went there looking for the knight interred.

In Love Happens, when Burke Ryan's right-hand man calls himself "Lane goddamned Marshall," he means it in a good way.

Dr. Burke Ryan is one complicated soul. His father-in-law calls him a hypocrite. He's the modern day incarnation of Abelard, who in real life preached that every human being should be free to utilize their mind and make their own decisions and yet bowed down to the weight of the Church, crushing the love he shared with Heloise. In the movie, Burke Ryan doesn't appear to "walk his talk" as far as overcoming guilt and grief. But the reality of his living nightmare is that when he avoided hitting a dog in the road, he unintentionally killed his wife instead . . . crushing her as the car spun out of control.

From a different vantage point Burke is also very much like the youth at the Fisher King’s manor house who, in a mystical magical moment represents both the Father and the Son. He is the Christ like figure that Myshkin portrays in The Idiot and he is like the narrator that John Steinbeck was moved to emulate with the title Of Mice and Men, who regrets having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing the field. In Love Happens, when Burke returns from setting the parrot free, Lane encounters him in the hotel lobby:

"It's about time." "Oh, my God! Where the hell have you been?"
"I mean, Jesus, you have got to . . . "
"Jesus. What the hell happened to you, man?"

Love Happens ends with Burke and Eloise on the cusp of a romantic relationship more in line with 21st century expectations. They finally kiss. But by the time this happened, I wasn't visualizing Burke and Eloise, I was seeing Abelard and Eleanor embarking on a relationship they never "lived" in reality despite the interwoven details of their lives . . . the imprint of destiny.

In The Story of the Grail, real life details from Eleanor of Aquitaine's and Peter Abelard's final public appearances are woven into the same moment of the final scene in the imaginary tale—even though their respective final public appearances happened more than 60 years apart. In the 12th century they symbolically made their grand exit together. And how it might all play out in the 21st century is given to anyone's imagination.

With a visual that allows us to look across the city landscape from an elevation higher than street level, the narrator's voice returns: “Chapter 15. During your travels, when one thing ends, something else begins.”

Permission to use photo is not an endorsement of this blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matteotarenghi/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

The Question that Begs to be Answered: Has the Story Come to Life?

Three weeks ago I had every intention of picking up where Robert Langdon left off as he crossed over the threshold into another world. Hallowed ground he called it. But before I picked up the trail "in reality" that could deliver us to The Story of the Grail I thought it prudent to update my other blog “Threads that Bind” as I was hoping to put the novels behind me for a spell and didn’t want to lose my grasp on recent connections. In hindsight it was the right thing to do at precisely the right time, for all the wrong reasons. It took about five minutes to discover the five novels from the sixth paragraph of Forrest Gump—the legend that reveals the map to the grail which had previously been overlooked. But this was only one of many surprise revelations.

Up until now, details from real life have been woven through each of the gemstone novels as well as the medieval tale. By way of their connections, the story has grown to take on ever expanding meaning. However just as I was preparing to follow the path of the original story, words and details that originated in the novels suddenly began to appear in stories written in reality that were reporting events unfolding day by day.

Forrest Gump ends with Forrest saying “I can always look back . . . . “ Just for the record, this is one thought we never want to lose sight of. As I look back, the night after I wrote about Robert Langdon stepping over the boundary of make-believe and into reality, the Tournament of Roses BCS National Championship Game was televised on January 7th at 5p.m. The Tournament of Roses website announced: “As the BCS nears the end of its third four-year cycle, Pasadena is proud and honored to host such a pivotal event in collegiate athletics.” The final score of the football game was 37-Alabama 21-Texas.

I wouldn’t have given the championship game a second thought if I wasn’t simultaneously going through the list of details woven through Forrest Gump. In the novel Forrest played for Alabama. Out of curiosity I looked back to refresh my memory about his collegiate football career. His first game was on a Saturday, the 7th day of the week, and Alabama beat the University of Georgia 35-3.

There is no suggestion on my part that the Tournament of Roses Association and the BCS are in cahoots with an imaginary tale. What's important are the WORDS that are tied to the event(s). The word "rose" appears in various manifestations throughout the gemstone; most prominantly in The Da Vinci Code with its emphasis on the Rose Line and the keystone which could be found beneath the sign of the Rose. Whether what is being initiated can be viewed as a pivotal event in terms of history remains to be seen, but my sense is . . . that it is.

Coincidences and synchronicities have become common place but nothing really clicked in my mind until I got to the chapter of Forrest Gump’s story where he is on a space capsule that crash lands in a lake on an island inhabited by cannibals. Big Sam is the leader of the village and was educated in America but seems to speak with a British dialect. As soon as Forrest provides his first name, Big Sam makes the association with General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who Mama indeed named Forrest after. In reality, Nathan Bedford Forrest was a living human being who went from rags to riches as a planter, investor, and slave-trader. He made a name for himself in the Civil War as a brilliant strategist. After the war he organized the Ku Klux Klan and became its first Grand Wizard.

Big Sam is a Yale graduate and asks Forrest where he attended school. Just as Forrest is about to respond that he attended the University of Alabama, he changes his mind and says he went to Harvard. He figures this isn’t exactly a lie because he’d sat in on Professor Quackenbush’s class "Role of the Idiot in World Literature" and even played the role of the Earl of Gloucester in the class presentation of King Lear. Big Sam looks at Forrest and says, “Ah, Harvard—the old Crimson.” When he starts to laugh . . . Forrest senses that trouble is ahead.

I guess we each have our idiot moments and Big Sam got me wondering. I knew that Alabama and Crimson Tide were one and the same but I hadn’t an inkling of Harvard’s team name. If the Internet had been widely available in 1986 Forrest could have jumped on Google to put his worries at ease because Crimson and Harvard go together like two peas in a pod. For me, the revelation developed into an epiphany. The name Crimson Tide is never mentioned in Forrest Gump. You might call this an example of "knowledge concealed, knowledge revealed" which is the mystical meaning of the two triangles that form the Star of David—what Robert Langdon describes as the blade and chalice joined as one. As far as the gemstone is concerned, Crimson Tide represents WORDS that denote God's presence; red is His color and the ocean tide portrays the power and control He has over Creation as in Job 38:11 "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further."

Exactly four months ago I commented that I had racked my brain trying to figure out what the University of Georgia had to do with The Story of the Grail beyond being connected to the publisher of the translation of the story that I preferred. But as I look back upon where this story has traveled, there are multiple ways of connecting threads. Tess and Sean were carried by the ocean tide to a Greek island in The Last Templar. On reality’s side of the boundary that separates it from fictional counterparts, Abelard described his dream to flee the court of Mars, the god of war, in order that he might win learning in the bosom of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. The University of Georgia isn’t anywhere near Greece, but it is situated in a town called Athens. Far more important is that the first collegiate football game in Forrest Gump, against the University of Georgia, is actually a game against the Dawgs. Tracing the thread full circle, in The Story of the Grail “dogs” is used as an analogy to describe the way people have treated other people. Greoreas reminds Gawain of the day he treated him like a dog, a group of Christian’s serving penance on Good Friday tell Perceval the Jews should be slaughtered like dogs for killing Jesus, and the sister of the king of Escavalon yells to the crowd besieging her, “Back rabble, back, mad dogs, vile peasants! Who in the devil sought your presence?”

In the midst of my update to “Threads that Bind” a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in Haiti, bringing "apocalyptic type damage" to Port-au-Prince, the Harbor of the Prince.

Within one day of the quake, Pat Robertson, the American Christian televangelist and host of the “700 Club” said the Haitians had been cursed ever since they swore a pact with the devil. “Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people may not want to talk about it.” I couldn’t resist following this and to be honest it is worthy of its own blog. For the moment let me say that I was initially intrigued that there are stories suggesting that cannibals inhabited the island when Christopher Columbus landed on the shore near Port-au-Prince in 1492 . . . just like the island that Forrest happened upon, although Major Fritch recognized the island in the novel as Borneo.

Amid the chaos and devastation of the quake, thousands of inmates escaped the prison in Port-au-Prince . . . just like Silas had escaped from a prison in the midst of an earthquake in The Da Vinci Code.

Journalists captured the people’s despair over the handling of bodies—they were being buried like dogs. At the end of a windy path, a farmer in a red shirt serves as a guide showing the truck drivers where to unload their truck beds.

A woman wearing a red scarf stood out in a crowd of people attending a funeral.

A father searching the rubble of his home found shoes, pieces of clothing, and a little red elmo.

On the 5th day following the quake a woman named Sonia Flury was rescued. As she lay in her hospital bed she asked to have someone come sit with her while she told them her story. It was a tale of survival in which she fed her daughter urine in an attempt to quench her thirst and keep her alive. Among the novels revealed a week ago that make up the legend of the map to the grail, The Sound and the Fury is comprised of journals written by four persons who each share the events of a day in their life. In the novel Forrest Gump, Sue tosses a bottle of urine onto the face of one of the island natives in an attempt to revive him from a dead faint.

Sometimes my imagination gets the best of me, but the similarities between details that originated in fiction that began appearing on a consistent basis in news reports seemed to be developing into an unthinkable possibility. Chrétien de Troyes wrote with heartfelt intention that The Story of the Grail would somehow find its way into reality and come to life before the 1000 year deadline arrived.

In Chapter 26 of Forrest Gump, a man approaches Forrest telling him that he’s the best “one-man-band” he’d ever heard and wants to write an article about him for the newspaper. Forrest begins to tell him the whole story . . . but the guy bolts half-way through claiming he “can’t print nothin like that cause nobody would’n ever believe it.”

In Chapter 62 of The Da Vinci Code, Teabing explains, “In terms of prophecy, we are currently in an epoch of enormous change. The millennium has recently passed, and with it has ended the two-thousand-year-long astrological Age of Pisces—the fish, which is also the sign of Jesus. As any astrological symbologist will tell you, the Piscean ideal believes that man must be told what to do by higher powers because man is incapable of thinking for himself. Hence it has been a time of fervent religion. Now, however, we are entering the Age of Aquarius—the water bearer—whose ideals claim that man will learn the truth and be able to think for himself. The ideological shift is enormous, and it is occurring right now.” Langdon adds, “Now that we have entered the Age of Aquarius, the End of Days has arrived.”

Chapter 62 of The Last Templar finds Tess Chaykin, Sean Reilly, and William Vance discussing the secret that was of paramount importance to the Templars. Vance discounts the petty myths of alchemy that have followed the knights. “You see their mission was thought to be sacred. Their supporters believed that the Templars were seeking something that would be of immeasurable benefit to mankind.” A hint of a smile breaks through his stern features, “What they didn’t know was that had the Templars been successful, it would have benefitted all of mankind, not just the ‘chosen ones,’ as the Christians of Europe arrogantly deemed themselves.” “They were planning something incredibly daring, brave, and far-reaching, an act of lunacy perhaps but also one of breathtaking courage and vision.”

The Story of the Grail actually takes us a bit further than what The Da Vinci Code proposes. It represents the turning point in our story and initiates a period of spiritual evolution. When The Story of the Grail abruptly stopped, King Arthur had fainted and all the kings and dukes present for the feast at Pentecost rush to raise him . . . instantly.

Before we can begin to raise our own level of consciousness . . . and grasp the football pass that flew 20 feet over and above Forrest Gump's head twenty-four years ago, we need to raise God to His proper place.

In the 12th century, Peter Abelard was persecuted, condemned, and sentenced to silence for the rest of his life by the Church because of the ideas he presented suggesting that God alone was Omnipotent. He didn't deny the Holy Trinity, he suggested that God was not equal in part to the Holy Spirit and the Son. He proposed that God was aware of all things and all intentions and held every human being accountable in like measure to their words and deeds . . . no matter how much time passed before justice could be delivered. He had very Aquarian ideas that each person should decide for themselves what to believe. Abelard went so far as to suggest that if every person would just follow the Golden Rule and treat others as they hoped to be treated themselves, the world wouldn't need organized religion.

As has been said before, numbers bring meaning to the story and take on increasing importance as the legend develops. Pay attention to the numbers that appear. Apply the rules of numerology to reduce each number to a single digit: sum each individual number that appears within a given value. For example the number 68 would be reduced to 5 by first adding 6+8 which equals 14, further reduced until it results in a single digit, 1+4 equals 5. The number 15, which appears repeatedly in Eleanor of Aquitaine's life, is reduced to the number 6 as the sum of 1+5. Zeros are eliminated so that 400,000 carries the same meaning as the number 4. Date values reduced to a single digit is the sum of each number that appears such that 01-12-2010 becomes 7 (1+1+2+2+1).

Let your imagination explore the possibilities. As a general guide within the weave of stories, 1 denotes the Omnipotent God, 3 represents the Christian idea of the Trinity, the number 4 is associated with Forrest Gump and component parts, 5 is tied to The Da Vinci Code and is symbolic of the sacred feminine. The number 6 marks a turning point . . . as if the hand of time has reached the 6 on the face of a clock (probably why Robert Langdon wore an old Mickey Mouse watch) and is the pivotal point at which it begins turning upward; 6 represents the beginning of our journey home. The numbers 7 and 8 each stand for an era within the days of Creation. The legend of the Grail ushers in the 8th day.

Crossing the Boundary that Separates Make-Believe from Reality:

01-07-2010 5 pm (17:00) – The Tournament of Roses, BCS National Championship Game. The final score 37 Alabama’s Crimson Tide, 21 Texas Longhorns.

• Forrest Gump Chapter 3: Transition to college football; Forrest’s first game was on a Saturday; University of Alabama beat the University of Georgia 35 to 3.

01-12-2010 — A 7.0 magnitude quake struck the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault; Port-au-Prince, the Harbor of the Prince, suffered "apocalyptic type" damage.

• Forrest Gump Chapter 5: Forrest gets sent to war. After loading up with supplies and equipment he says he might as well have been carrying a Nebraska "corn shucker." “But this ain’t no football game.”


• The Last Templar, Chapter 26: William Vance looks at the wall behind him on which a calendar hangs. Although the time of day was unimportant to him, dates always had significance. One such date was circled in red.

01-13-2010 – The main prison in Port-au-Prince collapsed in the quake and there are reports of escaped inmates. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011302174.html

• In The Da Vinci Code, Silas looks back upon the day he awoke to the screams of other inmates. He didn’t know what invisible force was shaking the floor on which he slept, nor what mighty hand was trembling the mortar of his stone cell, but as he jumped to his feet a large boulder toppled onto the very spot where he had been sleeping. Bishop Aringarosa rescues a bloody and unconscious Silas from the streets and comforts his fears by presenting a Bible written in French opened to Acts 16 verse 26: “. . . And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and all the doors fell opened.”

01-13-2010 – Pat Robertson said “Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people may not want to talk about.” “. . . they swore a pact with the devil.” http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/13/crimesider/entry6092717.shtml

• In reality, the history of Haiti goes back much further than 200 years. Their story began long before Christopher Columbus landed on the shores near what is now Port-au-Prince. The natives of the island were the first casualties of European expansion and their civilization essentially became extinct. Slave trade and inter-marriage created a mixed population that French settlers called the Maroons because of their reddish-brown color. But the name might also suggest a people abandoned on an island with little hope of rescue or escape. While Christianity is widespread, the indigenous beliefs embrace a God that is Omnipresent; God is everywhere . . . He can be found anywhere one looks.


• Forrest's favorite idiot was Lennie in Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck originally titled his novel Something That Happened until he read a poem which shared the regret the narrator felt for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing the field.


• In Forrest Gump Jenny Curran sang in a band called “The Cracked Eggs” and would perform songs by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Peter Yarrow wrote the lyrics to a song called “Day is Done.” It was the last song the group recorded and became #21 of the Hot 100 Hits in June of 1969.
  
  Tell me why you’re crying, my son
  I know you’re frightened like everyone
  Is it the thunder in the distance you fear?
  Will it help if I stay very near?
  I am here.
  
  And if you take my hand, my son,
  All will be well when the day is done.
  And if you take my hand, my son,
  All will be well when the day is done.
  Day is done, Day is done.
  Day is done, Day is done.
  
  Do you ask why I’m sighing my son,
  You shall inherit what mankind has done.
  In a world filled with sorrow and woe
  If you ask me why this is so, I really don’t know.
  
  Tell me why you’re smiling my son.
  Is there a secret you can tell everyone?
  Do you know more than men that are wise?
  Can you see what we all must disguise
  Through your loving eyes?

01-16-2010 11:02 - On Saturday, President Obama appeared in the Rose Garden with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. “And by coming together in this way, these two leaders send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the world: In these difficult hours, America stands united. We stand united with the people of Haiti, who have shown such incredible resilience, and we will help them to recover and rebuild. Yesterday we witnessed a small but remarkable display of that determination—some of you may have seen it—Haitians with little more than the clothes on their back marched peacefully through a ruined neighborhood, and despite all their loss and all their suffering they sang songs of faith and songs of hope. These are the people we’re called upon to help. Those are the hopes that we’re committed to answering. That’s why the three of us are standing together today.”

• Forrest Gump Chapter 8: Forrest is told he will be given the royal treatment when he visits the White House. When he meets President Johnson in the Rose Garden he shows him his war wound.

01-17-2010 – Two suspected looters lay beaten in the street with their hands bound. One lay motionless with his dreadlock hair stained by a deep pool of crimson blood. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34829978/ns/world_news-americas/?GT1=43001

• Isaiah 63 (King James Version)
  
  The Day of the LORD's Vengeance
  1 Who is this that cometh from Edom,
  with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
  2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat?
  3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
  4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
  5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
  6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

01-18-2010 – After a tense week, 12 children protected by Lifechurch volunteers are evacuated and taken to an orphanage 40 miles away. Two men and two women stayed behind to guard their food, generator and other supplies. The plan was that the drivers would return for the women, but the two men would stay the night. The destination orphanage was in a place called Fond Parisien. For the children, it was like another world. Red-tile roofs protected 20,000 square feet divided among a health clinic, a giant warehouse for food, and a Christian radio-station. Outside a playground was waiting and three horses grazed in the grass under a sliver of moon. Because of the quake, many of the children were choosing to sleep on pallets by the house gate. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/19/2177584.aspx

• Forrest Gump: Forrest slept on a pallet on the floor when he stayed with Jenny.
• The Last Templar: When Aimard determines that his injuries are too great to continue the journey, he calls Martin to his side. "We are in enemy territory and there are only four of you left. Stay together only for as long as you must, then divide into pairs."
• The Story of the Grail: The holy hermit of the forest advised Perceval, "If any woman seeks your aid, a widow, orphan, or a maid, assist her, and you will do well. This service is commendable, and you, as well, will benefit; it's one that you should not omit."
• They went ahead until the pair came to the Wondrous Palace by and by. The entrance way was very high, the doors were beautiful and rich. The paving was of many hues of black, white, violets, red, deep blues, placed skillfully in a design and polished to a brilliant shine. When Sir Gawain had finished walking through it, looking everywhere, he called over to the ferryman, "Dear host, I can find nothing here to give a stranger cause to fear . . ."

01-18-2010 – The steeple clock on St. Pierre’s Catholic Church stopped at 4:53. The church gates are closed; the doors shuttered. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/17/haiti.earthquake.faith/index.html

• The Story of the Grail: When the youth dressed in armor red arrives at Belrepeire, the gate is locked. "The men-at-arms unlocked the door, and opened up the gate, and said to the young man, 'Please come ahead.' They would have been attractive men, if times were easier than then and had not forced them to endure such great misfortunes, that they were much weakened and could hardly keep upright for lack of food and sleep. For if, without, the youth had found the fields were barren, empty ground, within there was impoverishment; he found, no matter where he went, the streets were empty in the town. He saw the houses tumbled down without a man or woman there. Within the town there was a pair of churches: they were abbeys once; one was filled with frightened nuns and one with helpless monks and wary. The youth found neither sanctuary attractive and in good repair. The walls were broken, cracked, and bare with roofless towers. The buildings lay open by night as well as day."


• Mark 13:1-2 (King James Version)
  The Destruction of the Temple and Signs before the End of the Age
  1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!
  2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

01-19-2010 – “They bury you like dogs.” It goes against what the people hold sacred. “The widespread voodoo belief is that the dead continue living and the family must stay connected forever to their ancestors.” Ira Lowenthal, an anthropologist explains, “Convening with the dead is what allows them to link themselves by bloodline to a pre-slave past.” A long way down a windy path, a farmer in a red shirt acts as a guide . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/americas/19grave.html

01-20-2010 – Exactly eight days later, a 6.1 magnitude quake centered 35 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince shakes people from their sleep. It is a day marked by three miracles. A 26-year-old was rescued and sang hymns as she was taken away in an ambulance; a 15-day-old baby who’d spent half her life in the rubble was plucked to safety; and a 69-year-old woman who’d been trapped in the ruins of the residence of Haiti’s Roman Catholic archbishop was freed. She said she was able to talk with a vicar for the first few days until he fell silent and then she could only pray: “I talked only to my boss, God,” she said, “I didn’t need any more humans.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6994922.ece?print=yes&randnum=1264015702453

• In The Da Vinci Code Sister Sandrine lived in a modest room within the Church of Saint-Sulpice. When she realized the ancient wheels had been set in motion she retreated to her quarters and in desperation attempted to reach a human voice at each of the four numbers she’d been given. Nobody answered her. With her final phone call, she left a message on the voice machine belonging to the Grand Master himself.

01-20-2010 – Normally wary Haitians welcome U.S. However . . . “There have been some reports and news stories out there that the U.S. is invading Haiti,” Colonel Kane said. “We’re not invading Haiti. That’s ludicrous. This is humanitarian relief.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34949077/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/

• Forrest Gump, Chapter 9 - Mister Wilkins had ordered them to never go up to any Chinamen without first getting his permission, but Forrest saw a little boy with Down Syndrome on top of a Chinese mama's shoulders and went over anyway. He took a ping pong ball out of his pocket and put his X on it and gave it to the child. The first thing the boy does is put the ball in his mouth, but when that got straightened out, he reached out and grabbed Forrest's fingers with his hands. And then a great big grin came across the little boy's face and all of a sudden Forrest could see tears in his mama's eyes. She started chattering and the interpreter told him it was the first time the little feller had ever smiled. When Forrest began to walk away the little boy threw the ping pong ball and bounced it off the back of his head. Someone took a photograph right at that moment and, of course, it wound up in the newspapers. "Young Chinese Displays His Hatred of American Capitalists," the caption said.

01-20-2010 – “God has abandoned us! The foreigners have abandoned us!” A woman yelled and she rushed past a pile of decaying bodies while tearing at her hair. Of her four children, three died and the one surviving daughter had broken limbs and a serious infection.

• The Story of the Grail: "The maid was sitting there, and had this maid looked joyful or been glad, he thought that she would have been fair; she ran her fingers through her hair, which she tore out by strands and rent, and she was raising loud lament about a knight. She uttered cries and kissed his forehead, mouth, and eyes, and as the lord Gawain drew near, he saw the knight's wounds were severe.

01-21-2010 – Haiti plans to move 400,000, the first wave of 100,000 to be sent to transitional tent villages of 10,000 each.

• Forrest Gump: The day arrives for Forrest and Sue to put shrimp in the pond; they have 50 pounds of shrimp in the bait well. They buy 500 pounds of cottonseed and put 100 pounds of it in the pond.

01-23-2010 – Puerto Rico’s 250-feet long by 80-feet wide Barge of Hope, loaded 5 pallets high of food, water, medicine, generators, and sundries was due to arrive. Its 4 million pounds of food could feed the people of Port-au-Prince for 7 days; it would take 150 planes to carry as much cargo. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/22/haiti.earthquake/index.html

• The Story of the Grail: "That day high winds blew violently and drove a barge across the sea. Its cargo was a load of wheat and many other things to eat, and as God willed it, safe and sound, it landed on the castle's ground." "We have salt bacon, bread, and wine, and many oxen, pigs, and swine to slaughter, if you are in need."

01-23-2010 – Sonia Flury is 40 years old and was trapped for 5 days with her 20-year-old daughter who she fed urine to while trying to keep her alive. In the hospital, Sonia asked for someone to sit with her while she told her story. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/22/haiti.sonia.flury/index.html

• Forrest Gump: In the 6th paragraph of Chapter 1, The Sound and the Fury is included within the legend of the map to the grail. It's a novel built upon the narration or journals provided by four people who share the events of a day from each of their respective lives.
• Forrest crash lands in a space capsule accompanied by Major Fritch and Sue. When one of the natives from the nearby village approaches the capsule, he passes out in a dead faint when Sue opens the door. He grabs a bottle of urine and tosses it on the islander's face to revive him.

01-24-2010 – Haitians return to their ancestral homes, leaving behind apocalyptic scenes for the tranquility of the farm. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35034423/ns/world_news-americas

• The Last Templar: Home. A distant memory. Another life.

01-24-2010 – Rescued after eleven days in the rubble, a survivor says the first thing he wants to do is find a church to give thanks. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34928950/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake

• The Story of the Grail: Mother's advice to her son before he leaves to become a knight: "Above all else I recommend that church and chapel you attend. Pray to Our Lord, that He may give great honor to you while you live and in such deeds your life expend that you may come to a good end."

01-25-2010 – An opportunity for Haiti to transform; a time to help people help themselves. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35064891/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake

• The Story of the Grail: Perceval to the Proud Knight of the Moor: "Knight, on my word, I never will, show any mercy to you 'til you show some toward your lady love. She never has been worthy of the cruelties you've made her bear, I can assure you and will swear."
• The Holy Bible (King James Version) Isaiah 62:9-12
  9But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
  10Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
  11Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
  12And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

01-25-2010 – Thousands huddle in the Champs de Mars plaza. One man sits among the remnants of his family’s life: shoes, pieces of clothing, and a little red elmo. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35060237/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake

• In Haiti, the Champs de Mars plaza is home for the seat of the state, the Presidential Palace.
• In Paris, France, the Champs de Mars is located in the 7th arrondissement or administrative district. The name means "Field of Mars" after Mars, the god of war.
• In the 12th century, Abelard left behind the court of Mars to find wisdom within the nurturing embrace of Minerva.

01-21-2010 – Hugo Chavez accuses the United States of causing the earthquake in Haiti by testing a “tectonic weapon.” He claims the U.S. was “playing God.” http://www.prisonplanet.com/chavez-says-us-weapon-caused-haiti-quake.html

• Forrest Gump, Chapter 4: "Now there is a secret thing that Coach Bryant and them done figgered out, an nobody sposed to mention it, even to ourselfs. They been teachin me how to catch a football pass." ". . . Coach Bryant, he say this gonna be our 'secret weapon'—like a 'Adam Bomb' or somethin . . ."

01-23-2010 – Back-to-back storms wash trash ashore, leaving California beaches a mess. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34926340/ns/weather/

• The Last Templar: two storms develop at sea that are unlike anything anyone can remember.
• The Da Vinci Code: The pendulum had swung. Mother Earth had become a man's world and the gods of destruction and war were taking their toll. The male ego had spent two millennia running unchecked by its female counterpart. The Priory of Sion believed that it was this obliteration of the sacred feminine in modern life that had caused what the Hopi Indians called koyanisquatsi'—life out of balance'—an unstable situation marked by testosterone-fueled wars, a plethora of misogynistic societies, and a growing disrespect for Mother Earth.

01-21-2010 – She went looking for shoes and when it was over, she’d lost a leg. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/21/haiti-doctors-warn-amputee-crisis

• Forrest Gump: Mama always said that you could tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wore. And then Lieutenant Dan lost both his legs in the war . . .
• The Story of the Grail: At the Wondrous Palace, they went until they reached the flight of stairs before the palace site, and at the foot, they saw a one-legged man who sat upon a bunch of gladioli. . . . The boatman pulled the lord aside. "What's your opinion, sir, I beg, about that man who has one leg?" "His leg is not of aspen wood," said Sir Gawain, "My word, I could see beautiful jewels set in it."

01-20-2010 – A second chance. Limbs of Love is packing prosthetics to send to Haiti, to give them some sort of hope. “Children are always the easiest to work with. You fit them with what you can and they take off running.” http://www.khou.com/news/local/Houston-charity-hopes-artificial-limbs-give-Haitian-amputees-a-second-chance-82216277.html

• Forrest Gump: "Run, Forrest! Run!"
• In the end, Lieutenant Dan was fitted with a new pair of legs.

01-26-2010 – A new book called Why He is a Saint describes how Pope John Paul II used a belt to whip himself in order to bring himself closer to Christian perfection. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/27/pope.flagellate/index.html

• The Da Vinci Code begins with the murder of Jacques Saunière. After Silas finishes updating the Teacher on the events of the night and the four men he'd murdered, he hangs up the phone, his skin tingling with anticipation. “I must purge my soul of today’s sins.” Forgiveness was assured.
• In defense against critics, Aringarosa thinks to himself, People fear what they don't understand. "The group enjoyed the full endorsement and blessing of the Vatican. Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Pope himself."

01-27-2010 – Day 15, a 16 year-old girl is rescued from rubble. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/27/haiti.rescue.girl/index.html?hpt=T2

02-09-2010 - A 28-year-old man is found; he survived 4 weeks in the rubble. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/08/haiti.rescue/index.html?hpt=Mid

• The Last Templar: William Vance, "Something of a miracle wouldn't you say?"

In The Last Templar, William Vance descends into the basement of a burned out church. He sits at a table with the ancient document spread out before him and the decoder next to it, relishing the moment. To himself, he murmurs, "At last." His voice is soft from too little use. He looks upon the first line of the faded writing and begins the next crucial stage of his personal odyssey.

An odyssey, the end result of which he knew would rock the world.

Looking back . . . on January 19th, 2010 a journalist wrote: The chaos in Haiti has been described as unimaginable. “But let’s try to imagine what the equivalent devastation might look like in the U.S.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34923036/ns/business-answer_desk/

When The Last Templar was brought to life in its screen adaptation, it opens with a television journalist taping a segment for the late edition of the evening news: “We are excited and in fact relieved to finally have this exhibition come to New York.”

Sometimes my imagination gets carried away, but considering all of the above . . . I felt compelled to google earthquakes in New York.

“The probability is not zero, and the damage could be great.” “It could be like something out of a Greek myth.” http://www.livescience.com/environment/080821-new-york-earthquakes.html

The question that begs to be answered is: Has the legend come to life? You might follow that thought and ask yourself whether this, in itself, would be enough to "rock the world?"

Both The Da Vinci Code and The Last Templar claim that time is of the essence. This story isn't over yet. As Bishop Aringarosa told Bezu Fache, "God uses us all."

Permission to use photo does not include endorsement of this blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Legend is True: La Clef de Voûte

In the year 1185 a minstrel shared the last lines of The Story of the Grail and they were etched in the mind of the audience. In the moment the tale abruptly stopped, Gawain was unable to leave the Wondrous Palace and had sent a messenger to Orkney town where King Arthur was holding court for Pentecost. When the messenger entered the palace hall he found King Arthur seated with one hundred kings and another hundred dukes all waiting to dine. But King Arthur's face was sorrowful and filled with care because his nephew wasn't there. Then suddenly he fell down in a faint and everyone ran to raise him instantly.

From her seat on the balcony
the lady Lore saw them all
and the commotion in the hall.
She sped downstairs and sought the queen,
upset and shocked by what she'd seen.
The queen, who saw her come along,
asked lady Lore what was wrong.

Not another word was written as part of the original story by Chrétien de Troyes who seemingly vanished into the mist. The court poet was never seen or heard from again . . . if he ever truly was.

Fast forward to the 21st century. The last time we saw Robert Langdon, he was crossing the boundary that separates make-believe from reality in search of a woman who holds the secret of the legend of the grail. The very words that the Teacher spoke to Silas on that fateful night when The Da Vinci Code began were effectively brought to life through the events that unfolded . . . and describe the final circumstance of the characters at its conclusion. "And so the legend is true."

"According to lore, the brotherhood had created a map of stone . . . or a keystone—an engraved tablet that revealed the final resting place of the brotherhood's greatest secret . . . ."

When Robert Langdon first gazed upon the cryptex he could formulate only one conclusion. He was holding the Priory keystone. The legend was specific.

The keystone is an encoded stone that lies beneath the sign of the Rose.

He inquires of Sophie as to whether her grandfather had ever spoke to her of something called la clef de voûte, a common architectural term for the vault in an archway. He explains that every stone archway requires a central, wedge-shaped stone at the top which locks all the pieces together and carries the weight. In English we call it a keystone.

Langdon admits the Priory keystone is not his specialty. His interest in the Holy Grail is primarily symbologic and he had tended to ignore lore regarding how to actually find it. But he knew that people had been searching for the keystone in French churches. Grail seekers had concluded the keystone was a literal architectural wedge, with many believing the map to the Holy Grail was incorporated high in an archway of some forgotten church, mocking the blind churchgoers who wandered beneath it.

Sophie looks at Langdon and argues that the cryptex can't be the keystone because she was certain her grandfather had made it and there was no way it could be part of an ancient Grail legend.

"Actually," Langdon replies, feeling a tingle of excitement ripple through him, "the keystone is believed to have been created by the Priory sometime in the past couple of decades."

In reality, Langdon was correct . . . at least about the timing. The keystone, the map to the grail is incorporated into Winston Groom's novel Forrest Gump published in 1986. Not only does the novel use its twenty-six chapters to record every twist and turn of the path through the five books belonging to the gemstone, it provides a legend of the map informing the audience what to look for, encoded in the sixth paragraph of the first chapter.

Forrest says, “Now I know something bout idiots. Probly the only thing I do know bout, but I done read up on em—all the way from that Doy-chee-eveski guy’s idiot, to King Lear’s fool, and Faulkner’s idiot, Benjie, and even ole Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird—now he was a serious idiot. The one I like best tho is ole Lennie in Of Mice and Men. Mos of those writer fellas got it straight—cause their idiots always smarter than people give them credit for.”

Five books—just like the gemstone itself—each with an “idiot” character, which at face value are seemingly unrelated to each other, yet reveal what to anticipate in the thousand plus pages we have available to work with. Five novels that roll from one to the next, with shared details and woven threads almost like a universe within a universe . . . the legend of the map to the grail. The story of the story, within a story.

For the record, my thoughts are given to shining a light on the path through Forrest Gump, The Da Vinci Code, The Last Templar, and The Story of the Grail. Summaries of the five works of "literary art" referenced in Forrest Gump's sixth paragraph are described below and were obtained from Wikipedia.com:

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin is 27 years old and is as gullible as a person can be; he also possesses all of the qualities that affirm humankind’s greatness. Myshkin suffers from epilepsy and has spent much of his life in an asylum, separated from the world. But he’s been treated with some success in Switzerland and is finally returning to Russia. The Myshkin family line ends with him and a female cousin named Lizaveta. On the train ride to Saint Petersburg, Myshkin meets and befriends two gentlemen, the dark and enamored Rogozhin and a quasi-lawyer name Lebedyev. He arrives as the perfect human being, untainted by a world where sinners abound and money is of primary importance. His character is associated with light while Rogozhin is submerged in darkness, figuratively and literally. Myshkin is likened to Christ; Rogozhin can be perceived as the devil.

Love arrives in various manifestations. The two men love the same woman, beautiful Nastasya, who has a dwindling reputation having once been kept as a concubine by a wealthy man named Afanasy Ivanovitch. Rogozhin is passionately in love with Nastasya. Myshkin loves her out of pity or what is described as Christian love. Myshkin also tangles with romantic love with Aglaia—the daughter of his cousin—who identifies the prince with the protagonist of a famous Russian poem by Pushkin, “The Poor Knight” because of his extravagantly chivalrous and tragic quest to defend the honor of Nastasya in the face of ridicule and at times contempt. In the end, Rogozhin murders Nastasya and shows her body to Myshkin who has a complete mental breakdown and is once again an “idiot.”

The novel was considered one of the most brilliant achievements of the Russian “Golden Age” of Literature. It was not translated into English until the twentieth century.

King Lear by William Shakespeare: Shakespeare wrote King Lear based on accounts of a semi-legendary Celtic figure who he is said to have discovered in an edition of The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande by Raphael Holinshed . . . who himself discovered the story in The Historia Regum Britanniae written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century . . . which was a translation from an even older book written in the British language. Monmouth’s work captured the Welsh nation from about 1100 b.c. to A.D. 689 and included extensive coverage of the reign of King Arthur. Monmouth dedicated his book to Robert, Earl of Gloucester.

In 1155, Robert Wace wrote Roman de Brut, which was a version of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History translated to French, and dedicated his work to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England. The modern day Britannia.com quotes Wace: “I know not if you have heard tell the marvelous gestes and errant deeds related so often to King Arthur. They have been noised about this mighty realm for so great a space that truth has turned to fable and an idle song. Such rhymes are neither bare lies, nor gospel truth. They should not be considered either an idiot’s tale, or given by inspiration. The minstrel has sung his ballad, the storyteller told over his tale so frequently, little by little he has decked and painted, till by reason of his embellishment the truth stands hid in the trappings of the tale. Thus to make a delectable tune to your ear, history goes masking as fable.”

King Lear’s fool has an important role in the first act and then disappears without explanation in the third act. Deeper meaning of the characters and their relationships are garnered by focusing on specific words. The fool’s last line is “And I’ll to bed at noon,” leading many to think that he is to die at the highest point of his life. A popular explanation for the fool’s disappearance is that the actor playing the fool also plays the role of Cordelia. The two characters are never on stage simultaneously. When Cordelia dies in the final scene, King Lear holds her and says, “And my poor fool is hanged,” seemingly supporting the fact that the fool and Cordelia were one and the same.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner: The story is about former aristocrats struggling to deal with the dissolution of their family and its reputation. The novel is separated into four distinct parts, each told by a different person. The first part is told by Benjy Compson, a 33-year old man with severe mental handicaps. Benjy’s narrative is dated April 7, 1928 and is characterized by frequent chronological leaps. The second section writes from the point of view of Benjy’s older brother on June 2, 1910, and the events leading up to his suicide. The third section, April 6, 1928, captures the voice of Jason, a cynical younger brother. And the fourth section, written on the 8th of April, one day after Benjy’s entry, introduces a third person omniscient point of view, where the author presents glimpses of thought and deeds of everyone in the family.

It has been said that a simple plot summary cannot adequately describe this novel, as much of its strength lies in its technical achievements and lyrical prose. The name of the novel was taken from Macbeth’s soliloquy in act 5, scene 5 of William Shakespeare’s play:

“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
creeps in this petty pace from day to day
to the last syllable of recorded time,
and all our yesterdays have lighted fools
the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more: it is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.”

The notion of a tale told by an idiot is obvious in the case of Benjy, but the idea can also be extended to Quentin and Jason who display their own varieties of idiocy. They’re all idiots.

When Faulkner won the Noble Prize in Literature for this novel, he said that people must write from the heart, “universal truths.” Otherwise they signify nothing.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: The story takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional “tired, old town” of Maycomb, Alabama. Arthur “Boo” Radley is a recluse who never sets foot outside his house; he dominates the imagination of Jem, Scout, and Dill who fantasize about how to get him outside. As time passes, Scout and Jem discover that someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley house. Their father, Atticus, is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman. The whole family is ridiculed and taunted. Danger is averted when Scout, Jem, and Dill shame an angry mob intent on lynching Robinson, by forcing them to view the situation from Atticus’ and Tom’s point of view. Despite evidence presented during the trial that supports his innocence, Tom Robinson is found guilty. He is shot and killed when he attempts to escape the prison. Bob Ewell, the accusing woman’s father who was humiliated during the trial vows revenge. He attacks Scout and Jem on their way home from school following the Halloween pageant. Jem’s arm is broken, but amid the confusion, someone comes to the children’s rescue and carries him home. Scout realizes that it’s Boo Radley. Bob Ewell was killed in the struggle. Boo asks Scout to walk him home and after he disappears behind the front door of his home, Scout imagines life from Boo’s perspective and regrets that they never repaid him for the gifts he had given them.

Harper Lee grew up in Alabama. Several people and events from her childhood parallel those of the fictional Scout. Lee’s father was an attorney similar to Atticus Finch, who defended two black men accused of murder in 1919. After they were convicted, hanged, and mutilated, he never tried another criminal case. Lee had a brother, who like Jem in the book, was four years older. Their mother was mentally and emotionally absent; a black housekeeper came every day to care for both the home and the children. The character Dill was modeled on Lee’s childhood friend, Truman Capote, who lived with his aunt next door to Lee each summer. Capote had an incredible imagination and a gift for telling stories. Both he and Lee loved to read. Lee was a scrappy tomboy, quick to fight while Capote was ridiculed for his advanced vocabulary and his lisp. She and Capote would write and act out stories; their friendship grew as each felt alienated from their peers. Down the street there was a family who lived in a house that was boarded up. The son of the family got into trouble with the law and his father kept him at home out of shame for 24 years. He was hidden until virtually forgotten.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Two migrant field workers arrive at a ranch near Soledad, California during the Great Depression, hoping to “work up a stake.” George Milton is an intelligent and cynical man. Lennie Small is an ironically named man who is not only large in size but has immense physical strength. Lennie is of limited mental abilities and has a tendency to rouse up trouble because of a personal aspiration to tend to rabbits—he likes to stroke soft things. He was accused of attempted rape in the last town after touching a young woman’s dress. At the ranch, dreams appear to be moving closer to reality. But the dream crashes when Lennie accidentally kills the young and attractive wife of Curly, the ranch owner’s son, while trying to stroke her hair. A lynch mob gathers. George, realizing he is doomed to a life of loneliness and despair like all the other migrant workers and wanting to spare Lennie a painful death at the hands of the vengeful and angry Curly, shoots Lennie in the back of his head before the mob can find him and after they had recited their dreams of owning their own land.

In 1937, Steinbeck was quoted by The New York Times: “I was a bindlestiff myself for quite a spell. I worked in the same country that story is laid in. The characters are composites to a certain extent. Lennie was a real person. He’s in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He didn’t kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. I hate to tell you how many times I saw him do it. We couldn’t stop him until it was too late.”

In 1938 Steinbeck wrote in his personal journal, “In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other."

Throughout Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck emphasizes dreams. George aspires for independence, to be his own boss, to have a homestead, and most importantly to be “somebody.” Lennie aspires to be with George and to quench his fixation on soft objects. Candy aspires to reassert his responsibility lost with the death of his dog, and for security in his old age. Crooks dreams of owning a small homestead where he can express self-respect, acceptance, and security. Curley’s wife dreams to be an actress, to satisfy her desire for fame that was lost when she married Curly.

Fate is felt most heavily as the characters’ aspirations are destroyed as George is unable to protect Lennie. Steinbeck presents this as “something that happened,” which postulates a non-judgmental point of view.

Structured in three acts of two chapters each, Steinbeck intended the writing to be both a novella and a script for a play. He wanted to write a novel that could be played from its lines, or a play that could be read like a novel.

It was originally titled Something That Happened, however, Steinbeck changed the title after reading Robert Burn’s poem, "To a Mouse," which tells of the regret the narrator feels for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing the field; it suggests that no plan is fool-proof and no one can ever be completely prepared for what the future brings.


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A Story that Turns on a Single Detail

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In the world of make-believe, Tess Chaykin was once considered archaeology’s rising star. As the story's protagonist, she revives a dream to recover something truly meaningful for the world . . . that potentially results in the greatest loss of historical significance spanning the previous two thousand years.

If The Last Templar had continued beyond Tess's return to New York City, we would have witnessed the personal plundering of self esteem. But the story didn't progress further and we're left to imagine her feelings after having held the Gospel of Jeshua in her hands . . . in the moments before the wind billowed the sheets of parchment like the sails of a ship and delivered them once and for all into the crashing waves. If Tess were a living and breathing human being she would be haunted by the single detail she knew was missing the moment she gazed upon its words. Was the gospel authentic?

"Veritas vos liberabit!" The truth will set you free! The very words that the fourth horseman said as he held the ancient decoder in his hands at the onset of the novel are effectively brought to life through the events that unfold . . . and describe the final circumstance of the surviving characters at its conclusion.

In essence, the novel assumed the objective of a sacred story. But the odyssey isn’t over yet.

Unbeknownst to Tess, the audience is privy to a flashback from the 13th century in which William of Beaujeu confesses the truth about the origin of the document, stating the only thing that matters is that their enemies believe it's real: “How many have died as we battle for our God, for his supremacy? We are drenched in blood, we and our foes alike. And we bleed the same. Will we ever set aside our hatred for each other? We will … with this.”

In multiple scenes, Vance challenges the divinity of Jesus, claiming he was a man, only a man. But when Tess asks for confirmation about what he’s suggesting, the response can be perceived as conflicting: "You’re saying that there’s no . . . that there’s no Virgin Birth? No resurrection?”

“No, Tess.”

“No miracles?”

Vance takes a more serious tone, “Thousands of years ago men needed gods to deal with death and plagues . . . and unreliable harvests! But now . . .”

In the world that belongs to William Vance, honesty is the only requirement. All he wants is for the world to know the truth.

In hindsight, Vance's impromptu appearance as soon as Tess retrieves the treasured document from the falcon head suggests that the supposed diary of a carpenter named Jeshua of Nazareth never stood a chance. Not because of what it said, but because false representation, even for a noble cause, isn't worthy of the precious short time we have to bring closure to our sacred story. Everything needed to accomplish the Templars' goal . . . and so much more, was already in place and merely waiting for the proper time.

Two thousand years ago a wise teacher said, "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near." (Matthew 24:32) As Jesus continued to describe the days when the old ways of thinking would come to pass, he shared another parable about a man who harvested where he had not sown and gathered where he had never scattered seed. (Matthew 25:14-30)

And then, sometime around the year 1185, Chrétien de Troyes sowed the seed of a tale:

He little reaps who little sows.
The man who wants good harvests strows
his seeds on such a kind of field,
God grants a hundredfold in yield;
on barren ground good seeds but lie
until they shrivel up and die.
So Chrétien sows, disseminating
this story he’s initiating,
and sows it in such fertile soil,
he can but profit by his toil,

This tale was called the Story of the Grail. Now, the tender twigs of spring make fine knots to guide the way so nobody will go astray, while the seed that was planted more than eight hundred years ago has spread from the medieval town of Troyes, France to every region of the Western world.

Something of a miracle as William Vance would say.

On reality’s side of the boundary that separates it from make-believe, by the time Raymond Khoury’s novel was published, Dan Brown had already put the wheels in motion to revive an older story using Robert Langdon as his leading character—a professor whose “visibility had increased a hundredfold after his involvement in a widely publicized incident at the Vatican.”

In the final scene of The Da Vinci Code, Langdon follows the Arago markers to the Louvre. As he steps over bushes onto what he perceives as hallowed ground, he claims it’s as if he were crossing over into another world. Becoming fully awakened to the unthinkable possibility, he gazes at his surroundings and reflects upon the words of the final clue that Jacques Saunière left for him to follow:

The Holy Grail 'neath the ancient Roslin waits.
The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates.
Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies.
She rests at last beneath the starry skies.

Symi:Threads of Ancient Stories

In The Last Templar, the heist of the Vatican treasures in New York City attracts multiple investigative agencies before Sean Reilly is told, “So it looks like it’s your baby after all.” Much to Tess’s surprise and pleasure, Sean follows her to Turkey where the discovery of the hidden astrolabe triggers a race to locate the sunken ship called the Falcon Temple. When the pair escapes shipwreck, they’re carried by the ocean waves to the shores of Symi, an island named after Poseidon’s wife that is said to be the birthplace of the Three Graces—the attendants of Aphrodite, the goddess of love . . . Venus, as Robert Langdon refers to her in The Da Vinci Code.

Beneath the budding relationship between the FBI agent and the sagacious archeologist is a fabric of details woven from a real life story that began almost nine hundred years ago when Peter Abelard wrote about the many misfortunes he encountered in life.

Abelard had good intentions when he set out as a youth, claiming to have fled from the court of Mars—the god of war—in hope that he might win learning in the bosom of Minerva—the goddess of wisdom. But his life as a philosopher and theologian repeatedly took tragic turns as a result of his intellectual pursuits and an attraction he could not abate for a young prodigy named Heloise whom he arranged to tutor under the roof of her uncle’s home . . . and availed his services well into the wee hours of the night:

“Oh, how great was the uncle's grief when
he learned the truth, and how bitter was the
sorrow of the lovers when we were forced to
part! With what shame was I overwhelmed,
with what contrition smitten because of the
blow which had fallen on her I loved, and
what a tempest of misery burst over her by
reason of my disgrace! Each grieved most, not
for himself, but for the other. Each sought to
allay, not his own sufferings, but those of the
one he loved. The very sundering of our bodies
served but to link our souls closer together; the
plentitude of the love which was denied to us
inflamed us more than ever. Once the first
wildness of shame had passed, it left us more
shameless than before, and as shame died within
us the cause of it seemed to us ever more desirable.
And so it chanced with us as, in the stories that
the poets tell, it once happened with Mars and
Venus when they were caught together.”

Not long after Abelard and Heloise were discovered in a compromising situation, Heloise realized she was pregnant. On a night when her uncle was away, Abelard stole her from the house and took her to his homeland where she stayed with his sister until the baby was born. Heloise named their son Astrolabe. In the real life story, the discovery of the baby Astrolabe in the distant town initiated a storm of emotions and events that began with the lovers’ marriage, yet culminated with Heloise being sent to a convent . . . which triggered Abelard’s castration by a group of thugs who came like thieves in the night.

In authentic Grail fashion, The Last Templar straddles the boundary that separates make-believe from reality as it breathes life into old souls, imaginatively reincarnating them in a time and place where their story can finally be put right. In the modern day setting the island of Symi provides good soil from which love can sprout; it’s a place where faith and hope are embedded in the fabric of people’s lives without constraints imposed by religious dogma.

There are, however, subtle adjustments that occur between Raymond Khoury's novel and Suzette Couture's screen adaptation of the story. Sean remains the Lent observing FBI agent, though his surname changes from Reilly to Daley. In the novel, the oiled skin pouch that contains the mariner’s astrolabe is hidden beneath a carved stone at the bottom of a man-made lake and birthed through a small opening into the surrounding water; in the movie the astrolabe is recovered from under a grave marker in the relics of a church buried beneath dust and ash. The local doctor, Costa Mavromaras, and his wife Eleni, who provide care for the storm battered pair in the book, are replaced by a Greek savant named Konstantine.

Tess Chaykin keeps the same name but a transformation occurs in her underlying identity as details acquired from Heloise diminish and she assumes the qualities of someone who is more ambitious, someone who has more courage and hungers for victory. In the movie Tess introduces herself to Sean Daley as the “sequel to the prequel.” She is no longer associated with the woman who gave birth to Astrolabe . . . she becomes the woman who rescues something of great importance from the grave. In her new incarnation she insists on taking the driver’s seat no matter how rough the terrain and has a preference for designer heels. If there is any truth to the statement that you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear . . . Tess’s collection of Manolo Blahniks lean toward the flair for fashion once entertained by Eleanor of Aquitaine.

When it comes time for Tess to say good-bye to the people on the Greek island, Konstantine inquires about a comment she made when they first met: “You said to me your father found the Cross of Constantine. That’s the Emperor Constantine?”

Tess smiles, “It was his greatest find. When I was a child, I used to think that someone came down out of the sky and whispered in his ear to tell him where to find it.”

Konstantine grasps onto the opportunity in her words, “Maybe you were right because children have a way to see the truth. Their minds do not get confused with questions of reason. That’s why I resist growing up.” He chuckles at the simplicity of his statement and then sends her off with a blessing, “God be with you.”

Assuming each character brings something to the gemstone, Konstantine infuses the story with a spiritual presence, but his real gift is that he understands the role of sacred stories. His parting words—the wisdom he wants Tess to take with her—distinguish the underpinnings of Greek mythology that linger on the island from what belongs to the Western world.

Anyone familiar with life as it exists in Greece today would agree that gods and goddesses still have a presence and ancient myth is honored, despite a Westernized society. It’s probably the closest setting we have in the modern world that resembles the coexistence of pagan ideologies and Church doctrine that the Emperor Constantine confronted in the 4th century. The island of Symi becomes the stepping stone across the boundary of make-believe into reality and the imaginary character Konstantine is charged with designating each sacred thread to its proper place. When we can discern the full significance of his words, we will have discovered at least one of the secrets of life.

The scenario that’s forming celebrates an old world strategy that will be played out more than once before this odyssey has ended. In his book The Closing of the Western Mind, Charles Freeman describes the sophisticated way Greeks used myth:

“Here a dilemma, based on the story lines of ancient myths, was presented in a play and acted through so that the consequences of the characters choosing one solution rather than another could be assessed by an audience, a truly democratic way of airing ethical issues. In his Poetics Aristotle argued that the purpose of tragic drama was to give them some form of emotional catharsis, an experience which would make them more complete human beings.”

In The Last Templar, as Tess is leaving the island, all possibilities of a manuscript capable of changing the world have been destroyed. Symi provided an opportunity for her to witness faith and hope first hand. She's certain that to tamper with something that brings so much meaning to people would do more harm than good and intentionally keeps what she recovered from the falcon head a secret, then takes a stand against William Vance when he attempts to acquire possession of it.

However, Tess unintentionally hinders what she is hoping to protect when she fails to recognize the presence of God in her midst. Her faith is invested in a glimpse of humanity that isn't consistent with her experiences in New York City, or those found in much of the modern world. Figuratively speaking, when Vance falls over the rocky cliff . . . God is as good as dead.

In the novel, Tess considers leaving the Big Apple and moving to Arizona where she and those she loves can carve out a better life, away from the crime and violence that permeates the city. In the movie, she returns home and rushes back into the daily routine . . . running to beat the clock to watch her daughter exhibit the skills she’s developing in self-defense. Tess jumps for joy, “Whoo! I’ve created a monster!”

Oblivious to the activities behind her, Tess is surprised when Sean Daley begins speaking over her shoulder, repeating the words she shared with him while he was in a coma. Sean provides Tess with a new pair of boots to replace those lost during their adventure at sea. The boots serve as a reminder that her work isn’t finished. More importantly, they're a link to a memory that can be reflected back upon.

If there is a saving grace, it's that the Greek sacred story has already run its course and between Pandora's curiosity, her marriage to Afterthought, and the hope that they released into the world for all mankind . . . questions belonging to reason still exist in the minds of those who have grown up in the shadow of the story.

We're left to contemplate the implications of what has transpired and wonder how our own story might have ended if events had gone a different way.

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Just an Illusion? A Collaborative Effort? Or God Himself Taking a Personal Interest in How This Story Plays Out?

In Forrest Gump, Winston Groom foretells the sequence of the gemstone books in the form of football game. After the first half in the Orange Bowl, Snake, the quarterback tells the players, “We’re gonna’ run the Forrest Series now.” He throws the ball to Forrest; Nebraska puts two fellas—Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code and William Vance from The Last Templar—to chase after him, leaving Gwin—Gawain in The Story of the Grail—the end, with nobody to chase him around.

In the first chapter of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown uses Silas to inform the audience, “All four concurred. Independently.” “Their agreement was too great for coincidence.”

The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury begins with flashbacks to events that occurred more than seven hundred years ago. Four men, traveling in pairs, are given the task to deliver a letter that leads to the location of the sunken Falcon Temple and the manuscript hidden in its figurehead. In the end, only one of the four completes the journey.

As the modern day portion of Khoury’s novel gets underway, the fourth horseman— who organized the raid on the Treasures of the Vatican show at the Met—carefully works his way down a set of stairs into an underground chamber that is lit with dozens of flickering candles. We’re privy to the thoughts that come to his mind as he carries an unusual contraption across the room. Home. A distant memory. Another life.

After setting the ancient decoder upon a sagging wood table, he rummages through a pile of boxes and retrieves documents from a folder, then spreads them out next to the machine.

“He murmurs, ’At last.’ His voice was soft, but cracked from too little use.”

His movements down into the cellar of the burned out church are fitting for the layer of The Story of the Grail that the novel reveals; in the medieval tale, beneath the adventures of the knights and deeper than the threads borrowed from Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life, the story of Abelard and Heloise is intricately woven.

Khoury infuses Sean Reilly and Tess Chaykin with a mutual attraction that rises from within and seemingly lifts an ageless memory to a time and place where love can at last be nurtured. Reilly is the devout Catholic that Abelard claimed to be, while Tess is free to express Heloise’s doubts about faith and religion without fear of reprisal. And if truth can be extracted from the novel concerning who contributed what to the legend of the grail, it seems likely that Abelard's ideas laid the groundwork while Heloise dug deep and discovered something that she was personally unwilling to explode upon the medieval world.

Heloise was considered a prodigy, fluent in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek.

“But I seek not the crown which is the
reward of victory, I am content if I can
avoid danger. It is easier to keep out of
the way than to win a battle. There are
several degrees in glory, and I am not
ambitious of the highest; I leave them to
those of greater courage who have often
been victorious. I seek not to conquer
for fear I should be overcome; happiness
enough for me to escape shipwreck and
at last reach port. “ *

The love story, however, is of secondary importance. The character we need to give our attention to in The Last Templar is Professor William Vance. He is the counterpart to Coach Bryant in Forrest Gump; they are infused with a common spirit. But in this new role, Vance is taking an active part in the story and has finally begun to exercise his voice. In the cellar, he begins to decode the documents he found in France; we’re told this marks the beginning of the next crucial stage in his personal odyssey.

“An odyssey, the end result of which he knew would rock the world.”

For the record, I haven’t lost sight of the fact that the components of this gemstone are primarily works of fiction. But the fact is, Snake knew the lineup of books well in advance and Silas was correct . . . their details concur and there are far too many instances for it to be a coincidence. More importantly the larger story they form is taking on an increasingly serious nature.

If Winston Groom, Eric Roth, Dan Brown, Akiva Goldsman, Raymond Khoury, and Suzette Couture would come forward and tell us that they indeed collaborated, sharing information about the original tale that has gone undetected by Arthurian literature experts, as well as plotting what portion of the story each would focus on . . . it would clarify this situation. It's hard enough to write a book without the extra effort of weaving threads belonging to three to six other authors' work. It would be interesting to find out how they managed to perfectly time their contributions, 8 years between the first novel and its movie and then 15 years between the first movie and the last novel's screen adaptation, tasks that require agents, publishers, motion picture studios, and television networks, just to name of few of the participants.

But if the six writers didn’t collaborate in their creative endeavors, what’s the alternative to this scenario? A heavenly Overseer? God Himself taking a personal interest in bringing the story to its proper conclusion?

In The Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon mentions that we have entered the period known as the End of Days and begun the transition into the Age of Aquarius. But as the storyline of The Last Templar progresses, Vance and Tess are caught between two raging storms at sea while trying to raise the Falcon Temple in order to retrieve the manuscript that has been submerged for more than seven hundred years. The captain of the dive ship frowns, “We can’t put a Zodiac down in this sea . . .”

A helicopter hovering overhead establishes radio contact and relays a message from Monsignor De Angelis who is in hot pursuit, “Tell them they’re about to be hit with a storm of biblical proportions.”

There is a degree of truth to the fictional warning.

Khoury's presentation of The Last Templar is filled with words and images that hint of possible impending turmoil. The modern day event at the beginning of the novel is compared to the time the Met hosted the Mayan show. Tess tells Reilly that it’s difficult to think of Vance "in such contradictory terms. He's this charming, erudite professor on one hand and then the polar opposite, capable of such violence . . . " Later she insists the manuscript would polarize people. In the novel, the astrolabe is hidden beneath a gravestone in a church submerged under 100 feet of water. In the movie, the church is buried beneath the ash of volcanic eruptions. In both instances, the church begins to collapse as soon as the pouch is located. Tess reflects on the time she first met Vance; her father was working on a dig not far from the Ararat Anomaly—what some believe may be Noah’s Ark; we're provided the image of a ship on top of a mountain, embedded in ice at 15,300 feet.

It must have been quite a flood back in the old days.

In the midst of the raging storm which is identical to the one that sunk the Falcon Temple, Tess looks at the captain of the dive ship as he studies the “bruised, angry skies bearing down on them.”

Vance tells him to just bring up the falcon and his business here will be done. When asked why he is only concerned about the falcon, Vance shrugs as an expression rooted far away crosses his face. “It’s personal. Call it a matter of . . . closure.”

The Last Templar turns the audience back to The Story of the Grail. And the reality of the situation is that this simple tale was written to imaginatively bring biblical prophecy to life. Specifically, events that were destined to happen once and have come and gone but weren’t recognized for their intended purpose are reenacted by the cast of Arthurian knights. Chrétien borrowed the boy that Isaiah prophesied who was required to learn to choose between right and wrong before two kingdoms would no longer be laid waste. (Isaiah 7:13-16) And he endowed the boy with stubbornness and desire for the armor colored red, just like the apparel worn in the day of vengeance when God's greatness and strength was promised to redeem Israel. (Isaiah 63:1-6) And the first thing the newly created knight does is return the golden cup that had been stolen from the king.

But getting the house in order, is just the beginning.

Of the four fictional works, The Last Templar is paired with Forrest Gump and The Story of the Grail picks up where The Da Vinci Code left off. Robert Langdon was last seen leaving his hotel room, following the Arago markers through the city of Paris in search of the relics of a woman capable of reviving the sacred feminine.

Contrary to popular opinion, the story that introduced the grail to the Western world never included a quest to find it. The only thing Perceval went in search of as he moved from one scene to the next was Mother. After five long years of wandering, Perceval asked how one might find their way.

And the storyteller responded:

Whoever wants to go there, sir,
should take that path on which we were,
go straight on through this forest thick,
and watch for every branch and stick,
which we have knotted, which we bent
with our own hands, because we meant
each knotted branch to show the way,
so nobody would go astray.

We still have to bring The Story of the Grail to its proper conclusion, but the final chapter that brings closure isn't something that's written on paper. It's comprised of the stories of our lives; the story about the grail is a legend about the journey of Western civilization. To borrow an expression that De Angelis uses in The Last Templar . . . when The Story of the Grail is finished, we will have "killed two birds with one stone."

Within the gemstone of books, Forrest won the championship chess match when he landed on square eight; Robert Langdon and Sophie work through the night in a quest to find the truth about the grail; the final presentation of The Last Templar tells us that the treasured manuscript the Templars claimed to have, wasn't real, it was just an illusion they created. We're told multiple times that the document found on the Falcon Temple is written in Aramaic. In the movie, the truth that William of Beaujeau, Grand Master of the Templars, shares with Aimard is that if there were such a document written by Jesus of Nazareth, "This is what it would have looked like." The cameras focuses on a piece of parchment with hand written words.

If it wasn't written in Aramaic, what language would the boy that Isaiah prophesied have used if he left a manuscript for his people?

Biblically speaking, the number eight is symbolically linked to a new day. Most every scene in The Story of the Grail begins in the early morning, in the light of a new dawn. According to the Bible, God rested on the seventh day. But here's the clincher . . . if the seventh day is drawing to a close, the intention of the original story has to be completed. We are obligated by destiny to bring our sacred story to its proper conclusion and we're living beneath a deadline that isn't readily negotiable.

So what would it take to rock this world? Something so powerful it would bring about an unprecedented change in the way we perceive ourselves and all of humanity.

Is the connection between these books merely an illusion, something to entertain us, or do they represent something far more profound? Through the eyes of William Vance, we haven't changed in two thousand years . . . the story of our civilization hasn't progressed.

We don't even know what our sacred story is.

*Letter IV Heloise to Abelard, http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aah/aah06.htm
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