Are you sure you are not reading a pro DaVinci code book review.
 

Well, I found two online sources that suggest that "horny" came from "errection==having a horn" and not from the devil. Of course, the reason why the devil is pictured as having horns might be because of the phallic symbol, but that would be only an indirect connection.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/horny
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=horny&searchmode=none
 

You know, I've never read the Da Vinci Code, but I did read the prequel, Angels and Demons, and thoroughly hated it. I assumed its successor would suffer the same faults, namely gross stereotyping, shallow characters, and a pop-culture treatment of the supposed fight between science and religion.

After halfway through the book, I could guess pretty well what future dialogues would be:
"Oh, hey, I'm a scientist and thus I think we should open the coffin."
"But I'm religious and think we should leave it closed. You scientists have no soul."
"What's a soul? I'm a scientist so I need empirical evidence for everything."
"But what about hopes and dreams? Do you need evidence for that?"
...
and so on ad nauseum. Is the DVC any better?
 

It's interesting that you were so impressed by the book. Personally, I felt that it was an 'airport thriller', something that you pick up to read on the plane. Competent, but no more.

Maybe that is because I am familiar with most of the bits of information that he uses to liven things up. There's nothing new in there for me. I have known about all of the conspiracies and derivations for years, both true and false.

So I suppose if you were never exposed to that kind of information, you might be more impressed than if it was old hat being sewn up into a false whole.
 

get a life
 

I thought that oxblog was an intellectual blog about significant issues why are we discussing this garbage? I might as well read the national inquirer or people magazine
 

David,
I hate to be associated with all those "anonymous", poster, but, this is a work of fiction! An enjoyable escapist read, much like my current fantasy series favorite "Songs of Fire and Ice" (I thought it was a trilogy, looks like 6-7 volumes at least, hope I live long enough).
Believing in any portion of it relegates one to the "Illuminati" club.
Mike
 

Songs of Fire and Ice = Wheel of Time + Incest
 

Oxblog has a thing for thashy pop lit, maybe he's being serious, maybe he's slumming, it's hard to say, but I seem to recall him talking about how well written and riveting "Left Behind" was.
 

Hello David and all,
Here's some detailed insight into the backstory and subplot of the DaVinci Code and related books and texts. If you want to truly understand the esoteric allusions, then here you go.

By the way, the Devil's horns come from two primary sources. They are the Great Red Dragon of ancient Babylonia which is the inspiration of the Red Dragon symbolism in Revelation and the Book of Daniel (with seven heads and ten horns) and then in verse 13:11 of Revelation:

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

By the way, the above verse symbolizes the birth and character of the USA. Beasts symbolize empires, and this empire touts truth and justice (lambs two horns) as freedom and democracy, while acting and inspiring as a Babylonian-Roman false god (Great Red Dragon). Notice also verse 13 (13 states and year '76 (7+6=13)) and July 4 (7/4 and 7+4=11). The image of a dragon-like beast with lambs horns also symbolizes the great hypocrisy of talking high ideals while always performing great evil. Interesting "coincidence" isn't it? There's much more in my FREE EBook.

Most have totally missed the point that the Gnostic texts and others are making. First, they refer to symbolic males and females, hence the philosophical masculine and feminine nature and character. All the Gnostic texts are philosophical and symbolic treatises, not literal narratives. When you try to interpret any of these ancient texts (including the Bible) as literal, you will always come to the wrong conclusions.

You may not initially agree with everything I reveal, but please be a little patient with my long-winded presentation of what I have waited a very long time to be able to say. I promise to amaze and enlighten.

Contrary to those who strive to assert that the DaVinci Code created the term, symbology is an ancient philosophical technology and I am a real life symbologist. Likewise, the upper-level members of secret societies such as Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Illumanti, and the Vatican are symbologists. Keeping their "craft" secretive and misunderstood is a purposeful ploy designed to hide the truth about ancient wisdom and the symbology used to model, encapsulate, and encode it. The title "mason" is itself a symbolic allusion to those who work with the "Philosophers' Stone" which is the symbolic name given to an ancient body of symbology, hence "Masons" are workers of "stone."

Read Proverbs 9:1 below to better understand this allusion.

Wisdom has built Her house. She has carved out Her seven pillars.

Notice that "wisdom" is referred to as "Her" and "She", as in Sophia and Miriam (the Magdala), and that "She" has "hewn" "Her" "seven pillars" (of stone)? Read my Home Page to see what those seven pillars of "stone" have always referred to, contrary to what religions and mysticism have said for millennia.

Here is the key to understanding what the Vatican and Papacy truly fear...

Pay close attention, profundity knocks at the door, listen for the key. Be Aware! Scoffing causes blindness...

Here's a real hot potato! Eat it up, digest it, and then feed it's bones to the hungry...

There's much more to the story of the Vatican's recent machinations than meets the eye. It's not the DaVinci Code or Gospel of Judas per se, but the fact that people have now been motivated to seek out the unequivocal truth about an age of deception, exactly when they expect me to appear. These recent controversies are spurring people to reevaluate the Vatican/Papacy and the religions that Rome spawned, at the worst possible time for them.

Remember, "I come as a thief..." ?

Read verse twelve of the Gospel of Thomas to understand who I am...

The DaVinci Code novel and movie are no more inaccurate as literal versions of history than the New Testament. The primary sub-plot involved purposeful symbology being used to encode hidden meanings, exactly like the Bible and related texts. In other words, none of these stories represent the literal truth. This is the common and pivotal fact of all such narratives about ancient Hebrew and Christian history. Debating whether the DaVinci Code, Gnostic texts, or the Bible are accurate history is a purposeful ploy designed to hide the truth by directing your inquiry away from the heart of the matter.

There is a foolproof way to verify the truth and expose centuries-old religious deceptions. It also proves why we can no longer let the Vatican tell us what to think about ancient history or much else. It is the common thread connecting why the ancient Hebrews, Yahad/Essene, Jews, Gnostics, Cathars, Templars, Dead Sea Scrolls, DaVinci Code, and others have been targets of Rome’s ire and evil machinations. The Vatican and its secret society cohorts don’t want you to understand that the ancient Hebrew symbology in all of these texts purposely encodes and exposes the truth about them. Furthermore, the structure of ancient wisdom symbology verifiably encodes the rules to decode messages built with it. This is what they most fear you will discover.

If the Bible represented the literal truth or even accurate history, there would be no need for faith in the assertions of deceptive and duplicitous clergy and their ilk. It is undeniable the New Testament is awash with ancient Hebrew symbolism and allegory. The same is evidenced in the Old Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic texts, biblical apocrypha, Quran, DaVinci Code, and other related sources. All ancient religious, mystical, and wisdom texts have been shrouded in mystery for millennia for one primary reason: The ability to understand their widely evidenced symbology was lost in antiquity. How do we finally solve these ages-old mysteries? To recast an often-used political adage: It’s [the] symbology, stupid!

It is beyond amazing that the Vatican still tries to insist the Gospels are the literal truth. Every miracle purported for Jesus has multiple direct symbolic parallels in the Old Testament, Apocalypse, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other symbolic narratives and traditions. Recasting the symbolism of earlier Hebrew texts as literal events in the New Testament is one of the central deceptions associated with Christianity. This is part of the secret knowledge held by the ancient Gnostics, Templars, Cathars, and others, which is presented with dramatic effect in the DaVinci Code. None of these narratives or stories were ever intended as the literal truth. This fact is the key to unraveling many ages-old mysteries and exposing the truth about the Vatican's long-term deceptions.

Moreover, the following Washington Post article (The Book of Bart) describes how many changes and embellishments were made to New Testament texts over the centuries, unequivocally demonstrating they are not original, infallible, or truthful. When you combine proof that the New Testament Gospels are not wholly literal with proof that these texts were heavily reworked in the early years of Christianity, you are left with only one possible conclusion. The Vatican has long lied to everyone about the central tenets and history of Christianity. This revelation also proves they are not the Creator’s representatives but Her long-time opponents. The recent hoopla over the Gospel of Judas and DaVinci Code demonstrates they are still desperately trying to deceive the world and obfuscate their true nature and activities.

It's no wonder the Vatican fears the truth more than anything else. As further proof of these assertions, seek to understand the symbolic significance of my name (Seven Star Hand) and you will have proof beyond disproof that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have long been duped by the great deceivers I warned humanity about over the millennia. What then is the purpose of "faith" but to keep good people from seeking to understand the truth?

Now comes justice, hot on its heels... (symbolism...)

Not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk...
Here is Wisdom!!

Revelations from the Apocalypse

Peace...
 

Well, I'm glad I got a conversation going. How often does a wonky Ph.D. type have the pleasure of being denounced as the equivalent of the National Inquirer?

And, stress, you should check your sources before you throw any barbs my way. I enjoyed Left Behind very much, but never said it was well written. Nonetheless, it is an important landmark in American popular culture.

FYI, my comments on the book are here andhere.

And Mike, even if DVC is purely fiction, I do enjoy believing in the Fibonacci sequence and the other enjoyable bits of math in the book.

Btw, stress and Mike, I'm only picking on you because I like you and you're not "anonymous".

Happy 4th,
David
 

That's why I hedged (I didn't feel like looking up the old posts). And I didn't mean it as a real diss, more of pointing out a quirk.
 

Have you read spengler's review

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HE31Aa01.html