Sub-rosa and the Baptist

Sub-rosa and the Baptist

If John the Baptist was born as Harpocrates then the cosmology about
him was sanctioned by Rome. Were there temples to John in Rome? Was
Rome later threatened by the worship of John Harpocrates Melqart?
Surely the Pharisees would be threatened.

Jon Presco


http://tinyurl.com/3l2k4
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1896/briefRC.html
http://mostlyfiction.com/spy-thriller/brown_dan.htm

The allusion to under the rose goes back to classical times. The
Romans adopted the Egyptian sun-god Horus as part of a cult of Isis
and Serapis that reached them through Greece. The Greeks had taken
him over as Horus the child (whose name in Egyptian was her-pa-
khrad), Greeking his name to Harpocrates. The Egyptian hieroglyph
for a child was a seated boy sucking his finger; the Greeks thought
this showed him with his finger to his lips and so made him the god
of silence and secrecy.

He became popular among Romans once the cult had been officially
sanctioned during the reign of Caligula in the first century AD.
There's a famous story from those times in which Cupid - the Roman
god of love - was said to have given a rose to Harpocrates as a
little thank-you bribe for not letting on what his mother Venus, the
goddess of sensual love, was up to (very filial, that).
So the rose became the symbol of confidentiality in the classical
Roman world. The ceilings of Roman dining rooms were decorated with
roses to remind guests that what was said there under the influence
of wine (sub vino) was also sub rosa, under the rose, privileged and
not to be made public.

The symbol of the rose was well-known throughout the post-classical
period and is recorded in particular in old German writings, which
is how it may have got into English. The first use of the English
translation of the phrase occurs in the State Papers of Henry VIII
in 1546 (though the writer had to explain what it meant). The rose
was used in medieval times and later much as the Romans did, and at
one time appeared as a symbol in the confessional. The tag in Latin
or English is still to be heard, especially among people who prize
confidentiality.

Harpocrates
The young Horus (Egyptian Har), the Hellenistic god known to Greeks
as Harpocrates (in Egyptian Har-pa-khered or Heru-pa-khered
meaning "Har, the Child"), was received by Isis from Osiris in the
underworld. Harpocrates, the child Horus, personifies the first
strength of the winter sun, and also the image of early vegetation.
Egyptian statues represent the child Horus, pictured as a naked boy
with his finger on his mouth, a realization of the hieroglyph
for "child" that is unrelated to the Greco-Roman and modern gesture
for "silence". Misunderstanding this sign, the later Greeks and
Roman poets made Harpocrates the god of Silence and Secrecy.
""Upon her [Isis'] brow stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded
with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity;
and at her side the baying dog Anubis, dappled Apis, sacred Bubastis
and the god [Harpokrates] who holds his finger to his lips for
silence sake." ?Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.691.

In the Alexandrian and Roman vogue for mystery cults at the turn of
the millennium, his worship was widely extended, linked with Isis
and Serapis. Inexpensive cast terracotta images of Harpocrates,
suitable for house shrines, are scattered throughout the Roman
Empire.

Modern occultists display his image, loosely connected now with
Hermeneutic gnosticism. Typically, "Harpocrates is the Babe in the
Egg of Blue that sits upon the lotus flower in the Nile. He is
the 'God of Silence' and represents the Higher Self and is the 'Holy
Guardian Angel'" and more in similar vein.
By the Egyptians the full-grown Horus was considered the victorious
god of light that annually overcomes darkness, winter, and drought.
He is often represented with the head of a sparrowhawk, which was
sacred to him.
Horus [hôr'us]
Pronunciation Key


Horus , in Egyptian religion, sky god, god of light and goodness.
One of the most important of the Egyptian deities, Horus was the son
of Osiris and Isis. In a famous myth he avenged the murder of his
father by defeating Set, the god of evil and darkness. As Horus the
Elder he was represented as a falcon-headed solar deity, who was
perhaps originally a king or high priest of predynastic Egypt. As
Horus the Child, called Harpocrates by the Greeks and Romans, he was
represented as a small boy with a finger held to his lips.
http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/html/topics/gems/gem_barge_harp.html
http://subrosa.boourns.net/
For Your Consideration
Chapters 1 - 24

~ 1. Jacques Saunière will use his last moments to send a message to
the sole guardian for one of the most powerful secrets ever kept.
What are some of the clues that he left? Was he trying to point out
his murderer, or do the clues suggest a more complicated message?

~ 2. Why is Bezu Fache, the police captain anxious to implicate
Langdon in Saunière's murder? Are his suspicions understandable?
Does he have motives not related to Langdon's possible guilt or
innocence? (What is it about his tie clip that catches Langdon's
eye?)

~ 3. How does Langdon explain the pentacle to Fache? Besides
representing the Divine and the magical, do you see a connection
between this symbol and femininity? Can you explain what you see
that is "feminine"?

~ 4. What is the connection between Bishop Aringarosa and Silas?
Does Silas recognize the contradiction between his original
attraction to Opus Dei and his current mission? What drives each of
these characters? Do you sympathize with either one?

~ 5. What is the "truth" Silas has extracted from each of his four
victims that leads him to the Church of Saint Sulpice? How does the
rather eccentric history of this church relate to a major historical
theme?

~ 6. What is Sister Sandrine's secret? Who warned her? What were her
orders? Who is her boss? Could Sr. Sandrine possibly be a member of
the Priory of Sion?

~7. What do you know of The Rose Line? Did it really intersect Saint
Sulpice? Why was the line moved to Greenwich in 1888. Is the line
still viewable in the church?

~ 8. Brown writes that DaVinci was "a homosexual worshiper of
nature's divine order." Is this fact? Incongruous in the eyes of
Church? An alchemist? At this time the Church viewed both of these
as sinful. How does Langdon explain the deeply Christian themes of
DaVinci's paintings?

~ 9. How does Langdon help Sophie to understand the connection
between the scrambled Fibonacci sequence and the letters in the
message? Is PHI considered to be a fundamental building block
throughout the history of Art? Are these numbers fact or fiction?

~ 10. What is the significance of Sophie's gold key? What did her
grandfather tell her it opened? Is the Priory of Sion's fascination
with the Goddess iconology, feminine deities and reverance for the
sacred feminine necessarily a contempt for the Church?


For Your Consideration
Chapters 25 - 57
~ 1. What is the hidden message of the Mona Lisa known to Art
historians, but not the general public according to Dan Brown? Is
the AMON-LISA theory a fact?

~ 2. What is the relationship between Aringarosa, Silas and the
Teacher? Why did the Vatican turn over the large sum of money to
Aringarosa? Why were traceable bonds stipulated?

~ 3. Why is Silas disappointed in the Teacher? Did Sister Sandrine
seem to have a connection with Opus Dei or the Priory? Who is
the "enemy" she was warned about? Silas? What frightened her?

~ 4. What are we supposed to believe about the Knights Templar and
the Sangreal (Holy Grail)? Is there a clear link between the Knights
and the Priory of Sion? Do you consider both of these
groups "Christian"?

~ 5. Is Vernet shocked that Sophie came up with the bank account
number? How did she do that? What is his interest in the rosewood
box?

~6. What is Vernet's interest in the rosewood box? Were you aware of
the historical connotations of the Rose?

~ 7. What is the connection, if any, between the Masons and the
Priory? What is your understanding of the keystone?

~ 8.Were Les Dossiers Secrets which revealed the existance of the
secret organization, the Priory, ever actually located? Why does
Landon conclude that Saunière must have been a high-ranking member?

~ 9. Why is the Holy Grail considered more special , more sought
after than all other relics? Do you believe that da Vinci knew where
the Grail was hidden and that he hid clues in his paintings?

~ 10. What "hot" historical topic had brought Langdon and Teabing
together in the past? Does Teabing suggest that the early Vatican
banished the sacred feminine? How is the search for the chalice a
code for recovering that which has been banished? Does Sophie
understand this yet? (Do you?)



For Your Consideration
Chapters 58 - 71
~ 1. Do the details in DaVinci's painting of The Last Supper (click)
substantiate the story that Teabing is telling Sophie - that the
Grail is a woman? What is it in this painting, which according to
Dan Brown, compares to Mary's threatening gesture to John in the
Madonna of the Rocks (click), behind which Sophie found the key?

~ 2. Was there ever a Jewish law that condemns celibacy and orders
all single men to marry? How would a relationship between Jesus and
Mary M. threaten the Church if it were true?

~ 3. Does the Priory's worship of Mary Magdalene as Goddess, Grail,
Rose, Divine Mother seem to overlook the importance of Jesus? Why
this omission in their worship, and what does their emphasis
suggest?

~ 4. Does Teabing give convincing evidence of Mary Magdalene's
pregancy and escape from the Holy Land to France? How does Robert
dispel Sophie's growing suspicion that she might be the bloodline?

~ 5. Why would the Jews and then Sigisbert, the surviving
Merovingian, have kept secret the knowledge of the royal lines of
Solomon and Benjamin?

~6. What did Sigisbert's descendant, Godfroi de Bouillion do that
establishes the connection between the Knights Templar and the
Priory of Sion?

~7. Why is the Bishop in contact with Bezu Fache? Do you agree with
Collet's analysis of Fache's behavior? Why do you think he stops
Collet from arresting Langdon and Sophie at Teabing's estate?

~ 8. Why is Opus Dei looking for the Grail now? Does Opus Dei know
the Grail is not a chalice? What are the "Q" documents? Why the
sudden fear that the Priory will reveal the Grail secrets after all
this time?

~ 9. What does Robert realize when he learns that his editor sent a
draft of his new book to Teabing and others? How does Sophie connect
this information with Fache's suspicions? Do you think this is at
all important to the story?

~ 10. Why did Sophie decide to show Teabing the keystone? Why is he
sceptical that Sophie's grandfather would have given it to her
rather than to the other three sénéchaux? Where would he get the
information that there were three more?

~ 11. Who is able to decipher the mirrored message Langdon found
beneath the rose...sub rosa? Did Bill Gates really buy 18 pages of
DaVinci's manuscripts or is this more of Dan Brown's fiction?

~ 12. Do you find Teabing's dismissive attitude towards Sophie off-
putting? What is their difference of opinion regarding the Grail
secrets if they are successful in finding them? Does she appear to
be intimidated by him?



For Your Consideration
Chapters 71 - End
...unravelling the plot...
~ 1. Sophie was able to read the mirror message, but who solved the
riddle using the "Atbash" cipher to decode the ancient word of
wisdom and open the keystone which will lead them to Sir Isaac
Newton's tomb?

~ 2. How does Robert explain the Heiros Gamos to Sophie, that rite
which caused the rift with her grandfather? Can you venture a guess
whom she saw with her grandfather in the center of the crowd? Do you
see this rite as spiritual?

~ 3. Can you cite any statments Langdon/Brown makes which disprove
the accusations against Brown that the book is a diatribe against
the Catholic Church?

~ 4. Who is the TEACHER? When did you figure that out? Can you
unravel the plot? How were Fache, Aringarosa, Rémy and the Vatican
involved in the quest for the Grail?

~ 5. How did Langdon figure out the password for the black cryptex
before he tossed it into the air? Why does he go to Scotland to
Rosslyn, when he doesn't really believe the Grail would be hidden in
such an obvious location? (Why is this an obvious location?)

~6. Langdon asks Marie, "is the Grail really here at Rosslyn? And if
so, where are the blade and chalice mentioned in the poem?" What is
her answer? Is the Grail in Rosslyn?

~7. What is the meaning of the last words of the verse? "Adorned in
masters'loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry
skies." Are the Grail documents really buried hidden in France after
all?

~ 8. How would you describe the central theme of the story? Did Dan
Brown make his point, or no? Did this discussion help you to
understand or enjoy the book?
... from Dan Brown's Official Web site Study Guide:
~ Langdon and Teabing disagree as to whether the Sangreal documents
should be released to the world. If you were the Grand Master of the
Priory of Sion, would you release the documents? If so, what do you
think their effect would be?

~ Historian Leigh Teabing claims that the founding fathers of
Christianity hijacked the good name of Jesus for political reasons.
Do you agree? Does the historical evidence support Teabing's claim?

~ Has this book changed your ideas about faith, religion, or history
in any way?

~ Does the world have a right to know all aspects of its history, or
can an argument be made for keeping certain information secret?

~ Will you look at the artwork of Da Vinci any differently now that
you know more about his "secret life?"
http://mostlyfiction.com/spy-thriller/brown_dan.htm





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