:: Mental Kudzu ::

Revision Posted on August 8, 2008 (spacing problems still need to be addressed)

A CONVERSATION WITH PROFESSOR NEMO:

Q: Why did Leonardo da Vinci depict the Apostle John in his The Last Supper as feminine? Is Dan Brown right in suggesting in The Da Vinci Code that it represents a wifely Mary Magdalene? And why do we see so many of Leonardo’s art figures pointing up?

A: The figure that Leonardo da Vinci depicts in his Last Supper is neither John the Apostle nor Mary Magdalene, but a typical androgyne representation of a mysterious character revered for eons and fully conceptualized long before Mary Magdalene ever drew breath. We simply need to take a closer look at the same secret Hermetic/Gnostic traditions that have gotten so much attention recently from this very controversy. Of these two related traditions, Hermeticism is particularly ignored or only poorly understood today although it pervades our culture through and through. It can, however, quickly and easily explain Leonardo’s substitution.
Q: Why would Leonardo want to substitute a totally different character?

A: Many in the Renaissance movement loved science, sought knowledge and were repelled by the corrupt, luxurious, ignorant and highly inquisitorial churchmen of their day. The Hermeticist dreams nostalgically of a mythic golden age of peace, wisdom and technological wonders in a lost ancient past. It might be called Atlantis, Lemuria, Shamballa, or just the Golden Age. The movement has always been shrouded in secrecy and has used coded symbols when necessary to protest against hostile powers-that-be.
Q: But didn’t working for the Church represent Leonardo’s livelihood and pay his bills?

A: Yes, but like other great artists, Leonardo worked at servant status, often for a wealthy patron, and he had to put up with plenty of b.s. from a religious overseer that he did not respect and delighted in bearding with hidden jabs.

Q: How did he do that without being found out?
A: He used code in his art that only like-minded Hermeticists would recognize, and he’s gotten away with it for centuries! That same feminine angel so sharply counterpoised in a V shape as if in protest against the figure of Jesus in The Last Supper can be seen elsewhere as well. Look carefully, for example, at St. Anne in Leonardo’s sketch (cartoon) for St. Anne with the Virgin and Child and the Infant St. John. (Very few reproductions do it justice). She has a startling wide-eyed face, and a very knowing, almost, wicked smile. It’s hardly surprising that this sketch is among the designs that were never completed. It is his best, most detailed, and least “restored” representation of the inner nature of the Hermetic Angel, and it would be truly astounding in oils or if skillfully digitized –Contrast St. Anne’s face with the profound innocence depicted in the same sketch on the face of her daughter, the Virgin Mary– St. Anne also resembles.

Leonardo’s own facial proportions, foreshortened since she is facing down, with a more projecting (masculinity) brow and forehead, a wider chin and deep set almond eyes — more stunningly handsome than conventionally pretty –and, oh yes –like certain other figures in Renaissance art, and most particularly those of Leonardo, St. Anne points upwards! and most provocatively at that!

Q: So?
A: As with Leonardo’s John the Baptist, another figure sometimes blurred into the Hermetic Angel and check out The Last Supper itself pointing upward is code for the great and universal Hermetic motto: As above, so below Raphael has the whole phrase depicted in the very center of his The School of Athens where Plato (painted with

Leonardo’s face) points up and Aristotle gestures down. This has always been explained as a philosophical statement contrasting their viewpoints but it’s also a really neat way to emblazon the Hermetic motto on a Vatican wall! and with the correct attribution as well! As you will see, the either or plausible deniability tells the whole story of this secret code.

Q: Is there any proof that links these Renaissance figures pointing upward with the Hermetic tradition?

>A: Just take a look at Giovanni da Bolognas bronze of the Roman god Mercury
If you dont have an art history handy you might remember seeing him as a
table decoration in your favorite Italian restaurantor as the trademark of a
popular florist network. He holds the caduceus, that mysterious serpent (or
serpents) on a stick that has always represented healing. Moses made one and
healed with it Dont look at me that way its in Numbers. 21: 8-9 Now tell me,
what do you notice about the statue of Mercury?

Q: He’s pointing to the sky. But what’s so special about the Roman god
Mercury?

A: Mercury to the Romans was the same god as Hermes in the older Greek mythology. This
figure is often depicted pointing up (cf. Botticellis Primavera).
With so much evidence at hand, perhaps you would agree that what is
frequently referred to as the ‘John gesture’ is in fact the Hermes gesture!
Hermeticism is a vast topic and can’t be summarized in just a few words, but
its effects on world culture from early times until today are well documented
and deserve more attention than they get. One practical outcome is the modern
science of chemistry following the work of generations of alchemists.
Culturally, they enriched several languages with Arabic word-forms such as
alkali, alcohol, and even alchemy itself. Their distinctive red, white, and
blue color scheme symbolized stages in the death and rebirth mystery that
they read into the ‘chemical marriage’ of various elements such as mercury
and sulfur into a succession of compounds with predictable colors.

Q: Chemistry okay, but how do we get into da Vinci’s art?

A: During the darkest part of the medieval period, Arab scholars were preserving and
elaborating upon ancient classical texts of all kinds. Science reentered
Christendom as philosophialiterally, the love of wisdom, and as you
can see from the chemistry example, it was very different from the
mechanistic science of today. From the Middle Ages until the French
Revolution, all who dabbled in science dabbled perforce in Hermetic mysticism
as well. Hence, it is easy to include the great early scientists among the
brotherhood, regardless of their true beliefs. Hermeticism as an intellectual
movement hit the Renaissance early on and like a ton of bricks. In poetic
terms, I suppose Hermes was the angel of the
rebirth of classicism and the dawn of science. However, this updated Hermes
was an enhanced version of the familiar messenger of the gods He had morphed
into the occult superstar, Hermes Trismegistus (or the thrice greatest,
since he knew the magic of numbersof the starsand of medicine). He was a
fusion of the old Greek Hermes with his ancient Egyptian counterpart Toth. He
had also gained an adversarial relationship with the God of the Bible through
the influence of Gnosticism, an early Christian heresy withguess what?secret
knowledgeand his cult had absorbed the mysticism and numerology of the Jewish
Kabbalah. Among Renaissance occultists, Hermes Trismegistus was believed to
have been a contemporary of Moses. So you see, Hermes³ was truly
a god for all seasons, and now in the Christian era, his relationship with
Jehovah resembled that of the Titan Prometheus with the Olympian Zeus You
will recall that Prometheus stole fire from Zeus to give to man Melvilles
Captain Ahab is an archetypal Hermetic protagonist with significant
Zoroastrian symbolism cleverly woven throughout the story. Ahab, named for a
wicked and idolatrous king of Israel, is consumed with resentment for the
unstoppable majesty of his lofty adversary, Moby Dick, the great white whale.
and Melville knew exactly what he was trying to say. You heard some of Ahabs
shrillest lines in Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn.

Q: Literary
appreciation? Lets move on. But I did see Prometheus at Rockefeller Center
when I visited New York City last year.

A: Yes
Thats Prometheus at the famous landmark skating rink. How appropriate for the
Fire Bringer to sprawl before the mighty RCA Building, a beacon of the dawn
of electronic communications technology. There would be no modern technology
without the gift of fire that enabled our ancestors to smelt metals. To
Hermeticists, fire can represent enlightenment of all kinds, including
Sophia, that all-encompassing Greek personification of knowledge and
wisdom. Hermetic-style benefactors are always very clever and knowledgeable,
moderns would probably count them as humanists who proffer illumination and
technological benefits in order to gain influence During the Italian
Renaissance, men like Leonardo da Vinci sensed in their bones that
narrow-minded medievalism could not compare with the ages that left those
lovely Roman ruins. Such men yearned to emulate their own revered pagan
ancestral tradition, and Hermeticism has always represented, as it does to
this day, the enduring embodiment of mans primordial religious impulse with
its quest for power over nature and self through mystic rites, secret
knowledge, and magic.

Q:
Professor Nemo seems to be getting back on track. Is there more?

A: Indeed
The Renaissance fell in love with ancient pagan culture in its quest for
knowledge, and that, my friend, was a big no-no! Hermeticists amongst the
arty crowd took out their peevishness by sneaking messages even into
religious art through symbols and figures that were stalking horses for their
hero. But dont look for this in their writings or discourses-it would have
been playing with fire, literally-inviting an appointment to be burnt alive
at the stake. That’s exactly what happened to the scientist, philosopher and
slightly careless Hermetic luminary, Giordano Bruno.

Q: But why
the substitution of feminine figures for characters who were clearly
understood to be men?

A: Hermes
is more than just a hero, he is immortal, angelic in nature and distinctly
gender-bending-as is his son Hermaphroditus, whose dual nature may
have blended back as an additional halo effect that might appeal to the
artistic imagination Angels are often depicted as beautiful women-among
these, let’s not leave out the divinely feminine Sophia, Hermes
Gnostic alter ego. Hermes is also the cosmic jokester, the Till Eulenspeigel
of the gods, full of tricks and hoaxes. So Hermes can quite appropriately
appear as an almost male John the Baptistthe subject of an
important branch of the

cult
pointing upward, as I mentioned, in Leonardos representation, and looking
like dead ringer for Leonardos androgyne Angel in the Flesh (who,
you might notice, is pointing up as well) Hermes might also appear as a more
or less feminine archangel which was pretty safe to portray, or as any other
man or woman such as St. Anneor as the
stealth intrusion of a feminized Hermes in place
of John the Apostle seated most importantly at the
right hand of Jesus in The Last Supper, and
lunging away so very pointedly and
uncharacteristically of Johnlike a similarly charged
object in an electric field!and by the way that whole painting
is an electric field!…and a mine field

of messages
Among these, the feminization of John in itself
plus his body language provide the
clue that another Hermeticist would quickly spot and
understand. If any doubt remains, there is an in your
face hand pointing up like a Hermetic signpost on the other side
of Jesus Can you also see an extremely awkward sign of the conflict between
the Hermetic Angel and the Church, represented, of course, by St. Peter? And
to think that legions of art teachers have extolled the perfect design of
arguably the most hacked up true masterpiece ever created Ah, the genius of
Leonardo! And while were on the gender thing, let’s also check out
Donatello’s bronze David. It’s simply a much more feminine form of
the same speedy delivery florist guy (Mercury/Hermes) we just saw. And
remember, there is not the slightest need for transparency or consistency in
any of this because it’s all a big fat secret, and something of a sneering
joke as well Get it?

Q: Yes, I
see where you’ve been trying to go. It’s a case of I know something you
don’t know. Now clear up this motto business, As above, so below. What does
it mean?

A:
FranklyProfessor Nemo doesn’t have a clue. The motto is purposely cryptic of
course but I think it means whatever you want it to, and plenty of
conventional definitions exist which you can easily find on your own. The
Prof. is not a Hermeticist, but just reporting in a ‘you know’ fair and
balanced way.

Q: Aw, come
on. Don’t leave us here. What do you think it means?

A: Well It
certainly sounds like Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven doesnt
it? But then again it could meaneverything they have up there we should have
down here as wellor perhaps it means with enough ‘enlightenment’ we could
make our own Heaven Come to think of it, that interpretation sounds a lot
like John Lennon’s Imagineit’s certainly an anthem for his personal
vision of a purely man-made utopia.

Q: It
sounds as if there are many Hermeticisms. Do they at least share a similar
origin?

A: Hard to
tell. Perhaps the various manifestations of the daring benefactor theme had
their debut as the deification of some early hero, perhaps the legendary
Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson. According to plenty of tradition, Nimrod
founded human civilization in the area that was to become Babylon. He might
have been seen as the one who inspired those who built the tower of Babel,
perhaps in the imagination of his day to storm the heavens. Pagan cultures
seem to turn all their old heroes into gods, then divide them into more gods
and even recombine them into new gods. I think one day someone will discover
that the root of Babylonian paganism influenced a truly amazing number of the
world’s prehistoric religions. That’s why the sun god Bel, traceable all the
way back to the Sumerian era, was also worshiped by the ancient Irish on May
Day at the Beltane (Bel’s fire). Similarly, there is no shortage of Hermes
clones amongst the ancient mythologiesthey pop up in the strangest places.
But you can’t safely ask most historians how this happened, since they seem
to detest blurry edges By the way, the obelisk, which also points to the
sky, is a symbol for Hermes which evolved from far less subtle phallic
boundary stones called herms. He’d be pleased to see himself and his
estimable prowess honored in so many truly grand locations!

Q: I’m
still looking for a way to pull this together. Can you tie it up
neatly?

A: As I
mentioned before, these gods, who have been called by many names at different
times and places, are all associated with fire or light, which typically has
a metaphoric association with knowledge or illuminating wisdom, including
all areas of science and technology which were magical arts. Like Sophia, the
enlightening god of Gnosticism, Hermes is an androgynein fact, there is so
much overlap between the two movements that we might as well consider them
inseparable. Today, Gnosticism gets all the attention, but leaving out
Hermeticism is like throwing away half of the puzzle pieces. One Hermes or
another appears at various crossroads of ancient history, for example at the
dawn of the high Egyptian Civilization. Much like the mysterious
brain-boosting Black Slab in Stanley Kubrick’s movie 2001, these
figures always herald a new era of awareness and technological advancement.
They also seem to have a particular interest in intervening in the fortunes
of men Amongst such, we certainly must include the Angel of Light who morphed
into the Serpent of Genesis. Moses is credited with writing Genesis’ and as a
prince of Egypt, he would have certainly been an adept of the Hermetic
mystery schools of his day The Serpent offered unauthorized knowledge to Eve,
and the result may represent a biblical judgment on the Hermetic tradition as
a whole After all, knowledge often comes at a price. Adam and Eve appear to
have found that out. Most people today would probably agree that wed be
better off knowing nothing of atomic bombs, or even those hollow snacks we
eat out of cellophane wrappers.

Q: Wait a
minute. Let’s back up. Are you trying to tell me that Leonardo was a Devil
worshipper?!

A: I have
no reason to believe that he was. Being frustrated at religions failings is
not the same as rejecting God, although we all know people who have had bad
experiences with religion and end up blaming God for the failings of man.
Devil worshippers, such as some modern Satanists, admire evil. Hermeticists,
on the other hand, revere a bringer of knowledge and try to discover hidden
wisdom. They seek to prosper and make things generally better while
perfecting themselves in the process by overcoming wickedness and ignorance.
They often worship God as well, simply mixing in a bit of occultism with it
and not seeing any contradiction. Leonardo was clearly spiritual but kept his
deepest thoughts to himself. He was also whimsical and could enjoy being
mischievous. Its hard to tell when that kind of genius is just having fun!
Hermeticisms today are heirs to many ancient initiatic cults and
mysteries, but are often so low-profile or diluted that you might live your
whole life associating with one without understanding anything about its
origins or secret doctrines To traditional Christians, they might appear
naively deceived as were Adam and Eve. Im forced to jump in and out of
matters of faith here, but its the patterns behind
the whole story that Im trying to get at in the
most familiar terms at hand.

Q: How does
the secret Templar cult get into all of this?

A: The
historically well-known but shadowy Templar cult referenced in The Da
Vinci Code is Hermetic/Gnostic through and through, and in all its
forms, whether old or freshly minted. Its another outfit withhere we go
againbig secrets. However, the notion that these knights unearthed proof of
Mary Magdalenes purportedly holy blood offspring founding the family that
eventually became the long-haired Merovingian dynasty is quite a stretch Yet,
its exactly what Gnostic proponents of the Magdalene cult throughout the
last two thousand years would have done just about anything to be able to put
across. Its also what the Da Vinci Code movement is really all about
today. This controversy itself has opened a fresh chapter in the movement. It
should hence probably be called neo-Hermeticism or new millennium Gnosticism
or something like that Incidentally, it really boosts the notion that a
fabulous world leader with amazing powersperhaps a bit like Neo, the chosen
one of The Matrix might arise from the royal blood of Europe,
claiming to be from Jesse through King David and Jesusan impressive set of
credentials to be sure! But wait a minutemight he not be another impostor
like one of Leonardos mercurial changelings? If the
pattern holds, he would claim to be from the king
producing Tribe of Judah, while more likely being descended from the
irretrievably lost Tribe of Danif we take some hints from biblical clues, as
do some prophetically-minded and literalist Christian opponents of the Mary
Magdalene holy bloodline.

Q: Youre
beginning to lose me again. Can you throw me a rope here?

A: Sorrytoo
large and fuzzy a topic to squeeze in. However, it may have
happened once beforeas before, so again! Oh well This is
going to be a fast and wild rideare you ready? The false apostle Judah Ish
(man) Kerioth (from Kirjath Jearim) was apparently born in the one town in
Judah that the Tribe of Dan was permitted to camp behind on their way north
to their new home at the top of Israel and subsequently out of the Promised
Land altogether. It is tempting to speculate that
Judas Iscariot may have represented a wild oat y-chromosome going
back through Dan and sown there generations before. Samson is the great hero
from the Tribe of Dan, which never forgot the magical
power of unshorn hair or about Samsons Riddle of the Bees, even after they
forgot about the God of their fathers. Jacob referred prophetically to his
son Dan as a serpent by the way.

Q: Is that as ominous as it sounds?

A:
Possiblybut theres also a less obvious additional understanding of this term
as a bringer of knowledge who is wise as serpentsin other words, a potential
culture builder. Dans progeny disappear even in Old Testament times, and just
try to find a

single
Dannite among the 144,000 person tribal restoration mentioned in the Book of
Revelation. Some believe that the idolatrous, and
seafaring Tribe of Dan, which

blended into
the Phoenicians and liked to name places after their illustrious forefather,
gradually proceeded across the DarDANnelles to the DANube, proliferating and

spreading
along the ancient routes of Europe. Remember that before organized farming,
the relatively sparse populations of Europe were largely scattered bands,
often roaming about in search of food and subject to various depopulating
hazards. Merchants and traders must have had an edge, even with dangerous
peoples. Think of the great explorers like Captain James Cook. The Dannites
would have been wealthy, sophisticated, and battle-hardened. They could have
mingled with and eventually dominated other cultures, perhaps as the Normans
did much later in Britain. Tantalizing snippets of history also seem to link
the sons of Dan with the Spartans, who as warriors often did not cut their
well coiffed hair or their beards and apparently claimed descent from
Abraham. Dannites are also reputed to have founded some royal dynasties in
Europe and the British Isles

Q: Youre
right about one thingthis is pretty fuzzy stuff.
Are you going somewhere with all this?

A: Just
waiting for you to ask!Those who subscribe to the DaVinci Code
premise may claim that the Merovingians, who did not cut their hair, etc.,
were holy Nazarites, i.e. strictly consecrated Jews, a hilariously
Hermetic-style canard for these self-proclaimed sons of Odin who had to be
coaxed toward monotheism(Gnostic Nasoreans perhaps, definitely not Nazarites!
But thats another matter) Nevertheless, a quite respectable medieval
scholarly tradition links Odin, or WoDAN, with important flesh and blood
refugees from the region of Troy (as in Timeo DANaos et dona ferentes.
I fear the Greeks [i.e. the Danaen
Spartans] even when they bring gifts). These travelers from the east (from
the region of Troy, which is now part of Turkey became the
Aesir gods of Norse Mythology i.e. those
from Asia. They included the fatherly warrior Odin,
also known as the full-bearded World Wanderer, and another curious import as
well, a charmingly familiar, shape-changing trickster, the fire god, Loki So,
were the Merovingian kings, one of whom was named Samson, simply into grunge
or perhaps emulating, by long clouded tradition,
the one great, if seriously flawed, cult hero of their irrepressible,
culture-building forefathers, the hirsute Samson himself, a true Nazarite and
a son ODan, whose representatives had been formidable and had come from the
sea.

Q: So you’re
saying that we can actually see the process that turns a cult hero into a
legend, and a legend into a god, and a god into a holy dynasty with divine
rights?

A: Ah that’s for you to decide. Did cultural memories of the heroic Samson of the lost
Hebrew Tribe of Dan inspire the Spartans of the Peloponnesus? Might Samson
also have been memorialized as the mythic Dardanus
of the Trojanshence proceeding on to other glories, and ultimately to
Valhalla? As you can see, its possible, if you favor this explanation, to
think of the Trojan War as a Dannite family feud! What we know for sure is
that the Hebrew and Greek alphabets certainly do
match up beautifully, although historians do their best to make it sound
insignificant. Now theres a counterpoint to the
DaVinci Code thats just about as radicalbut please remember, the
hypothetical Dannite lineage for the Merovingian kings, which Ive barely
touched upon here, is only intended to offer one alternative to the even more
tenuous Merovingian holy blood claim, somehow involving an amorous gill
breather!and to show how easy it is to weave a
great story from very few facts.

Q: That
is quite a story. Did you make the whole thing up or are the lost
Dannites simply a missing chapter of history?

A: Oh, they
were very real, definitely went somewhere, and blended into the scenery like
the kid book figure Waldo. Professor Nemo does find this theory
particularly intriguing, however, because the presumptive Dannite wanderings
begin from the same Phoenician environs to be made so occultically famous by
King Hiram of Tyre. These peregrinations and many of their details are
certainly evocative of the Templar/Masonic allegories. This might also
strengthen the argument that Gnosticism, like Hermeticism goes far into the
pre-Christian past, and that it flourished in ancient Greece, that elegant
melting pot of math and mysteries, where the spiritual traditions of Babylon,
Persia, and Egypt were resifted and amalgamated in the white hot intellectual
crucible of the classical era. It is also in Greece and subsequently in Rome
that we can sense the light and heat of a novel transmutation, a chemical
marriage with desert monotheism, crystallizing over many centuries into the
complex enlightenments of our modern world! Professor Nemo tries his best to
point out many things that others may not; after that, youre on your own.
Remember, this is all about Hermeticismso it should contain signs and symbols
that are hidden in plain sight, suggest pathways for the mind beyond any
that it reveals, and speak to such as have ears to hear But enough! Lets
leave the delightful realm of speculation and return to the totally
historical Hermes cult of the Italian Renaissance!

Q: My head
is spinning. Im almost sorry I asked. I was happier at the beginning when
I thought you were going to talk about expensive handbags. Just tell me
about the Big Secret. Did this cryptic Hermes crowd know anything that we
dont?and lets cut to the chase.

A: Science
has far surpassed all the secret technologies, despite the stuff you hear on
all-night radio. The Hermetic Tradition is obsolete in the sense of true
knowledge or unknown wisdom, but it gave inquiry quite a boost. It still
influences various religious groups and has greatly influenced world culture.
Like many spiritualist movements, it often introduces itself with familiar
philosophical platitudes enveloped in a froth of very grand and mystical
verbiage. Hermetic cults have always told their initiates that theres a big
secret awaiting them, but they keep the initiate toiling so long to be worthy
that they never really have to deliver You must remember, even when revered,
Hermes cant help being a little tricky and perverse. If the big secret, as I
suspect, is that Hermetics are not exactly on board with traditional Judaic
or Judeo-Christian beliefsI think this has been no secret for quite some time
Nor is it any secret that Hermeticism has been able to attract many of the
most brilliant mindslike that of Leonardominds that can think inductively,
intuitively, creatively. Such minds have danced circles around their plodding
adversaries throughout the pastand appear to be doing just fine today. Its so
much easier to consign brilliant radical thinkers to the flames than to mount
an intelligent response when you cant quite seem to connect the
dots But if you look a little closer at this present tidy plot, a child of
six ..as they saycan see that every element of the DaVinci Code
premise has a profound Hermetic/Gnostic linkup, from coded Renaissance art to
the Templar cult, to the Gnostic writings and the various legends they may
have spawned. If we are observant, the hidden Hermes unmasks himself behind
every episode, just like the furtive mastermind who appears as Doctor Miracle
in Offenbachs opera, The Tales of Hoffman.

Q: Does
that make The DaVinci Code a bad story?

A: No!..
Its great for the story, just questionable for the premise. When all elements
in a belief arise out of the same stew, so to speak, we may suspect a
certain conspiratorial circularity, perhaps with Hermes somewhere in the
details! The revelations that one generation of believers discovers may have
been planted for them by their predecessors.

For example,
early French Gnostics, feeling the way they did about traditional
Christianity and venerating Mary Magdalene, might easily have claimed that
her child, real or invented, was special and had been amongst them. This will
always remain a matter of belief, since it is beyond proof either way. There
is also a claim that Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail to the
British Isles, only there it was a cup. In fact, we have a surplus of grail
contenders, although its obvious that the French label is the one that stuck.
There were also enough pieces of the True Cross for sale in the Middle Ages
to rebuild Noahs Ark. There is even a current hypothesis that the famous
Shroud of

Turin was an
early photography experiment by, and possibly even a self-portrait of guess
who?our old friend Leonardo. Did we mention that he knew something about
chemistry? He studied light-sensitive compounds of silver.fascinating!

Q: Why do I
get the feeling that Professor Nemo is not quite ready to join in the
stampede?

A: Simply
because at this distance the proof that a Mary Magdalene holy bloodline must
turn upon can never be produced outside of direct testimony from Jesus, and
is not even a part of the larger context. If the early Church did indeed
downplay the well evidenced importance of Mary
Magdalene to the Christian movementor even if it
revised the Jewish cultural norm of Jesus possibly
being a married person, this may well have been a desperate attempt to
counter the pervasive Gnostic influences of its spiritual environment. If so,
its all part of that same turbid stew To whatever extent the early Gnostics
were thinking Hermetically, they would have been looking for alternate
spiritual figures and incorporating them into their spiritual writings.
Later, similarly minded Gnostic groups would have a ready-made secret gospel
truth to show their recruits during the Renaissance There have been as many
wildly differing ancient religious accounts as there were biases, and
conspiracy theories raged in the past just as they do today. We tend to
forget that ancient does not necessarily mean true, and that there is no view
without point of view The human hunger for spiritual power and fulfillment is
truly boundless and has always provided a good livelihood for those inclined
to take advantage of it. Thats precisely why we must never permit faith of
any flavor to become a mask for ignorance. Choice is only that when we know
exactly what we are choosing Most importantly, the promise of secret proof
in matters of faith is, logically speaking, an inanity and the stuff of
hoaxes, since faith and proof are contradictory concepts.
It would be like jumping into a swimming pool blindfolded, simply because
someone tells you that it has been filled with water But isnt that exactly
what mystery cults are really all about? You can also be quite sure that any
secret text in France that promoted Gnosticism would have surfaced in the
wake of the fierce anticlericalism of the French Revolution The most
compelling evidence we have at hand is that of Jesus own sayings from all
available sources. Nothing anywhere indicates a desire or anticipation of
founding a hereditary dynasty, even though all accounts, including
the Gnostic ones, were written well after Jesus death. This is critical
because the whole biblical tradition is based on the foretelling of all major
events, and Jesus referenced prior messianic prophecies continually.

Q: So, is
that it?

A: It is
for me. Ive made sure to leave plenty of loose ends for you to check out on
your own so you can see for yourself just how much this secret tradition has
shaped your world. You will find reams of facts, endless opinions,
bewildering hocus-pocus, crass commercialism, and a long word-list of newer
occultisms that will truly make your head spin. The hard part is
trying to figure out how much of anything you read is true so that you can
make up your own mind. Try not to get lost, as many do, in attempting to make
sense out of six odd millennia of complex mysticism. Like an onion, its much
the same thing, layer after layerYou may also wish to check out the works of
other Renaissance age artists for similar deep secretsso what if the
exclusive Priory of Sion suddenly needs a larger place to meet! You see,
Leonardo had no need to be a Grand Master knight with a secret text in order
to encode his message He just needed to be a Renaissance Hermeticist. In
fact, looking at his work strongly indicates that Leonardo was pro-John the
Baptist rather than a pro-Mary Magdalene. This Hermetic-style Gnostic cult,
known as Johannites, to which Leonardo is rumored to have belonged and which
is also closely linked to the Knights Templar, apparently goes all the way
back to the Mandaeans of the Middle East, a group with secret knowledge.
Johannites believe that John (High King of Light)
got a raw deal, having been supplanted by Jesus, who also perverted
his teachings. From this religious perspective, Hermes and John the Baptist
may very easily become intermingled as mutual opponents of Jesus.

Q: Are you
trying to say that we should look for signs of conflict between John the
Baptist and Jesus portrayed in Leonardos work?

A: Take
another look at the sketch with St. Anne, recalling that psychologists have
amply demonstrated that our minds tend to see what we permit them to see. Is
the infant Jesus caressing the infant John under the chin while blessing him?
Or is Jesus stiff-arming the

young John
the Baptist while clutching the incredibly powerful
arm of the mysterious angel, the one with the huge
hand pointing up? (Notice also that a female figure plus Hermes always
becomes more male.) This type of paradox is the essence of Hermetic symbolism
in Renaissance art; do we see this, or do we see that? Is Jesus piously
blessingor boldly seizing the reins of power? The artist had a robust sense
of humor and so should we, as well as an awareness that visual ambiguity was
never more cleverly manipulated than by the incomparable Leonardo da Vinci In
fact, he still can bamboozle to this day. If you think that rugged ol John
the Baptist at the high point of his career should look like the Angel in
the Flesh, just because of some artsy Renaissance canon that Leonardo
used to explain away his obsession for sneaking in an androgyne Hermes
wherever possiblethen congratulations, youve been hoodwinked by the best! I
can only hope this has been illuminating, a glimpse down some of historys
dimmer corridors As far as logically evaluating this all-for-one Hermetic
explanation, it appeals to the principle of parsimony since it requires no
seafaring deus ex machina or arcane missing pieces of evidence Its
simply obvious from what we have always known but have ignored, and what we
have always looked at but refused to see Its prospects, however, must be
rated as commercially disappointing I am, nevertheless, hoping for the day
when Hermes can enjoy his own National Geographic Special The Professor might
just be watching too.

Affectionately,

Professor Nemo
_____________________________________
You may wish to comment, remembering that Professor Nemo has always tried to be
conscientious about reading what is put before him, but understanding also
that the Prof. has always been an atrocious pen pal. Feel free to suggest
topics or questions that you think might benefit from future conversations.

Send emails to vmac @ macewan dot net, subject line: Professor Nemo

This text, while copyrighted is open to be quoted or reproduced in full other
than for profit. It was first published on the Web at MENTAL KUDZU on
9/11/2005, and revised 9/27/2005. This edition is dated 11/7/05. Thanks for
stopping by! Edited 8/08/2008

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