----------------------------
The Name of the Game
-------------------------------
The work is
- Ernesto Frers
The Templar Pirates
a dangerous book
to wander into
- John Philip Cohane
The Key
a complex composition in verse and prose,
combining the legend of the idyllic paradise of ancestral folklore
with the arcane mysteries of secret sects.
The poem has various levels of interpretation,
some of which reveal esoteric messages to the initiated.
- Ernesto Frers
The Templar Pirates
Great watery spaces opened out before me,
and I seemed to wander through titanic sunken porticos
and labyrinths of weedy cyclopean walls
with grotesque fishes as my companions.
Then the other shapes began to appear,
filling me with nameless horror the moment I awoke.
But during the dreams they did not horrify me at all – I was one with them;
wearing their inhuman trappings, treading their aqueous ways,
and praying monstrously at their evil sea-bottom temples.
There was much more that I couldn’t remember,
but even what I did remember each morning
would be enough to stamp me as a madman
or a genius if ever I dared write it down.
Some frightful influence, I felt,
was seeking gradually to drag me out
of the sane world of wholesome life
into unnameable abysses of blackness and alienage
- H.P. Lovecraft
The Shadow over Innsmouth
This was the site of Eden, of Paradise
turned into the much feared Hades,
the Land of the Dead.
- Prof. Arysio N. dos Santos
Atlantis, the Lost Continent Finally Found
"a world of dreams [and] nightmares
in which forms seem to flicker and change
before our eyes."
- Walter Gibson
Hieronymus Bosch
These nightmares refuse to go away,
and constantly challenge us to solve the riddle
that the Sphinx put to Oedipus, again a very long time ago:
"decipher me, or I shall devour you!".
And they will too, in time, whether deciphered or not,
- Prof. Arysio Santos
Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found
either way I'll get into the garden
- Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
a forest, a kingdom underground, beneath the waves, or above the sky,
a secret island, lofty mountaintop, or profound dream state;
but it is always a place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings,
unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and impossible delight.
- Joseph Campbell
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
It fell to Plato to restore the legend to the realm of reality,
perhaps basing himself on the secret tradition of the Mysteries.
These secrets were only told to the initiates themselves,
vowed to secrecy under pain of death.
This crime – called “impiety” –
consisted in divulging to the profanes
the real contents of the Mysteries.
- Professor Arysio N. dos Santos.
Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found
many of the relevant myths appeared
to have been designed
to serve as vehicles for encrypted scientific information,
again an indication of what I was
coming to think of as ‘the fingerprints of the gods’.
What I had become sensitized to,
although I did not properly realize
its implications at the time, was the possibility
that a strong connection might exist
between the collapsing chaos of the Ice Age
and the disappearance of an archaic civilization
which had been the stuff of legend for millennia.
It was at this moment that the library angels intervened . . .
- Graham Hancock
Fingerprints of the Gods
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
- The Rolling Stones
Sympathy for the Devil
No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk
and of wasting time trying to understand it.
- J.R.R. Tolkein
The Hobbit
he was so fascinated by his research
that there was no question of giving it up.
And one reason, oddly enough, was his
- Colin Wilson & Rand Flem-Ath
The Atlantis Blueprint
“ineffable” or unutterable name
- Albert G. Mackey
The Symbolism of Freemasonry
-------------------------------
"Names? A name?!? I am so very confused."
Louis de Lyons' expression was both consternated and quizzical. Heronimus stroked his bearded chin. The salt-&-pepper strands that twisted through The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor's fingers reminded Louis of tendrils of smoke passing through beams of light.
The candidate is sufficiently inquisitive and humble to be successful in the work ahead of him, The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor decided. The candidate's fear needs to be honed, but is on target.
We must finish preparing him for the Grand Opening.
The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor bowed his head, and reflected silently for a moment before speaking out loud.
"Avast, young bred'ren, I prayeth thou hast sufficiently prepared thyself for ye arduous journey ahead. Be aware, thou mote navigate ye labyrinth solo. I be givin' thee clues in ye beginning, forsooth, but 'tis up to thee to follow ye thread. Beyond a certain point, further assistance from me willst be an impossibility.”
Heronimus raised himself up from the table, and began to pace the room as he spoke. As The Reverend Doctor paced past his pet raven’s perch, he reached out to stroke its feathered head. The black bird nuzzled into his hand. The Reverend Doctor paused for a moment. Louis believed he imagined a silent conversation taking place between the captain and the raven. After a few moments, Heronimus continued both his often-rambling monologue and his circuitous meandering around his cabin.
“Aye, Louis, Ye Name, ye source from which all names & words doth floweth. Follow me, iffen thou be able. Be quick, but be aware thou mote not misseth a step or thou willst be lost."
Louis' subconscious dimly remembered that the Reverend Doctor's seemingly absentminded turns of direction often synchronized with similar detours in his oral narrative. Louis' conscious mind was otherwise wholly devoted to understanding The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor Heronimus Jones' obscure erudition, which was so often simultaneously obfuscating and enlightening.
"'Tis taught that thy name, Louis, doth stem from ye name Clovis – in ye original Frankish 'tis pronounced Chlodovech – which doth translate into English as 'Famous-in-War'. Ye original Clovis, Clovis ye First, verily were ye first Frankish high king to be convertin' unto ye Christian Faith. This original Clovis's grandfather doth be Merovech, founder o' ye Merovingian Dynasty.
Ye legends o' his birth claim Merovech's mother didst swim in ye ocean & didst forthwith becometh impregnated by a shape-shiftin' sea-bull or sea-goat (species doth vary dependin’ on ye teller o’ ye tale). Verily, tharrr be a plethora o' supernatural suppositions & divine explanations regardin' this mythic tale, includin' one fantastickal version which claimeth ye Merovingian bloodline all be descendedants o’ ye Ichthys: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
Other scholars trace this lineage back to ye legendary Merrow, shape-shiftin' merfolk livin' beneath ye waves off ye emerald coasts o' Ireland. Ye merrow doth on occasion intermingle with landlubbers, even intermarryin' when love strikes hearts. These unions be too often doomed, but sorrow 'tis not always ye lovers' fate.
'Tis most probable, ye Merovingians are children o' ye river Merwede – in Ancient Dutch, Merowe. Thus, ye most likely scenario becometh an intermixing o' Germanic Frankish royalty & a seafaring riverine people remembered in myth only as mermen.
Or, perchance, 'tis none o' these. Couldst ye truth regardin' ye oceanic origins o' ye Merovingians be far too vile to speak about overtly outside ye inner circle o' ye royal family? Oftentimes myths be fabricated to hide monstrous realities from those whose shallow minds couldst not grasp ye truth. With ye Merovingians, 'tis rumoured by some that this matriarch were no more than an unfortunate victim o' one libidinous delphinus, more commonly known as ye dolphin. In less thou doth be inclined towards beastiality, and in yer case sodomy, pray thou never experienceth ye veracity o’ dolphin-rape. "
It's said their penises are prehensile.
The Head could not resist telepathically interjecting ominously. Louis' eyebrows perked up as his jaw dropped. Half a word slipped from his lips.
"Wha…?"
On his perch in the far corner, the ship's raven cawed and fluttered his wings. Within Louis' hypersensitive imagination, the two distinct sounds merged and melded too loudly into one. The severed head's thoughts crept into the Loon's mind.
That dirty bird is laughing at you.
“Heh heh heh.”
Louis heard Heronimus chuckle. The mesmeric magic, which had almost imperceptibly begun to swell in the captain’s quarters, dissipated as the Reverend Doctor quickly wrapped up his relatively brief monologue. The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor was infamous for expounding on obscure subject matter for mind-numbingly long periods of time.
"Verily, I wouldst expoundeth further but, alas, our avian bred'ren be restless tonight and perhaps unwillin' to heareth me again babble on in long-winded sermons he couldst recite by rote. Methinks I shouldst be removin' him yon to ye crow's nest afore he doth proveth me correct. Two-Patches O'Kaine be on duty in ye nest tonight. He shouldst be glad for any companionship; forsooth, our olde friend doth complain endlessly o' feelin' lonesome on his long watches. Pardon moi, mon frere. Anon, I shallst returneth unencumbered by our avian amigo. D'Agon fhtagn."
The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor crossed the cabin to the raven's perch and presented his horizontal forearm to the large blackbird. The raven hopped to it, flapping his wings to maintain his balance. Heronimus winked at Louis over his shoulder before he turned and hurried out the door, whispering to the bird conspiratorially as he smoothed ruffled feathers. The blue-black bird's head swiveled and tilted as if focusing an absent eye on the helmsman-in-training.
Louis watched the pair go. He continued to stare pensively after them long after they had vanished from his sight. It took a few long moments for Louis to realize what he had seen. In all his previous visits to The Reverend Doctor’s cabin, the raven had always been hidden in that dark corner and so Louis had never noticed the raven’s ocular sockets were empty. Mon Dieu, my God, he thought to himself, this is why the blackbird was so comfortable confined in a shadowy corner of the captain’s quarters. What sort of madman keeps an old, blind drunk as the watchman on a vessel at sea; an eyeless, overgrown crow as a pet; and a demonic, metal head on his bookshelf? Louis finally understood a simple truth. This whole damned ship is crazy.
"And I'm a fool."
Louis’ exasperated whisper was even truer than he knew.
-------------------------------
I know why – I know why
Crazy on a ship of fools
Crazy on a ship of fools
- Robert Plant
Ship of Fools, Now and Zen
"Never get off the boat."
Absolutely goddamn right!
Unless you were goin' all the way…
- Captain Benjamin L. Willard
in Apocalypse Now (movie)
And the shadow ship started to emerge
- A.E. Von Vogt
Earth Factor X
here they come
Out of the shadows
- Big Data
Dangerous
And he heard their voices calling his name,
and shouting from field to field
telling one another of the coming of his ship.
- Kahlil Gibran
The Prophet
-------------------------------
Wake up, Louis.
A bit startled, Louis returned from his absentminded daydream, blinked rapidly, and looked around to take his bearings. He was still at the round, oaken table in the ship's captain's cabin. Heronimus Jones had returned and was speaking to him. Louis focused his attention on The Reverend Doctor's gibberish, which slowly transformed into recognizable, almost meaningful, sounds.
"Language, as with almost all ancient sciences, was first mastered by ye Atlanteans. Now, Louis, iffen I were to be askin' thee where thou doth believeth we shouldst be seekin' ye sunken continent o' Atlantis, what wouldst thee reply?"
It had been a long night, a long day, a long week, a long fortnight, a long month. Louis was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. He wasn't scared of his nightmares, not at this time. The waking world had become just as weirdly incoherent now. Too tired to think about the question, Louis replied flippantly.
"The Atlantic Ocean was named after Atlantis, non? Obviously the Atlantis must be in the Pacific Ocean then, oui?"
The Right Honourable Reverend Doctor flashed a quick crooked crescent moon grin.
"Ye be flippant, but thou hath most serendipitously hit ye mark. Verily, 'twere located on ye edge o’ ye Pacific Ocean, as we so name it in this age. In ye minds o' ye Ancients, there were only one Ocean, ye World Ocean, ye ocean o' Atlantis; & mastering this ocean, Atlantis ruled their world.”
Some say they still do.
-------------------------------
is this true?
- Professor Arysio N. dos Santos.
Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found
You know, don’t you?
- Thomas Pynchon
Gravity’s Rainbow
Once the question had been asked,
the correct answer was, of course, inescapable.
- R. A. Wilson
Schrodinger’s Cat
How many secrets can you keep?
- Arctic Monkeys
Do I Wanna Know?
"The secrets may die with me," she said
- www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170906-the-last-surviving-sea-silk-seamstress
the secret kept on the true location of Paradise’s remains
also served to prevent the greedy from desecrating the sacred place.
This was the site of Eden, of Paradise.
- Professor Arysio N. dos Santos.
Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found
paradise (n.)
late 12c., “Garden of Eden,” from Old French paradis
“paradise, Garden of Eden”(11c.),
from Late Latin paradisus, from Greek paradeisos
“park, paradise, Garden of Eden,”
from an Iranian source similar to Avestan pairidaeza “enclosure, park”
(modern Persian and Arabic firdaus “garden, paradise”),
compound of pairi- “around” + diz “to make, form (a wall).”
- www.etymonline.com/?search=paradise
Candidates moved forward to enter the garden.
- R.A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land
-------------------------------