Six centuries before Christ there was a strong belief in the power of numbers; “Numerology”. In this tradition 33 is believed to be the highest of all numbers; the “master number” and most sacred symbolizing divine truth. Christians are taught that Jesus was crucified at age 33, Joseph was 33 when he married the Virgin Mary, Jesus accomplished 33 miracles, God’s name was mentioned 33 times in Genesis or that in Islam all the dwellers of heaven are permanently 33 years old. In Isaac Newton’s temperature scale water boils at 33 degrees. The Cap Stone at the top of the Washington Monument weighs 33 tons. And finally, the highest degree within the Masons is the 33rd degree, the “Master” degree. There are 33 vertebra in the human spine and all these revelations are detailed on page 333 of “The Lost Symbol”.
Dan Brown gives the world another story of mystery and intrigue that starts with the sudden shock of Langdon’s best friend’s hand impaled on a spike appearing in the middle of the Capitol Rotunda the index finger pointing straight up with strange symbols tattooed on each of the fingers. Once again, Brown has his main character that we have come to know in “Angels and Demons” and “The DeVinci Code”, Professor Langdon, the world’s leading expert on symbols working his brain to decipher their obscure meanings.
A very smart, very evil and very crazy young man who has covered every inch of his body except for the very top of his head with dark side tattoos is using Langdon’s friend and using Langdon through the threat to his friend, Peter’s, life to discover the deepest and most strongly held secret of the Masons. For hundreds of years the Masons have guarded a small granite pyramid that holds the secret to the location of the “Lost Word” that, when known, will give its possessor super human knowledge and power. Langdon has been entrusted with a sealed box not to be opened until some undefined time in the future when the world is ready. He is forced to open the box and use the object inside to help decipher the symbols on the pyramid in order to try to save his friend’s life.
As Langdon works out the meanings behind one set of symbols he is confronted with yet another set of enigmatic icons that must be understood to continue on. It is clear that the Masons guarding the secret have put a lot of effort to make sure that whoever is able to get past all the codes will be truly worthy of knowing the secret.
In “The Lost Symbol” Dan Brown takes on a roller-coaster ride through mysterious symbology, biblical meanings and the meanings beneath the meanings. At the same time we are given a chilling suspense story filled with surprise after surprise. If you liked Brown’s other books you will love “The Lost Symbol”. I think it is the best one yet. I give it a 9 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
