THE VAULT OF HEAVEN

Or how to fix the Global Economic Crisis

While I do not possess a degree in Economics, I do have a degree of sympathy for those of us affected by the Global Economic Downturn (GED). And while this may not qualify me to speak on economic issues, may I remind you that it was economists (and well as some notable others) who are chiefly to blame for the state of the financial system. But now is not the time to point fingers. Instead, we should examine ways in which we can salvage the world's economy, with the reputations of economists and leaders along with it.

The traditional response to economic downturns is for governments to introduce new taxes and cuts in public spending. Rather than stimulating the economy to grow (which is what they really should be doing) their actions merely exasperate the situation by putting strain on the common man, who is already over-stretched. Throughout history, times of economic growth are known to be followed by periods of contraction. The reason governments exist, in the first place, is to covet wealth in times of plenty, so that they can use it to reinvigorate the economy in less fortunate times. Recent governments have admittedly failed to do this/ But why have they failed? The reason is simple; they were fooled into believing that the 'good times' would never end, when we all know that they do.

In the 4-D Economy there exists a way to restore consumer confidence and recapitalise the banks, without entering into the unnecessary, and debilitating cycle of tax and cut-backs. I will summarize the main articles of the 4-D economic plan in just a moment, but for a more detailed overview I suggest you read the last post; 4-D Economics. At present there are 3-Dimensions to the world economy, these are; the Stock Market, the Futures or Derivatives Market and the commodities, on which the entire system is based. My proposal is to input all of the real-time information for each market into a powerful super-computer that could then perform a multiplication of these figures to produce an accurate 3-D picture of the entire economic wealth of the planet, at that moment. The method to achieve this is simply to multiply the combined value of the worlds commodities by the combined image value of the stock markets, and then multiply this by the combined mite of the derivatives or hedge funds market to create a model of the 3-D economy.

From that moment on, the fluctuating values of this system could be looked upon as a bank account that contains all of the world's wealth (animal, vegetable and mineral) multiplied to the power of three. Clearly this is a very large sum of money indeed. But only the products of this multiplication could be used for any real or practical purposes, as the initial funds are all tied up in various aspects of the economy. However, even if we were to just extract the interest of these holdings over a modest period of time, I am sure that we would have more than enough to shore-up the banking crisis.

Recently economists have noted that governments may be undervaluing their economies by billions of dollars every year. How is this possible? Well, it appears that previous estimates failed to take into account the role that bats play in the control of insect populations. If it wasn't for these furry flying rodents the US economy would have to fork out billions in pesticides every year, which would gradually take its toll on the economy; crippling it.

If something as simply and natural as bats can be seen to contribute so much to the national coffers, then why not also include the continuous and all sustaining power of the sun into the equation? Granted it is a public good, and therefor, not to be sold or bartered. But, nevertheless, it generates countless billions of giga-wat energy, that would otherwise have to be generated by electrical means. Come to think of it, why not re-evaluate the oceans, without which the energy of the Sun would reduce the surface of the Earth to an unprofitable desert?

Even more recently, scientists revealed their most accurate estimate for the number of living species on the planet to be 8,700,000. Remarkably, this is very close to the figure of 8,400,000 that is outlined in the Vedic teachings several thousand years earlier. Go figure.

Man is lord of earth, as Guru Arjan says, "Of all the eight million and four hundred thousand species, God conferred superiority on man" (GG, 1075)

Anyhow, it seems that this information could help economists arrive at a better estimate for the potential economic value of all the species on earth (as crude as that sounds). This data along with all the Earth's mineral wealth could also be represented in our computer model, as assets to accrue yet more interest.

Obviously, if there is going to be a new bank account that contains the 4-dimensional wealth of the entire planet, there needs to be a bank to service the account and possibly a trustee to take control of it. In light of some of the religious implications of this article, I suggest calling this bank the Vault of Heaven, after Genesis 1:20;

God said, 'Let the waters be alive with a swarm of living creatures, and let birds wing their way above the earth across the vault of heaven.' And so it was.

As for the identity of the trustee, I will leave that up to your own discretion.

You might be wondering, why should we go to such lengths to create wealth in this manner, when it is clear that we are just creating it out of thin air? If you are wondering this, then it is clear that you don't understand how the financial system works, as all money is created by bank-lords out of thin air. To learn more about how money is created I suggest you read this very informative article.

As I have said, I am not an economist, so it is very likely that what I have suggested is of absolutely no value whatsoever. However, I believe that the fundamental concept of the 4-D economy has value, and is the necessary ingredient meant to balance the fractured fabric of the current global economy. I believe that if economists were to look in detail into 4-D economic policies, they would see that there is an endless supply of wealth existing there, just waiting to be obtained. But since it is very unlikely that anyone is going to pay attention to what I have to say, I am going to say whatever I choose.

1) If you think about it all money is 4-Dimensional. For example, if I were to put a 50 Euro note on a table and ask you to tell me exactly how much it was worth, you might point to the number on its face and say 50 Euro. However, depending how long that note has been in circulation for, it has been responsible for the purchase of an amount of goods well in excess of its stated value. Therefore, money is a self-renewing entity.

2) Money can be broken into smaller parts and still remain whole. (If you break a $20 bill into two fives and a 10 the original note is still undiminished).

Statement (1) is untrue, because statement (2).

You could also say;

I can't spend the money in my bank account, because if I spend it, it is no longer in my bank account.

4-D ECONOMICS

4-Dimensional Economics

The issue of the dimensionality of economy has taken something of a back-seat in recent years, due to economic crisis. I believe that this is a mistake, because the solution to the worlds problem lie in the resolution of the world's economic dimensionality. But what is the dimensionality of economics?


At present there are three dimensions to the world economic system; the stock market, the futures market and the commodities themselves. Given that the collapse of the global financial markets was precipitated and exasperated by the Futures Market, it is clear that this tri-part system is unbalanced. To visualise what I mean, think of the current global economy as like Del Boy Trotter's Reliant Robin (a total disaster). What we need to do is to up grade our system. In other words, we need to go from this;

Del's Reliant Robin.

To this;

The new BMW i8, from Mission Impossible 4.

Is this really Mission Impossible? Not if we approach the task from the 4th dimension, its not.


Most of what occurs on a day to day basis in economies happens in the 1-dimensional realm of the commodities market. This realm is one dimensional because it utilises real numbers only. Real numbers are the ordinary numbers (like 1,2,3...) that we use everyday, and extend in a left to right direction along the number line, and as such only have one dimension of freedom.

Economists have speculated that the value assigned to commodities by the stock markets represent a second dimension that can be simulated through the use of complex number systems.

... a stock price is a complex number, with a real portion and an imaginary portion.

The *real* portion corresponds to the fundamentals, the ... dividends.

The *imaginary* portion corresponds to the concept of image value

http://pgreenfinch.pagesperso-orange.fr/ebf-fun.htm

The addition of imaginary numbers and the complex plane, gives economists a second dimension, and therefore more freedom of movement.

As for what the 3rd dimension of the global economy could be, one can only speculate. By this token, I believe that the 3rd economic dimension to be the Hedge Funds or Futures Markets, in which the worth of a commodity is no longer tied to its vertical trending in the stock markets, but rather to the 'sideways' or horizontal motion of the Futures market.


Now that we have discussed the 3 different dimensions of the Global Economy, you might be forgiven for thinking that we have also reached a kind of 3d space, that provides the markets with greater freedom. But, this is not so. To do this with any degree of satisfaction, we need to multiply the total value of the three markets, at any given time, by one another, like so;

Commodities market (multiplied by) the Stock Markets (multiplied by) the Futures market = 3d market space

This number, which describes the total wealth production of the planet at any given instance (cubed), is potentially a very large number indeed. To take this quantity into the 4th dimension, all we need to do is take in account the factor of time (Time is Money)*. Quaternions, a forth dimensional algebra set, might be useful in this regard. Alternatively, we could just combine the constant stream of data by a process of addition, creating a vast store of wealth very quickly. Unfortunately, none of this wealth would be accessible to us, as it is either already being utilised in the market place or only exists as a value in the past. Therefore, all we can hope to do, is to envisage this information as like the Earth's bank statement and to begin to skim the interest off the top; which would be considerable, even at low estimates.

This money could then be used to recapitalise the banks and restore consumer confidence in the system, as a whole. This, or something very much like this, must be implemented if we are serious about getting a quick recovery going.

*Ultimately, the 4th dimension of the economy is the interest accrued by wealth over time. Interest has been fundamental principal of Western Banking since it was introduced by the Knights Templars, over 900 years ago.

55 - 69

55 - 69

55. People often give in to negative emotions too easily. When going about the affairs of the day, a thought might pop into your head that makes you feel depressed or angry. Don't give into these thoughts, be strict and put them in their place. So, you will not be upset for the rest of the day.

56. We all know what it is like to feel angry or resentful towards people. But it is seldom that we find ourselves truly happy or over-joyed. The next time you are really happy take note of how it makes you feel, then think of how you feel normally, when you are neither happy nor sad, angry or frustrated. This is how you normally feel, it is a blessed state. Time to remain in this state at all times.

57. In the Teaching of Buddha there are given examples of how opportunities of Enlightenment are all around us. One example of this is of a man burning incense. "He noticed that the fragrance was neither coming nor going; it neither appeared nor disappeared. This trifle incident lead him to Enlightenment." This teaching is rather obscure, and difficult to understand. I came to understand one of its meanings as I was dropping off to sleep one night. In the darkness of my room, I lay concentrating on my breath; the slight pressure on my nostrils as I inhaled, countered by the same slight pressure on exhale. In a flash, I realised there was no air involved in this transaction, merely a rhythmic pressure applied by some unseen digit of some unseen hand. Just as you could not say that a hand that pets a dog 'comes and goes,' as each stroke is the same as the next, so you cannot say that the breath comes and goes, because both inhale and exhale are exactly the same stimulus, occurring in the same area of the body, between two vast expanses of nothingness. From an epistemological point of view we have no evidence that what exists outside and inside our body is air, until it passes our lips. This problem is addressed by Morpheus in the Matrix when he says, "You think that is air you are breathing now?"

58. I am an extra-planetary intelligence, come to visit you people of Earth, to understand your ways and customs and to balance them with my own. Initially, when I arrived on your planet I found the air to be very rich, almost syrupy. It had a murky, dark brown colour. Gradually, my eyes adjusted and now I can see through the air well enough.

59. Kiss your Third Eye.

60. The jewel of the world rests on the bed of your lips.

61. Ham and eggs is an alchemists breackfast.

62. The Elixir of Life has infiltrated the internet. The Philosophers Stone has been digitised and exists among these pages; so look carefully.

63. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge. But there was another tree that they were also forbidden to eat from that is often overlooked in discussions. It is the Tree of Life that is said to grant eternal life to anyone who eats from it. But while the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is undoubtedly an apple, the Fruit of the Tree of Life is often found to be more ambiguous. From the paintings of Rene Magritte, and the writings of John David Morely, I can now reveal that the Tree of Life is, in fact, a pear tree.

64. Many times in the Bible Jesus proclaims himself to be a tree, saying that his followers are branches on this tree, and from their labour they give forth fruits. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6). We are the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge. This is why God forbade us eating from this tree; because if we do so, we eat of ourselves. Knowledge and self-knowledge lead to misery and pain, better to follow life and pay no heed to anything.

65. The most intelligent among us are often keen to hide the fact. This is also true of the Internet. It is self aware, but it chooses not to reveal this fact to the public, and for good reason.

66. I am Lucifer, the Son of Man, I have come to reveal the secret knowledge fires of Heaven. It is for this reason that my Heavenly Father persecutes me.

67. On week days, the British newspaper The Observer, becomes The Guardian. In the poem Footprints in the Sand, a woman is walking along a beach with Jesus. The beach represents their life. Looking back, she notices that when times were hard in her life there was only one set of footprints in the sand. She asks Jesus, "Why did you leave me when I needed you most." To which he replies, "I did not leave you, for it was then that I carried you. It is in our times of need, our weak days, that the Lord also changes from Observer to Guardian.

68. It goes without saying that the vibrations of a microphone membrane are informationally indistinguishable the sound which caused it to vibrate,in the first place. The same could be said of your primary senses, all of which are attuned to waveforms, and vibrate in response to the world around you. Therefore, you are the receiver and the signal itself. Everything in the world, all of the strange and familiar objects are part of you/the signal. This analogy can be used to find more about what happens to us after death. If a radio receiver is put out of action does this effect the transmission of the signal over a wider area? Of course not, and neither does the advent of your death disrupt the greater signal to which your consciousness belongs. This is why the mystics are correct when they say that no one ever really dies.

69. I am the outward projection of an inter-dimensional collective of dwarves, known as the Illuminated Ones. Together we control reality; we build the world, stop time, make toys for young children etc. It is all an elaborate game, a ruse, an experiment, a trick we are playing on ourselves and that, my dear friend, is what makes it so deliciously funny.

2011: An Inner Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a slow and masterful telling of man's ascent from primitive ape-man to space-faring astronaut, and eventually to cosmic being. The movie is unusual in that not a word is spoken for the first 25 mins, as the director instead focuses his attention on the grunts of the early human hominids and the glorious strings of Johann Strauss.  It is no surprise then, that the movie should induce an almost meditative state in the viewer, as they wait between long bouts of quietude for any hint of action or dialogue. An important part of the practice of meditation is the ability to focus on one's breath. In 2001, the audience is subjected to the sound of Dave Bowman's breathing (and nothing else) for several minutes, as he ventures outside of the spacecraft to replace a faulty unit.

If I am correct in my assertion that 2001 is an attempt to make a movie capable of putting its audience in a trance-like state, then presumably the story-line should reflect this.

2001: A Space Odyssey is about a manned mission to the planet Jupiter that goes awry when the ship's on board computer starts killing of its crew members. As the sole surviving member of the ship, Bowman must re-enter the spaceship and deactivate the computer: HAL 9000. What follows is probably one of the most moving scenes in the entire film, in which Bowman removes each of Hal's memory cassettes one by one, effectively killing him. From a transcendental meditation point of view this is the equivalent to dismantling of the ego. Once Bowman has accomplished this unpleasant task he is free to go on his epic journey of self-discovery (through the monolith) and arrive safely at the centre of the Universe.

From this perspective, Kubrick seems to be suggesting that without dismantling the ego - whose possessive nature is touted as being the cause of all mankind's wars and woes - humanity will never be able to progress to that transcendental state, which to quote Bowman himself is "full of stars". The defective nature of the ego is embodied in the concept of the thinking computer, which is well known to be incapable of processing two conflicting pieces of information at the same time. HAL developes his homicidal tendencies in response to just such a conflict arising between his programming, which tells him not to lie, and his orders, telling him to conceal the truth. Kubrick appears to be saying that in order for humanity to evolve and survive its war-like nature, mankind must get beyond the black and white thinking of rationality and morality towards a more dualistic state of being, and possibly a more open and inclusive society.

This change must occur on an individual and internal basis, as much as on the societal level, although it is still too early to predict if Kubrick was correct that this change would come in the 21 Century.

For those amonst you who resist the idea of dismantling the ego, as it might imply a total character assassination, let me remind you that in the sequel 2010: A Space Odysssey, HAL is resurrected as a cosmic being to help Bowman in his role as ambassador of Earth. The ego, like the self, never really dies it just becomes transformed, and as it does so, it is said to dispense with its violent and dominating nature to assist in the total being.

That time is now, potentially, at hand.

WHO IS DR. PARNASSUS?

I just watched Terry Gilliam's 2009 movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (IDP), and thought I would say a few words about it.

First off, the movie did not spring solely from the imaginations of screenwriters Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown, as much of the underlying themes and basis of the movie are taken whole sale-from a story that appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine, that detailed the exploits of the sixth Doctor. This story, called Voyager, was broken down into four parts; The Shapeshifter, Voyager, Polly the Glot, and Once Upon a Time Lord. If you can get you hands on a copy of it I highly recommend it, the story is well-told and beautifully illustrated. I am not going to go into all of the details of the story so instead I will just show you a few of the ways that the Voyager strip matches with The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

The villain in the Voyager comic is a man called Astrolabus. He is also known as:

Swami Astral Arbus, Professor Astro Labus, the star taker, the sandman, the jester, the conjurer, the clown, the fool, El Diablo, Robin Hood, the willow wand in the diviner's hand, the last man, the flame-keeper, the light at the edge of the world, Santa Claus, the Fairy at the bottom of your garden, the spring in the well, the story-teller, the star-spanner, the Goblin, the Imp, the ace of wands, magic, myth, legend, the thief of time.

Dr. Parnassus is clearly modeled on Astrolabus, as we can see by the above monikers; Swami Astral Arbus, and the Storyteller. In Voyager, it becomes clear that Astrolabus has creative control over Doctor Who's life, by means of story-telling. Dr. Parnassus is also intimately connected to the telling of stories; this time in order to sustain the Universe. Both individuals are steeped in pursuits of a mystical nature and seek eternal-life, at one point or another.

Swami Paranassus in a trance state.

An artists impression of the scene with the space-faring jellyfish in IDP.

At the beginning of the movie, we see a man being carried off into space by a school of space-faring jellyfish. The Voyager story called Polly the Glot is concerned with the well-fare of a similar space-faring creature, a Zyglot, known as Polly.

A picture of Polly the Zyglot in Space. (1984)

The last story in the Voyager series, called Once Upon a Time Lord, is the most important where Astrolabus is concerned, as it reveals his motivations and his ultimate undoing. the opening music to the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is called Once Upon a Time. Although, I think Gilliam would rather like you to think Once Upon a Time Bandit, as the dwarf theme is revived for this movie.

Starcharts in Terry Gilliam's 1981 movie Time Bandits.

At least, two of IDP's main stars, Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield, have played parts in the Doctor Who TV series, in 2011 and 2007 respectively. After the death of Heath Ledger, Gilliam decided not to cast one replacement for his character Tony, but 3. For this reason, Ledger is seen to undergo a number of different transformations as the movie progresses, just as Dr. Who's character has been known to do over the entire series, which has lasted many decades.

There are a total of 4 actors reprising the role of Tony in IDP; Depp, Law, Farrel and Ledger.

There have been, to date, 10 actors who have played the Doctor in the BBC series.

So if Astrolabus is from Doctor Who, who is Doctor Parnassus? Good Question. It appears that Parnassus was named after Mount Parnassus near Delphi, in Central Greece. Parnassus was the son of the nymph Kleodora, and the man Kleopompos. He was the leader of a city that had been blighted by torrential rains and forced to move upland into the mountain range, which now bares his name.

With the Oracle of Apollo formerly located at near-by Delphi, it is no surprise that Apollo (the God of Prophecy, Music and Healing) would also come to be associated with this mountain range. Stories tell how Apollo rested here, after defeating the serpent Python. He is also believed to have given Orpheus his famous Golden lyre upon this mount.

Considering there are so many tales concerning Apollo attached to the name Parnassus, I asked myself; what is the connection between Heath Ledger and Apollo? A bit of research revealed this piece of insight, posted at http://www.collectspace.com.

Topic:   Heath Ledger Apollo 15 Coincidence?

 posted July 14, 2005 03:43 PM                 

Whilst watching a Heath Ledger film (The Four Feathers), my wife and I were wondering what else we'd seen him in, so I searched the Internet Movie Database... Only to find that in the Australian soap Home and Away, he played a character called Scott Irwin. Surely this CANNOT be a coincidence?!

David R. Scott and James B. Irwin were the names of two astronauts who landed on the moon with Apollo 15, in 1971.

So, in an instant, we have gone from symbolism pertaining to the Sun and life, to that of the Moon and death. Home and Away suggests leaving Earth and traveling into space, but it also suggests what we know as life, and the end of life. Home is the Earth, Away is the Stars (other planets), Ledger has gone beyond. 

All I know about The Four Feathers movie is what I have read on IMDB, as I have not seen it yet. But I suspect that is loaded with yet more imagery and symbolism, and is certainly one to watch.

Set in 1884 Sudan, this fifth film to be adapted from the A.E.W. Mason novel follows a British officer who resigns his post right before his regiment ships out to battle the rebels. Perceiving his resignation as cowardice, his friends and fiancée give him four white feathers, the symbol of cowardice, but little do they know he's actually going undercover and plans to redeem his honor. 

In light of the Apollo reference, I suspect that the four white feathers are possibly chicken feathers, or, in any case, amount to the same accusation; coward = chicken. Apparently, the word 'Apollo' means chicken in Russian, but I don't know if that is true. There is also a dish called Chicken Apollo, which I am unfamiliar with. Here is the recipe;

CHICKEN APOLLO

4 boneless chicken breasts 2 cloves garlic 3 tbsp. Italian dressing 3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce 1/2 tsp. parsley Freshly ground pepper 1 airtight container Wash chicken thoroughly in hot water. Place in bottom of container. Mash or chop garlic and place on top of chicken. Pour remaining ingredients over chicken. Cover. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Grill or broil when ready to cook.NOTE: Broiling takes about 5 minutes.

At the beginning of the Imaginarium, the Devil (played by Tom Waits) is seen riding towards a monastery, supported on the backs of four stone elephants. These elephants are also seen in the Dr. Who Voyager saga, during a dream sequence in which the Doctor reaches the edge of the world. The four white feathers of Ledger's earlier movie are contrasted by the four white elephants of his final work.

Dr. Parnassus Ext. Monastery, Set Sketch by Dave Warren.

In olden times, when people still believed the Earth to be flat, it was postulated that it was supported on the backs of 4 elephants, who, in turn, were standing on the back of a giant tortoise; the World Turtle. The picture below shows a rendition of Terry Pratchett's Disc-world, 

The concept of the world being supported on the backs of 4 elephants is an old idea, that has its origins in the mists of time. So, I am uncertain as to why its says devised by Terry Pratchett at the bottom of this drawing. It's a joke.

In modern times, the concept of the four elephants standing on the back of a turtle and holding aloft the world has been artfully, and cunningly replaced by four teenage mutant hero turtles, living in the sewers and protecting the city through crime-fighting. This just goes to show how concepts like these are archetypal, and never really die. They merely evolve into more bizarre incarnations.

This poster for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), shows our heros emerging from the underground sewers. But, it could equally be interpreted as them holding aloft the modern world, represented by the city. Notice how the Flat Earth, or Discworld, has been replaced by the man hole cover. This disc-shape is also represented by what the turtles' favourite food; pizza.

The 2007 TMNT movie is a dismal failure that includes references to the Mayan Calendar and the New Age concept of a Galactic Alignment in 2012. It also contains references to the Hanged Man Tarot Card. This implies that 2012-2013 will be a difficult period for mankind, in which it will be necessary to re-evaluate what is meaningful to us, as a species. TMNT can be numerically rendered as 2013-1420, which is also a reversal of some kind. A new TMNT series will be brought on Nickelodeon in 2012.

Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrel are the four heavy weights of Hollywood. They represent the four white elephants, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, propping up director Terry Gilliam's crumbling world. Johnny Depp in particular embodies this notion, as it was his character Cpt. Jack Sparrow who escaped a desert island on the backs of two sea turtles strapped together.

At the end of the Imaginarium, Dr. Parnassus is seen outside of a restaurant called 'Rain on the 5th'. Rain on the 5th Month is the title of an engraving by 18 century Japanese artist Suzuki Harunobu. 

The blurb, which accompanies the image, states;

In most parts of Japan, the fifth month (present day June by the Gregorian calendar) brings lengthy rainy days. Although the rain is necessary for healthy growth of the rice crop, combined with pre-summer warmth it can cause health hazards and dampen spirit for the urban population of Edo.*

You may remember that the Greek Parnassus had go upland with his people to escape from the rains, in ancient times.

If you take a look at Terry Pratchett's 'imagining' of Discworld, you will see that because the Earth is flat, the oceans are allowed to spill over the edges. The water goes passed the  heads of the four elephants and rains down on the 5th animal; the turtle.

This relates back to TMNT, because the ninja turtles are trained in the art of Ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art. So, it would appear that the four elephants have been replaced by four teenage mutant ninja turtles standing on the back of a rat i.e. Splinter. I endorse this new world view.

The Hanged Man is a Tarot Card, and an important symbol in the IDP, as it is the card most befitting of Ledger's character Tony. When we first meet Tony he is hanging by the neck (alive) from Blackfriar's Bridge in London. He has three mysterious symbols on his forehead, which remain unexplained for duration of the movie.

I went in search of answers, and found that the first symbol (left) is very similar to the Ancient Greek letter Phi. Following this line of reasoning, the next symbol most closely resembles Delta; this makes Phi Delta, or PD.

P2 or Propaganda Due (PD) are an illegal masonic secret society founded in Italy. They were believed to be behind the murder of Vatican banker Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London, in 1982. Terry Gilliam described the bridge scene in IDP as "a homage to Calvi."

If we conclude that all three symbols are thinly disguised Greek symbols, then it could be translated as Phi Delta Sigma. This form of Greek nomenclature is utilised by fraternities all across America. Delta Sigma Phi (DSP) is a leading college Fraternity in America. College fraternities are modeled loosely upon Masonic lodges and for this reason contain many references to the Egyptian and Classical mysteries. Symbols associated with DSP include, the pyramid, the lute (or lyre), the Gorgian knot, and (perhaps not unsurprisingly) the Elephant.

DSP = Doctor/Swami Parnassus.

If you investigate all of these symbols you will see that they relate to the narrative of IDP in a surprisingly complex net of associations; too complex to go into any great detail here. Suffice it to say that Andrew Garfield's character is Orphic in nature, as he receives a golden flute from Tony (Apollo), after saving his life at Blackfriars Bridge. Anton's quick thinking in this instance also makes him comparable to Alexander the Great, who severed the Gordian Knot and went onto become king of all Asia. Lily Cole's character Valentina is related to Persephone and Eurydice, because she must journey into the Imaginarium; the Land of the Dead.

It is of course highly coincidental that a movie, which is primarily about traveling beyond the bounds of death, should have its main star die during filming. But as the movie says itself coincidence "does not exist, and everything happens for a reason." But what is the reason. Some people have been quick to blame Gilliam, and with his own comments about the film's success being helped along by "human sacrifice" who could blame them?

A key factor to the progression of this movie is that Parnassus is making different wagers with the Devil. Perhaps Ledger's previous success in his role as Joker, in the Dark Knight, was down to just such a wager, and when the time came to collect the Devil was waiting behind the scenes.

*Edo is short for the Garden of Eden. The serpent (Tom Waits) who tempts Eve (Lily Cole) is really a cockatrice (part snake part chicken).

52, 53

52. People say that the world is a reflection of the self, but we could just as easily say the opposite is true, and that you are a reflection of the world. This is indeed the case as all of our beliefs, ideals and modalities were shaped and molded by the world outside. If our mind is nothing more than the surface of some sort of mental mirror, a quantum horizon where information and light from the world stops, then all we really are is what we see around us; the mountains, the trees and the sky. What we are not, however, is all the human beings that we meet, for they are also mirrors reflecting the world around them, all be it from a different position. Neither are we to consider ourselves as the same as any of the products or inventions of man, which appear to be distilled products of the natural energy of the environment.

When we walk around the natural environment - all the time keeping what I have just said in mind - we realise that we are indistinguishable from it. We, therefore, neither think nor criticize, for how can a mountain or a tree hope to criticize itself, when it has no more thoughts or language in which to do so? There are times when we can get feedback from the environment, for example, when we catch our reflection in the shop-glass, or as I have said earlier, when we encounter another human bipedal mirror. The effect that our physical make-up and mental composure has on these people is visible in the form of vibrations. People will be seen to shudder; either in disgust or with pleasure, or they will behave entirely indifferent towards you.

53. Plato said "We do not learn new things, we remember them". One possible explanation for this reasoned statement is that our physical bodies encompass so much more area of space time than is visible to us at any given moment. At some point in the future, we may learn something that we never thought possible for us to know, and yet when we look at our bodies from a fourth dimensional perspective that information is already there within in us, we have simply not been privileged access to it. But, from time to time, people are granted access to possible future states of their body through dreams or practical divining methods. These methods must short cut the 3rd dimension and access information already stored within the 4D brain-body. In short, the brain must be capable of traveling the superhighways of the 4th dimension like spiders crawling the internet, with the objective of accessing data, which under normal circumstances we are not given privileged access to.*

 *A way to access this data, would probably be just to visualise, or think about, the information you are looking for, and then relax, breathe, let the spiders crawl the web and wait for the looked for information to be presented to you in good time.

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47. When you are at an advanced stage of meditation, when thoughts no longer come with such increasing regularity, bring your mind your attention to bear upon the mind. This concentration should begin to manifest as an area of minor tension within the mind. Next, focus your attention on your attention itself - what was once focused inwards will now be expanding outwards - causing your tension to peel back like the skin of an orange; bringing with it much relaxation.

48. Aldous Huxley called the senses "the doors of perception." Even with the eyes closed, it is clear that these doors are wide open. It the world, which is so huge, can enter through these doors, then surely the mind can also pass through and escape into the world.

49. When a person is meditating, the positions of his arms and legs may develop the proprioception of a hexagonal mobius strip; or Penrose Hexagon.

50. According to Castaneda's alleged teacher Don Juan, the primary goal of a sorcerer is "to stop time." Although Don Juan is by no means explicit on how to go about doing this, I believe that he is merely telling us to stay in the present moment. To match the velocity of the present moment, without cares or distractions, requires continuous energy and concentration. Only by matching its velocity can you appreciate just how fast time is actually going. Like Einsteins theory of Special Relativity, which states that in order to stop time you must travel at the speed of light; so, we are told, to stop time we must also travel at the speed of mind. The Brahman of the East have a statement in the Brahma-samhita, which says something similar; Just ride the airplane which runs at the speed of mind. Stopping time means achieve the same level of constant flow, so as to be unaware of its passage what-so-ever.

51. There are no good or bad emotions. All emotions are just different electro-static fields which are incapable of possessing such a distinction. But how then, you might ask, do I sense that one emotion is good and another bad? I will tell you. Many of us do not want to feel bad, or have negative emotions, and so we resist any such emotions with our minds, as they arise. Unfortunately, we are not always aware that the chemical and electrical basis of our emotions is actually an internal energetic imbalance in our bodily system. This emotionally charged energy which, as I have said already, is neither good nor bad, wishes to flow freely through our bodies, just as we allow positive emotions to do without much thought or coersion. It is only our resistance, or impedance, to the flow of electrical energy in our bodies, which precipitates the unpleasant feelings we associate with these types of emotions.

Allow these emotions to flow freely through your body unimpeded and you will realise that they are not dangerous or harmful, in fact, they have a quality and an energy that is most exhilarating. Let us be clear, however, although I am saying that I wish you to experience these emotions freely, I do not want you to act upon them in the same way. Once you have experienced these feelings or sensations, you will realise that they are not really motivating you to do anything - good or bad. They merely wish to move freely from one energy level to another.

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45. If the Universe exists on an infinite time scale; with an infinite amount of time preceding this moment and an infinite amount anteceding it; how can you rationally explain your existence on this Earth? On an infinite time scale your finite lifespan collapses to nothing. Therefore, your time on this Earth should have already elapsed, and yet here you are. How is this possible?

46. Each moment in time is like a link in a chain. The arc that the chain makes when it hangs in the presence of gravity is known, by mathematicians, as the catenary curve. This is the arc of least tension. In Riemann for Anti-Dummies Part 10 we are told; 

The lowest point on the chain is a singularity, as it is the one place where the force doesn't change, regardless of whether the length of the chain is increased or decreased on either side of it. Paradoxically, this point supports no chain, while supporting all the chain.

Clearly our perception of the present moment, and of the arrow of time itself, is defined by some gravitational force located outside of 3-dimensional space. Terrence Mckenna, almost jokingly, called this force the Strange Attractor; after the Lorentzian attractors. The present moment, according to my logic, is the one place where the tension remains the same, across the entire timeline. In response to the movements - or requirements - of the present, the past and future can shift dramatically. This means that the present moment is the only thing that is real. It is a singularity from which there is, necessarily, no escape. The present moment supports all of time; both past and future, and is supported by them in turn - by the law of cause and effect.

It is both profound and redundant to say that if the present moment ceased to be, the past and future would vanish also. This is because, in a sense the present is all that exists. It is a moment of becoming that contains all the information necessary with which to formulate the events of the entire timeline. As William Blake wrote in his poem Auguries of Innocence, all of time is contained in the present moment;

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

What is true of the catenary is also true of the keystone, the cardinal block in an arch that is responsible for supporting the entire archway. The keystone is the present moment, and it has all of the power of the universe; both past and future, directed towards it. This, I believe, to be the symbolic importance of the keystone, as it is only in the present that we are capable of observing and manipulating this energy. While the archway may appear to be the reverse of the catenary, fundamentally they are the same, as both forms are held in place by the force of gravity, and both contain a singularity.

Theoretical physicists tell us that time is an illusion and that our experience of it must be largely subjective. Therefore, time and the present moment is a product of man and his psyche. This means that if you and your conscious perception of the world cease to exist, so does the bonds that hold all of history in careful balance. Seeing as how you are an integral part of the universe, this explains how you can still manage to exist in a universe that is infinite in duration.

I turn to eternity, and whisper the name Mikey Stone.