MollyCon 37
Angels & Demons, Part 2
7/30/2023
Molly
Don
NOTE: Honoring rules and standards largely established by Carl Sagan, the best skeptics are instinctively suspicious of sensational “pop-up” discoveries that come out of nowhere and soon after appear in paperback books with glitzy covers and exaggerated titles. The reality is that pseudoscience sells, which is why even large publishing houses have divisions within them that specialize in the fringe science genre.
To distance myself from the purveyors of pseudoscience, I have consistently emphasized that my claimed “discovery” of an alien-encrypted code in the Old Testament is only “new” in the sense that I’m the first to disclose it to the public. It’s clear to me that others have known about it over a long period of time, but, for a variety of reasons, chose not to openly declare it.
Another separation strategy I employ is my persistent request that the Sagan Signal be critically investigated and appraised by independent experts - with results, whatever they may be, released to the public with full transparency. My promise has always been to accept the results of such investigations, and, should my extraordinary claim get debunked, so be it. Should that happen, I will shut down this site and walk away.
In the History tab to your left, I argue that in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Isaac Newton knew about the 46 grain/wine/oil sequences and was keenly aware that they posed a major threat to the Church’s doctrine of the Trinity. Newton also knew that publishing his controversial research would likely cost him his life, so, for safekeeping, he secretly arranged to have the grain/wine/oil sequence written into the Masonic ritual of the Laying of the Cornerstone.
But this begs the questions: How did Newton learn about the Code? And when was it originally discovered? And by who? Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code goes into great detail in answering these questions, as does Angels & Demons. What distinguishes the two novels in this area of interest is that the focus of Angels & Demons is on the shadowy and near-mystical organization, the Illuminati, the subject of this conversation.
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Illuminati symbols
Don: In previous essays, I pointed out that every one of Dan Brown’s mystery novels features a giant rabbit hole as a strategy to divert the casual reader’s attention away from the truth. The giant rabbit hole in Angels & Demons is the Illuminati.
Introduced early in the novel and referred to repeatedly to the end, Brown perpetuates the myth that the Illuminati is a terrorist organization comprised of extremely wealthy and powerful individuals who view the Pope as the Antichrist and the Catholic Church as a false religion that spreads lies and heresies among its millions of faithful followers.
The storyline has the “brotherhood” poisoning the Pope and exploding a vial of antimatter over the conclave of Cardinals meeting in Rome to elect a new Pope.
Now for the spoiler alert: The individual responsible for all this violence is not the Illuminati, but the Pope’s trusted assistant priest, who later learns that the Cardinal to be chosen as the new Pope is his father!
So, in the end, the Illuminati are innocent. But this begs the question: If the Illuminati weren’t terrorists, who were they? And are they still around today?
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Don: In Angels & Demons, Dan Brown writes that in the 16th century, a number of pioneers of modern science created a secret cabal dedicated to countering, and eventually overthrowing, the pseudoscientific teachings of the Catholic Church.
Following are a few Reader’s Digest-type excerpts:
Excerpt #1:
“Since the beginning of history, Langdon explained, a deep rift has existed between science and religion. Outspoken scientists like Copernicus –
“Were murdered, Kohler interjected. Murdered by the church for revealing scientific truths. Religion has always persecuted science.”
“Yes. But in the 1500s, a group of men in Rome fought back against the church. Some of Italy’s most enlightened men – physicists, mathematicians, astronomers – began meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church’s inaccurate teachings. They feared that the church’s monopoly on ‘truth’ threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world’s first scientific think tank, calling themselves ‘the enlightened ones.”
“The Illuminati.”
“Yes, Langdon said. “Europe’s most learned minds . . . dedicated to the quest for scientific truth.”
Don: The events described above are so wrapped in myth and legend that it’s impossible to separate fact from fiction, but certainly what is true is that it was during this time in Europe that the first vestiges of the Enlightenment and the modern scientific method began to appear and that some clerics saw this as an existential threat to the Church.
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The Illuminati Inquisition
Excerpt #2:
“Of course, the Illuminati were hunted down ruthlessly by the Catholic Church. Only through rites of extreme secrecy did the scientists remain safe. Word spread through the academic underground, and the Illuminati brotherhood grew to include academics from all over Europe. The scientists met regularly in Rome at an ultrasecret lair they called the Church of Illumination.”
Don: Significantly, Brown refers to this cabal of scientists a “brotherhood,” which opens up, at least theoretically, the possibility of their infiltration into other brotherhoods like the Masons and the Rosicrucians who shared similar goals and interests.
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Galileo
Excerpt #3:
“Many of the Illuminati,” Langdon continued, “wanted to combat the church’s tyranny with acts of violence, but their most revered member persuaded them against it. He was a pacifist, as well as one of history’s most famous scientists.”
Langdon was certain Kohler would recognize the name. Even nonscientists were familiar with the ill-fated astronomer who had been arrested and almost executed by the church for proclaiming that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of the solar system. Although his data were incontrovertible, the astronomer was severely punished for implying that God had placed mankind somewhere other than at the center of His universe.
“His name was Galileo Galilei,” Langdon said.
Kohler looked up, “Galileo?”
“Yes. Galileo was an Illuminatus. And he was also a devout Catholic. He tried to soften the church’s position on science by proclaiming that science did not undermine the existence of God, but rather reinforced it. He wrote once that when he looked through his telescope at the spinning planets, he could hear God’s voice in the music of the spheres. He held that science and religion were not enemies, but rather allies – two different languages telling the same story, a story of symmetry and balance . . . heaven and hell, night and day, hot and cold, God and Satan. Both science and religion rejoiced in God’s symmetry . . . the endless contest of light and dark.”
Don: Dan Brown next details how Galileo, an Illuminati leader, persuaded the brotherhood to remain pacifist and avoid violence, a critical quality that made it possible for Rosicrucians and Masons, both pacifistic, to accept them into their respective organizations.
It’s important to note that the overarching goal of all three brotherhoods was never the elimination of religion, it was the unification of science and religion.
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Science vs Religion
Excerpt #4:
“Unfortunately, Langdon added, “the unification of science and religion was not what the church wanted.”
“Of course not,” Kohler interrupted. “The union would have nullified the church’s claim as the sole vessel through which man could understand God. So the church tried Galileo as a heretic, found him guilty, and put him under permanent house arrest.
“Galileo’s arrest threw the Illuminati into upheaval. Mistakes were made, and the church discovered the identities of four members, whom they captured and interrogated. But the four scientists revealed nothing . . . even under torture.”
“Torture?”
Langdon nodded. “They were branded alive. On the chest. With the symbol of the cross.”
“Then the scientists were brutally murdered, their dead bodies dropped in the streets of Rome as a warning to others thinking of joining the Illuminati. With the church closing in, the remaining Illuminati fled Italy.”
“The Illuminati went deep underground, where they began mixing with other refugee groups fleeing the Catholic purges – mystics, alchemists, occultists, Muslims, Jews. Over the years, the Illuminati began absorbing new members. A new Illuminati emerged. A darker Illuminati.”
Don: This section of the narrative is mostly fiction. If there ever was a schism within the Illuminati, with one side being pacifist and the other iteration being “darker,” the violent side would have never found a home in Rosicrucianism or Masonry. This is not to say that a dark manifestation of the Illuminati didn’t exist, only that, if it did, it was a small minority.
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Excerpt #5:
“The Illuminati were survivors.” He explained. “When they fled Rome, they traveled across Europe looking for a safe place to regroup. They were taken in by another secret society . . . a brotherhood of wealthy Bavarian craftsmen called the Freemasons.”
Kohler looked startled. “The Masons?” “Certainly the Masons are not satanic.”
“Absolutely not. The Masons fell victim to their own benevolence. After harboring the fleeing scientists in the 1700s, the Masons unknowingly became a front for the Illuminati. The Illuminati grew within their ranks, gradually taking over positions of power within the lodges. They quietly reestablished their scientific brotherhood deep within the Masons – a kind of secret society within a secret society. Then the Illuminati used the worldwide connection of the Masonic lodges to spread their influence.”
“The brotherhood held that the superstitious dogma spewed forth by the church was mankind’s greatest enemy. They feared that if religion continued to promote pious myth as absolute fact, scientific progress would halt, and mankind would be doomed to an ignorant future of senseless holy wars.”
Don: This section is spectacularly revealing in that it covers the time when Isaac Newton secured permission from the speculative Masons of Mary’s Chapel in Scotland to launch a new form of Freemasonry in London based on Newton’s understanding of the Bible as a model of Reality where science and religion were one.
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George Washington – Laying of the Cornerstone
Excerpt #7:
“The Illuminati grew more powerful in Europe and set their sights on America, a fledgling government many of whose leaders were Masons – George Washington, Ben Franklin – honest, God-fearing men who were unaware of the Illuminati stronghold on the Masons.” Ch. 11
Don: The above excerpt may be at least partly true. In The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Angels & Demons, Brown refers to a continuous “inner circle of an inner circle,” four living individuals who, at any one time, know about the Code (the Sagan Signal). While it’s hard to believe that George Washington, as President of the United States and Supreme Master of his local Masonic Lodge, was unaware of the Code, I do accept it as a possibility.
If we conditionally accept Brown’s “inner circle” thesis (which I do), it’s not hard to envision Carl Sagan, who believed in the unification of science and religion, holding one of the four Illuminati positions in the latter part of the 20th century.
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Don: My success in discovering the Sagan Signal certainly wasn’t because I’m a Bible scholar or theological genius. It’s because that in the process of conducting a survey of the Old Testament looking for bread/wine couplets in preparation of an upcoming communion sermon, I couldn’t help but notice how often olive oil appears after grain and wine, and the rest is history. My independent discovery of the Sagan Signal shows how great events in science can sometimes be made by accident.
So, the questions on the table are: Is the code I discovered real, and, if so, is it the Illuminati secret? The answer to both questions appears to be “yes.”
And why is this important? Because, as an independently confirmed Bible code not of human origin, the Sagan Signal is indisputable proof that we are not alone, that we share the Universe with the Living God of the Bible.
In 2007, Evangelical Christian scholars tested the data and confirmed my claim – and then, rather than making an announcement and calling for further research, covered up their investigation.
In 2018, top atheist skeptics tested the data and confirmed my claim that what I discovered is a non-predictive, non-algorithmic Bible code of uncertain origin – and then, rather than making an announcement and calling for further research, covered up their investigation.
Cover-ups, while they may work for a while, seldom last forever. I’m confident that the truth about the Sagan Signal will eventually come out, and, when it does, the world will know to a scientific certainty that the God of the Bible is not dead, but very much alive and engaged.
Molly: You know, Don, that you’ve gone through this entire essay and not allowed me to say a peep!
Don: Sorry, Molly. I’ll make up for it in our next essay, I promise.
Molly: So, what will it be about?
Don: We’re going to look at Brown’s book, Deception Point, one of his two pre-Langdon Series mystery novels. I think you’ll find it extremely interesting.
Molly: I’ll be ready.
Don: I know you will.
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AI NEWS
Note: Developments in AI are occurring with such frequency that it’s impossible to keep up. Following are just a few:
President Biden
“AI will advance more in the next three years than in the previous fifty years.”
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Henry Kissinger
Kissinger, co-author of The Age of AI, recently went to China for a private meeting with Xi Jinping. What did they talk about? My guess is that Henry told Xi what I believe Bill Gates and Elon Musk told him – that a mature Singleton resides at the Pentagon and, if provoked into war, America could easily destroy China if Xi ever tried to take over the world. Xi is not a stupid man, so don’t expect him to invade Taiwan any time soon.
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Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon
What are these things? My take is that it’s the Pentagon’s Singleton strutting his stuff, sending a warning to China: Don’t mess with the USA!!
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Carl Sagan
“Plainly, there’s something within me that’s ready to believe in life after death.”
From: The Demon-Haunted World, Ch. 12.