[Note: This was posted at 12:34pm CST, on 4/30/09. A version with pictures will be posted later today.]
VARIABLE 187:
FILICIDE PER INFORTUNIUM,
SYNERGETIC SYMBIOTE OR PLANETARY PARASITE?
(SPACETIME) WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, PART QUATRE,
AND THE '864' INCIDENT
Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of Lost on a SUPERB 100th episode! And kudos to the legion of Lost bloggers and columnists, for their excellent contributions to our understanding and appreciation of this unfolding televisionary masterpiece.... A special note of thanks goes out to Doc Jensen for his tireless devotion to the craft, serving as stellar Lost Thought Leader for five years running, week-in and week-out, tackling the arduous task of mapping and exploring creative new angles of insight into the show. As any aficionado engaged in Lost predictions will attest, this is most definitely a task that is easier from the outside than it is from within, especially when hindsight is invoked. And so it is that I must confess that yes, indeed, I did not see it coming.... namely, the plot inflectional shift from Daddy Issues to Mommy Issues per last night's episode...
Like you, I too was blown away by the force of the unexpected filicide per infortunium by Eloise, 'accidentally' taking the life of her (and our) beloved spacetime variable child, dear Daniel Faraday....1 And yes, upon further review of the episode, it does appear that both Eloise and Daniel were surprised that what happened happened, and were unaware that it would be happening, at the moment it happened. Since the filicide happened to Faraday in his most recent future (remember he was back from the future), and since it involved his mum Eloise in her past, unless there was some way that 1977 Eloise had advanced knowledge of Faraday's Fate-ful demise at her hands, then it is certainly plausible that she unknowingly shot her son to protect Richard Alpert.
Of course the older Eloise, who leveraged a promise of parental pride to 'push' the memory-challenged Faraday to go to the island, knew full well what she had done to her son back in 1977, hence the special significance of her tear-welling-eyes-response, on hearing Daniel's pledge to fulfill her wishes by going to the island. The older Eloise knew what fate lay in store for her son.... still, she sent him on to his fate-ful duty... to the island. I must admit I thought that this Ourobourotically-broched Fate/Timecop would deploy a 'softer' approach to nudge her progeny along his fateful path, but Eloise surely had difficulty separating her work life from her family life! Indeed, this is entirely consistent with one of the defining characteristics of the Brotherhood of the Snake societies: Interlocking familial ties, intrinsically and intimately linked with the work of ensuring a continued behind-the-scenes control over the fate/destiny of the world, spanning the centuries and the millennia, from that first fateful Fall of Humanity in the Garden of Eden, to the present era....
Episode 5.14 succeeded in cementing Eloise's role as prime Terminator Timecop, as the High Priestess of Tough Love, all in the service and name of the ISLAND'S best interests.... Sacrifice.... The island does demand quite a lot from its followers... Sacrificed filial relationships, ranging from benign neglect all the way to overt filicide.... So was Eloise complicit in the killing of her son? Was it filicide, pure and simple, without the 'per infortunium' qualifier running at the veritable 'bottom of the screen'? Although 1977 Eloise does not appear to be complicit in the act, the older Eloise who sends her son to the island surely must be judged as complicit..... All in the name of what is most truly dear to her... serving the island's best interests and playing the role of EXISTENTIAL CONSTANT, the Timecop Terminator, focused as she is on fate/destiny....
The 'accidental' killing of her son while protecting the life of one Richard Alpert highlights the dualistic dynamics we all know all too well, and fervently wished we did not, on the 'mainland' realities of our everyday lives. These are the moments of fate-ful existential inflection in which the very CONSTANTS we count upon for direction and durability in our everyday lives-- a parent, a spouse, a co-worker, a dear friend-- are unintentional sources of actions and events producing unanticipated and undesirable effects on our lives.... Who among us has not been on the giving and receiving ends of this dualistic dynamic....? Quite naturally, we rejoice in the presence of positive and pleasurable effects produced through unintended variability/variation unleashed through actions and inactions of those 'Rock of Gibraltar' Constants on whom we rely in our everyday lives, and we depair when the effects are not so positive and pleasurable.
Of course, the strong implication of last night's episode is that what may appear to us on the surface as unexpected variation in the actions of the people we so dearly count upon, may actually be actions fueled through intention driven by a broader hidden agenda... And Exhibit A would certainly be the case of older Eloise's time-looping complicity in the filicide of dear old Daniel Faraday, all in the name and self-interest of.... the ISLAND.... I know I'm not alone in noting the distinct parallels among Eloise's knowledge of, and ability to plan for, the future and those very same characteristics as displayed by one.... BENJAMIN LINUS.... Loss of Innocence, indeed.... Selling one's soul to the Island, surely....
Synergetic Symbiote, Or Planetary Parasite?: Health- and Life-Giving (And Taking) Forms Of Relationship Among Island And Inhabitants-
Given the profound healing and life-giving powers of the island, like others I'm wondering if this is indeed the last we'll see of dear old Daniel Faraday. And this is not merely some 'pie-in-the-sky' academic question, as it involves some intriguing and inherent aspects of the underlying and ongoing relationship existing between the island and its inhabitants, including Alpert and the other 'original' inhabitants, crew members and passengers on the Oceanic and Ajira flights, and even those who have visited the island over the millennia spanning backward and forward from the focal 1970's-2000's time period (more on the temporal focus of the show, below....)
Like many of you, I've been pondering the exact nature of the fascinating relationship among island and inhabitants, and how this underlying form relates to the giving and taking of health and life, on the island. Is the relationship primarily PARASITIC, with the island bringing people to it out of some fundamental drive or need to survive, serving its own need at the expense of the inhabitants? Is the island sucking the life/energy/mind force out of the people--including their thoughts, personalities, and emotions-- and using its own unique and profound energy properties to create and recreate a karmic passion play writ large on itself (the island) and bridging to the mainland?
Or is the nature of the PARASITIC relationship running in the opposite direction? Are we, the people, the true parasites who are infecting the island and draining its energies with our thoughts, needs, and self-interested desires? Is the DHARMA drilling at the Orchid station not unlike the act of someone drilling into our own brains and accordingly, by so doing, threatening the very integrity of the black-rock-electromagnetic-Casimir-Effect-enabled island sentience through ablating cortical matter and neural node equivalents in the island brain? In short, is the DHARMA drilling and hatch-building activity not unlike a team of surgeons cutting into a brain and placing neural implants in said brain? Viewing the island as a literal brain/mind is a theme I've explored in several postings over the past two years, and it is indeed interesting to ponder the fulll nature and effects of the DHARMA activity within that broader context of meaning....
If the island evolved as an anomalous and unique form of matter- and energy-enabled sentience-- produced and sustained through the black rock substrate and the resulting energy effects (electromagnetic, Casimiric, and more)-- then it may come as no surprise that the DHARMA drilling activity threatens to unleash profoundly dire effects, as the activity is disrupting the systematic operation of a matter-energy organism, throwing it out of its natural balance. And one arrives at the same conclusion even if we were to suspend the assumption that the island is an evolved sentience and replace it with the assumption that the island is some form of a device that was designed, built, and deployed by some yet-unseen agent/party, eons ago....
Hmmm.... Was the island sent to Earth by some ancient alien race, to help seed and propagate life on the planet? Is the island thus a literal 'mother-earth', a Garden of Eden, a functional-equivalent GAIA? Or is the island a 'lost toy', tossed adrift in the universe by some star child, in a cosmic game of 'hide and seek', and the DHARMA activity has merely 'tripped' an energy beacon periodically firing a signal to let the star child know where it is.... What will happen when they return for their toy....?!
Back to examining the forms of relationship among island and inhabitants.... It will indeed be interesting to see how this theme plays out in the remainder of Season 5 and as the series draws to its fated conclusion in May, 2010. Who's using whom? Who's the parasite, and who's the host? Or is this relationship more complex?
If it does not turn out to be a form of Parasitism, we may be witnessing a different type of relationship in which one party benefits while the other is not materially helped or harmed: Commensalism. Hmmm... I'm having a hard time seeing how this applies to either the island or the inhabitants, as the case can be made that both parties have received help and harm, from each other. A more likely alternate form is MUTUALISM, a SYNERGETIC form of SYMBIOSIS in which both parties receive benefits from a fitness/survival perspective:
"Symbiotic relationships may be either
obligate, i.e., necessary for the survival of at least one of the organisms involved, or
facultative, where the relationship is beneficial but not essential for survival of the organisms... Mutualistic relationships may be either obligate for both species, obligate for one but facultative for the other, or facultative for both. Many
biologists restrict the definition of symbiosis to close mutualist relationships....[For example] A large percentage of
herbivores have mutualistic
gut fauna that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey.
Coral reefs are the result of mutualisms between coral organisms and various types of algae that live inside them.
Most land plants and land ecosystems rely on mutualisms between the plants, which
fix carbon from the air, and
mycorrhyzal fungi, which help in extracting minerals from the ground." [
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis]
Now, how might the existence and ongoing operation of a Mutualistic form of relationship among island and inhabitants express itself? As per my prior postings, the island may be selectively imparting and withholding its health-giving powers, as a function of how these powers impact parties whose actions will in turn affect the island's ability to meet its own needs and to assure its continued, self-interested survival. This is a theme I previously explored in my 2/6/09 "Fate Accomplices" and my 2/26/09 "Bentham" postings.
Why didn't the island heal Ben's cancer? If a Mutualistic form of synergetic symbiosis is in fact operating between the island and the inhabitants, it may have been in the best interests for the island's long-term survival-- and, indeed Ben's own long-term survival-- that the island selectively withheld its 'magical' healing powers from Ben's back. Instead of magically curing his cancer, the island helped bring one Dr. Jack Shephard-- accomplished spinal surgeon, the exact type of surgeon Ben most needed-- to the island. Of course, the broader interpretation of this confluence of events recognizes how these threads were woven together quite nicely in the ongoing process constructing the larger tale/tapestry of Lost, writ large across this island Earth, and the entire Universe....
Any giving and withholding of the island's healing powers may be understood within the broader context of help and harm accruing to the involved parties. And so the ultimate form of the underlying relationship among island and inhabitants remains open to debate, pending further plot twists and disclosures in future episodes. Is it Mutualistic, or is it Parasitic? And if it is the latter, which party will be revealed as the Parasite, and who will play The Host?
After last night's episode, I'd say the pendulum has swung more definitively to the side of parasitism, with the ISLAND as the PARASITE who is using our thoughts, minds, emotions, actions, and energies to sustain its own self-interested survival.... Yes, this may yet be revealed as the ultimate purpose of the island, a cosmic DARWINIAN DESTINY writ large by the island on the lives of the inhabitants and, indeed, on the fate of the entire world. How ironic that it may take a Planetary Parasite to set in motion and realize the very plans that will save our island Earth from some seemingly inevitable future cataclysm....
Throughout the ages, from time immemorial, from that moment of the First Fall of Humanity in the Garden of Eden onward to present times, has the island planetary parasite been using us all along, to ensure its own continued survival? Is the DHARMA INITIATIVE only the most recent in a line of 'Brotherhood of the Snake' groups formed and fueled by the island as a mechanism for extending and ensuring its survival, especially in the face of some dire future cataclysm? Is this why Eloise knew it was so important to sacrifice her own son to the cause, channeling his giftedness toward the goal of calculating the nature and timing of this cataclysm so as to properly plan for and avert said cataclysm, using the Valenzetti Equations and more....?
(Spacetime) Walk Like An Egyptian, Part Quatre: Go For The Goa'uld-
In addition to considering which parties are receiving survival benefits, another key theme to understanding the form of the relationship among island and inhabitants is the nature of the interface among parties, i.e., how the parties are linked or connected. One basic form of interface is known as ECTOSYMBIOSIS:
For example, one interpretation of Lost from an Ectosymbiotic perspective would view the inhabitants as 'symbionts' living on the body surface of 'the host', namely the island. Like me, others would reverse this relationship, viewing the island itself as the parasite, living off of the life/mind energy contained in the bodies of its inhabitants. Given the range of implied and overt Season 5 links to ancient Egypt, it is no surprise to see the GOA'ULD come to the fore of relevance, especially in the context of witnessing such 'magical' effects as AGELESSNESS (Alpert), SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH (Ethan), and more.... effects which serve as markers and evidence in the STARGATE franchise of a symbiotic relationship among the Goa'uld and their human hosts.
Hmmm... What if the Lost Creative Combine (LCC) decided to take and adapt a page from the Stargate franchise, and in some future Lost episode we will see exactly what happened to Young Ben after he had been shot by Sayid and was subsequently taken to the Temple to be healed, with Alpert placing Young Ben on an altar located on an upper floor above Smokey's Lair.... and Ben is saved through the thoroughly traumatic but necessary 'loss of innocence' achieved through joining with a GOA'ULD-like Ectosymbiotic parasite, perhaps even quite literally shaped like the Goa'uld, in the form of a snake?
"In the
science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, the
Goa'uld (pronounced
go-ah-OOLD [goʊ˘ˈuːld] or [goˑɑˈʔuːld], commonly mispronounced or shortened to
GOOLD, or
go-OOLD) are a race of sentient parasitic aliens bent on galactic domination, who can burrow into and take control of human hosts. They are pejoratively called "snakes" or "snakeheads" by
Jack O'Neill.... Goa'uld symbiotes are serpentine lifeforms with four jaws and glowing yellow eyes. Originally aquatic, mature Goa'uld symbiotes have extensive fins and are powerful swimmers, with the ability to launch themselves from the water towards prospective hosts. A Goa'uld can burrow into their host through the back of the mouth or the neck, though they prefer the latter because they wish to avoid remembering the look of horror on the host's face. They then enter the brain, take control of the body, and gain total access to the host's memories; thus, the Goa'uld often use symbiote implantation as a means of interrogation that also provides a useful future spy."
The picture gets even more complex and intriguing once we consider the possibility of a Brotherhood of the Snake society based on and operating from the island, as per my 2009 Lost HEMA Theory postings.... Could it be that Brotherhood of the Snake societies in their various historical incarnations have been using the island as a base of operations for eons, and that the very tool which is integral to sustaining and expanding their numbers is the literal use of a snake-like symbiotic life-form enabling them to complete and amplify a connection to the island and its profound powers? Will we learn in episode 5.15 "Follow The Leader", that this is how Alpert was joined to the island and to the Brotherhood, and that a Serpentine, Ectoparasitic Symbiote exists within his body, enabling him to defy time and achieve near-immortal status?
Was ETHAN inducted into the Brotherhood of (Otherly) Snakes through the traumatic introduction of an Ectoparasitic Symbiote to his body? And is this the very same procedure through which Young Ben was rescued from the clutches of lead-filled death? How interesting that the 'LOSS OF INNOCENCE' entailed in the procedure of becoming a 'brotherly other' mirrors one striking effect of becoming a Goa'uld Host, on Stargate:
"The Goa'uld instill their hosts with superhuman strength, perfect health, and accelerated healing. The host's life is also lengthened into centuries, which the Goa'uld extend even further using a
sarcophagus. However, repeated use of the sarcophagus has severe psychological consequences, and is believed to be a main factor in the Goa'uld's evil. Being host to a Goa'uld has been described as a living nightmare, and those humans who have been hosts for thousands of years are widely suspected to have gone insane.
"
Yes, I can see it now.... the ageless Richard Alpert (RA) periodically returning to lie down in a sarcophagus-equivalent, situated on an upper level in the island Temple. And the 'Loss of Innocence' mentioned by Alpert as he prepared to take Young Ben to the Temple surely serves to echo the psychological consequence of using the sarcophagus repeatedly, let alone the initial trauma experienced through the introduction of the serpentine ectoparasitic symbiote.... Indeed, as Stargate has so graphically shown, the mere introduction of a Goa'uld is sufficient to cause changes in the thoughts and behavior of the host, changes that we might reasonably perceive as a 'loss of innocence'.
Thus it should come as no surprise to see how the experiences, traits, and characteristics of Young Ben were transformed through a joining with the island and the Brotherhood, augmenting and amplifying these nascent aspects of Ben's persona, and placing them in a broader, deeper context of evil purpose and dark allegiance to the Brotherhood and the Island.... Hmmm.... Through his initiation into the Lost Brotherhood of Others, Young BEN'S natural cleverness appears to have been amplified into a distinctly cunning ability to foresee and plan for the future. And ETHAN surely appears to have gained enhanced Six-Million-Dollar-Manlike superhuman strength. And ALPERT certainly appears to possess a Baba Ram Dass-like agelessness ability to continually 'Be Here Now'.... and now.... and now, always (and forever?) being here now, in the present moment, hence his agelessness....
The strong implication of all of this is that induction into the Brotherhood of (Otherly) Snakes is in some important ways unlike what we have seen in the Stargate Universe; in Lost the initiate does not appear to receive a full smorgasbord of superhuman benefits, but instead has one of their inherent abilities augmented or amplified, through the 'Loss of Innocence' process of joining to/with the island.... In a weirdly gratifying way, this actually fits more closely with the notion of associating different Others with different ancient Egyptian gods, gods which vary in their characteristic abilities and identities. Accordingly, we associate RA with Richard Alpert, and so on....
Will we see yet another Stargate connection speaking to the seemingly disparate issues of evil and the interbreeding of Others with the more recent island inhabitants (e.g., DHARMAns and Flight 815 passengers)?
"The Goa'uld possess a
genetic memory passed directly from parent to offspring, which perpetuates the evil of the Goa'uld through generations. Most Goa'uld are asexual, though they usually take on the gender of their preferred host. The exception are the Goa'uld Queens, who over time are able to spawn millions of larvae, once seeded with genetic material from another Goa'uld or even a human.
[29][30] Queens exercise a great deal of control over the biochemistry of their progeny, and can deny their offspring genetic memory in order to create "blank" symbiotes.
[30][31] Goa'uld larvae that mature in the wild have only a 50% chance of successfully taking a host; the Goa'uld engineered the Jaffa as incubators to improve these odds. The human offspring of two Goa'uld hosts is known as a Harcesis. The conception of Harcesis children is forbidden, as they would contain the genetic memories of both Goa'uld parents and thus pose a major threat to the established Goa'uld order." [
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goauld]
The parallels to Lost are, yet again, striking and intriguing.... Transfer of ectoparasitic symbiotes from host to host, spanning centuries and millennia-- all without apparent loss of memory and purpose-- is a simultaneously seductive and scary prospect, indeed! What if this plot were to be written onto the population of the entire planet as a whole? Or has this already happened? Has the island been serving as the staging point for world infection and control, throughout the ages? Is the threat of infection from an island-joined-ectoparasite the real 'viral' threat on the show?
Are the periodic visits to the island by a seemingly random cross-section of the diverse population in reality a selected sample intentionally brought by the island to itself, as a means of regenerating and replenishing the genetic memory pool residing on its shores, virtually catalogued electronically via electromagnetic fields, and materially instantiated in periodic hatchings of ectoparasitic symbiotes, which subsequently join to the selected human hosts, and so on.... And the stark proscription against Other-inbreeding surely maps onto the recurring theme of Others abducting women from newly arrived groups, as per my prior discussin in the context of viewing the Others as Fallen Angels/Nephilim.
Hmmm... How interesting that it was RA who played such a pivotal role in establishing the Goa'uld on Earth and subsequently throughout the universe:
"The word "Goa'uld" means "children of the gods". The Goa'uld evolved on the planet P3X-888 (Stargate address
(
)), where there are still populations of primitive Goa'uld.
Their original hosts were the
Unas, also native to the planet. The Goa'uld largely abandoned P3X-888 after deciphering the Stargate, spreading throughout the galaxy and conquering other races. Eventually, the Goa'uld began to die out, until in the eighth or ninth millennium BC
Ra discovered Earth and found ancient humans to be much more suitable hosts, due to the ease by which they can be repaired by Goa'uld technology.
The Goa'uld ruled Earth for thousands of years, assuming the personae of gods from Earth's classical religions. From the humans the Goa'uld engineered the Jaffa, to serve as soldiers and incubators for their young. They also transplanted humans from Earth throughout the galaxy via the Stargate network to serve as slaves and potential hosts."
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa%27uld]
As in the Stargate franchise, will we learn that in Lost, a similar phenomenon involving alien beings has been playing out on the island, on Earth, and indeed throughout the Universe? Will the LCC confirm, in episode 5.15, that Richard Alpert is indeed that veritable 'leader/king-hiding-in-plain-sight', the one and true RA....(and the face that is on the Four-Toed Statue)? And will we see in episodes 5.16 and 5.17 that there is more than one spacetime portal ('stargate') on the island? And that there is more than one island in the known Universe? And that an island-enabled equivalent to a stargate network has been operating for eons, as per my diaspora-themed postings to date? Is Damon correct in his prior statement to the effect that it will all end up somewhere near the Crab Nebula?
How do these Stargate connections map to my recent postings regarding the power of the island to provide a JACOB'S LADDER enabling one to achieve enlightenment by moving from the Material World to a state of Pure Energy to final Unity/ONEness/God, thereby tracing an existential arc of Enfoldment, from the manifest material Explicate Order, up the Sephirothic Tree of Life, through pure energy, ultimately to an undivided, holographic Implicate Order? One key connection involves the concept of ASCENSION, as found in the Stargate universe:
"Ascension is a process by which sufficiently-evolved sentient beings may shed their physical bodies and live eternally as pure energy on a higher plane of existence full of knowledge and power. It is a mental, spiritual or evolutionary enlightenment that can arise as the direct result of achieving a certain level of wisdom and self-knowledge. Ascension was once employed by the Ancients as a means to avoid a number of issues threatening their species with extinction, but it is sought by major powers on Earth and other races like the Jaffa later. The concept is introduced in the SG-1 season 3 episode "Maternal Instinct", and becomes a central theme of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
Ascension can happen in one of two ways: evolutionarily or spiritually. Ascension can occur when a human evolves the ability to use approximately 90% of their brain capacity. The Ancients who Ascended naturally reached this point without the aid of technology. They however, developed the DNA Resequencer, a device capable of making humans so advanced that they could perform telepathy, telekinesis, superhuman senses, speed, and strength, precognition, perfect health, the ability to self heal rapidly, the power to heal by touch, and the ability to use many parts of their mind and fully focus on something. Spiritual Ascension can occur through meditation when one is pure of spirit and in the search for enlightenment, has a fully opened mind, and has shed one's fears and attachment to the mortal world In the process of Ascension through meditation, many beings obtain the same supernatural abilities that users of the DNA Resequencer receive." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_(Stargate)#Ascension]
As per my 4/21/09 "Sephirot" and 4/23/09 "Faraday's Variable" postings, in future Lost episodes we may yet serve witness to LOCKE progressing further through the Four Stages of Enlightenment, moving up the Sephirothic Tree of Life by leveraging the distinctly unique and profound powers of the island as a veritable JACOB'S LADDER, bridging our manifest material world with the pure energy domain of the discarnated sentience known as JACOB, and finally linking up to the Unity/ONEness/God comprising the holistic/holographic Implicate Order....
As such, Locke appears to be engaged in an island-enabled process of ACENSION to higher orders or 'planes' of existence.... And consistent with my observations in the 4/23/09 posting, we may learn that RA/Alpert and the Others are examples of PARTIALLY-ASCENDED beings, existing at the edge of the boundary where the material world meets the realm of pure energy MIND/SOUL:
"One of the most influential species in Stargate, the Ancients, have moved on to a higher plane of existence." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_(Stargate))]
"In season 5, the half-Ascended Goa'uld Anubis becomes the main threat, eventually leading SG-1 on a race to discover Ancient technology capable of defeating him."
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goauld]
How interesting that the form of ANUBIS was depicted on the wall in Smokey's Lair, in the lower level of the Temple. RA/Richard Alpert and the Others certainly would fit the bill of partially-ascended beings, displaying supernatural powers. And per my 4/23/09 posting, we may ultimately learn that the true origin of these partially-ascended beings lies less in their progression or ascension UP the JACOB'S LADDER/Sephirothic Tree of Life, and more in their regression or descent DOWN the ladder and the trunk of the tree, owing to their true nature as Fallen Angels/Gods, the Nephilim who have been cast out of the Heaven that is the undivided, hologrammatic Implicate Order of Unity/ONEness/God....
Hmmm... I wonder if they will be jealous of LOCKE'S apparent progression/ascension UPWARD and, accordingly, if they will help him on his journey or will instead attempt to thwart his plans.... Indeed, if Ben is aware of this deeper subtext underlying Locke's existential enlightenment, then this may shed further light on Ben's deep frustration at Locke's ascension to Other leadership, Locke's ability to hear Jacob, and the heady rush of enjoyment Ben felt while killing Locke.... If you can't be the risen and ascending Chosen One, then why not experience the next best thing-- in Ben's 'Other/Goa'uld-infected' mind-- the thrill of killing the Chosen One!
Endosymbiosis: Extensions And Applications To HEMATic Forms Of Symbiotic Relationship Among Island And Inhabitants-
In addition to Ectosymbiotic forms of symbiosis, including Ectoparasitic relationships as identified above, a second form of symbiosis may occur through recurring contact:
"An endosymbiont is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism, i.e. forming an endosymbiosis (Greek: ἔνδον endon "within", σύν syn "together" and βίωσις biosis "living"). Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia) which live in root nodules on legume roots, single-celled algae inside reef-building corals, and bacterial endosymbionts that provide essential nutrients to about 10%–15% of insects." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosymbiosis]
One prominent class of extant Lost theories is Endosymbiotic in nature, through extending the concept of symbiosis to include intra-corporeal, interstitial, and intra-cellular relationships and effects arising from inorganic sentient life forms. Lost theories founded on views of the island as an anomalous yet sentient matter-energy 'entity' often derive endosymbiotic hypotheses regarding the effects of the island on its inhabitants.
One obvious case in point is the HEMA Theory postulations regarding connections among Heuristics/thought, Energy, and Matter (Material Applications). From February, 2007 to present, a number of my postings have proposed various forms of Endosymbiotic effects between the island and its inhabitants. For example, the unique energy properties of the island generate strong and weird electromagnetic fields, fields which exhibit positive/desirable effects at cellular and intra-cellular levels, including faster healing, higher sperm counts, and more (please see my 4/26/07 "Wounds & Wombs" posting for further details.)
If we do not end up serving witness to Alpert helping Young Ben join with some form of Goa'uld-like Ectoparasitic symbiote as part of Ben's life-saving 'Loss of Innocence' and initiation into the Island Brotherhood of the Others, three Endosymbiotic alternatives still exist. One possibility is that an altar in the upper levels of the Temple occupies a known 'hot spot' concentration of positive island energy, not unlike Rose's renowned 'beach-blanket-bingo-hot-spot' for healing cancer. This is certainly consistent with the "Wounds & Wombs" posting in which I provided some example of island 'Hot Pockets' involving either positive or negative healing energies.
A second option for healing Young Ben through positive Endosymbiotic effects is the distinct possibility that in addition to helpful and harmful ENERGY FIELDS (electromagnetic, Casimiric, etc.), the island also produces helpful and harmful LIQUIDS. As other pundits and prognosticators have observed to date, water appears to play a key role in mediating (and as a medium for) the expression of the island's powers. Thus it is no surprise at all to see the brown/brackish fluid (underneath Ben's compound flat) implicated as a communication medium in a subterranean 'information network', signaling Smokey to come henceforth and rendereth his judgment upon the contrite and trembling BENster....! The presence of underground water at the ULURU/AYERS ROCK site will no doubt figure into the importance and power of that site, in a future episode....
Accordingly, I would not be surprised to see Richard Alpert placing Young Ben's body in a receptacle (a sarcophagus?) containing some island-infused fluid enabling a joining of Ben to the Others and the Island, achieved through Endosymbiotic, intracellular means.... And, as in the Stargate Universe, we may learn that the brown, brackish NILE/GANGES fluid is a medium in which some parasitic form of Endosymbiote-- an ENDOPARASITE-- lives and spreads to other host organisms, not unlike the famous BLACK OIL in the classic X-Files franchise.... Indeed, even within the Stargate Universe we see an intriguing progression from ECTOPARASITE to ENDOPARASITE, as the GOA'ULD symbiote 'snake body' joins with its host and subsequently withers away and dies, transferring elemental Naqahdah to the blood of the host, completing the transition to an Endoparasitic form of symbiotic relationship....
A third option for Endosymbiotic healing lies the use and operation of some form of ancient technology, a device designed with the expressed purpose of bathing the body in a concentrated form of the island's positive energy, either in the form of an electromagnetic field, or as an energy-infused sports drink... (just kidding!) or as an energy-infused fluid. Again, if this device is shaped like a sarcophagus, I would not at all be surprised.....
In addition to examples of positive Endosymbiotic effects, we have witnessed a second type or category of Endosymbiotic effects, a class of effects associated with negative/undesirable outcomes.... Here the Exhibit A would, of course, be the problems experienced by mothers in carrying fetuses to term, on the island. And episode 5.14 provided another illustration in the form of profound sickness in the stretcher-borne worker, sickness resulting from energy unleashed through drilling activity at the Orchid Hatch station.
DESMOND is a further example of an Endosymbiotic effect among island and inhabitants. Indeed, consider the strong and profound blast he endured as he turned the key.... This heightened energy burst blast its way through his entire body at an intra-cellular level, unlocking and unleashing dormant abilities in the process... Hmmm.... Did the Swan Hatch blast ACTIVATE DORMANT GENES and GENE SEQUENCES inherent to and latent in our species-- mirroring in no small way the function of the DNA Resequencer developed by the ANCIENTS in the STARGATE Universe-- creating and unleashing in this very process, the first in a line of DR. MANHATTANesque beings: HOMO MANHATTANUS, as it were? And per the Stargate mythology, will DESMOND's altered genomes be passed on to his son, CHARLIE HUME and, if so, what strong and powerful role will he play in the unfolding, emerging Fateline of the Island, the Earth, and the Universe....?
The '864' Incident: Back To The Past, Or Back To The Future?
When Eloise asked young pianist Daniel how many beats the metronome has counted out so far, he replied "864." Yes, this number has strong relevance for the future of the show.... as it links directly back to.... ancient Egypt, the Great Pyramid, and JESUS CHRIST....! Some of the better primary sources for these insights are Bonnie Gault's books, including her 1998 work entitled "Jesus Christ: The Number of His Name- The Amazing Number Code Found in the Bible." Here is the Publisher's Note describing this book:
"This is mathematician and theologian Bonnie Gaunt's latest book on the amazing number code found in the Bible. She reveals the coded secrets hidden in the numerology behind the actual name "Jesus Christ" and within the words that dramatized his short life. The numerological code she has discovered reveals the new millennium and a "Grand Octave of Time" for mankind. Gaunt demonstrates that the Bible's number code contains extraordinary messages for today's world and names the year of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Gaunt demonstrates remarkable evidence that the code number for Jesus Christ has been planted in the geometry of the earth, in ancient megalithic buildings in Egypt, Britain and elsewhere, in the Bible itself -- and that it was known by ancient civilizations. She examines the mathematics of the Great Pyramid, Stonehenge and, especially, the city of Bethlehem, which bears the number of Jesus by its latitude and longitude. She also shows the hidden meaning of the many hidden number codes in the Bible, such as 666, 888, 864 and 3168."
[http://www.nextag.com/Jesus-Christ-the-Number-1840443/specs-html]
In her 1997 book "Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid", Gaunt notes that the radius of the sun is 432,000 miles and the length of one side of the Great Pyramid's base is 432 great cubits. 864 comes prominently into play as the diameter of the sun (864,000 miles) and as a the measure not only of two sides of the Great Pyramid's base, but more importantly as a signifier for Jesus Christ:
"The number 864 is the value of 'cornerstone'... meaning the topstone of the [Great] Pyramid. That topstone, which was never placed, not only represents Jesus Christ, but it also represents the sun [Ra], from which flows light and life. Life bears the number 864. The dwelling place to which Lucifer aspired, 'the sides of the north', bears the number 864, as does 'Holy of holies', the compartment in the Tabernacle and in Ezekiel's temple that represents God's dwelling place. As if to emphasize the importance of this number, the 'Holy of holies', has the number value of 864 in both the Old Testament (Hebrew), and in the New Testament (Greek)..... The New Jerusalem, picturing the kingdom, is shown as coming down from God out of heaven in Revelation 3:12. Jerusalem bears the number 864. In that kingdom 'He shall reign' 864; and those who reign with him are called 'Saints' 864. And God 864, will be all in all! Then will be the time that the prophet Micah spoke of, when will go forth the word of the Lord from Jerusalem 846-- the New Jerusalem.... The New Jerusalem, described in Revelation, has a sum of 864,000,000 square furlongs, the sum of the square of its six sides. The number 864 resolves to 9, showing the wholeness and perfection of God's plan for the redemption of man and the ultimate restoration to sonship in His glorious kingdom."
As you can see, the links to Lost are strong and highly relevant.... In addition to serving as a further signal that ancient Egyptian motifs are still in play, these gematrially-derived meanings for the number 864 point our 'Incidental' attention toward possibilities of an '864-based Incident' in the final episodes of Season 5.
The teaser for episode 5.15 clearly showed Jack exploiting an underwater access to what appears to be another Temple structure, or at least another wing or portion of what could be an extensive single Temple.... And we witnessed Sayid and others standing in another part of a Temple structure, surrounding what may be revealed as the ancient tech device which will enable them to go back to the future, where they are supposed to be.....
Like you, I too am wondering whether we should trust old ELOISE to send them back to where they want to go.... which at least for Jack appears to be back in 2004 aboard the Oceanic Flight 815, heading into L.A..... As every Psych major knows, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and I would most certainly not put it past ELOISE to send them NOT where they want to go, but where they are SUPPOSED TO BE which, of course, depends on who you ask, and on whose best interests are being served.... To serve Jack et al.? No, look for one of the 'revealing' plot twists in the upcoming episodes to involve Jack and crew being sent by Eloise to where they are supposed to be, as defined by WHAT IS IN THE ISLAND'S BEST INTERESTS for self-preservation....
Will Jack and crew be sent Back to the Ancient Past, witnessing an intact Four-Toed statue and providing the context for that highly anticipated 'reveal' of the visage gracing this statue? Or will they be sent back both in SPACE and in TIME, Back to the Ancient Past, to Ancient Egypt proper, arriving at the very foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza? What a sight that would be, and the icing on that veritable spacetime cake would be seeing Eloise adorned in High Priestess garb, playing the powerful role of that ancient Egyptian goddess made manifest on Earth.... MA'AT...!
For an even greater mind-blowing experience, how about this 'reveal'.... as Jack and crew are led away to work on completing the Great Pyramid (except for the topstone, of course!), our attention turns to Eloise as MA'AT incarnate, gazing across the vast expanse of human laborers toiling away in ancient Egypt, when her eyes are suddenly set upon an eerily familiar (in more ways than one!) image of.... her son Daniel, who rises to his feet , wipes the salty sweat from his brow, and casts her a fate-ful, knowing wink....
Yes, like you, I too am wondering what REALLY happened during Faraday's three-year stint in Ann Arbor, Michigan..... Even granting that his death at the hand of 1977 Eloise is a final, end-all, be-all departure of Faraday from this Earthly, material world, that STILL leaves Faraday with three years of his life (from 1974 to 1977) in which to engage in all sorts of time-tripping, weird electromagnetic/Casimiric science projects....
Bridging to the '864 Incidental' possibilities contained above, what if Faraday were to travel farther than before, into the future of the island and the Earth, with a mind's eye to help facilitate THE PROPHESIED COMING OF THE LORD DOWN TO EARTH, at the NEW JERUSALEM that is established ON THE ISLAND proper, helping to enact a literal victory over LUCIFER and his band of FALLEN ANGELS--who for millennia have occupied the island and used it as a staging ground for their own nefarious needs and dark desires for dominion-- thereby supplanting an eons-long reign of the Brotherhood of the Snake with the arrival of a New Jerusalem Kingdom of God, come down from heaven? 2
Time will tell....
Dr. Todd J. Hostager
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES:
1. Kudos all around the horn, to the Lost Creative Combine (LCC), for another intriguing plot twist ranking right up there with Locke's 'knife-in-the-back' parting gift for Naomi.... Time and time again, in the manner of classic televisionary masterpieces like The Prisoner, the LCC has delivered the goods that are necessary to engage our thoughts, emotions, and imaginations in and across time. Like you, I expect that Lost will not fade into the sunset of our consciousness; unlike much of the 'empty-calories-for-the-mind' fare that fills the universe of current TV programming, Lost will have 'legs' as a classic set of 'novels', a series of six season-based 'texts' providing entertaining and heuristic insights with each new 'reading.' Like your favorite dog-eared novel, or that classic treatise on philosophy, with its creative plot twists and engaging contents, Lost will serve as a sustainable and renewable source of emotional highs and lows, cognitive insights into ourselves and the world around us, stimulating ongoing dialogue, debate, and other beneficial behavioral outcomes, over the decades to come....
2. My strong feeling is that we'll see the LCC play some form of a creative riff on the Back to the Future or Past theme, with Jack et al. ACTUALLY sent back to the distant past or to the not-quite-so-distant-but future, but definitely farther ahead than they are hoping (as per Jack's wish to go back to the 2004 Oceanic 815 Flight.) Again, the overriding intention behind Eloise's judgments and actions appears to be what she believes is in the best interest of the island, so don't count on her sending them back to where they want to go, in time AND in place. We may learn that it is indeed in the island's best interests to have Eloise send them back to the ancient past on the island, or even back to ancient Egypt proper, or to send them farther into the future in order to help avert an impending cataclysm (asteroid, solar flare, gamma-ray burst, etc.... insert your favorite cataclysm-flavor-of-the-week, here....)
While I'm not holding out much hope for this one, it would be interesting to see ELOISE playing the role of MA'AT, presiding over an OSIRIC ritualistic raising of the dead, surrounded by a bevy of followers clad in ancient ceremonial garb, chanting arcane THOTHIC incantations amid the swirling, billowing smoke issuing from centuries-old green-patinated incense holders.... all in an attempt to raise dear old Daniel back from the dead.... Could Faraday be revived through Endosymbiotic effects, involving exposure to the island's rejuvenative powers via electromagnetic field, energy-infused fluid, or some ancient tech device (sarcophagus)? Somehow I just don't see her doing this, unless it is ultimately revealed to be in the best interest of the island to see Daniel yet again walking this island and Earth.... If anything, the events in last night's episode may prove to signal the fate-ful turning point at which ELOISE assumes her rightful role as Supreme Fate/Timecop, Queen of the Continuum, and Ourobourotically-broched Leader of the Fate Faction in the Brotherhood of the Snake....
The LCC has a demonstrated affinity for generating creative ideas through use of THEMATIC PLOT INFLECTIONS, to wit: (1) the shift from Flashbacks to Flashforwards; (2) the shift from Flashbacks/Flashforwards to Actualbacks/Actualforwards (resulting from Ben's FDW misalignment); and (3) the shift from Daddy Issues to Mommy Issues. What potential Thematic Plot Inflections might be under consideration by the LCC, driving future episodes/stories?
One possibility that I explored in my 3/19/09 "Namaste" posting involved a shift from the use of FIGURATIVE MIRRORING among characters and their traits-- a HUGE nod of appreciation to Joley Wood, here!-- to the use of LITERAL/PHYSICAL MIRRORING of characters, likely enabled through leveraging the naturally-occurring CASIMIR EFFECT on the island. In other words, there would actually be two Sawyers, two Kates (etc.) on the island....
Another take on this potential plot inflection-- albeit an admittedly long-shot option, to be sure-- is that one of the projects in which Faraday was engaged during his 1974-1977 stint in Ann Arbor was to explore work by NIKOLA TESLA on ways in which electromagnetism can be harnessed to copy or replicate matter, including rabbits and other living organisms (humans!) In a Prestige-ious manner, Faraday may have succeeded in harnessing electromagnetism to produce copies of living organisms.... Hmmm... What if he sent his COPY on the DHARMA sub, back to the island in 1977, and it was the copy that expired through filicide, at the hand of his mum, Eloise?
And finally, I must admit this is a TRULY mind-bending potential plot inflection.... What if the Incident at Season 5's end involves Jack and crew succeeding in leveraging the knowledge contained in Faraday's journal, landing them back in 2004 on the Oceanic Flight 815, arriving at the L.A. airport only to find it..... EMPTY.... vacant.... abandoned.... and everyone on the mainland is gone.... ! What if the LCC decided to inflect the 'Lost on a deserted Island' theme, shifting to a 'Lost on a deserted mainland' theme....? Think about all of the intriguing questions and issues that twist would entail....
Where did all the people go? Was there some form of a rapture, and are we now left behind? If so, why were we left behind? Are we really on Earth? Or was this whole thing an elaborate Science Fair Exhibit designed and built by some higher-order, extradimensional Homer Hickam equivalent, aimed at demonstrating behavioral patterns among lower forms of life (to them, we humans), channeled through a matrix of dualistic tensions (fate vs. free will, good vs. evil, and more....)