Back to the Lost Symbol~
"Robert Langdon stood mesmerized at the glass portal, absorbing the power of the landsscape below him.
Having ascended unknowingly humdreds of feet into the air,
he was now admiring one of the most spectacular vistas he had ever seen.
The shining dome of the U.S. Capitol rose like a mountain at the east end of the National Mall. On either side of the building, two parallel lines of light stretched toward him...
the illuminated facades of the Smithsonian museums...
beacons of art, history, science, culture.
Langdon now realized to his astonishment that much of what Peter had declared to be true...was in fact true.
There is indeed a winding staircase...decending hundreds of feet beneath a massive stone."
the monument's actual spiraling staircase~
"The huge capstone of this obelisk sat directly over his head...
Langdon now recalled a forgotten bit of triva that seemed to have eerie relevance:
the capstone of the Washington Monument weighed percisely thirty-three hundred pounds.
Again, the number 33.
More startling...
was the knowledge that this capstone's ultimate peak,
the zenith of this obelisk,
was crowned by a tiny,
polished tip of aluminum~
a metal as percious as gold in its day.
The shinning apex...
was only about a foot tall,
the same size as the Mansonic Pyramid."
"Incredibly,
this small metal pyramid bore a famous engraving~
Laus Deo~...
Langdon suddenly understood.
This is the true mesaage at the base of the stone pyramid."
"The seven symbols are a transliteration!
The simplist of ciphers.
The symbols are letters.
The stoneman's square~ L
The elememt of gold~ AU
The greek Sigma~ S
The greek Delta~ D
Alchemical mercury~ E
The Ouroboros~ O
"Laus Deo,"
Langdon whispered.
The well known Latin phrase~
meaning "praise God"~
was inscribed on the tip of the Washington Monument in script letters only one inch tall.
On full display...
and yet invisable to all.
"Praise God,"
Peter said...
flipping on the soft lighting in the chamber.
"The Masonic Pyramid's final code."
Langdon felt a chill to realize...
it was the legendary Masonic Pyramid...
guided him here...
to America's great obelisk~
the symbol of ancient wisdom~
rising toward the heavens at the heart of a nation."
"In a state of wonder,
Langdon began moving counterclockwise around the perimeter of the tiny square room, arriving now at another viewing window."
North.
Through this northward-facing window,
Langdon gazed down at the familiar silhouette of the White House...
He raised his eyes to the horizon...
the straight line of Sixteenth Street ran due north toward the House of the Temple.
I am due south of Heredom.
He continued around the perimeter...
looking west,
Langdon eyes traced the long rectangle of the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial,
its classical Greek architecture inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, Temple of Athena!
goddess of heroic undertakings."
"Continuning to the final window,
Langdon gazed southward across the dark waters of the Tidel Basin,
where the Jefferson memorial shone brightly...
the gently sloping cupola,
Langdon knew,
was modified after the Patheon,
the original home to the great Roman gods of mythology."
"Having looked in all four directions,
Langdon...
thought about...
the National Mall~
her four arms outstretched from the Washington Monument toward the cardinal points of the compass.
I am standing at the crossroads of America.
"Well, Robert,
this is it.
The Lost Word.
This is where it's buried...
Peter quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object.
"Do you remember this?"
Langdon took the cube-shaped box that Peter had entrusted to him long ago.
"Yes...
but I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job of protecting it."
Solomon chuckled.
"Perhaps the time had come for it to see the light of day."
Langdon eyed the stone cube,
wondering why Peter had just handed it to him.
"What does this look like to you?"
Peter asked...
"A cornerstone."
"exactly."
Peter replied.
"Now..
First,
the concept of laying a cornerstone comes from the Old Testament."
Langdon nodded.
"the Book of Psalms."
"Correct...
a true cornerstone is always buried beneath the ground~
symbolizing the building's initial step upward out of the earth toward the heavenly light."
Langdon glanced out at the Capitol,
recalling that its cornerstone was buried so deep in the foundation...
to this day,
excavations had been unable to find it.
"And...like the stone box in your hand,
many cornerstones are little vaults...
and have hollow cavities so that they can hold buried treasures...
talismans,
if you will~
symbols of hope for the future of the building about to be erected."
Langdon was well aware of this tradition...
Masons laid cornerstones in which they sealed meaningful objects~
time capsules,
photos,
proclamations,
even the ashes of important people.
"My purpose in telling you this,"
Solomon said,
glancing over at the stairwell,
"should be clear."
"You think the Lost Word is buried in the cornerstone of the Washington Monument?"
"I don't think, Robert.
I Know.
The Lost Word was buried in the cornerstone of the monument on July 4, 1848,
in full Masaonic ritual."
Langdon stared at him...
All night,
Langdon had been trying to wrap his mind around sprawling,
ethereal concepts...
the Ancient Mysteries,
the Lost Word,
the Secrets of the Ages.
He wanted something solid...
Langdon was having a hard time accepting it.
People study the mysteries for entire lfetimes and are still unable to access the power allegedly hidden there...
If the secrets can actually be unlocked,
they will not be found in one place!
Any answer,
Langdon...
always believed,
was spread across the world in thousands of volmes...
encodedinto writings of Pythagoras,
Hermes,
Heraclitus,
Paracelsus, and hundreds of others.
The answer was found in dusty,
forgotten tomes on alchemy,
mysticism,
magic,
and philosophy.
"Peter,
I'm sorry,"
Langdon said quietly shaking his head.
"To understand the Ancient Mysteries is a lifelong process.
I can't imagine how the key could possibly rest within a single word."
"Robert,
the Lost Word is not a 'word.'"
"We only call it the 'Word" because that's what the ancients called it...
in the beginning"
(TLS 483-86).
