“Find in a burden’s name the rod not to use, just as the artist cast it away”
The possible relevant verse is seen in the King James version of the Bible, 2 Chronicles 35:3. It says, “And said unto the Levites, that taught all Israel, which were the holy unto the Lord, put the Holy Ark in the house, which Solomon the son of David, King of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel.”
Noticeably, the connection to the clue is in the phrase, ‘it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders.’
The first half of the September clue informs puzzlers to ‘find in a burden’s name the rod not to use’. It is recognized that the use of the name, burden, in the verse, is specifically referring back to The Ark of the Covenant/Holy Ark. An interpretation could therefore be made that ‘find in ‘a burden’s name’ is suggesting ‘find in the Ark’. The rod which is said to be found in the Ark of the Covenant is Aaron’s rod.
The Maranatha puzzle text (while referencing Aaron) seems to confirm this by stating, “…for wasn’t his staff that was laid to rest in the sacred ark.” Perhaps ‘laid to rest’ indicated ‘non-usage’ in a particular sense.
Curiously, the authors of Maranatha have made reference to a ‘sacred casket’ since the beginning of the puzzle. It was said on the old Maranatha website that once the secret was revealed, it would also be “the hour the world would look in the sacred casket and finally learn of what has been kept hidden for centuries.”
Speculation on exactly what ‘sacred casket’ continues. However, with the clue possibly hinting towards the ‘Ark of the Covenant’, one could at least consider that the sacred casket is none other than the Ark of the Covenant.
According to the book of Exodus (25:10-22), Moses was given specific instructions on how to build the Ark of the Covenant by God himself. He is told the size it needs to be, the materials to be used, the complete design and formation of the cover, and told, “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”
Moses was also informed on how it should be carried. Two gold rings on each side would hold poles made of acacia wood which were overlaid with pure gold. These poles, made from the same material as the chest, were not to be removed and were used to carry the Ark upon the shoulders.
There is another clue given in the puzzle which may relate to the Ark as well. Posted in May 2008, the clue is ‘More than the Tau is shouldered by those who know’. Could the Ark, since it too can be shouldered, be somehow linked to this clue?
Additionally, the above clue has been thought by some to imply the Triple Tau. The Triple Tau is linked to the Royal Arch of freemasonry and to the mysterious references of; “The Temple of Jerusalem; the Key to the treasure; and a place where a precious thing is concealed.” Since the Ark was later placed within the Temple of Jerusalem, one may wonder if there could be a connection to the clue by both.
Further and deeper interpretation, or even total disregard to the above conjectures, is left for each puzzler or seeker of Truth. Some may feel the Ark is an allegorical tale which holds meaning not by being a physical object but by what it symbolizes or represents.
Whatever the Ark is, it can be said to hold the fascination of many. And like the Holy Grail, it continues to be pondered and searched for; either in meaning or actual form.
But couldn’t you use othet biblical references? Just search for burden and most would be apt:
IE
Genesis 49:14 that links ass to burden – beast of burden and ass
Exodus 1:11 re build ing of treasure cities Pithom and Rameses (link Egyptian use of rods to measure)
Exodus 2:11 link to Moses and smiting of Hebrew
….etc
Why should the burden of the Ark be more relevant than other burden’s that relate to characters quoted in the narrative?
How does the ‘artist’ reference fit in?
Great thoughts and I thank you for them. They make one question and think, which I believe to be one of the most valuable gifts offered from not just the puzzle but from each other.
To answer your question but not to force my perspective because like the category it is under, it was only a ‘musing’; The path I followed for the clue was in seeking a name for a ‘burden’ of which ‘a rod’ could be found in. So when I discovered the Ark was considered ‘a burden’, I liked it because ‘a rod’ could be found in it. I also liked that particular possibility because of other things which could be seen to support it. However, I know, it could be totally wrong.
And you are exactly right, like mentioned in the comment below, the clues were ambiguous. During the competition, I must admit they were frustrating but I think they are wonderful now. I enjoy all the paths in which I choose to leisurely take. (and as for the second half of the clue, I do plan on posting a part 2, when I get time)
Thanks again. You give different, valid perspectives to expand minds. That is great.
The other ‘oddity’ is in the ‘just as the artist cast it away’. Is that stating a fact or giving an instruction?
IE stating that the ‘artist’ also cast the same thing away
OR
saying do just as the artist did, and also cast it away
The clues were all very ambiguous weren’t they?!
Oh and back on the biblical quotes, there is a quote in the bible that tells you what device to use as punishment for different creatures – Proverbs 26:3
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.
To follow that, tou can get:
“Perspective is to painting what the bridle is to the horse, the rudder to a ship……………..There are three aspects to perspective. The first has to do with how the size of objects seems to diminish according to distance: the second, the manner in which colors change the farther away they are from the eye; the third defines how objects ought to be finished less carefully the farther away they are.” (Leonardo da Vinci)
(see http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_index.htm)
So Is the clue saying that the ‘artist’ threw away perspective? And that we should do the same?
I have been thinking about your comment and ‘perspective’ above. I love it. One of the most meaningful understandings or conclusions I personally realized from working on the puzzle was ‘lean not on your own understanding’.
I had never considered the interpretation of ‘throw away one’s own perspective’ for the clue but it would correlate so nicely. It would match up with my thoughts on part 2, but I think you may have taken the shorter path! Lol.
How awesome.
I haven’t a clue really – I just tend to make it up as I go along!
I had thought that the tie up may have been in the ‘rod’ that artists (especially artists in oil) use to steady their hands – but I found that was called a mahl (or maul) stick and couldn’t see any relevance between that and a ‘burden’s’ name – but I didn’t exhaust all the searches (maybe not even 2!) – I never looked for say ‘Duncan Mahl’ to see if there was some obscure person by that name.
Over the course of the entire spiritual path, our rod constantly turns into a snake and then becomes a rod again that supports us on the spiritual path. That is to say, we either walk below reason, in reason, or by faith above reason.
When you ascend again after you had fallen and started judging what is good for you with your mind, you have to beware for the return to faith above reason to not be an egoistic decision which the mind obligates you to make. Otherwise it will turn out that you are walking by faith below reason instead of above it, and that your faith, which is inside reason, descends even lower.
This is a very fine and acute discernment which jabs our heart. We have to be able to look truth into the eyes so the Creator won’t be able to trick us and force us to fall. After all, we have to catch this “snake” by the tail and pick it up from the ground so it would turn into a rod again, instead of falling under the burden of these states, under the weight of this snake.
It takes time for a person to form these concepts inside and to begin to understand whether he is in this work or not, whether he makes these discernments. Work with the “rod and the snake” is already work with your egoism when a person is between these two forces that influence him—Pharaoh and the Creator.
Everything depends on what he does with his rod—will he drop it on the ground or pick it up? By doing the latter he will build his own spiritual vessel , his “self.”
This does not simply mean being a good psychologist or knowing how to seemingly come out of yourself or look at yourself from aside in order to check what is going on. These are purely psychological tricks, but not inner spiritual work.
We are talking about discernments that take place in a person who has already established some kind of attitude to the Creator and to himself. From these two points he begins to build Pharaoh and the Creator, and himself in the middle.
Then he can wrestle with love for himself, which aspires so strongly to sweep him away, and by virtue of this hatred for this egoistic quality, he can ascend above his egoism.
MM
Acacia has been for a long time a symbol of immortality. Poles or pillars often mean the alphabet. Gold rings that hold poles of acacia wood would then be circles with an immortal alphabet written on them.