Wreaths are seen in numerous places, not only during the holiday season, but all throughout the year. They can be noticed to adorn entryways, graves, arches, and other such places of passing. Their placement and materials used to create their circlet design, hold much meaning, and often symbolize victory, eternity, and hope. For many of the same expressive reasons, they are also commonly used as headdresses/diadems to celebrate joyous occasions or to crown a victor.
Most historians date the beginning uses of the wreath back to a myth involving Apollo and Daphne. In this myth, Apollo falls in love with Daphne who is a water nymph that does not return his affection. In her effort to escape Apollo’s pursuit, Daphne calls for help and is transformed into a laurel tree in order to be kept safe. Thereafter, Apollo is said to have worn a laurel wreath around his head; and because of this, the laurel wreath later became synonymous with attributes for which Apollo conveyed; victory, strength, and achievement.
Becoming a symbol for power, overcoming, and conquering, it was placed on heads of victors of the early Olympic Games. It is believed the custom of hanging wreaths on doors or walls developed from these winners of games, and other crowned achievers. They would display their special received honors for others to see, and through time this became a decorative statement. Distinct wreaths came to represent the rank or status of different individuals, and were acknowledged as such.
When researching the wreath, I noted there were instances the wreath was displayed and used in places that related to matters of the Maranatha puzzle; like on the Shepherd’s Monument at Shugborough Hall, at Rennes le Chateau (door and pillar), and on Masonic arches and aprons. The use of the laurel sprig in Freemasonry was very interesting to me, as in various uses it symbolized the hope for the success in finding the Lost Word, and in later degrees Victory.
My research into the wreath was inspired by finding the word WREATH in the Maranatha puzzle. As it was said the puzzle held many different clues and pathways to the secret, I felt it’s placement in the book was significant. I know some may feel it is coincidental, but for me, its discovery was a bit like a victory; sort of like a death to a present self and possibly signified such.
On the second page of the pigpen text in position 17 (which adds to the curiosity), is the letter V. Although in the word ‘even’ (remember this is a puzzle), the V in eVe could be recognized to represent the center or heart of EVE. I found this exact position in the text (to which I was led to by other clues) could also be seen to represent the heart of God. Therefore, this spot in the text possibly represented the unity or the combining of both the heart of Eve and God.
I was suspicious this was more than coincidental for assorted reasons. And considering we now know the Key is the Hexagram, and the PDF’s Tree of Life diagram can be seen to combine a Hexagram with a Pentagram, I became more suspicious. Could ‘here conjure the beast with the key’ be saying ‘here conjure the Pentagram (possibly representing the beastly/sinful nature of man/eve) with the Hexagram(representing the heart of God)?
In history, the Key was said to be sometimes confused with the Holy Grail. This would suggest the Key is thought to be of a heavenly, divine nature, and therefore the combining of the hexagram with the beast is like a union of opposites; an aspect of the puzzle commonly noticed and spoken about by seekers.
It is after this ‘conjuring’ that we are told in the PDF, to write Proverbs 3:13-18 (supposedly the wisdom of numbered lines, and words, of the king). These verses refer to the Tree of Life. If the previous puzzle lines directed us to just create the Tree of Life by uniting opposites, these verses fall in support of that; “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding. For she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold….”
Further along in Proverbs is another verse which states, “Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.”
I suppose, along with other reasons, I especially liked finding in the Marantha puzzle the word WREATH, a crown of splendor, in relation to this spot of unity. Placed on top of the V in eVe, mentioned above, and those that immediately follow, in order, the word WREATH is given. It is like placing a wreath on top the heart of eve. Intentional or coincidental, you can decide.
I am sure most of us are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve and know it was Eve who took the forbidden ‘apple’ from the tree and initiated the fall of man (for his later return). From this, man’s sinful nature was realized and he was cast out of paradise/Garden. Various meanings are debated for this incident, but perhaps this newfound knowledge of Good and Evil is to be highlighted in the Maranatha puzzle in some way? This is at least one of the questions I continue to study.
I know at one time I had considered ‘and words of the king’ to imply ‘Kings’ and the wisdom of Solomon. This wisdom is said to be a discerning heart or knowing the difference between good and evil. With this I had felt it was possible, if someone realized positions in the text represented ‘good and evil’, that the difference of certain positions (knowing the difference of good and evil) could supply 0-7745997587; the supposed number for submission. Evidently not so, but always fun to consider. Lol.
I know I have mentioned the Maranatha puzzle acts like a labyrinth of words and phrases to explore for me. I enjoyed learning about the wreath, its history, and the curious places it can be seen used.
JJ,
Is the laurel typically used in masonry for that purpose? I am not that knowledgeable, but I would have said that a sprig of acacia would have been a better ‘symbol’. Maybe the laurel is a more localised Masonic symbol rather than a global (if there is such a thing)?
Also, is the ‘key’ TO MARANATHA the hexagram? D provided two insights. One the release on Tweleve, where he gave the ‘solution’ that would have been accepted – and not the key. And the second was the ‘arcadia’ article, that showed that D had created the Hexagram as the Key from the parchments. Is the ‘…Poussin/Teniers hold the key….’ then the same ‘key’ as in the LRB? If so, that symbol had been shown by authors pre Priory Pubs. Also, I thought D said that from the LRB Key you would have achieved the LRB solution, but the solution could have been achieved without the ‘key’.
Life eh? Who’d have it?
H
Hi H,
I wish I had more time at the moment to answer your questions, but I am leaving for the Chitag for the weekend soon. To quickly respond, though. In the example above, in my finding of the unity of the heart of Eve and God, the hexagram or pentagram were not involved specifically. I agree, it is true the PDF was not produced to share the Key, but I was offering a possibility on how they could be connected and mesh with the puzzle.
As there are many ways to find the Key….I believe there are many ways to find the heart/mind of a Creator…call him God or whatever.
Here is one link where the Laurel is said used in Freemasonry: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/Articles/Symbolism/comprehensive_files/short_symbolism/the_meaning_of_the_laurel.htm
I didn’t base anything I had done in the puzzle on it, so if it is incorrect information…no matter really.
Best
Jenny
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Great article Jenny!
MARANATHA
HATHA
All this talk about the union of opposites and triangles got me to thinking about something. Notice the NATHA part at the end of the word Maranatha. This bears a resemblance to the Hindu word HATHA, which is a reference to a type of Yoga. The meaning of HATHA has something to do with the Union of Opposites. In fact if you look at the meaning of the symbolism for the ANAHATA Chakra which is a reference to the Heart Chakra formed by the overlapping Triangles, one of the two overlapping triangles is referred to as HA. The other overlapping triangle is referred to as THA. In fact, it never even occurred to me that ANAHATA is supposed to mean ANAHATHA until I started thinking about the triangles.
The MARA part of Marantha means Death. I think that Mara is the Hindu word for Death. But if I am wrong, I do know Mara is the God of Death in Hinduism. So taken as a whole, the very word MARANTHA seems to suggest the Union of Opposites (Ha and Tha) through the understanding of Death.
Now here is the funny thing. None of this would have ever occurred to if “Pousin and Teniers holds the key ” wasn’t mentioned. The only thing that made since to me was that maybe Burden thought Poussin painted a self portrait of Himself. That’s when I thought about the painting with the two people, one holding a skull which I thought might be the key. I reasoned maybe Burden thought the two men in the painting were Poussin and Teniers. That’s when it occurred to me the Sickle Symbol kind of reminded me of the eyes part of the skull. Then I looked at the word Marantha. Aha! Or should I say Hatha!
I don’t think that Hindu knowledge is relevant here. The reason the theosophists and Golden Dawn went to India and the Tibet is because they knew things they didn’t – therefore the European esoteric tradition probably doesn’t have many of the Indian elements.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that is that MARANATHA. should be MARAHATHA, the only difference being that there is an N rather than an H between the word Mara which means Death and Atha which represents a reference to the two overlapping triangles.
Hi Mary
In Kabbalah we are taught that direct way to God is to uncover the evil inherent in a persons heart and then this fuels the desire to be with God. This is the joining of left(egotiscal nature) with right(altruism) to form the middle path. The more evil you reveal the more desperate you cry out to God until the perfect prayer is formed with in.
The negative side is if a person falls into ego and become a victim of it. What i mean by fall into the ego is they act on thier impulse of desires and not use them to turn to God. This work can only performed when a person is ready make this journey.
This is basic principles of working with the 3 lines.
MM
Nate,
I’m not sure that there’s a conflict in what D says/said. Just I think a misunderstanding of what D has said. I thought D said that the PDF was what would have been accepted as the solution to LRB – but was not (necessarily) the key. So:
PDFLRB key
Then D wrote an article on arcadia where he spoke about the Poussin/Teniers ‘key’ – but did not make it clear whether this ‘key’ is the LRB key (or maybe I misread the article). So:
Arcadia key LRB key (? I question that, as it is not clear)
The problem then being – as always was – is what was the LRB about. I’m not sure anyone can ever know unless D (or one of the anonymous team) ever say explicitly ‘….the LRB was about …blah…and the key was blah which then fits the lock of blah….’.
As you can see from here, tweleve, yahoo POS, mania, arcadia….etc forums – everyone has a take on what RLC is about – and a subset of those then have their own take on what the LRB was about. But in all the writings (including Ds), I have not once seen anyone explain the LRB and ‘their’ solution in light of all the LRB text and the clues presented over the years (both PPubs an TM). And the ‘fact’ that the LRB implies that there is an artifact that exists that people have discounted throughout history.
Intriguing though eh?
…oops the page removed the ‘not equals’ between the keys…
It should read:
PDF key NOT EQUAL TO LRB key
and then later…
Arcadia key NOT EQUAL TO LRB key
Hi Jenny,
Also interesting, coming off that “V” in position 17 and running vertically down is the word VETE.
You are probably aware of the symbolism of wheat, the word VETE meaning “GO” in spanish and “WHEAT” in Swedish.
VE TE,
astree
Hi Again Jenny,
I see “EVE” in phrase “knowledge known even to” and see the “W” above the “V”, but cannot follow to the “R” after that, for “WREATH”. Can you help out, what word is the “R” in ? Page 2 ?
Also, there is another location where EVE and LILITH are contained in a triangle, if I recall.
Thank-you,
astree
Hi astree; The R is found above the V in the word rEVEaled (37R/49V). E/VE is split, but on the same page. The next sequence of ‘eve’ is not found until page 11, in the word sEVEn for the E. The next ones, for the A and T, are on page 15 and 16. The last letter of WREATH is found on page 17. Here the V (in reveal) is in position 111.
Jenny, that’s a real find and it wasn’t coincidental. Follow the Vs. Also think Roman numerals.
.
Thanks much, Jenny. Looking at it now.
Also, looking at the letters UNDER the V.
( so, you went Game and Toy show ? ” CHI” )
astree
I have a theory that the laurel tree of Daphne could be the pentagram. The connection is weak at present, so I could be wrong.
It’s dawned on me that if the laurel tree is the pentagram, then the laurel wreath must be made up of four pentagrams.
My interpretation of Christ’s death is that he had to die in order to resurrect. But my guess is as good as yours at this point.
“The wisdom of numbered lines and words of the king” refers to David. It might refer to other things as well.
The figure Duncan gave is rotated 45 degrees, but it’s the wrong angle. I assume that’s deliberately attempting to hide the correct angle.
I think “here conjure the beast with the key” could be something along the lines of “here conjure the pentagram with the hexagram”. However, both the jewel with the pentagram and the one with the hexagram have additional lines to them.
The pentagram may represent Eve (not entirely sure of this yet) but this is not to be taken as the sinful or beastly nature of man, but rather as Venus, the woman as a lover.
The hexagram isn’t the heart of God, the heart is the centre.
My current theory on “here conjure the beast with the key” is that it has several layers of meaning (three or four is my current guess).
I’m fairly sure that the simplest layer involves four pentagrams. But I haven’t conjured anything successfully yet, so I could be wrong.
The wreath is a symbol of victory, so maybe it isn’t too surprising that it’s so commonly found. It’s also on the last Tarot card, “The world”, probably representing victory an completion, too.
The geometric key doesn’t fit the tree of life tilted 45 degrees as it was given. As for the rod of Hermes, I don’t see where you see it in the figure.
The caduceus, the Tree of Life, the hexagram and the square, and other things as well may be called keys. Though, strictly speaking, keys are numbers.
The Tree of Life isn’t made up of two hexagrams, but one.
I think the hexagram and the square is tilted at 45 degrees to hide the right way of using it. It would have to be rotated 90 degrees to show the Tree of Life. And I don’t see it as a good representation of the caduceus.