aleph symbol with title UNSONG

Author’s Note 6: Flammarion, 8, Hackers

From Evan M: an Unsong version of the Flammarion engraving. He explains:

Aaron Smith-Teller is reaching for the knowledge of the Lord (as represented by the Left Hand of God), with the cloud-fortresses of the angels hovering above the sky, which is layered over the Not A Metaphor, the city of San Jose, and some mountains which I’m going to say represent the range surrounding the Culebra Cut. Looming beneath (an oxymoron representing the contrast between the Left and Right Hands of God) it all is Hell. The double stalactites in the center are symbolic of Thamiel’s bident.

The comet in the sky represents both the Comet King and the Comet West. The palm trees, having no visible fruit in the picture, represent the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, which represents God giving humanity one last chance for redemption through the Comet King.

Naturally, the two American flags on Neil Armstrong’s shoulders, though they may seem like a dumb mistake made by the artist when he used a poor-quality reference photo, actually are metaphorical for the United States’ tendency to be both merciful (Armstrong’s left-hand American flag), and just (Armstrong’s right-hand American flag).

The river obviously has a gematria of 874, the same as “Bible scriptures lion,” referring to the well-known story of Daniel in the lions den, which shows that the Lord may have miraculous mercy on His believers. The only plausible message it symbolizes, therefore, is that Aaron may have his deliverance if only he can do an extraordinary good deed. “Good deed”‘s gematria of 129 is the same of that of “America,” which clearly means that to survive, Aaron Smith-Teller must save the United States.

Plot-relevant articles: Stratosphere Las Vegas, Hershel of Ostropol, Teotihuacan, Layout of the Panama Canal, Virgin Galactic, interpretation of the animals in Isaiah 34, Lilith,
Alphabet of Ben Sira, SALT, Messiah ben Joseph, Bene Ephraim, the four worlds of kabbalah, Kefitzat haDerech, Cheyenne Mountain, Sing Sing prison.

Uriel here: “THE NUMBER EIGHT WILL BE DOWN FROM ONE AM TO SIX AM TOMORROW MORNING FOR EMERGENCY REPAIRS. PLEASE DO NOT PERFORM ANY CALCULATIONS THAT REQUIRE THE NUMBER EIGHT DURING THAT TIME.” Programmers: We’re on this. Also sort of related.

From Wired, Anonymous’ Most Notorious Hacker Is Back, And He’s Gone Legit:

Now that he’s found full-time work again, Monsegur says he’s not about to slip back into black hat habits. He remembers long talks he had with his prison cellmate, a rabbi convicted of immigration fraud, who taught him about Kabbalistic numerology and sang psalms to him in Hebrew.

This should end well.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Author’s Note 6: Flammarion, 8, Hackers

  1. So no interlude but an author’s note 6… Looks like Scott’s going for ten authors’ notes after all.

  2. Good Burning Plastic says:

    I notice that Unsong does not have a Facebook fan page. Would you mind if I created one?

  3. JPol says:

    A rabbi teaches a man Jewish mysticism in prison, causing him to *stop* being a blackhat? There’s a first. (Or, y’know, TINACBNIEAC. This story’s kabalistic wild mass guessing has filled the void in my heart left by the Unknown Armies mailing list.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *