Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy-Four

"Why don't you talk?" Langdon said, watching Sophie across the cabin of the Falconer. "I'm so tired. And this poem, I can't understand it anyway." Langdon felt the same way.The roar of the engine and the slight shaking of the plane undoubtedly played a hypnotic effect, and his head is still beating wildly because of the attack by the monk.Before Teabing turned back from the back of the plane, Langdon decided to seize the opportunity to be alone with Sophie and tell her what was on his mind. "I think I know part of the reason why your grandfather tried everything possible to bring us together. There are some things he wants me to explain to you."

"Isn't the history of the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene enough?" Langdon didn't know what to say for a moment. "The rift between you and the fact that you haven't spoken to him in ten years. I think maybe he wants to explain to you through me what is causing the disharmony between the two of you, and it will make things better. .” Sophie shifted in her seat: "But I haven't told you the reason for our quarrel." Langdon watched her seriously: "Did you see some sexual ritual?" Sophie flinched. "How do you know?" "Sophie, you told me what you saw that led you to believe that your grandfather was a member of some secret organization. Whatever you saw was enough to disturb you deeply, so you have since I haven’t spoken to him again. I finally know something about the secret organization, so I can guess what you see even if I’m not as smart as Da Vinci.”

Sophie's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you see it in the spring? Around the vernal equinox, or in mid-March?" Sophie looked out the window: "It was the spring break of college, and I went home a few days early for vacation." "Can you tell me what happened next?" "I think it's better to forget it." She turned around suddenly, facing Langdon, her eyes were full of complicated emotions: "I have already forgotten what I saw." "Did you see men, and women?" Sophie nodded as if struck. "They're all dressed in black and white, aren't they?"

Sophie wiped her eyes with her hand, then nodded, looking ready to say something. "Women are all dressed in white tulle gowns... golden shoes and golden balls in their hands. Men are all wrapped in long coats and black shoes." Langdon craned his neck, trying to hide his excitement, but he still couldn't believe his ears.Sophie Neveu accidentally witnessed a sacred ceremony with a history of two thousand years!He tried to calm his tone: "Are they all wearing masks? Wearing masks that make it difficult to distinguish gender?" "Yes, each of them wears the same mask. The women wear the white ones, and the men wear the black ones."

Langdon had read some articles describing this ceremony before, so he knew its mysterious origin, so he whispered, "This ceremony is called 'Divine Marriage', and its history can be traced back to more than two thousand years ago. The priests and priestesses of the world regularly perform such rituals to praise women's reproductive ability." He paused for a moment, then leaned over to her: "However, if you don't prepare in advance, you don't know I think you will be surprised to see 'divine marriage' without its inner meaning." Sophie said nothing.

"Hieros Camos is a Greek word that means 'sacred wedding'." Langdon continued. "But the ceremony I saw was by no means a wedding ceremony." "It was a wedding of soul and flesh, Sophie." "You mean a sexual union?" "wrong." "No?" she demanded with olive eyes. Langdon flinched back. "Well...you can say that, but not in the way we understand it today." He explained that while what she saw that day might have looked like a sexual ritual, "God Marriage" had nothing to do with pornography .It's just a mental act.Historically, sexual union was the act by which men and women perceived God's presence.The ancients believed that if a man lacks physical perceptual knowledge of holy women, he must also be incomplete spiritually. Therefore, to realize the union with a woman physically is to make a man spiritually complete and complete. The only way to finally gain true knowledge and understand divinity.Since the time of Isis, the rituals of sex have been considered the only bridge a man can pass from earth to heaven. "By engaging in physical communication with a woman," Langdon said, "a man will have an orgasm in an instant, when his mind goes completely blank, and in that instant he has the possibility to perceive God."

Sophie was dubious: "You mean the kind of orgasm described in the prayer?" Langdon shrugged noncommittally, even though Sophie was actually right.Physiologically speaking, a male orgasm tends to cause a brief pause in thought, a momentary vacuum in the brain.At this moment, in the dimness, people may feel that they have seen God.Meditative monks can achieve a similar state of ecstasy even though they do not have sex, so people compare Nirvana to a never-ending spiritual orgasm. "Sophie," Langdon said softly, "it's important for you to remember that the ancients had a very different view of sex than we do today. Sex produces new life—the most Significant miracles—and miracles, only God can perform miracles. A woman conceives new life in her womb, thereby sanctifying herself and becoming a god. Sexual union makes the two halves of the human soul—man and woman It is a highly revered means of becoming one. Through sex, men complete their souls and enter into a dialogue with God. What you see is not so much a sexual act as a A ritual that pursues the sublimation of the soul. 'God's Marriage' is by no means outrageous, but an extremely sacred ceremony."

His words seemed to tug at Sophie's heartstrings.Throughout the evening, she behaved very calmly.However, Langdon felt for the first time that her composure was gradually breaking down.Tears welled up in her eyes, so she lifted her sleeves and wiped the tears from her face. He gave her some time to calm down.Admittedly, the notion of sex as a means to God is at first unbelievable.In the past, Langdon's Jewish students had been dumbfounded when he told them about early Jewish traditions, including sexual rituals.In "The Temple", there are many similar plots.The early Jews believed that in the Holy of Holies, Solomon's Temple, lived not only God, but also the goddess Shekina, who was equal to God and equal in power.Men who pursue the integrity of their souls go to the temple, find those priestesses or holy servants, have sex with them, and perceive divinity through physical union.The four-letter word for God among the Jews, YHWH—the name of this holy God, is actually born out of Jehovah (Jehovah), which is composed of Jah, which represents men, and Havah, the Jewish name given to Eve by ancient Jews. hermaphrodite.

"For the early Christian church," Langdon explained in a low voice, "humans communicated directly with God through sexual means, which constituted a serious majesty to the power base of the Catholic Church, because it set the church aside and undermined their self-proclaimed The only place where they can talk to God. For obvious reasons, they try to denigrate sex and re-emphasize it as a repulsive sin, as do other important religions.” Sophie was silent, but Langdon felt that she was beginning to understand her grandfather better.Ironically, earlier in the semester, he gave the same insight to students in a class.He asked the students: "Isn't it surprising that we have an aversion to sex? But the traditions and physiological knowledge left by our ancestors tell us that sex is natural and a means to cherish and enrich the soul." ... yet modern religions condemn sex as shameful and make us think of it as a scourge."

Langdon decided to stop there, because if he told the students that there were about a dozen—many of them influential—secret societies around the world that still practiced sexual rituals and preserved the ancient Traditionally, he feared spooking them.The character played by American Hollywood actor Tom Cruise in the movie "Eyes Wide Opener" sneaked away to attend a private party held by the elite among Manhattanites, but accidentally witnessed the "God Marriage".Sadly, the filmmakers got most of the details wrong, but the fundamentals—that the secret society celebrates the magic of sex through sexual intercourse—don't get it wrong.

"Professor Langdon," a male student sitting in the back raised his hand hopefully, "are you saying we don't go to church and just have more sex?" Langdon smiled softly, not wanting to fall into his trap.He had heard a lot of rumors about the Harvard reunion, and knew that these guys were quite sexually promiscuous.He also understood that he was at a disadvantage right now, so he said: "Gentlemen, I Can I give you some advice, that is, don't tolerate premarital sex easily, and don't naively think that you are What angels you are, here are some suggestions for your sex life. " All the boys were bending forward and listening intently. "The next time you're with a woman, first ask yourself if you're seeing sex as a mystical spiritual act, and then challenge yourself to find that spark of divinity and to gain that divinity , man can only achieve physical union with a holy woman." The girls smiled knowingly and kept nodding. The boys looked at each other, half-believing, giggling, and making dirty jokes with each other. Langdon sighed, these college students are still a bunch of kids after all. Sophie felt a chill on her forehead. She pressed her forehead against the porthole of the plane and looked out the window blankly.She was desperately trying to figure out what exactly Langdon had told her.She couldn't help feeling somewhat regretful.Ten years!She thought of the piles of letters her grandfather had written her that she had never opened.I'm going to tell Robert everything.She didn't turn away from the window, and started talking quietly, which made people feel a little scary. She began to tell the story of the night when she felt she was floating backwards...she fell into the woods outside her grandfather's country house in Normandy...she searched aimlessly for the deserted house...she heard The voice came from below... After finding the hidden door, he walked slowly along the stone steps towards the basement step by step.She felt the breath of the soil, cool and light.It was March, and she hid in the shadow cast by the steps, watching those people, twisting and chanting repeatedly under the flickering orange candlelight. Am I dreaming?she said to herself.is dreaming.What else could it be if it wasn't a dream? The figures of men and women are overlapping, and black and white are changing each other.The women's beautiful white gauze robes fluttered, and they raised the golden ball with their right hands, and they sang in unison: "I and you have been together since the beginning, in the sacred morning of all things. The long night is not over, you are pregnant in my body." The women set down the golden ball, and each writhed forward and backward as if possessed.They are paying their respects to something in the center of the circle, what are they looking at Suddenly the chant sounded again, and it was getting louder and faster. "The daughter you see is what you want." The women shouted loudly and raised the golden ball again. The men responded immediately: "Yi finally found her eternal home!" The singing voice gradually became stable again, and then accelerated, the voice became even faster, until it was like thunder and lightning.Those people took a few steps inside, then fell to their knees. At that moment, Sophie finally knew what they were looking at. In the center of the circle surrounded by these people, on a low but richly decorated altar, lay a man, naked, facing the sky, and wearing a black mask.Sophie recognized the man and the birthmark on his shoulder immediately and almost screamed.How could it be grandfather!This sight alone was enough to make Sophie feel shocked and unbelievable, not to mention there were even more amazing things waiting for her! A naked woman wearing a white mask rides her grandfather.Her thick silver hair was brushed back.She was bloated, her figure was far from perfect, and yet she was writhing to the rhythm of the chant—she was flirting with Sophie's grandfather. Sophie tried to turn and run away, but couldn't move.The stone walls of the basement also imprisoned her, and the singing reached a fever pitch.The circle of people around seemed to start singing too, their voices getting louder and getting more and more enthusiastic.Suddenly, a burst of wild laughter erupted from the crowd, and the whole room seemed to reach a climax.Sophie was out of breath as she suddenly found herself back in Paris.