Secrets of the Vatican

If you believe everything you see and read, then you'd probably be up to your ears in conspiracy theories... and if you believe that the Illuminati is out there to expose the Catholic Church to the world as a ruthless organization, then you may as well just stop reading altogether. Hehe.

As much fun and entertainment these conspiracy theories are, they are still just works of fictions... or are they?

Here are some sites that try and unveil what goes on behind the walled city in Rome.

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Best source for Vatican Secrets is... from the Vatican itself! Awesome find here, the Vatican has their own website and a complete section on their Secret Archives.



Not so secret anymore eh?

Click here to see it.

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TheHarrowing.com is a pretty strange website, but you can find some interesting stuff in there about some of the Vatican's Secrets.

"Of all the vexing questions surrounding the widespread and on-going clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church, perhaps the ones involving the Pope are among those most begging for an answer. For such a centralized, authoritarian organization headed by one single man, the Pope, the key Watergate-type question of 'what did he know and when did he know it?' is crucial to any understanding of the full dimensions of the crisis..."

Interesting eh? Click here to read more.

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Of course Wikis are a great source for information like this. But someone actually posted an ENTIRE BOOK... I think it's the book being mentioned in the video I posted below... not sure though.

Click here to read it... if you can read something that long anyway.

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This video I found on YouTube is another one that seeks to uncover the Secrets of the Vatican... though if you ask me, it's just rubbish. Fun to watch anyway... what the poor editing didn't give it away? Watch out for their 'interview resource person' at the end, after The Church and UFOs. Hahaha!

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After reading Angels and Demons and after seeing the latest trailer, I'm pretty sure there are more fired up conspiracy theorists out there (whether serious, or, like our last link, 'interesting'), especially those with an interest in Catholicism and religion in general.

You think they'll be in line for the movie when it opens on May 15 as well?

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Cool Angels and Demons Widget

Here's a really great Angels and Demons Widget that I found from the Angels and Demons Fans Blog.


You can see the actual Widget here:

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Angels and Demons Full Trailer

Here's the full trailer posted on the Angels and Demons Facebook page.


More action in this one, eh? At least more of the story is revealed here... but then again if you've read the book then you'd already know what the movie will be about, right?

Just don't sit beside me in the movie theater in May 15, ok? I'm watching first day! Anyone have any idea if there are advanced screenings already in Metro Manila?

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Angels and Demons Teaser Footage

Saw this teaser video clip in the Angels and Demons facebook group!


Be sure to check it out by clicking here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=66494143156

Wow looks like a lot of people are excited to see the movie... over 100 people gave it the thumbs up in the first few hours it was posted!

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5 Thing to Know About Robert Langdon

In my first post about myself and this blog, I described a bit about Robert Langdon and his character. Fans of the book and of the movie will surely know what I'm talking about... but here's a bit of additional book and movie trivia for you folks to help you in your novel-surfing and movie-going experience:

1. Symbology is the fictional academic discipline pursued by the hero of Dan Brown's novels, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Robert Langdon, is supposed to be a professor of "symbology" at Harvard.
Karen L. King, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard, called "symbology" a nonexistent field, and noted that the closest field, semiology, is unrepresented at Harvard.
(Source: FunTrivia.com)

2. Author Dan Brown named main character Robert Langdon after John Langdon, a close friend and typography master who worked with Brown on an ambigram logo for 'Angels And Demons'. (Source: IMDB.com)

3. In the story, Robert Langdon's publisher is called Jonas Faukman. Jonas Faukman is an anagram of Dan Brown's real life publisher, Jason Kaufman. (Source: IMDB.com)

4. Robert Langdon drives a Saab 900s. It's a really cool, kind of old school car, but classy and dependable nonetheless. Suits his personality... though I honestly don't know what it does for his claustrophobia. (Source: FunTrivia.com)

5. Ron Howard's first envisioned choice for the role of Robert Langdon was Bill Paxton. Paxton was interested but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts. 'Russell Crowe (I)' was then seriously considered for the role but ultimately Howard decided on long time friend Tom Hanks for the role. Other actors considered for the part were Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Jackman and George Clooney. (Source: IMDB.com)

(Kind of hard to imagine Hugh Jackman and George Clooney in the role of a Harvard professor... sorry but they're too 'pretty' for my tastes... hehe.)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to add more trivia to the list once Angels and Demons shows in the Philippines on May 15, 2009. What about you? Got any trivia of Robert Langdon to share?

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About the Illuminati

When you talk of religious conspiracy, or world-domination conspiracy, one of the most notorious organizations that come to mind is The Illuminati. Based on research and historical accounts, the Illuminati was "a secret society in Bavaria in the late 18th century. They had a political agenda that included republicanism and abolition of monarchies, which they tried to institute by means of subterfuge, secrecy, and conspiracy, including the infiltration of other organizations."

"They fancied themselves to be 'enlightened' but they had little success and were destroyed within fifteen years of their origin (Pipes 1997)." (Source: Skeptic's Dictionary)

Believed to be already defunct, the novel by Dan Brown and the movie by Ron Howard, 'Angels and Demons' presupposes that they survived their apparent dissolution and have lain in wait for the most appropriate time of their return.

There is also some discussion on their apparent tie in to the Freemasons, another organization that is a well-known mover in religious circles, a frequent target of religious and political conspiracy and a very old and long-thriving organization. "Because of Freemasonry's inadvertent involvement and misuse by its founder, Adam Weishaupt, the legends of its continued existence (and influence) persist into the twentieth century. (Weishaupt founded the organization and then tried to get the Freemasons involved.)" (Source: MasonicInfo.com)

What's cool about the Illuminati in the novel and in the upcoming movie is their apparent flair for symbols and symbolisms! Just the way the name of their organization is written already shows a lot in the ways of symbols and cryptic clues. (Image borrowed from TheOpenCritic.com)



For more info on the Illuminati, click here and here:

For more info on the novel, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, click here:

Angels and Demons looks to be a very interesting and trivia-infused movie! It's showing in the Philippines on May 15, 2009. Hope you've already reserved tickets!

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Disassembling Dan Brown

Dan Brown has a very creative mind grounded on meticulous research and painstaking attention to detail. Anyone who's read his books can attest to the amazing depth of the characters he presents and the astounding amount of religious trivia one can glean by just reading a page of his novels. (Image borrowed from Age-of-the-Sage.org)

But who is Dan Brown? How did he become such an astounding writer talking about such a controversial topic?

In his biography, and I quote:

"Brown grew up as the eldest of three children in Exeter, New Hampshire and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, a decidedly up-market school where his father was employed as a math teacher, in 1982. His mother, Constance, was a professional musician principally involved in performing sacred music. Although Dan Brown actually attended local public, (i.e. open-enrollment), schools until the ninth grade he nonetheless lived with his family on the Exeter campus and participated in a college related life that was also informed by christian values- singing in the church choir and attending church camp."

Read the rest of his bio here:

Anyway, I guess it happens that a man who grew up with such exposure to religion as he did does make for a very rich background. After all, it does make it easier to write about a subject you know...

That being said, a lot of us Filipinos can probably attempt to be writers of a similar nature... considering almost all of us grew up with a Catholic education. What do you think? Is there a Dan Brown lurking in one of our aspiring writers?

For additional info on Dan Brown, visit his official website.