"Blizzard Bag" Blogpost

So far in the novel I am reading called, Angels & Demons, the group called the Illuminati, has resurfaced and has stolen the antimatter that was created by Vittoria Vetra and her father. However, in a certain amount of hours, this antimatter will create an explosion large enough to devour all of Vatican City. Not only that, but the Illuminati has kidnapped  four very important cardinals the day of the Conclave. The Conclave is a day in which the new Catholic Pope is to be selected. The person who kidnaps them informs everyone that when the Conclave begins, he will have these four cardinals murdered in public at four different parts of the Vatican City.In order to stop this, Vittoria Vetra and Langdon are in search of  "The Church of Illumination". Langdon informs Vittoria that to find this church, they have to find the four markers in the Vatican City that lead to it. These four markers are located in churches and represent the four elements, air, waiter, fire, and earth. Langdon infers that these four markers that lead to the church, are the places where the four cardinals are going to be murdered. Langdon and Vittoria are in search of these four markers to save the four cardinals, while the Vatican City authorities are in search of the antimatter to save thousands of lives.

In the play, Romeo and Juliet, I am enjoying the story line very much. I am very interested in the idea that people from rival houses, have fallen in love. I'm very interested in this, because I think that their love may be able to stop the rivalry between Capulets and Montegues. However, I am concerned, because I think that the Montegues and Capulets will momentarily disapprove and go to great lengths to stop the romance between Romeo and Juliet.

The Illuminati

I have noticed that in the novel, Angels and Demons, an actual ancient group that may have been a myth from thousands of years ago, The Illuminati, has been mentioned severel times. The Illuminati is an important part of this novel, because this group is the main villain in the novel. In the novel, The Illuminati is described as a very clever and educated clan. I really like how the author, Dan Brown, proposes in the novel that The Illuminati was and is a real group. He even traces conspiracy theories that people have made in real life about the Illuminati, back to his novel. In the novel, one of the main characters, Dr. Langdon, suggests that the Illuminati had a secret meeting place in which only Illuminati members could meet. Illuminati members would find this secret meeting place by searching for markers in churches around the Vatican City that would lead to another, until Illuminati members were finally lead to the secret meeting place, also known as The Church of Illumination. It states this in the novel on page 181. It states,"Each piece of course was a marker...subtly pointing to the next church...where the next marker awaited. If an Illuminati candidate could find the first church and the marker for Earth, he could follow it to air...and Then to fire...then to water...and finally to the Church of Illumination."  By looking through multiple articles, I have found this idea of how to find the Church of Illumination to be an actual theory that people believe in today, which I found very interesting. Dr.Langdon also suggests that the american dollar has an Illuminati symbol on it. In the novel, Langdon states that the pyramid on the dollar represents a convergence upward toward Illumination. The eye above the pyramid was apparently called the Illuminati's "shining delta". The eye symbolizes ability to infiltrate and watch all things. Also, the triangle the eye is located in is also the Greek letter delta, which means change or transition.Finally, underneath the pyramid, there is writing that states, "Novus Ordo Seclorum." This means "New Secular Order." The New Secular Order is what the Illuminati wanted, for they were a very anti-religious group, and wanted the world to be rid of religion. This is an actual Illuminati theory that people believe in today, which I find very inte

resting that the author included this theory in his writing.