Masks of the Lost Kings (Suzy da Silva Series)

by Tom Bane

  “How kind of you,” said the man nodding, with a fatherly smile, taking a spoonful. Getsu bowed his head in acknowledgment. The old man took another sip of his soup and dabbed his mouth before speaking.

  “Where are you going today?”

  “Nagano” replied Getsu.

  “Myself as well. I am visiting the Zenko temple.” Getsu’s head shot up.

  “Please tell me about it,” Getsu said, humbly.

  The old man showed him a guidebook with information about the temple, which revealed that the temple contained a hidden statue showing the true face of the Buddha. This statue, the book said, was sacred and not intended for human eyes. Together, Getsu and the elderly man thumbed through the pages and discussed Buddhism.

  The elderly man paged through until he came to a picture of a mysterious key hanging on the wall in a cloistered enclave of Zenko. Getsu smiled inwardly. Thanks to this stranger, Getsu had cracked the first part of the puzzle before ever reaching the temple. As the elderly man talked, Getsu’s mind was racing. If he was going to take the key, Getsu surmised, he would have to replace it with something so its absence wouldn’t be readily apparent. When the elderly man ceased talking and closed his eyes, Getsu turned to the book’s page with the photograph of the key and took out his own house key. He spent the rest of the journey fashioning its fob, teasing it into a little hook shape to resemble the temple key.

  Alighting from the air-conditioned train at the walled temple city of Nagano, he helped the elderly man onto the platform and bid him a polite farewell, he ran like the wind to his destination- there was no time to waste, the air was hot and a haze shimmered over the grounds of the ancient Zenko Temple, one of Japan’s most sacred temples, which overlooked the heart of the city.

  Robed monks of the esoteric tradition stood in the dappled shade of cherry trees, their barely audible mantras humming in the air. They spoke in the dialect of long lost Tibetan tribes, their round basket hats protecting them from the harsh rays as they shook their six-ringed staves in a chorus of jingling tones.

  The old man on the train had explained that, inside the Zenko Temple, the secret statue was reputed to be the oldest known statue of Buddha, a hidden statue that had never been seen by living mortals, not even by the chief priest. The monks were at morning prayers as Getsu climbed the windy road to the temple. He blended in with the crowds of tourists.

  The first stage of his task was to secure himself the key from the inner chamber of the temple, which was reached via a dark, narrow staircase. Once at the inner temple courtyard, the chattering crowd assembled into an orderly and quiet line to pass through the wooden gate. At the other side were two monks, who welcomed the visitors and directed them along a corridor entrance and down a stairway. The corridor was dark and cool after the bright midday sun. Once their eyes had adjusted to the poor light, one by one the visitors launched themselves upward, trying to touch a metal key hanging high on the wall over their heads, amid growing laughter. Tradition held it that whoever succeeded would gain enlightenment. This was the key that Getsu needed.

  Getsu waited for his eyes to accustom to the gloom. His master had taught him that the sides of the retina were better for seeing in the dark. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had only thirty-five minutes left, but he must wait until there was no one to watch him reach for the key.

  When the last giggling tourist had rounded the corner and moved out of sight, Getsu ran up the wall like a spider, propelled by his own strength and speed, and wrenched the key from its hook. He scaled a second time to replace the Amida Buddha key with the substitute. He would return the real Buddha key later, he promised himself. After all, if he made it through this ultimate test, he would need his front door key.

  Getsu had surmised, from the old man’s book, that he would find the answer he was looking for on the mountain of Togakure. With just thirty minutes remaining, he ran like the wind up and into the hills. As he ran, his mind raced over the clues in the message once more. No one had ever seen the old statue of the Buddha hidden in the temple grounds so it must be a red herring. “The true face of the Buddha” was likely a play on words, so logically it could not be the hidden statue in the temple complex. That must be a false lead. He was sure he was on the right path. The regular rhythm of his running helped him to think clearly. He began to wonder if what he was seeking was not in fact an object at all.

  His heart was pounding as his legs carried him up through blue-green forests, along winding roads straddled with granite pillars, gurgling mountain streams and huge white stone torii bearing the Japanese kanji calligraphy for Toh Gakure. The road narrowed to a path. The air was clean and crisp and sunshine poured down from the azure sky.

  Lofty cedars now shaded the ascending pathway that wound between their sturdy trunks and coiling roots. Crows rested on the branches above his head, calling out warnings, their chilling cries echoing down the valley.

  Finally, Getsu reached the weathered wooden steps of an inner shrine and his instinct told him this was his destination. The sun’s rays picked out the high altitude of mist, giving the temple yard an almost dreamlike storybook feel. Some warrior monks were performing the sacred okagura on ritual drums and flutes in the central mountain cave, dancing and whirling in their green, orange and purple silk costumes, flashing their gleaming samurai swords as they reenacted the story of how Susa no Mikoto had lured the legendary Sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, from her cave many eons ago to relinquish the light of wisdom to mankind. The legendary Sun goddess of Japan had felt betrayed by the dastardly behavior of Susa, and in retribution had hidden herself under the earth in a cave sealed behind a massive concealed stone door. In a mixture of remorse and fear, the citizens of Earth realized they needed her back and implored the Sun goddess, to leave the darkness behind and return her light to the world.

  There was almost no time left. Getsu was going to have to trust the warrior monks to help him. Before him stood a concealing door behind which was the place where the Sun goddess had been hidden, Japan’s own version of the akhet, the Togakure, meaning “the hidden doorway.” Getsu reluctantly passed the key to a monk. To his surprise, the monk bowed waist deep and then placed the key back into his hand. The key must be merely a rite of passage, Getsu thought.

  The stone door was heaved aside and the monk beckoned him forward. Getsu moved forward and then froze, looking directly into the eyes of the knowledge of the ages.

  “There, standing before me,” he later told his master, “was a bearer of the eternal light and wisdom of the cosmos. There, on a table was a large round mirror, reflecting my own image back at me.”

  “Indeed,” replied his master, softly. “We should remember that the one you see in that mirror is yourself. Each of us has responsibility for the acquisition of knowledge and for bringing wisdom into the world.”

  Author’s Note

  The Solar Cycle

  Modern measurements confirm what ancient peoples worked out with astonishing accuracy, that (when viewed from the earth) the sun’s rotation takes a period of 26.2 days at its equator and 37.1 days at the poles.1 This differential rotation causes the sun’s magnetic field lines to become twisted together over time. This twisting action also gives rise to a solar cycle of magnetic activity as the sun’s magnetic field reverses itself every eleven years and which, most importantly, gives rise to the solar wind. The sun’s magnetic field, and hence the number of sunspots, has weakened considerably over recent times as depicted in this book. Some helio-scientists expect the cycle to peak in 2012 but then anticipate the solar wind to carry on declining, causing a mini-ice age to occur.

  Reference: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/41636

  Reference: http://en.rian.ru/science/20080122/97519953.html.

  1. Modern day astronomers often quote the sidereal periods, which are the actual rotation periods of 25.05 days at the equator and 34.4 days at the poles (see for instance Wikipedia or NASA websites), however when viewed from planet
Earth the rotation periods appear longer due to the orbital motion of the Earth. Note also that astrophysical literature does not always use the equatorial rotation period, but instead often uses the definition of aCarrington rotation. This chosen period roughly corresponds to rotation at a latitude of 26 degrees, which is consistent with the typical latitude of sunspots and corresponding periodic solar activity.

  The CLOUD Experiment (CERN, Geneva)

  In 1997, Danish particle physicist Henrik Svensmark and his colleague, Eigil Friis-Christensen, devised a theory that linked galactic cosmic rays from our Milky Way Galaxy with the earth’s global warming, mediated primarily by variations in the intensity of the solar wind. The solar wind shields the earth from the cosmic rays, so that when the solar wind is weak, the cosmic rays hit earth’s atmosphere causing aerosol molecules to become ionized, i.e. possess an electrical charge. These charged particles attract water vapor and cause clouds to form, cooling the earth. An equal and opposite effect is experienced when the solar wind is strong: less cosmic rays penetrate the atmosphere and less clouds form, causing the earth to warm.

  This theory was generally greeted with widespread skepticism across the climate-change community, which eventually hardened into fierce opposition. Nevertheless, a small group of determined particle physicists from across the world fought against the hostile tide of political and business opinion, and lobbied for funding for an embryonic experiment to be conducted at the esteemed laboratories of Organisation Européene pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) in Geneva. Against all odds, the experiment finally achieved funding.

  Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets, or the CLOUD experiment, seeks to investigate the microphysics between galactic cosmic rays and earth’s clouds under controlled conditions. The equipment became fully operational in November 2009. Thanks to powerful establishment forces rallying together to push the experiment into obscurity, few knew of its existence let alone its potential significance. But, to an unknown few, its results were awaited with bated breath.

  Then, in August 2011, in spite of groundbreaking results (see http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/nature10343.html), Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, made the unprecedented declaration that, “Scientists should refrain from drawing conclusions from the CLOUD experiment.” Due to immense pressure, Svensmark’s vision would appear to be sidelined to the dustbin of history. Not since the time of Galileo’s radical idea that the earth rotated around the sun, has a concept of such importance been repressed so powerfully. In this case, we can only speculate on the conclusions of the experiment. It was years before the world was ready to reexamine Galileo’s heretical theory. Will it take as long for us to reconsider Svensmark’s?

  APPENDIX

  Unlocking the Code

  During the story, Suzy and Tom had to unlock the codes hidden in the messages sent to Suzy. Both messages came originally from Ben Saunders to professor Logan. The first was sent to taunt his former professor, Logan, who sent it on to Suzy. The second was intercepted by Horus’s telecommunications and forwarded for Suzy to decipher. The analyses of the two messages are summarized below.

  WARNING: Do not proceed unless a) you have finished the book, or b) you want some help to unravel the mystery as you read. These are simply ideas, not answers.

  Message One

  “To find the Tutankhamun cycle, look for the hidden doorway, in the mask, in the tomb before Xul, a human number, the alpha and the omega”

  Analysis

  “… the Tutankhamun Cycle …” may refer to the sunspot cycle, caused by the 26- and 37-day differential rotation of the sun. The sun’s equator rotates every 26 days when viewed from earth, and its poles rotate every 37 days.

  “… look for the hidden doorway, in the mask …” refers to the Akhet, a “hidden doorway” and to Tutankhamun’s golden mask. The Akhet’s shape divides the golden mask into upper and lower sections, the upper with its 26 golden rays and the lower with 28 golden rays. The upper portion of the mask, relating to the sun’s equatorial rotation period of 26 days, represents the “living image of the Sun,” or Tutankhaten, the original birth name of the Boy King. The lower section, referring to the 28 days of a lunar month, represents the “living image of the moon,” or Tutankhamun, the name he was forced to adopt before his untimely death.

  “… in the tomb before Xul …” relates to the significance of the summer solstice, known by the Mayans as Xul. Suzy and Tom had to reach the Mayan tomb of Pacal by this date so that they could see the moonlight shine directly down the psychoduct and cross the neck of King Pacal, whose funerary necklace has 37 beads.

  “… a human number …” could refer to the Bible Revelations 13, where the phrase is first used and the number 666 is mentioned. This angle of 66.6 degrees was used to transform the mask of King Pacal into the image of the feathered snake, perhaps a hidden doorway in the mask of Pacal. The number 37 also exhibits strange properties: when a person is asked at random to think of a number between 1 and 50, the most common one that comes to mind is 37. Is this therefore a human number?

  “… the alpha and omega …” Ben may have been making an astronomical reference to the alpha and omega magnetic field effects caused by the sun’s differential rotation, 26 and 37 days (see http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/dynamo.shtml). There is also a double-meaning through the depiction of alpha and omega in the Bible. The message itself contains 26 words as an additional clue.

  Message Two

  “Where the feathered snake crosses, lies the numbers of the Gods, the Lord’s number, a human number”

  Analysis

  “Where the feathered snake crosses …“ Perhaps a reference to where the vulture and the cobra cross on the head of Tutankhamun’s death mask. Also to the Mayan symbol of the feathered snake. Found on the Death Mask of King Pacal.

  “… lies the numbers of the Gods …” Ben may have been referring to the numbers 26 and 37 as being the numbers of the Gods. Both numbers appear on the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb, together with the number 2012; in addition, there are 26 steps in Pacal’s tomb, 37 beads on Pacal’s funerary necklace; The Royal tomb at Amarna is number 26; there are 26 types of wine in Tutankhamun’s tomb; the ecclesiastical chair has two sets of 26 sun symbols and Tut’s scarab brooch encodes the number 37 as discovered by Tom’s father, Professor Logan. These and numerous other references encode the numbers 37 and 26.

  “… the Lord’s Number …” No deduction has yet been made regarding this clue.

  “… a human number” Presumably Ben was referring to the number 37 or the number 666 as in the previous message.