The Light at the End of the Tunnel/Where there’s Smokie, there’s fire (and brimstone)
Couldn’t come up with one name for the theory, so put two… sorry about that…
Per usual, this is just a loose compilation of religious/philosophical threads that have been woven together to try to put some sense to the mystery that is Lost…..
Points of interest in this theory:
– Light in the cave
– Water and Fire (and brimstone)
– Smoke and Ashes
Light:
Does the Light = Divine Light?
In theology, light or divine light is a term used to refer to an aspect of divine presence, specifically an unknown and mysterious ability of God, angels, or human beings to express themselves communicatively through spiritual means, rather than through physical capacities.
Divine presence, presence of God, or simply presence is a concept in religion, spirituality, and theology that deals with the omnipotent ability of a god and/or gods to be “present” in human beings.
Remember mother’s statements:
– The light in the cave was described by “mother” as: “life, death, and rebirth” and “the source”.
– She says that the reason why they (her and the brothers) are on the island is to protect the light. She tells them that if the light goes out on the Island it goes out everywhere. When she is gone, she says that one of them will have to protect it
From the New Testament, namely John 1:9: “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Indicates that every person is born with the Light within him or her.
So — each of us has the presence of God within us, the ‘source’ of Life.
And, evidently, it also exists independently, in this ‘realm’ that is the Island.
Another statement from Mother:
– “everyone has a little of the light in them but they always want more”
Want more what? Of the “source”, of the “divine light”. To become closer to Immortality. To become something beyond the limitations of what humanity is now. To defeat the Valenzetti equation. To get back what was Lost (Immortality) when Adam and Eve bit the apple (before Adam and Eve bit the apple, they were immortal beings).
(btw I believe the island is the lost Garden of Eden per Milton’s Paradise Lost. I also wonder if “Mother” is Eve — the real Eve. And the Light — well, it makes sense to me that it would exist in the place where Man and Woman first existed).
Water and Fire (and brimstone) — another duality in Lost
Water: life, rebirth (Nemesis/Smoke Monster does not like it)
Fire: death (Smoke Monster seems connected to fire).
In the Bible, fire seems (and can have) an ‘evil’ connotation:
Fire and brimstone (or, alternately, brimstone and fire, translated from the Hebrew) are signs of God’s wrath in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. In the Bible, they often appear in reference to the fate of the unfaithful.
Fire and brimstone frequently appear as agents of divine wrath throughout the Book of Revelation culminating in chapters 19—21, wherein the devil and the ungodly are cast into a lake of fire and brimstone as an eternal punishment:
Whereas water can have a ‘good’ or ‘salvation’ connotation:
Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.”[16]
Accordingly, a person who knowingly, willfully and unrepentantly rejects baptism has no hope of salvation.
This teaching is based on Jesus’ words in the Gospel according to John: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”[Jn 3:5]
Repeat: Unless one if born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
Interesting. The spirit is the light. But water is also needed — the water of the religion, the ‘holy water’.
Smoke and Ashes
The Smoke Monster is, well, Smoke. Is it a coincidence that fire and water play a fundamental role in Lost, and the Smoke Monster is, well, Smoke?
I think it is connected.
Divine Light may be “Good” at its purest, but when exposed to the flaws of humanity, all Hell breaks loose (literally).
Recall the Fall of Man: after the apple was bitten, immortal Adam and Eve became human and were thrust from the Garden — so they could not despoil the Divine Light?
So — when a flawed human (Jacob’s brother, who has ‘evil’ and ‘good’ within him), touches the source — a reaction. A reaction of fire and water and spirit.
Fire + water + The Source = SMOKE. A tormented, “smoke” soul — Evil Incarnate.
Finally, as a quick add-on — I believe the ashes are also linked to this. The smoke monster cannot pass the ashes. What are they?
I would like to liken them to ashes in the religious sense — ashes that are perhaps blessed or treated with holy water, much like ashes used for Ash Wednesday:
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are typically gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are burned. In the liturgical practice of some churches, the ashes are mixed with the Oil of the Catechumens[1] (one of the sacred oils used to anoint those about to be baptized), though some churches use ordinary oil….
The ash, baptized, creates a barrier or sorts….
So — some thoughts to ponder….. all of this, who knows if any of it is right, AND it doesn’t account for the science aspect of everything (such as — the Source has magnetic properties, properties that have opened a Jacob’s Ladder to the spirit world, properties that have allowed the creation of an ALT or, perhaps, the Island itself it the ALT or consciousness…..).
Will be interesting to see what is answered. And what is not!
Thanks for reading.
You are slowly becoming my favorite theorist here…very nice job…
I think the ‘ash’ may ultimately come from the energy source of the island…somehow…
Great theory CPB…
Ya I like your stuff too ClairesPB.. You and Kimberly write on similar topics/ideas.. Kimberly wrote great theory couple weeks back “Water, Ash, Life, Death”.. I’m hoping Kimberly might chime in and comment on your post..Kimberly?!!
Ok now that I’m off work, I can put some effort into commenting 🙂
Again, nice post ClairesPB
Does tunnel light=divine light? If what mother was saying about it being source of life, death, rebirth; life and rebirth portion is by definition divine. You bring up an interesting passage, John 1, one of my favorite; that kind of divine light I believe is desired (by God) to be understood, lived in, embraced, shared etc.. in other words, God’s purpose was for us to live in that light fully, to come out of darkness(shame, sin, selfishness) and live in that light (truth and life). That kind of light will never corrupt no matter how much we have of it..it is opposite of corruption because it exposes corruption.
So in that way, this “tunnel light” is different than Christin-divine light. The tunnel light is very similar to the goodness of the JohnI divine light, but also a divine power that is extremely powerful, yet corruptible if in wrong hands.. Perhaps more like the fruit of good+evil God didnt want Adam and Eve not too touch… Or maybe even Tree of Life in the Garden, which was I think the reason why mankind was kicked out of garden..
So you’re right on when you asked question:
“Recall the Fall of Man: after the apple was bitten, immortal Adam and Eve became human and were thrust from the Garden — so they could not despoil the Divine Light?”
God did not want mankind to eat of Tree of Life in their fallen state.. So I would say Tree of Life is Christian Theologically identical to Lost Theological Tunnel light!
Oh man, I’m getting kind of long winded here on a commnent, gonna stop now.. Please more comment anybody?! Kimberly? ClairesPB?
“From the New Testament, namely John 1:9: “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Indicates that every person is born with the Light within him or her.
So — each of us has the presence of God within us, the ‘source’ of Life.
And, evidently, it also exists independently, in this ‘realm’ that is the Island”
All i want to write on this post at the moment is.. If the light in the cave has gone out, and people are born with the light within them, could this be the reason that women can not reach full term on the island? They needed the light to be able to reproduce so that the children would be born?
This probably sounds gibberish and clutching at straws…
@helentink
That’s a great point!
I rewatched episode again last night, and saw the tunnel light totally go out after Smokey exited, and not come back on.. Also, when Ben turned wheel, there was no light eminating before he started turning it..
I’m not saying it’s been off ever since we saw Smokey exit; perhaps turned on back again. Obviously the wheel was built after the Smokey exit, so the first turn of it might have turned it back on…
But then it must have gone back out again before Ben turned wheel..
Some great points here…
@ AES – thanks, that means a lot coming from you… as far as the ash goes, I agree the ash may come from the source of the energy on the island.
I took bobt’s advice and read Kimberly’s post – it was great. One thing that really stood out was a comment (by bobt I believe) stating that the ash is pure, that the impurities have been burned away, and in that sense it may act as a barrier to the smoke…. one addition to that line of thought is – if the ash is pure, where did the impurities go?…. the Smoke!
So – it fits into the theory that the ash may come from the energy, just like the smoke (Smoke Monster) did – it is what remains…
@ bobt – thanks for sending me to Kimberly’s theory – great thread.
And your comment was very well put, brilliant comparison of the light to the Tree of Life, and the possibility of corruption just like with the apple… and therefore a similar corruption with Jacob’s brother entering the cave.
@helentink – great thought. i don’t know if the light is gone or not at that point – later on we see the flash that occurs when Desmond turns the key, and when the h-bomb goes off, and also when Ben turns the wheel… which I believe is the same light. But is there a span of time where the light is ‘hindered’? Where the spark of life, at least on the island, is also hindered? It’s something I want to think about more, because I feel you are on to something with that connection….
Thankyou, i am very surprised with myself for thinking of it!! I do like what you are saying about the garden of Eden, it makes a lot of sense that mother could have been the original Eve.
As for the ashes, well we know for certain that they are not MIB’s ashes, as his body is still in the cave, and we know that they are not Jacob’s ashes. I’m willing to believe that they are possibly blessed or treated ashes, although whether they were from the volcano ( that’s a fire element right there!) and then treated with water i’m not sure.
Maybe that’s Desmond’s purpose, to turn the light back on? (just a thought, I’m not sure it is actually out yet).
Great Post. This episode was very religious and I think designed to look very religious. Which makes me think this next epidsode will give us a heavy dose of science (maybe some off-island alt farady action?)
The writers definitely don’t want the show to be all Science, they want religion and Faith involved as well and will probably leave us guessing as to which is the dominant form.
Remember, it wasn’t the ash keeping smokie out of the temple, it was Dogen! so maybe he was given the ability to bless the ashes to make them work, but when his light went out the ashes lost their power?
Is that why the wheel was frozen? the light/heat were out?
@JacobsDoubleWide
Great thoughts man..Here’s mine..
-concerning Desmond; that’s my guess too, that he’s the one to turn light back on..but might be a little more sophisticated than that. The frozen donkey wheel is able to turn the light back on too, but by manipulating the water+light to it’s own advantage; meaning to move island and/or transport people off the island. So maybe Des is supposed to turn the light back on permanently, and to dismantle the system that manipulates it i.e. frozen donkey wheel.
-Concerning Dogen and ash. Right on.. The ash only holds power because of what it represents; if what it represents no longer is valid (Dogen’s death somehow invalidated the meaning of the ash), it is powerless. In Christianity, sacraments such as baptism, communion(breaking of wine and bread) are powerful because what they represent..
-Concerning the donkey wheel being frozen. Right on! Never thought through that.. At first, I was assuming the cold temperature was artificially placed there to keep the energy from being released or slow reaction. I gathered that because, remember during that episode, Michael was using liquid nitrogen to freeze battery that would detonate bomb on the freighter? I figured must be the same. But I think what your saying makes sense too..
thanks bob, i agree with all that. with frozen wheel I got the idea from you guys saying the light is out. and then I remember it not being cold when MIB/Jose was in the well and the light shone through the wall. when we see the wheel early on there is no light and it is freezing, the light is out.
The Alt/real life (or new real life) will be the result of the light coming back on because the light now being protected under water. and i think Dez will be responsible for sinking the Island.
late comment here – JDW and bobt – I think you’re both really on to something regarding the frozen donkey wheel (I never even thought to use the temperature difference as a clue!) and the connection to the light, as well as the meaning of the ash and its properties…. well thought out.
Regarding Desmond and the light – he seems to be the bridge between the two realities… is his job to transfer the light from one to the other….?
i need to think about this more….