By Darren Robinson of Phantom Planet/Miniature Tigers
I think Lost is the best show ever created. And of course I have a few theories and thoughts on where the writers found inspiration…The first thing that comes to my mind about the show is the electromagnetic energy force. This is very similar to Edgar Cayce‘s (a famous American psychic born March 18, 1877) prediction about Atlantean technology. His readings mentioned the existence of Atlantis, a legendary “lost” continent with an advanced technology whose refugees peopled ancient Egypt. Sound familiar? He also spoke of “The Great Crystal,” which was apparently large crystal housed in a dome that conducted electromagnetic energy for all sorts of things, including travel (time travel perhaps?), weather control, and dematerialization of matter. It has been linked to the Bermuda Triangle as a possible reason for planes and ships going missing without any evidence of crash debris. Again, sound familiar?
Aside from my theory that the island of Lost is Atlantis itself, I think it could also the Gates of Hades. Here’s why I think so (please note many of following ideas, though I have thought them myself, are taken from lostpedia.com):
- Hades was the god of the underworld. The Egyptian symbols on the 108-minute timer (when the numbers are not entered), translate to “Underworld” (hell) according to the writers of Lost.
- Cerberus has been confirmed as the name of the Black Smoke Monster. Cerberus was a mythological three-headed black dog that guarded the gates of Hades.
- An episode was called “This Place is Death.” Pretty self-explanatory.
- Huge fields on the island could be what was known as the “Elysian Fields” on Hades, where the souls of the dead finally rest. Maybe that explains the whispers that are heard occasionally…
- Tartarus was a deep pit in the underworld, similar to the pit that the Cerberus dragged a member of Rousseau’s team into in the episode “This Place is Death,” which was under the temple.
- Infertility would make sense if they were on Hades. How could new life be possible for those bound to the underworld?
- Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology. Hades was often portrayed as passive rather than evil; his role was often maintaining relative balance.
- Hades ruled the dead. Anyone that tried to leave the underworld enraged him, and Cerberus would makes sure no one escaped without Hades’ consent.
That’s the gist of it. Since I’ve always been a huge lover of ancient Egyptian culture, I felt inspired to recreate my own version of Anubis just a few days ago. (Anubis was the jackal-headed God associated with mummification and the afterlife, and he was shown on Lost in an old panel on the show apparently summoning Cerberus–the Smoke Monster.)
I sketched this in pencil, burned the outlines and hieroglyphics into the wood with my magnifying glass and the sun’s rays, and then painted it and varnished it. It’s the centerpiece for my new apartment…
