Vermont plates The Vermont license plate is green and has "Vermont" written at the top. Newer versions of the Vermont license plate also include the saying, "Green Mountain State".


"A hunter ...shot me!" Surprisingly enough, hunters have been known to shoot other humans, most often accidentally. Vermont had recorded several such fatal tragedies in the past few years.


motel Dumpster A motel is, "A roadside hotel catering primarily for motorists, typically having rooms arranged in low blocks with parking directly outside." A Dumpster is, "A very large container for the collection and conveyance of rubbish, a skip."
(The Oxford English Dictionary. DRAFT REVISION Mar. 2007 OED Online. Oxford University Press.)




FBI investigators, FBI stands for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is the, "principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States." The FBI usually works to investigate cases that involve the violation of federal laws. The FBI was developed in 1908 under the direction of attorney general Bonaparte, though it was then called the Bureau of Investigation. It was not until 1935 that the FBI gained its present-day name. The FBI recently revised its policies as a result of the terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 in an effort to contribute more resources to fighting terrorism. FBI headquarters are located in Washington D.C..
("Federal Bureau of Investigation." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010. Web. 17 June 2010 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-234429>.


Murdered Isabel Solomon? Andros hears on the radio this fateful and unexpected news.



Upper West Side apartment offered breathtaking views of Central Park The action moves to New York City.



long hours researching the Legend of the Masonic Pyramid

The Masonic Pyramid is real, Andros told himself. This is fiction in spite of the italics.


Greenwich Village buying drugs Greenwich Village has gained a reputation for being a nonconformist community. Since the early 1900s, Greenwich Village, more commonly known as just "The Village" has been renowned as a neighborhood of radical thinkers. "The center of New York's gay and student communities lies here, with a variety of funky shopping and nightlife including jazz, rock and dance clubs, restaurants, bars and cafes." Greenwich Village has often been compared to Paris in that life in the Village may involve the forbidden. Until the 1980s, Washington Square Park, located in the Village, was known for harboring a thriving drug scene.


local tattoo parlor Link to a review of local tattoo parlors in Greenwich Village.

New York Public Library...fifty-three books on tattooing. It is probably a local branch, for does the Main Library at 42nd Street permit borrowing?



De Praestigiis Daemonum, or "On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons", is a book that was written by Johannem Weier. De Praestgiis Daemonum is today recognized as one of the first works to question witch hunts and persecutions. Weier argued that witchcraft was probably the result of mental illness in many cases. In 1563, the book was originally published in Latin though Weier continued to revise the work over the course of six editions. Today first editions of De Praestigiis Daemonum are very valuable; one website offers a first edition of the book for $8,500.




Lemegeton The Lemegeton, sometimes known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, is a work composed of the five books of Goetia. These books include the Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel and Ars Notoria.



Ars Almadel The Ars Almadel, or The Art of the Almadel, is included in the Lemegeton (the Lesser Key of Solomon). The Ars Almadel describes the process of creating the almadel, "a wax tablet with protective symbols drawn on it." The work also details the specific procedures that are linked to ceremonies involving the almadel. Along with descriptions of the rituals, the Ars Almadel also discusses angels that are said to provide all answers.


Grimorium Verum The Grimorium Verum is a grimoire, a handbook or textbook used for the instruction of black magic. The book was first translated from Hebrew and first published in 1517. The purpose of the work is to call upon devils and to describe the four elements (earth, fire, air, and water). The Grimorium Verum also draws upon the Lemegeton in order to describe the hierarchy of spirits. "The work is divided into three portions. The first describes the characters and seals of the demons, with the forms of their evocation and dismissal; the second gives a description of the supernatural secrets that can be learned by the power of the demons; and the third is the key of the work and its proper application."



Ars Notoria The Ars Notoria, or The Notary Art of Solomon, was originally written in Latin though it was then translated into English by Robert Turner and published by him in 1607. The book describes prayers and special invocations used when practicing the Liberal and Mechanical Arts. The work mainly serves to discuss the process of controlling a person's memory or mind.



the writings of Aleister Crowley–a visionary mystic from the early 1900s–whom the church had deemed "the most evil man who ever lived." Which church?

sacred words, if properly spoken, functioned like keys that opened gateways to other worlds.

Crowley wrote. "Make yourself sacred." It is possible that Aleister Crowley's idea of making oneself sacred is influenced by the work of Hermes Trismegistus. In his book The Mind to Hermes, Hermes Trismegistus writes, "...unless you make yourself equal to God, you cannot understand God: for the like is not intelligible to save the like. Make yourself grow to a greatness beyond measure, by a bound free yourself from the body; raise yourself above all time, become Eternity; then you will understand God. Believe that nothing is impossible for you. Mount higher than the highest height; descend lower than the lowest depth. Draw into yourself all sensations of everything created, fire and water, dry and moist, imagining that you are everywhere, on the earth, in the sea, in the sky, that you are not yet born, in the maternal womb, adolescent, old, dead, beyond death. If you embrace in your thought all things at once, times, places, substances, qualities, quantities, you may understand God."

ancient rite of "sacred making" . . .early Hebrews . . .at the Temple

Mayans who beheaded humans atop the pyramids of Chichen Itza

Jesus Christ, who offered his body on the cross

sacrifice . . Sacra–sacred. Face–make.

Blood is all that separates the light from the dark.

a crow flew through Andros' open bathroom window . . a sign


"Camiach, Eomiahe, Emial, Macbal, Emoii, Zazaen ...by the most holy names of the angels in the Book of Assamaian, I conjure thee to that thou assist me in this operation by teh power of teh One True God."

"Almighty Adonai, Arathron, Ashai, Elohim, Elohi, Elion, Asher Eheieh, Shaddai ...be my aid, so that this blood may have power and efficacy in all, wherein I shall wish, in all that I shall demand."

Emanual, Massiach, Yod, He, Vaud...please find me worthy.

My body is but a vessel for my most potent treasure...my mind.

Milton's Paradise Lost was published by John Milton in 1667. Milton’s most famous work, Paradise Lost is an epic poem that considers the idea of Jesus’ heroism. In the poem Jesus is known as the Son. Through ten books Milton describes Jesus’ pursuits before the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The poem also delves into the conflict between Jesus and Satan and narrates some biblical events. Milton emphasizes the compassion and loving nature of Jesus throughout the poem. The idea of the Christian hero as self-sacrificing and patient was created by Milton’s depiction of Jesus in Paradise Lost. Milton intended to contrast the Classical heroism of ancient times with his portrayal of Christian heroism. Langdon is surprised that Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, also composed the poem in Galileo’s Diagramma.
("Milton, John." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10Oct.2009 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-11764>.)
E-Text of Paradise Lost-Version: http://books.google.com/books?id=9LU6AAAAMAAJ&dq=paradise+lost&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=sVUcS_2oI4vilAeK64jvCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Moloch walked the earth as a god . . .The angel's name, Andros later learned, when translated to the ancient tongue, became Mal'ach.

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envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant In 1791, Pierre L'Enfant designed the plan for the city of Washington. Even today, much of L'Enfant's design remains the same. Prior to the development of the city, the District of Colombia was mostly undeveloped land which gave L'Enfant freedom to enact his creative visions. "After surveying the site, L'Enfant developed a Baroque plan that features ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues, while respecting natural contours of the land. The result was a system of intersecting diagonal avenues superimposed over a grid system. The avenues radiated from the two most significant building sites that were to be occupied by houses for Congress and the President." L'Enfant also designated that the streets of Washington D.C. would be grand and lined with trees. Due to conflicts with the city commissioners, George Washington eventually removed Pierre L'Enfant from the designing committee.


Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. King Jr. first began his pastoral career in 1960 as co-pastor alongside his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He attended and graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and Boston University. King Jr. acted on the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1955 he also headed the first nonviolent demonstration for civil rights, a bus boycott that endured for 382 days and led to the desegregation of buses. After being elected the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. began to promote civil rights using tactics from Ghandi. Between 1957 and 1968, King Jr. was instrumental in the fight for African American's civil rights and traveled over six million miles to speak about injustice in the United States. He, "was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; [and] was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963." At just 35 years old, Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was the youngest man to ever receive the prize. He gifted his prize money to, "the furtherance of the civil rights movement." On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated from the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee.

"I Have a Dream" speech Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 at the civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The speech was given by King Jr. from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and lasted 16 minutes. The audience at the march consisted of 200,000 civil rights supporters.
Transcript of the "I Have a Dream" speech.

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forefathers' "new Rome" had been renamed Washington early in her history,

Tibers' waters still flowed into the Potomac Tibers' waters refers to Tiber Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. The tributary was originally known as Goose Creek but it was renamed Tiber Creek following the selection of land that would become Washington D.C.. In his initial plans for Washington D.C., Pierre L'Enfant had envisioned Tiber Creek as a canal to the Potomac River that could be used for commercial purposes.



senators still convened beneath a replica of St. Peter's Dome The cast-iron dome that tops the United States' Capitol building is actually a replica of the Michelangelo's dome that was designed for St. Peter's Basilica. The dome was implemented by Thomas Ustick Walter and rises 287 feet high.
("Capitol, United States." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010. Web. 7 June 2010 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9020154>.)



Vulcan and Minerva still watched over the Rotunda's long-extinguished flame In Brumidi's Apotheosis of Washington, which is painted within the dome of the Rotunda, Minerva and Vulcan are both illustrated. A flame once burned beneath the Rotunda but has long since been extinguished [See Chapter 20].

refuge...north of Washington's Tiber Creek


Freedom Plaza is located a few blocks from the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue. There are three main attractions within the plaza. At the eastern end of Freedom Plaza is a statue of Kazimierz Pułaski. Pulaski, a Polish soldier, gained recognition when he saved George Washington's life and became an army general. In the western end of the plaza is a large fountain. Within Freedom Plaza is also a large stone map depicting Pierre L'Enfant's design of Washington D.C. The plaza, "opened in 1980 as part of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation."



the Jewish star–the Seal of Solomon The legend that describes King Solomon's seal can be found in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. The Seal of Solomon is more commonly known today as the Jewish star, Star of David, or the hexagram. "King Solomon's Seal, whose base is on the ground and whose tip reaches heaven, symbolizes a harmony of opposites, whose significance is manifold as much as it is multi-cultural. It reflects the cosmic order, the skies, the movement of the stars in their spheres, and the perpetual flow between heaven and earth, between the elements of air and fire." As a result, the Jewish star is symbolic of rule by divine grace and intense wisdom.


Solomon's seal on the Great Seal of the United States Conspiracy theorists or coincidence theorists have frequently connected the letters on the edges of the motto "Annuit Coeptis" and "Novus Ordo Seculorum" to spell out the word MASON on the U.S. One dollar bill. Langdon and Brown seem fascinated by the correlation that has been been previously mentioned in the Langdon series.




M-A-S-O-N According to some conspiracy theories, Solomon's Seal on the Great Seal of the United States points to the letters M-A-S-O-N.



Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter There are several models in this UH-60 series of helicopters produced by Sikorsky aircraft. The helicopter is better known by the name Black Hawk.


"My God, you're right!...I didn't see it earlier!" What hadn't he seen?



Pennsylvania and Thirteenth Street Freedom Plaza extends from 14th to 13th Street along Pennsylvania Avenue.

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U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) In 1816, the constitution of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences in Washington D.C. suggested the construction of a botanical garden that would benefit the American people. The garden would serve to collect, grow, and distribute plants from the United States and other foreign countries. The garden was instituted in 1820 west of the Capitol Grounds, though the pursuit was abandoned in 1837. However in 1850, interest in the Botanic Garden was renewed following an 1842 expedition which had brought a large collection of living plants back to the United States. Since 1850, the garden has been in operation though its location was changed in 1933.



technically a rain forest, the Jungle The U.S. Botanic Garden to date maintains about 26,000 plants. "The Garden's noteworthy collections include economic plants, medicinal plants, orchids, cacti and succulents, bromeliads, cycads, and ferns." The Jungle is located in the Lord & Burnham greenhouse which houses the Botanic Garden's Conservatory. Within the Jungle are species of plants that would be found in jungle, rain forest climates and, "is the largest of the rooms, and includes a second-story catwalk so that the jungle canopy may be observed from both below and above."




"capable of initiating a series of events that will profoundly change the world as you know it." Sato is at odds with Bellamy. She would cooperate with this man, Bellamy would remain faithful to his vows of secrecy.

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