#percival black
Mystery: Tall Paul / The Tall Shadow / Mr. Splitfoot
Updated: 8/16/16
SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12
1. A tall, dark shadow is seen in childhood photos of Robert Torres, and again in his wedding photos. (1x01) Robert also talks about strange occurrences in the family home, and of feeling followed. (1x02) Says that things stopped for a while during the time when Dr. Richard Strand was investigating the case. (1x02)
2. The same dark shadow mars all photos of Robert’s son, Sebastian Torres. (1x02)
3. Maria Torres, Sebastian’s mother began to be able to see the tall shadow figure, who she calls “the shadow man.” She describes it as a “tall person dressed in black. Freakishly tall, she said his head almost touched the ceiling.” Other paranormal researchers called it a “malevolent spirit.” Sebastian says that the man, whom he has named “Tall Paul” lives in his closet, which is marred with a frightening drawing. (1x02) This drawing later shows up in the cabin in which Sebastian is found after his abduction. (1x07)
4. At the University of Washington in 1993, a tall shadow appears to its leader, Dr. Roth, during a taped study done with the use of a Ouija board. The participants do not know that the board they are playing with is, in fact, a demon board. The underside of the board features a pentagram within two circles, as well as a number sequence. Michelle Braid, a participant in the survey, also saw the figure, which she describes as “this tall, dark thing.” She describes its smell as “almost like a musk, but rotten. Like a wet, rotting deer. It was overwhelming, and there was this… sound, as well. Kind of a dark, throbbing, static. It was horrible. I wish I’d never taken part in that.” She further explains, it was “dark, but not black. More negative? Or kind of an absence of light. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it was terrifying. It had two legs, but like an animal: tall, thick, maybe like a deer. And it had really, long black hair covering its face. (pause) And it was… smiling.” (1x08)
5. Clara Simone may also have drawn a tall shadow during her automatic writing at the Glushka séance. (1x10)
6. Professor Alice Kermode describes the cave paintings at Boulder Field in Bath, England, close to where
lived for a time. She says that her guess is that they were left by an Anglo-Saxon group, owing to their militaristic nature, though they might be too modern for that, possibly being as recent as the 16th century. She describes the characters being “placed in several rows and there is a tall figure at the head. Perhaps a general or commander.”
When Nic and Alex look at photos of the cave paintings, Alex notes she sees “what appeared to be hundreds of black shapes, barely more than stylized stick figures. They were arranged in rows.” Nic says the tall figure appears to be a “scary shadow leader.” It is approximately five times taller than all of the other figures, with its long arms raised above its head.
Further down the cave wall are photos of “black shapes in a circle around a tall central figure, whose arms were held wide like Jesus on the cross. And, again, the one in the center was much taller than the others.” When they zoom in on the tall figure, they see “its mouth was where the eyes should be, and its eyes were where the mouth should be.” It has an upside-down face. (1x11)
7. Cave paintings featuring a tall shadow and an upside-down face very similar to those in Boulder Field are also found in Urraca Mesa, New Mexico. The cave might have likewise been used for ritualistic sacrifice by the Anasazi people according to John Uvela. He says that most people think the petroglyphs there portray a war that the Anasazi fought against evil spirits. Of the circles surrounding the apparent shadow “army,” Uvela says that they depict a gateway, and that Anasazi beat back the evil spirits to the gateway and then built totems to keep the gateway locked, two of which are still standing. There is a prophecy that when the last two totems fall, a gateway will re-open and demons will be able to cross into our world. When Uvela was young, he personally witnessed a tall, shadowy creature fly from the mouth of the cave. Alex likens the figure to the one that Michelle Braid described, and specifically mentions its cloven foot, aka– a split foot. (1x12)
8. A brief glimpse of a dark shadow precedes the death of a crow in the home of Rebecca and Katie Yi. (2x01)
9. Cheryl Strand is able to see the “tall men” in the Black Tape titled “Cheryl.” She says they want to come in their house, and after her brother, Richard, opens the window, she says that they’re inside now. The camera pans towards a wall, and then back to Cheryl, who is staring at something unseen on the ceiling. She says “hello” to it. (2x05) As an adult, Cheryl describes them as “tall, thin giants.” Of the one inside the house, she says, “Yes. That one was tall. The top of its head would have touched the ceiling, but it was hunched over like something like… a twisted, crooked tree. It’s eyes were huge. Unblinking. Its arms were kind of shaking… as if it was getting ready to… it was excited. And there was a smell. A swampy… sick, musty sweat in the air. It smiled then. A crazed smile. I froze… and its fingers. They were long, incredibly long… it pointed at me.” She says that Richard was convinced that the tall men were after their family. (2x06)
10. From the tapes made about E. Hausdorff in 2x08: “Four patients are claiming nightly visitations by ghostly figures, and two of them claim that a tall, dark man came to them in their dreams and left illegible scribbles on their walls.”
11. A psychiatric patient, E. Hausdorff, screams about a “shadow army and the end of days.“ E. Hausdorff’s rooms at Riverview contain Three of the drawings of shadow men, similar to the ones from Urraca Mesa and the caves at Bath. After a “mass hysteria” sweeps the hospital, these drawings show up in several other of the patients’ rooms. (2x08)
12. “The patient is recovering in the infirmary. He has lost vision in one eye, possible permanent damage to the lens of the other. At times, he’s cognizant of the fact that he did this to himself. Other times, he insists on blaming someone he calls ‘Mr. Splitfoot.‘” - In reference to E. Hausdorff (2x08)
13. A shadow appears in the surveillance camera footage immediately preceding Edward Lewis’s death by hanging. Strand thinks it may be someone in the cell with him, but a pentagram within a double circle and numbers are also found at the scene. (2x09)
14. The TBT team discuss “Mr. Splitfoot” in reference toThe Fox Sisters, mediums from the mid-1800’s who later admitted to be frauds. They had repeatedly made reference to a “Mr. Splitfoot,” who they later identified as Charles B. Rosna, who had been murdered with a butcher knife. Strand then clarifies that “Mr. Splitfoot” is “one of many names for the Devil” on the East Coast. (2x09)
15. The team discusses the totems at Urraca Mesa after Nic discovers that there had originally been five. Alex asks, “maybe someone had to destroy the last two totems to complete the ritual?” and promptly finds from John Uvela that the final two totems have fallen.
Upon closer inspection of the Urraca Mesa petroglyphs, Alex decides that the tall figure surrounded by circular figures that she once thought were armies carrying weapons and saluting a shadow leader may, in fact be an orchestra with their instruments, following a conductor. (2x12)
16. Simon Reese leaves a voicemail for Alex in the season 2 finale:
“I’m sure by now you’ve realized the interconnectedness of all things. Or, at least the interconnectedness of your things. The children, the shadows, the doors, they’re all… they’re here for Him.
“Some call him the Adversary, some call him other things, but if you build it, he will come. And when he does, he brings chaos, and madness, and death.
“What you’re calling the Unsound? That wasn’t what you thought it was. You weren’t going to die within a year. That was only the first gate. There are five gates, Alex. You have to hear all five in a row in order to be infected.
"You see, Alex, it’s a curse… it’s a virus. The end is not coming with a bang, but within each of us. Those who hear the five movements of the Mysterium, in order, will be followed by a darkness, by evil. When they turn out the lights, their darkness will be a little darker than most. When they look into the shadows, they’ll see a little farther than most. And when the time is come, they will enter his kingdom, and the world will be lost. Goodbye, Alex.” (2x12)
Mystery: The Unsound and The Music of the Apocalypse
Updated: 8/16/16
SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12
1. The Unsound is first brought to the TBT team by Keith Dabic, former member of Hastur Rising, after the violent suicide of their lead singer, Jeff Wendt. [Ed note: Hastur is the name of a demon in the Cthulhu mythos, which is tied in-universe to the Cult of Tiamat.] Keith brought The Unsound to the band after an encounter with a zealous fan, who pointed him to a source on the deep web. Jeff became obsessed with the Unsound and worked it into several compositions before his suicide. He may have seeded the compositions to over six million people. (1x03)
2. The Unsound is neither natural nor artificial. The most common story involving The Unsound is that it summons and/or invites a demon into our world. The lore holds that anyone who hears the Unsound dies within a year of hearing it. (1x03)
3. Other rumors involving the Unsound is that it was created by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Freemasons, and/or Aleister Crowley. Strand says one possible origin is from a research station in Antarctica that picked up a strange audio pattern in 1962. Speculation included a “whale stranded under the ice, or the wind, or electromagnetic waves themselves, or more likely a combination of the three.” All of the researchers who heard this sound died within the year. (1x03)
4. There is an additional bit of information from the Gnostic Gospels: the Unsound may be a musical “backdoor” built by Satan. “Something sonic that would allow Satan and his minions back into the world without God knowing.” God is unable to hear The Unsound. (1x03) For other in-universe references to the Gnostic Gospels, see The Cult of Tiamat.
5. According to Dr. Michael Pullman, structural acoustitian, “the Unsound behaves very much like a low frequency wave. We’re not supposed to be able to hear these frequencies, yet here it is, emitting an audible sound.” (1x03)
6. Travis Collinwood, Strand’s employee, died within a year of listening to the Unsound. (1x03)
7. Keith Dabic calls from Russia to say that he found a way to neutralize the Unsound’s curse on the deep web, thanks to a composer named Percival Black. He says Black is working on a new piece, and instructs Alex to look into Alexander Scriabin. Images he sent, possibly from Black’s journal, feature a numbers sequence: 1.01364335043922. That is revealed to be a Pythagorean comma by Sandra Singh of Washington State University. The Pythagorean comma may be the key to witnessing a fragment of the universe’s design. (1x09)
8. Later in the episode, Keith Dabic emails the TBT team a sound file. Dr. Pullman later reveals that it is the Pythagorean comma, ascending. (1x09)
9.Alexander Scriabin Bio– [Ed note: though Scriabin is a real person, all that follows is information gleaned in-universe.] Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer from the early 20th century. He was known for composing disturbing music. He composed a black mass, and said his piano sonata was “against God.” Scriabin refused to play his own 6th sonata, which contained many augmented fourths, the “devil’s interval.” Scriabin became obsessed with composing a piece, which he titled “The Mysterium,” but he died before he could finish it. He wanted to build a temple in the Himalayan mountains where he could perform it. He believed it would cause the universe to implode, ushering in the apocalypse. After Sciabin’s death, another composer, Alexander Nemptin, attempted to finish the Mysterium. Nic thinks that the sound file Keith Dabic emailed may have been a portion of Nemptin’s mysterium. (1x09)
10. Percival Black Bio– Percival Black is an English composer. moved to Bath, England in the 1983’s, and lied about being a music student at the school when he did so. (1x11) He may have moved to Bath to be near Boulder Field, which contains a cave full of cave paintings (including an upside-down face) and may have been the site of ritual sacrifice. At some point after leaving England, Black Joined the Order of the Cenophus in at their Saransk Abbey in Mordovia, Russia. (1x11)
We later find that in 1985, the same year as Black joined the Order of the Cenophus, he paid a visit to the Sagamore Hotel in NY state under the assumed name, “John Smith.” He was not seen by anyone and ordered that he not be disturbed for the length of his stay. He paid an exorbitant fee to have his grand piano lifted in and out of his third floor room’s window by crane. During his stay, there were strange sounds emanating from an elevator shaft, like the “whining of a sick animal, or a low murmur of a dying man.” “Evil notes” coming from his room scared the cleaning staff, and one maid who peeked through his peephole was frightened when she saw him staring back at her through it. Though he was clearly alone and not at the piano, the music continued. A recording taken during this time is curiously similar to the Unsound. All in all, seven people from the hotel were hospitalized during the week, possibly due to exposure to a high level of infrasound. Once Black checked out, the sounds stopped, and all strange occurrences ceased. Three sources also claim that Black played private concerts at around this time. Alex posits that Black was possibly sent to the US as part of his Order of the Cenophus initiation, or possibly to check in with American chapters of the order, like the Brothers of the Mount. (2x10)
Percival Black does an interview with Alex in 1x09, and states that he may begin performing agin soon. He denies that he knows Keith Dabic and quickly disconnects the call as soon as Dabic and Scriabin’s names are brought up. In 1x10, Amalia tells us that Percival Black has taken a vow of silence. Alex posits that the Order of the Cenophus is trying to bring about the apocalypse by having Percival Black finish Scriabin’s Mysterium. (2x04) It is suggested by Nic that Percival Black may want to play a completed version of the Mysterium at a specific place and time, the “Axis Mundi.” This may refer to Mt. Ararat. (2x10)
Strand states that there is no way that a symphony could be played atop Mt. Ararat, which was also the mythic site upon which Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great flood. He says that the site furthermore has significance in pre-Christian, Armenian myth. He says that the 17,000 ft elevation would make it nearly impossible to carry instruments to the top without mountaineering gear. (2x11)
11. The unknown poacher (and likely Brother of the Mount) from 2x02 possessed a book, under 100 pages, that is later described as a grimoire by Brenda Miller. One of her contacts in Poland said that passages from the book are similar to the Song of Omphalos, which is in turn allegedly based on the Seikilos Epitaph, the earliest recorded fragment of song. The Polish friend furthermore suggests that the book could be a Satanic hymnal of sorts, and the Song of Omphalos specifically about ushering in the apocalypse and an age of demonic rule. (2x04)
12. During 2x04, Alex and Nic become aware of a countdown timer which has been posted to social media. It ticks down from April 23rd, 2016 at 3:15 PM – exactly one year since they first listened to the Unsound, a fact which would be known only to a select few. (2x04)
13. During 2x05, Keith Dabic emails the TBT team: “Dear Alex, Please see the attached file. I think I figured this thing out. I should be dead. I’ve passed the one year mark. If I am still alive, and I believe I am, it’s because of this. I’ll be back in touch soon. Trying to come home. Keith Dabic.” Attached was a sound file that Alex thinks is the anecdote for the Unsound.
14. Later, Dabic later sends a second attachment described as “loud” and “warbling.” Dr. Pullman says that it is not the Unsound, and is man-made. He describes it as “infrasound” (any sound under 20 hertz, too low for the human ear to pick up) which can cause people to feel sickened (nausea, headaches, pain in the eardrums) and paranoid if exposed to it. It can even cause hallucinations and a heavy sense of dread. He furthermore explains that the Unsound is unusual because it is infrasound that people can, in fact, hear. (2x05)
15. Soon after this exchange, there is yet another email: a photo of Dabic in a long hallway built of stone. It is geotagged from Glushka, the monastery of the Order of the Cenophus. (2x05)
16. Simon Reese describes Alex Reagan as “one note in the symphony of the universe.” (2x06)
17. Over the course of 2x06, Alex finds that Amalia has been emailed The Unsound from Alex’s email account.
18. Simon Reese tells Alex that the Brothers of the Mount were “trying to raise a chorus of voices. Childrens’ voices. My voice.” (2x09)
19. Amalia sends a photo to Alex that appears to show that Keith Dabic has committed suicide by jumping from the tower at Glushka. His family is unreachable for comment. Later, a sound file from a Bulgarian user called “Hastur” is emailed to the Strand Institute. Its purpose and specific origin are as-yet undiscovered. (2x09)
20. Alex Reagan posits that The Mysterium and The Unsound have been created specifically to let demons into our world. (1x10) [Ed note: duh, Alex.]
21. Nic and Alex receive yet another mysterious sound file from “Hastur.” It is titled “Code ED [redacted].” Nic posits it may be a code for the longitude/latitude of Chattahoochee National Forest, 2 hours northeast of Atlanta. (2x11)
22. Upon closer inspection of the Urraca Mesa petroglyphs, Alex decides that the tall figure surrounded by circular figures that she once thought were armies carrying weapons and saluting a leader may, in fact be an orchestra with their instruments, following a conductor. (2x12)
23. The team muses on the four sound files received from “Keith” and their connection to The Unsound. They note that Percival Black exclusively composes symphonies that are five movements long, not the standard four. Each sound file, combined with The Unsound, create the five movements of Black’s Mysterium. Nic also decides that the Axis Mundi is in fact the PNWS studios, which means that having broadcast the files there, the Mysterium may have been already played at the Axis Mundi. (2x12)
24. Simon Reese leaves a voicemail for Alex in the season 2 finale:
“I’m sure by now you’ve realized the interconnectedness of all things. Or, at least the interconnecteness of your things. The children, the shadows, the doors, they’re all… they’re here for Him.
“Some call him the Adversary, some call him other things, but if you build it, he will come. And when he does, he brings chaos, and madness, and death.
“What you’re calling theUnsound? That wasn’t what you thought it was. You weren’t going to die within a year. That was only the first gate. There are five gates, Alex. You have to hear all five in a row in order to be infected.
"You see, Alex, it’s a curse… it’s a virus. The end is not coming with a bang, but within each of us. Those who hear the five movements of the Mysterium, in order, will be followed by a darkness, by evil. When they turn out the lights, their darkness will be a little darker than most. When they look into the shadows, they’ll see a little farther than most. And when the time is come, they will enter his kingdom, and the world will be lost. Goodbye, Alex.” (2x12)
Mystery: The Order of the Cenophus / The Brothers of Mount
Updated: 8/16/16
SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12
1. The Order of the Cenophus were once a part of the Benedictine order. Per Dr. Rufus Carmichael in 1x11, the Order was founded by St. Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century. In the 13th century, a monk named Herman committed a sin so grave, he was to be executed by being walled up within the monastery of Podlažice in the Czech Republic. To escape death, he swore that he would reproduce the Bible within one year, which was impossible to do by hand. The night before the deadline, he is said to have sold his soul to Satan, and the work was completed. The finished book was the Codex Gigas, which has a large illustration of the Devil in it, and is as such called “The Devil’s Bible.” It became the Abbott’s favorite book, though it is not a complete Bible– it is a selection of books from the Latin Bible, along with several historical texts, and a listing of the monks at Podlažice. (1x11)
At some point, a list of rules of the order were torn from the Codex. Herman’s apprentice, Soběslav, may have done so to endanger the sale of the Codex. After the sale of the Codex, Soběslav set about reproducing the Codex from memory. The result was a new book, The Cenophus, of which there is no recorded copy. (1x11)
2. One of the main bases of the Order of the Cenophus is Glushka monastery in Bulgaria. They are sometimes called “pale robes,” owing to the strange nature of their light grey robes. In 1792, a monk named Ivan, rumored to have sold his soul to the devil, committed suicide by jumping from a window in Glushka. (1x10)
3. In 1983, an American psychic, Clara Simone, conducted a séance within the walls of Glushka. The spirit she contacted said it was neither the monk, Ivan, nor the children, Nicholas and Sasha. She came to believe it was a very dangerous demon. The monks declined to let her exorcise it, preferring it to be left to them. Clara believes it is because they wanted to know the name of the demon. Simone may also have drawn a tall shadow during her automatic writing. Simone later tells Alex not to speak the demon’s name, as demons love to hear their names, and speaking them may attract the demons. (1x10) [Ed note: This is further proven by the creepy bookseller doing her best to get Alex to speak demons’ names in 2x02. Therefore, if the Order of the Cenophus wanted the demon’s name, it was probably to encourage it into the world.]
4. Regarding the demon board from 1x08, Strand says, “Divaldi had some cult in Eastern Europe perform a dark ceremony over each board, some say it involved the blood of Christians.” It is possible, given the pentagram in two circles and numbers sequence found on the bottom of the board, that the cult could be a reference to the Order of the Cenophus.
5. Percival Black is a member of the Order of the Cenophus, and resides at their Saransk Abbey in Mordovia, Russia. (1x09) He has taken a vow of silence. (1x10)
6. After Amalia begins to look into the disappearance of Keith Dabic in Russia, she finds a note slid under her door that strongly discourages her from looking into the matter further. It is unclear if this is related to Dabic or another case she is working on. (1x10)
7. Edward Lewis, kidnapper of Sebastian Torres, is a member of the Brothers of the Mount. He took Sebastian to a creepy cabin in Portola Redwood State Park, and tells Strand that Sebastian and Simon Reese have gifts. He refers to the cabin as having a “devil’s door.” (1x12) Additionally, Strand says that the cabin in which Lewis kept Sebastian is covered in symbols that made him believe that someone was trying to summon a demon. (1x07)
8. In 1985, a chapter of the Brothers of the Mount were found living in a cave in Colville National Forest, on the Washington/Idaho border. After eviction, the monks that escaped capture were said to be seen heading towards the Pandore River Basin. This is the same river where Sarah Benning’s body was found, and the same year that the Festival of the Upside-Down face was begun in Charlesworth. (1x12)
9. An unknown poacher who had recently been living in a cave in Colville National Forest took his life after engaging in a stand-off with police. (2x02) He possessed a book, under 100 pages, that is later described as a grimoire by Brenda Miller. One of her contacts in Poland said that passages from the book are similar to the Song of Omphalos, which is in turn allegedly based on the Seikilos Epitaph, the earliest recorded fragment of song. The Polish friend furthermore suggests that the book could be a Satanic hymnal of sorts, and the Song of Omphalos may specifically be about ushering in the apocalypse and an age of demonic rule. (2x04) The hunter who initially reported the poacher videoed what looked to be a two-legged deer nearby. (2x02)
10. Geotagging of a photo confirms that Keith Dabic was present at Glushka. (2x05) It is later revealed that it might not have been “exactly” Keith (2x11, see below).
11. Simon Reese says that the blood on the walls initially thought to be Maddie Franks’ belonged to the Order of the Cenophus, after explaining that Maddie was one of those who “prepared the children.” (2x06)
12. As they discuss the spread of hysteria in the E. Hausdorff case in 2x08, Alex and Nic have the following conversation:
Alex: What if… what if something’s spreading? Like… a virus. And it’s been happening for decades, maybe more than that… What if Simon and Hausdorff are just the tip of the iceberg? Like, what if there’s more of them?
Nic: What if it’s not spreading like a virus, but more like a meme? What if there are people going around spreading this strange apocalyptic gospel? Maybe the same group that’s been teaching scary songs to children… Whether you wanna call them the Order of the Cenophus or the Brothers of the Mount, or whatever, couldn’t some group be spreading this message to… a captive audience?
13. Edward Lewis is found hanging dead in his cell in Los Gatos, CA. In one frame, he is sitting, reading. Then the surveillance camera flickers and goes out. When it comes back, Lewis is hanging in his cell. Only 12 frames are missing from the camera: roughly ½ a second. Strand notices a shadow in the cell with him. Present at the scene of his death: a pentagram in a double circle, and numbers. (2x09)
14. At roughly the same time as Lewis’s death, 8 members of what is assumed to be the Brothers of the Mount apparently commit suicide in West Waddell Creek State Wilderness, CA. They had been investigated for building illegal fortifications in an area meant for a one-week stay. The deaths appear ritualistic– they are arranged in a circle, and reports say that they died from wine laced with poison. Present at the scene of the death: a pentagram within a double circle, and numbers. (2x09)
15. Simon Reese does not take direct responsibility for the deaths of Lewis and the other Brothers (Carl, John, Peter, George, Douglas, Shawn, Frederick, and Martin). He says they “had it coming.” He names the Brothers who died, and said, “they killed themselves when they started down the path. They were trying to raise a chorus of voices. Childrens’ voices. My voice.” When Alex asks him if it was about getting revenge, he says, “it’s not revenge I’m seeking. It’s balance.” (2x09) [Ed note: It is also interesting to note that in Lewis’s death, the surveillance camera going out is very similar to what happened with Trent in 2x06.]
16. Amalia sends a photo to Alex that appears to show that Keith Dabic has committed suicide by jumping from the tower at Glushka. His family is unreachable for comment. Later, a sound file from a Bulgarian user called “Hastur” is emailed to the Strand Institute. Its purpose and specific origin are as-yet undiscovered. (2x09)
17. There is much speculation about the Brothers in 2x10. Alex wonders if Percival Black was sent to the US to check in with or be initiated by an American chapter of the Order of the Cenophus and/or the Brothers of the Mount. (2x10)
18. Howard Strand’s personal correspondence may make reference to Mt. Ararat, the highest point in Turkey, and one possible location of the Axis Mundi. (2x10) It is possible that the Brothers of the Mount are so named after Ararat, or possibly the Himalayan temple that Alexander Scriabin wanted to play his world-ending concert atop. (1x09)
19. Strand states that there is no way that a symphony could be played atop Mt. Ararat, which was also the mythic site upon which Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great flood. He says that the site furthermore has significance in pre-Christian, Armenian myth. He says that the 17,000 ft elevation would make it nearly impossible to carry instruments to the top without mountaineering gear. (2x11)
20. Nic and Alex receive yet another mysterious sound file from “Hastur.” It is titled “Code ED [redacted].” Nic posits it may be a code for the longitude/latitude of Chattahoochee National Forest, 2 hours northeast of Atlanta. Nic wonders if this might be the location of another chapter of monks in hiding. (2x11)
21. Amalia contacts PNWS and says that the body found at Glushka in 2x09 was not “exactly” Keith Dabic, and is believed to be that of a homeless man, a former monk. DNA tests are pending. In doing more investigation on the identity of the body, Nic and Alex match up a picture of Keith taken with Hastur Rising against the photo they received of “Keith” in 2x05. They discover that his eyes have changed color, and there is a seam by his hairline in the later photo. They surmise that someone has sewed Keith’s face to his own. (2x11) [Ed note: it thereby stands to reason that every contact from Keith post-2x05 could have been from faux!Keith.]
22. Coralee Strand believes that Thomas Warren, through Daiva Corporation, has been working with the Order of the Cenophus. They have taken an interest in Richard Strand, believing that he possesses a “genetic key” that will help them achieve their ends. (2x12)
Numbers, Math, and the Golden Ratio
Updated: 8/16/16
SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12
1. “Okay, so there are some numbers and symbols drawn on one of the walls. It looks like black crayon or chalk. But near the middle of everything, there’s something else. It looks like a pentagram in a double circle.” - Alex on Simon’s room (1x06)
2. “Trent handed me a book he had been reading at the time for an online course. It was DH Lawrence’s The Man Who Died. Someone had scribbled all over the pages. There were some dragons, knights, even a monster truck. But then, he turned the page and revealed a very different style of drawings. He flipped to the next page, and then the next. Every part of every page that wasn’t text was covered with arcane symbols and numbers. There were thousands of them. The pages looked almost like art. There was one symbol that appeared more than any other, the pentagram with the two circles. The same symbol found in Simon Reese’s cell. But in Trent’s book there were a bunch of numbers around it. They looked like equations, like a really serious math problem. But they were all over the place, not in neat rows like I was taught in school.”- Alex describing a book Trent hands her, which he says that he didn’t draw. More of the same were found on Trent’s wall after he was injured in the same episode. (1x06)
3. Simon: “Everything in this universe is measured. It’s all plus and minus, positive and negative. He knows where everything is down to the very last atom. But… I can hide things from him. From his sight, I practiced it. It was hard at first. There are mechanisms, you know. And even in randomness, even in chaos…” Alex: “Who are you talking about? Who is ‘he?’ God, is it God?” Simon: (snickers) “Not God.” (1x06)
4. “Those aren’t just numbers, doctor.” - Simon, to Strand, re: the numbers in his room. (1x06)
5. “It’s not really my field of study. But I did recognize some of those equations. The symbols are adapted from ancient Sumerian, but the equations are from the middle ages. Dark alchemy, a form of what you might call devil worship.” – Strand (1x06)
6. Numbers and equations are found all over the cabin where Sebastian Torres was recovered. Strand recognizes some as the golden ratio. “It’s a geometric ratio that’s been obsessed over by the greatest mathematical minds for thousands of years. Pythagoras.Kepler. And the rest. There are some who actually suggested that the golden ratio has occult properties. There was a widespread belief that God has built the universe according to mathematical principles- principles that he created. Everything works in a logic consistent with that, in perfect order. But according to certain facets of the Church, Satan’s one goal has been to usurp that mathematical order. To bring chaos to that order. And one of the ways he’s able to do that is by using or twisting the very mathematical principles God created. This equation, apparently, is folding the golden ratio over and over again, onto itself… by doing this within the context of the other equations below it, someone believes they’ll be able to create a… devil’s door.” (1x07)
7. There are numbers and arcane symbols all over the bottom of the demon board used in the Study at the University of Washington. (1x08)
8. Images Keith Dabic sent of Percival Black’s journals include repetitions of 1.01364335043922. Dr. Sandy Singh says this is a Pythagorean Comma. “It used to be that math could explain everything, but then things started to get smaller. We went subatomic, we started measuring things on the quantum scale, and suddenly our math wasn’t so elegant anymore. There were spaces in our equations, gaps, so now there are a large number of mathematicians who view the universe non-Platonically. They believe that math is a human construct: the language we use to describe the universe. But the Pythagorean comma fills in one of these blanks almost perfectly. So, maybe it’s time to rethink things again. The universe may have a code after all. Maybe it’s just a matter of using different kinds of equations to figure it out.” Alex asks, if the Pythagorean comma is a “missing piece in figuring out the universe.” Singh responds, “That’s definitely overstating it. If we’re lucky, it might just open up a small crack, just enough to glimpse a part of its design.” (1x09)
9. Later in the episode, Keith Dabic emails the TBT team a sound file. Dr. Pullman later reveals that it is the Pythagorean comma, ascending. (1x09)
10. Numbers, pentagrams, and sigils all appeared under Katie Yi’s bed. (2x01)
11. Regarding the myth of Tiamat, Strand says, “the number of arms, heads, animal parts and legs, are all significant. This mythology is really packed with… stuff.” (2x03)
12. Coralee leaves numbers for Strand on the back of a creepy painting in the room where they spent their honeymoon. It is a book cipher that Nic later decodes. (2x07)
13. There are numbers, circles, pentagrams, and upside-down faces in the room where “John” is exorcised. (2x07)
14. The walls of E. Hausdorff’s room are covered in numbers. Steve the Dungeon Master TL;DRs about them. “Uh, these are all expressions of the golden ratio, the equations here. Also known as the golden mean, or divine proportion. That is the golden ratio, or phi. It has very simple uses like computing the greatest common divisor of two integers. Real basic Euclidean algorithms and stuff.” He goes on to say, “the world, the universe, is ruled by mathematical principles. Those principles also point to other dimensions. And certain geometric patterns occur throughout nature in beautiful mathematical simplicity. This is one of those patterns. And don’t be fooled into thinking this is all obsolete, just ‘cause it’s ancient. We’re still using this kind of thinking to move us forward… I mean quantum mechanics. They’re both focused on the fringes with gateways, paths to other dimensions. We’ve been looking for these pathways for thousands of years.” He also mentions how math is integral to isosceles triangles, which form pentacles… and are useful for invoking demons. (2x08)
15. Numbers and pentagrams within double circles are found at the scenes of the deaths of both Edward Lewis (in a jail cell in Los Gatos, CA), and the Brothers of the Mount (dead in a seeming suicide at West Waddell Creek State Wilderness). (2x09)
16. In 2x11, They discuss a section of the Gospel of Thomas, one of the Gnostic Gospels. In this Gospel, Greek philosophy, specifically that of Plato, is discussed. There are also references to the Gospel of Truth, a parable involving math. Strand says, it “describes Jesus being sent down to remove ignorance. It claims that Jesus was a teacher, and describes how it is knowledge, rather than faith, that grants salvation, which constitutes eternal rest, describing ignorance as a nightmare.” For more information, see The Cult of Tiamat.
17. The motif of five becomes more and more prominent towards the end of season 2. There have been mentions of the circle of fifths, the pentagram (a five pointed star), the Five Seals of the Gnostic Gospels, and the five totems of Urraca Mesa.
[Ed note: so, it appears that the entire mechanism to open portals to a demon realm is… math. Whether expressed in equations, music, or sacred geometry, math is the basis here, to pervert that perfect mathematical sense of the universe that God intended. Suddenly, I am not so upset I scored so much higher on my verbal SAT.]
