Sophie stared at Teabing a long moment and then turned to Langdon. "The Holy Grail is a person?"Langdon nodded. "A woman, in fact." From the blank look on Sophie’s face, Langdon could tellthey had already lost her. He recalled having a similar reaction the first time he heard thestatement. It was not until he understood the symbology behind the Grail that the feminineconnection became clear.
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Teabing apparently had a similar thought. "Robert, perhaps this is the moment for the symbologistto clarify?" He went to a nearby end table, found a piece of paper, and laid it in front of Langdon.
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Langdon pulled a pen from his pocket. "Sophie, are you familiar with the modern icons for maleand female?" He drew the common male symbol mail and female symbol female.
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"Of course," she said.
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"These," he said quietly, "are not the original symbols for male and female. Many peopleincorrectly assume the male symbol is derived from a shield and spear, while the female symbolrepresents a mirror reflecting beauty. In fact, the symbols originated as ancient astronomicalsymbols for the planet-god Mars and planet-goddess Venus. The original symbols are far simpler."Langdon drew another icon on the paper.
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/\"This symbol is the original icon for male," he told her. "A rudimentaryphallus.""Quite to the point," Sophie said.
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"As it were," Teabing added.
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Langdon went on. "This icon is formally known as the blade, and it represents aggression andmanhood. In fact, this exact phallus symbol is still used today on modern military uniforms todenote rank.""Indeed." Teabing grinned. "The more penises you have, the higher your rank. Boys will be boys."Langdon winced. "Moving on, the female symbol, as you might imagine, is the exact opposite." Hedrew another symbol on the page. "This is called the chalice."\/Sophie glanced up, looking surprised.
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Langdon could see she had made the connection. "The chalice," he said, "resembles a cup orvessel, and more important, it resembles the shape of a woman’s womb. This symbolcommunicates femininity, womanhood, and fertility." Langdon looked directly at her now.
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"Sophie, legend tells us the Holy Grail is a chalice—a cup. But the Grail’s description as a chaliceis actually an allegory to protect the true nature of the Holy Grail. That is to say, the legend usesthe chalice as a metaphor for something far more important.""A woman," Sophie said.
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"Exactly." Langdon smiled. "The Grail is literally the ancient symbol for womanhood, and theHoly Grail represents the sacred feminine and the goddess, which of course has now been lost,virtually eliminated by the Church. The power of the female and her ability to produce life wasonce very sacred, but it posed a threat to the rise of the predominantly male Church, and so thesacred feminine was demonized and called unclean. It was man, not God, who created the conceptof ’original sin,’ whereby Eve tasted of the apple and caused the downfall of the human race.
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Woman, once the sacred giver of life, was now the enemy.""I should add," Teabing chimed, "that this concept of woman as life-bringer was the foundation ofancient religion. Childbirth was mystical and powerful. Sadly, Christian philosophy decided toembezzle the female’s creative power by ignoring biological truth and making man the Creator.
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Genesis tells us that Eve was created from Adam’s rib. Woman became an offshoot of man. And asinful one at that. Genesis was the beginning of the end for the goddess.""The Grail," Langdon said, "is symbolic of the lost goddess. When Christianity came along, the oldpagan religions did not die easily. Legends of chivalric quests for the lost Grail were in fact storiesof forbidden quests to find the lost sacred feminine. Knights who claimed to be "searching for thechalice" were speaking in code as a way to protect themselves from a Church that had subjugatedwomen, banished the Goddess, burned nonbelievers, and forbidden the paganreverence for thesacred feminine."Sophie shook her head. "I’m sorry, when you said the Holy Grail was a person, I thought youmeant it was an actual person.""It is," Langdon said.
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"And not just any person," Teabing blurted, clambering excitedly to his feet. "A woman whocarried with her a secret so powerful that, if revealed, it threatened to devastate the very foundationof Christianity!"Sophie looked overwhelmed. "Is this woman well known in history?""Quite." Teabing collected his crutches and motioned down the hall. "And if we adjourn to thestudy, my friends, it would be my honor to show you Da Vinci’s painting of her."Two rooms away, in the kitchen, manservant Rémy Legaludec stood in silence before a television.
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The news station was broadcasting photos of a man and woman... the same two individuals towhom Rémy had just served tea.