Et in Arcadia Ego

[Lore Master]

Greetings,

We have received some inquires asking if there is a connection between Et in Arkay Ego and the enigmatic phrase, "Et in Arcadia Ego." I am really excited that some of the players have made the connection. Yes, those of us involved in the mod have been inspired by the lore of Arcadia. Personally, I have researched the topic for over 20 years, actually went on a few quests and worked with a couple published authors in the process. So lets get the discussion going. Has anyone else looked into this mystery?

Regards,
Bill E.
Et in Arkay Ego Mod Team

[omiko]

i first came upon the phrase when i read the somewhat interesting, somewhat wacky book, holy blood, holy grail and the whole priory of sion, templar, merovingian, crusade, mary magdalene connection. this was back in the early 70's to early 80's [?] when robert anton wilson and ismael reed and thor heyerdahl and some of the other alternative history buffs were writing novels, non fiction and other stuff.

it was at that time i learned some off-the-wall-facts --- that checking had been invented by the templars, that they were primarly destroyed because royalty envied their wealth and influence, and so on.

one of the more interesting speculative interpretations i read was that mary magdalene supposedly became involved with the arian controversy. the arians were christians that believed that a person could communicate with god without an intermediary such as a priest. naturally holy mother church utterly destroyed them. even today the notion is so repressed that if a person says, "you know, i was talking with god last night and he told me..." the usual response is that such a person is a nut.

i learned, albeit from the writings of art critics that the most accepted interpretation was "i am also in arcadia" as spoken by death, although there are variations that abound.

but i have never seen an interpretation that is a transliteration, that is, "and in arcadia, i ...", which to me implies some freedom of expression and a push, a challenge, is not that the purpose of art, to raise more questions than it answers?

and so, a person becomes free to interpret the phrase as they will...

"and in arcadia, i ..."

had a meal

went hungry

found my purpose

became enlightened

did not tarry

stayed for ever.

[Lore Master]

Omiko,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the phrase, "et in Arcadia ego." I too have been researching the grail mystery since the early 1990's. Holy Blood Holy Grail is a very interesting and thought provoking read. It can lead one down many paths of research and comtemplation. One of the members of the mod team has visited Rennes le Chateau. Themes from that book (genre) inspired some of the lore that has been incorporated into the Mod.

Have you read Michael Baigent's latest book called The Jesus Papers?  Interesting news regarding The Knights Templar being the caretakers of The Shroud of Turin. I am currently reading a book by Marcus Borg and John D. Crossan on The Holy Week and also "The Passover Plot" by H. Schonfield from the 1960's. He was a biblical scholar who was Jewish and considered himself a Nazarene.

Regards,
Bill E.
EIA Mod Team

[omiko]

Ah, Schonfield, he received much criticism in his time, partly, i think, due to the fact that he was of the Hebrew faith. Yet, he wrote nothing that was offensive, and did not question the divinity of jesus. in fact, schonfield made it clear that his proposition was that whether or not jesus believed himself to be divine, jesus believed himself to be needed at that time, hence the idea that he made preparations to make himself appear divine. this is an important distinction.

i have not read the jesus papers, alas, i have not read much lately, however, i do seem to recall reading a news article in the late 70's regarding the shroud being produced with photographic chemicals [?] and the little furor that the article created because mainstream scientists agreed with the findings.

i remember being somewhat taken aback, however, that someone would bother to create a hoax about so obscure an item. to what end?

indeed, the only reason the possibilities encountered in alternative history studies are interesting, is because the side with the biggest sword usually writes mainstream history. i marvel at the thought of how much history has actually been lost.

what intrigues me the most is the idea of history itself, and how is comprised of what are basically, stories told by people, stories that may be true or not.

there is an old navajo saying, "that story may not be true, but it is real."

my current interest is the "paradise lost" idea, the kind of story that has a version in almost all cultures: humanity lived in a paradise, but then "fell" and was cast out of paradise.

the one "explanation" that i am currently studying involves the whole tigris, euphrates river delta as the possible birthplace of agriculture.

i'm beginning to wander...