The Da Vinci Code

Silas’s cilice, a barbed chain he wears around his thigh, is a reminder of man’s sins of the flesh. The spikes cut into his leg, causing pain and drawing blood. While the Opus Dei practice of “corporal mortification” is archaic and not sanctioned by the Church, Silas views it as a way to share in Christ’s burden, to suffer for his faith. Linking suffering and virtue has a long history. Early prisons were built on religious fundamentals, the theory being that suffering in prison was reformative and would bring the incarcerated closer to God. Religious devotion, in the eyes of Silas and Aringarosa, should be hard. Redemption from sin—which no human is free of—must be earned, not given away freely. While self-inflicted wounds are rare among religious devotees, the basic idea is still ever present, even in casual discourse: Suffering is good for the soul. 

Circles, in their infinite, looping movement, and their three-dimensional equivalent, orbs, are prominent symbols in paganism and goddess worship. Circles have no end point but repeat the same cyclical pattern indefinitely, much like the cycles of nature. Pagan worship was highly attuned to these cycles; the simple figure of the circle captured these dynamics. In The Da Vinci Code, circle symbols are pervasive: in the architecture of the Temple Church, in the massive orb over Isaac Newton’s tomb. Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is enclosed in a circle, and, during the Priory ritual of Helios Gamos, the participants stand in a circle.

The circle also suggests harmony and unity rather than division. The two halves of yin and yang fit together into a perfect circle, showing the harmony of the sexes. Circles also represent “totality, wholeness, original perfection, the Self, the infinite…God” (Protas, Allison. Dictionary of Symbolism. University of Michigan. Updated in 2001). The terms “original perfection” and “Self” can be interpreted as contrary to Church dogma, which preaches the concept of original sin. The Self suggests individuation, the idea that individuals are unique and whole. That oneness—in harmony with nature and the perpetual motion of the universe—allows the individual to find and commune with God on a personal level, undercutting the necessity of the Church as middleman.