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Mythology of Lost
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The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, déjà vu, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes, and other puzzling phenomena. The creators of the series refer to these as part of the mythology of the series.[1]
Contents
The Island
Structures
The Black Rock
The cabin
The lighthouse
The ruins
Health-related properties
Healing
Pregnancy
"Sickness"
Other physical properties
Location
Electromagnetism
Time travel
Temporal displacement
Plot devices
The Man in Black/Smoke Monster
The Numbers
Character timelines
The DHARMA Initiative
The Others
Oceanic Six
Crossovers
Sensory phenomena
Whispers
Visions
Weather Prediction
References
Further reading
The Island Edit
As the main setting of the series, the island boasts a number of unusual properties. Its location changes at times and it cannot be reached by ordinary means. The island is surrounded by some sort of barrier which causes disruptions in the normal flow of time for those who cross it. Electromagnetic phenomena are common on the island, and it seems to bestow unusual healing properties to its residents.
Structures Edit
The Black Rock Edit
Located deep inside the jungle is the Black Rock, a sailing ship from the mid-19th century. In "Ab Aeterno", the Black Rock set sail in 1867 and was captained by Magnus Hanso and had Richard Alpert as a prisoner. Jacob, the protector of the island, does not deny when asked by his fraternal twin brother if he brought the ship to the island, as the two watch it approaching. Eventually it is swept inland by a colossal rogue wave, destroying all but one foot of the coastal Statue of Taweret on its way, but a mystery remains on how The Black Rock had landed on almost the other side of the Island from where the statue of Taweret was. In "The Constant", it is explained that the Black Rock set sail from Portsmouth, England, on March 22, 1845 on a trading mission to the Kingdom of Siam, when she was tragically lost at sea. The only known artifact of this journey is the journal of the ship's First Mate, which was discovered among the artifacts of pirates on Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar seven years later. The contents of this journal have never been made public nor known to anyone outside the family of the seller Tovard Hanso. This journal is later bought at auction by Charles Widmore.
In "Exodus", John Locke mentions that this ship must have been en route to a mining colony, probably set-off from the Eastern Coast of Africa, Mozambique. The ship contains dynamite, mining equipment and several chained skeletons, although slavery had been outlawed in British ships and possessions by 1845. Dr. Leslie Arzt (Daniel Roebuck) mentions that a tsunami could have swept it a couple of miles inland as seen later in the episode. The Swan's blast door map has a revision marking "Known Final Resting Place of Magnus Hanso / Black Rock" as seen in "Live Together, Die Alone".
The cabin Edit
The cabin was built by the Dharma Initiative mathematician Horace Goodspeed as a sort of retreat for himself and his wife. It is surrounded by a broken ash circle. While at first it is believed that Jacob resides there, it is actually Man in Black[citation needed] in the cabin, falsely giving orders on behalf of Jacob. The cabin has appeared in three separate locations.
The lighthouse Edit
In "Lighthouse", Jacob instructs Hurley to take Jack to a heretofore-unseen lighthouse on the Island's coast. At the top of the lighthouse's stone tower is a set of mirrors which can rotate via a large stone dial, labeled with numbers and in some cases the names of the "candidates". Jack is able to see an image of his childhood home reflected in the mirrors when they are turned to his number, 23; whether this is due to some property of the lighthouse mirrors and structure or simply to Jacob's influence is unclear.
The ruins Edit
There are ruins on the Island, many with hieroglyphs. In "Live Together, Die Alone", while at sea, Sayid, Jin, and Sun sight the remnants of a massive statue standing upon a rock in the surf. All that is left is a large, four-toed marble foot broken off at the ankle. Sayid remarks that he does not know which is more disquieting: the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that the foot has only four toes. It has been compared to the Colossus of Rhodes.[2] The full statue, viewed from the back, appears from a distance in the fifth season episode "LaFleur". The statue seen from behind has lion-like ears, a crown on the head, long hair, an ankh in each hand, and ancient Egyptian dress. The statue is named Taweret,[3] the Egyptian god of fertility and life.
At the base of the statue is a secret chamber in which Jacob resides. All four elements of earth, water, fire, and air are represented in this chamber. "The fire pit in the middle of the r