[Discussion] Semiotics Contents: Image/Symbols

[Ziola]

Something I just have to say, because it has not yet been said on this thread. Never, ever, at any point in this game, has steganography or pictorial analysis lead us anywhere. EVER. Every time we get a picture, we start doing this overanalyzing thing, and steganography comes up, and every time we come to the realization that there's nothing to find. Sometimes, we are even told by OpA that there is nothing there and that steganography is useless. I encourage everyone to analyze the pictures if it makes you happy...but don't expect to find anythink to make the puzzle make sense of all sudden. It's been made pretty clear in this game that steganography is not one of the tools in our toolbox.

On a slightly less ranting note, I just want to say that I am incredibly pleased and proud with the way we all worked together on this puzzle. I've seen posts by the oldest of the old guard and the newest of the new, and they have almost all be relevant and directed toward finding the solution. This is the way we should work puzzles...together. Good job, guys.

/me waits for chocolate

[Lurker]

On a slightly less ranting note, I just want to say that I am incredibly pleased and proud with the way we all worked together on this puzzle. I've seen posts by the oldest of the old guard and the newest of the new, and they have almost all be relevant and directed toward finding the solution. This is the way we should work puzzles...together. Good job, guys.

Yeah, this has been pretty cool. I've been fairly useless (maybe I caught something with the Gemma and 11 years thing? Maybe? I hope), but it's been cool to see everybody trying and being supportive of one another. I hope the PM feels proud to have inspired that kind of cooperation among a whole bunch of strangers.

No, but there definitely is a distinct figure on the bottom right of the corner-- initially I would have thought it was way overthinking, but there's definitely something in that corner if nowhere else. My boyfriend even sees it, and he thinks this stuff is crazy.

The skull especially, is fairly distinct. The white lines that exist in that area, in distinct forms--like a circular one around the skully-- are completely inconsistent with the rest of the picture.

Do you mean in the bottom-right of AMALGAMATIONS? Ziola's editing (probably as clear as it's going to get; good job with that) shows that the "skull" is just the incomplete Watcher symbol from the bottom-right of LIGATURES:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1743/watcherks0.jpg

If we were supposed to see something, we would've gotten PSD files with layers.

That's a better point than the rest of us who don't think anything's there have made. Wish I'd thought of it.


Anyway, like I said before, I won't vehemently discourage anyone from trying to find something more here, but I don't think there is anything.

[Ziola]

I've got to be honest and say that I'm looking simply because I loved Hidden Pictures as a kid

But I really don't think there is anything else to find in this one...I"m sure that its just a small part of an even bigger puzzle....

[bethy]

The Theta is similar to an Egyptian symbol that represents the Sun, and the Mu was derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water. So the Sun equals Ra...and the water equals Naunet? Or maybe Poseidon? When combined this "watcher" symbol establishes that the Order rules and watches over all that exists in between.

Theta is the 8th letter, Mu is the 12th. So that's one more 12, but the 8 = ?.

Theta was also used as an abbreviation for "Thanatos," and considered a warning of death.

This sounds like a speculative discussion type post or from an email of some sort. The first paragraph clearly establishes the AMALGAMATION image: Theta + Mu = Watcher Symbol/OpAphid Logo


Then we have three other symbols...no explanation as to what they might be for, except that they are also ligatures/combined symbols. Could that be a clue that we should be figuring out which symbols the other three are and how they correlate to Gods/Meanings?

There are four...in corners...Could it be that each of the four symbols represent a part of the Order? Or a Mission of the Order? Bree herself said that OpAPHID was just part of the Order. Perhaps she knows what the other three symbols represent? Maybe she learned it in her "training"?

I'm wondering why the images are all bloody, frankly. They really look like pages taken from a book of some kind.

[PinkoLady]

Do you mean in the bottom-right of AMALGAMATIONS? Ziola's editing (probably as clear as it's going to get; good job with that) shows that the "skull" is just the incomplete Watcher symbol from the bottom-right of LIGATURES:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1743/watcherks0.jpg

I'm pretty sure I see it within but seperate from the watcher symbol-- I see both. There are lines behind it that aren't anywhere else in the picture. I see it pretty distinctly-- though i suppose that could just be because I'm looking for it.

What do I know?

[Ziola]

I see the skull and the incomplete watcher symbol...I didn't find the watcher symbol until I started playing with the colors and sharpness of the photo in Irfanview.

[TheRebirth]

Everyone is ignoring me and the dying doggy... Bye bye doggy

[Nieriel.Manwathiel]

There are four...in corners...Could it be that each of the four symbols represent a part of the Order? Or a Mission of the Order? Bree herself said that OpAPHID was just part of the Order. Perhaps she knows what the other three symbols represent? Maybe she learned it in her "training"?

i say show these to bree.who's up for posting them in her thread?

[Ziola]

That's Theta on top of Pi, the same way the Watcher symbol is Theta on top of Mu.

The top left symbol looks like a combination of "Omicron" and "Tau" overlayed, and the one on the right looks like... maybe "Lamda" smooshed together with "Sigma"? Either way, it resembles the "AE."

The "AE" thing may have some significance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86


AE in computer use, if its of any use, which it's probably not, but who knows?:

Danish keyboard with keys for Æ, Ø and Å.For computers, when using the Latin-1 or Unicode character sets, the code points for Æ and æ are U+00C6 and U+00E6, respectively, or 198 and 230 in decimal. The characters can be entered by holding the Alt key while typing in 0198 or 0230 on the number pad on Windows systems (the Alt key and 145 for æ or 146 for Æ may also work if the system is in the IBM437 or IBM850 codepages), or by holding down the option key while typing an apostrophe ( ' ) on a Macintosh system under various keyboard layouts, including the U.S. layout. In X, AltGr+A is often mapped to æ/Æ, or a Compose key sequence Compose + a + e can be used. For more information, see Unicode input methods.

There is also Cyrillic Ӕ and ӕ in Unicode (U+04D4, U+04D5), though in practice the Latin letters Æ and æ (U+00C6, U+00E6) are used in Cyrillic texts (such as on Ossetian sites on the Internet).

In HTML, the HTML character entity references Æ and æ have been assigned to Æ and æ, respectively, where “lig” stands for ligature.

Edit: So as not to confuse people any more than they already freakin' are.

In the beginning of the thread they worked on the different symbols and what makes them up

[Lurker]

I'm pretty sure I see it within but seperate from the watcher symbol-- I see both. There are lines behind it that aren't anywhere else in the picture. I see it pretty distinctly-- though i suppose that could just be because I'm looking for it.

I can't see it. I do see some lines behind it, but they're not taking the shape of a skull to me. For some reason I'm seeing a window and curtains. Don't know what the hell's up with that other than that I probably need to go to bed.

EDIT to clarify: not saying a window and curtains is there; it's just what the lines are taking the shape of to me for whatever reason. Yeah, probably time to sleep.

[Ziola]

heh...ditto on that one...

[PinkoLady]

Here, aside from the skull-- I see this figure.

I mean, you guys know these puzzles better, so whatever, but the reason this doesn't seem like such a stretch to me is because it's such a typical figure in religious (and other) art throughout history. The skull seems to be on a different layer, and maybe I'm just seeing that one, but this weird texture, what a bunch of people have scene as a standing figure with a kneeling one slightly to the right of it, is just... I don't know, bugging me.


Then again... I really... really really really really really... need sleep too.

[Nieriel.Manwathiel]

I'm pretty sure I see it within but seperate from the watcher symbol-- I see both. There are lines behind it that aren't anywhere else in the picture. I see it pretty distinctly-- though i suppose that could just be because I'm looking for it.

I can't see it. I do see some lines behind it, but they're not taking the shape of a skull to me. For some reason I'm seeing a window and curtains. Don't know what the hell's up with that other than that I probably need to go to bed.

EDIT to clarify: not saying a window and curtains is there; it's just what the lines are taking the shape of to me for whatever reason. Yeah, probably time to sleep.

riiiiiiight here

2 dark holes above another dark hole.

[PinkoLady]

I saw it pretty clearly in this one:

[Nieriel.Manwathiel]

I saw it pretty clearly in this one:

ooooo! now THAT one's pretty!