Plot thickens again

Robert Langdon, Harvard symbologist, is back again.

This time, he’ll be running around Washington, D.C. And this time, he’ll be after the Freemasons.

At least, we think so.

Details of Dan Brown’s latest novel, “The Lost Symbol,” and its plot are being tightly kept under wraps until its Tuesday release.

The novel from the author of “The Da Vinci Code” has been read by very few people. Those working for publisher Doubleday had to sign non-disclosure agreements, and Amazon.com has its supply under 24-hour guard at a facility that has two locks requiring two different people to open.

In the fictional story, Langdon is expected to traipse around Washington discovering Masonic symbols, treasures and conspiracies and symbols dealing with the Key of Solomon, a book of magic attributed to Solomon, the king of Israel.

As for the Freemasons, the fraternal organization has existed since around the 16th century.

In the United States, some of the founding fathers of the United States were Masons, leading some to believe that secret Masonic symbols and ideas can be found within American currency, buildings and ideals.

But do the Masons control the government?

Not really, said John Grigg, a history professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

For the founding fathers and others more than 200 years ago, being a Mason meant you were connected to other Masons, which gave you access and influence.

“It’s like, ‘This guy is in my club. I know him,’” Grigg said. “It’s like a good old boys club — knowing the right people. There’s no secret backroom deals. ... There was no big plot. Crap happens. Planes crash. People have accidents. ... It’s not a conspiracy to run the world.”

That won’t stop people from buying Brown’s latest book.

If Vegas took bets on bestsellers, you could throw your money on this one to go all the way. “Lost Symbol” is expected to be the best-selling book of the year.

More than 5 million copies are expected to be printed prior to its release, but that probably won’t be enough. “The Da Vinci Code” has more than 81 million copies in print.

Grigg said he sees why people believe in conspiracies. Something goes wrong, and people want to have something to explain it, he said, so conspiracy theories are born.

He mentioned groups such as the Bilderbergs, the Masons and the Illuminati and events such as John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Pearl Harbor.

“It makes sense to put faith in conspiracy theories. It’s like the ‘x’ in an algebra equation, and it can explain anything you want it to explain,” Grigg said. “It’s very sexy. They’re very imaginative stories and they seem to explain everything.”

But it’s mostly just conjecture and there is often very little evidence to support them.

“People say, ‘They meet in secret.’ Well, so does the local school board,” Grigg said. “There are conspiracies — criminal conspiracies, Watergate was a conspiracy — but they’re not world-controlling, Dan Brown conspiracies.

“If there is, Dan Brown couldn’t know about it or he’d be dead,” Grigg said, laughing. “They wouldn’t let him run around telling everyone about it.”

The Internet has helped fuel many of the stories. On the Web, conspiracy sites are all over — try Googling “Masons,” “Illuminati” or “Kennedy assassination” for a quick look — and the ability to use e-mail or message boards can quickly spread the stories.

Many want to write conspiracy theorists off as wackos, but that’s not the case, Grigg said.

“You can’t say they’re crazy because most of them are not. Most of them are very normal, rational people,” he said. “A conspiracy theorist, at his heart, wants the world to make sense.”

Contact the writer: 444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com

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