The 7 Ages of the Prisoner (pt. 3)

Part Three--Birth and Childhood

"Let none ignorant of geometry enter here." --sign over Plato's academy

Some controversy exists over the 'correct' order of the episodes of the Prisoner. As far as I'm concerned it's a non-issue, created by an attempt to impose reason and linear thinking onto the framework of the series. One may watch the Prisoner however the hell one chooses, watch each episode backwards if that's your thing, but for the purpose of my little game here we will be using the original ITC broadcast order--the same order which is used by AMC for the episodes on their website. Disclaimer: I have no connection with ITC or AMC or with TMZ, QVC, or RC Cola for that matter. My life is my own, as are my crackpot visions.

Episode 2--The Chimes of Big Ben

One of the reasons for the confusion over the series order is the 2nd episode features the first use of the ritual that opens most (but not all) episodes of the Prisoner, Number 6's interaction with that particular episode's Number 2. In this case, the inimitable Leo McKern.

Prisoner: Where am I?

Number 2: In the village.

P: What do you want?

2: Information.

P: Which side are you on?

2: That would be telling. We want information, information, information.

P: You won't get it.

2: By hook or by crook, we will.

P: Who are you?

2: The new Number 2.

P: Who is Number 1?

2: You are Number 6 (note: in Big Ben, McKern famously says You are...Number Six.)

P: I am not a Number, I am a free man!

2: (laughter)

At first viewing it seems jarring, like something is missing or that we've come in halfway through the episode. But it's just a matter of habituation, by the start of the 3rd episode it's clear this is just the way the show starts. It's a vitally important segment, however, because in addition to introducing that show's 2, it emphasizes the Prisoner's distinctive thematic vision as well as its ritual nature.

Number 2, with his or her scarf, umbrella, and lapel pin sitting in the middle of the room plays the part of the Worshipful Master in the East:

He (or she) is the Hierophant who is to guide the seed from Neophyte to Zelator to.... It's interesting to note, however, that in the Masonic ceremonies, it's usually the Worshipful Master who's asking the questions, not answering them.

Be that as it may, the episode begins with the Prisoner comfortably asleep in his inner chamber. The soothing female voice from the previous episode begins her morning broadcast by cooing that "our fine spell" of weather will last at least another month and announcing an arts contest.

Fig 3. Your day is just six weeks from today.

He awakes and begins making breakfast. Eggs, appropriately enough. Again I'm not going to labor too much over the mechanics of the plot except to say that it concerns The Prisoner's new neighbor, an Estonian woman named Nadia, who soon falls afoul of Number 2. The Prisoner agrees to take part in the upcoming arts contest in exchange for Number 2 releasing her from being cruelly interrogated.

One of the Prisoner's many skills, apparently, is woodworking, and he sets upon creating what he calls an abstract sculpture.

Note Number 2's position.

It's probably pretty obvious to every viewer that the Prisoner is building a boat, not a sculpture. What may not necessarily be apparent except to weirdos like us, is the incredible triple meaning (at least) of the shape Number 6 is creating: the Vesica Piscis.

From Westminster Abbey Psaltar ca. 1200

The Sanctum Sanctorum

It's worth quoting a long passage from William Stirling's seminal work, The Canon, in full:

It is known both to freemasons and architects, that the mystical figure called the Vesica Piscis, so popular in the Middle Ages, and generally placed as the first proposition of Euclid, was a symbol applied by the masons in planning their temples. Albert Durer, Serlio, and other architectural writers depict the Vesica in their works, but presumably because an unspeakable mystery attached to it these authors make no reference to it. Thomas Kerrich, a freemason and principal librarian of the University of Cambridge, read a paper upon this mystical figure before the Society of Antiquaries on January 20th, 1820. He illustrated his remarks with many diagrams illustrating its use by the ancient masons, and piously concludes by saying, "I would by no means indulge in conjectures as to the reference these figures might possibly have to the most sacred mysteries of religion." Dr. Oliver, ("Discrep." p. 109) speaking of the Vesica, says, "This mysterious figure Vesica Piscis possessed an unbounded influence on the details of sacred architecture: and it constituted the great and enduring secret of our ancient brethern. The plans of religious buildings were determined by its use: and the proportions of length and height were dependent on it alone." Mr Clarkson (Introductory Essay to Billings' "Temple Church") considered that the elementary letters of the primitive language were derived from the same mystical symbol. He says that it was known to Plato and "his masters in the Egyptian colleges" and was to the old builders "an archetype of ideal beauty." The Vesica was also regared as a baneful object under the name of the "Evil Eye," and the charm most generally employed to avert the dread effects of its fascination was the Phallus (J. Millinger "Archaeologia," xix). In Heraldry the Vesica was used as the feminine shield. It was interchangeable with the Fusill, or Mascle and was also figured as a lozenge or rhombus. In the East the Vesica was used as a symbol of the womb, and was joined to the cross by the Egyptians forming the handle of the Crux ansata.

The vesica pisces is really too deep a subject to delve into too much, but since it is vitally important to understanding the initiation drama of the Prisoner, we're going to have to take a momentary detour through the very strange land of sacred geometry. Things are going to start getting pretty far out for the next little bit, so please bear with me.

6 0f 1, Half A Dozen of the Other

As you read the following section you may well ask yourself, "Uh, do you really think Patrick McGoohan intended all this stuff?" The answer to which is, of course, yes. And no. Mathematics were another of Patrick McGoohan's strengths in school, so do I think he was familiar with Euclid, with the Vesica Piscis, and other arcane concepts? Absolutely. In later interviews McGoohan was quite explicit that the look and design of the show was quite intentional. But that's not to say that every little nuance that we might discuss was something that McGoohan considered. With such matters, the intention of the symbol trumps that of its wielder.

Thinkers much wiser and more learned than I have devoted their lives to studying and writing about such mysteries, so what follows is very simplified Cabala 101 type stuff, from a myriad of sources, methods, and traditions, but I think an understanding of the material opens up a whole new layer of meaning to not just The Chimes of Big Ben, but The Prisoner as a whole.

Creation begins when the infinite universal consciousness, Number One, if you will, decides to divide Itself. It is Ayin, the unsleeping, all-seeing eye, whose seed is the beam of light which shoots from it and creates a second point. After this division comes motion--with point B moving around point A producing the Universal Monad , the dot in the circle, the alchemical symbol for the sun.

Point A then moves around Point B, producing two circles of common radius, whose intersection is the Vesica Piscis:

God and Ruach, the spirit of God, have mated and their union produces through the sacred yoni of the Vesica the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Which then is expressed as Y H V H, the Tetragrammaton, Father, Mother, Son, Daughter.

Which can also be expressed through the pentagram, whose points are water, earth, fire, air, and spirit:

By then untying the pentagram's knot as it were, we then behold the six-pointed star, seen here in a familiar format for emphasis:

Okay, you say, that's just groovy, dude, but what the fug does it have to do with The Prisoner, other than you know, one becoming six?

As we have seen from the opening credits as Ein becomes Ein Sof becomes Ein Sof Aur delivering his seed into the abyss (cf. the Egyptian myth of Ptah), the Prisoner's chariot zooms after the thunderclap from a point on the horizon, where he delivers by hand his letter. The word is fertilized and the world (The Village) is created, and One is divided into (Number) Two.

Consider this exchange between The Prisoner and Number 2 in Chimes of Big Ben:

Number 2: I am an optimist. That's why it doesn't matter who Number 1 is. It doesn't matter which side runs the village.

Prisoner: It's run by one side or the other.

2: Oh, certainly, but both sides are becoming identical. One that has, in fact, become an international community. A perfect blueprint for world order. When both sides facing each other suddenly realize they're looking into a mirror they will see that thisis the pattern for the future.

P: The whole Earth as the Village ....

2: That is my hope. What's yours?

P: I'd like to be the first man on the moon.

Division has become individuation, the illusion of self which gives rise to Lucifer and the Fall. The Prisoner will always be opposed to Them. If they take over the Earth, he will go to the Moon. But, of course, as Number 2 hints, he is--as the cliche would have it--only running from himself.

With all this out of the way lets resume consideration of the episode proper.

When we left to take our detour, The Prisoner was comfortably gestating under Number 2's watchful eye.

Must be ready 2 weeks from tomorrow

Finally the big day arrives, the day of the art exhibition. The Prisoner's sculpture engenders admiration and confusion from the judges. When asked about its meaning The Prisoner, affecting an air of mock pretension replies, "It means what it is." He then goes further. "What does it represent to you?"

"A church door?" One of the judges replies.

"Right, first try," The Prisoner voice is arch and amused. "The barrier's down, the door is open--You're free--free to go, to escape....To This. The symbol of human aspirations."

From the division with Number 2, The Logos prepares to deliver itself through the Vesica Piscis.

That night The Prisoner and Nadia (whose name means hope) begin their long labor...




She has delivered him, but although he is now born, he is not free. His escape has just been another dumbshow, another elaborate ritual designed to bring him to the next stage in his journey.



The seed has burst forth. He has crossed the second threshold. (Note the columns, the color blue, the triangle complete with eye-like opening at the apex, and the church door on the right.)


to be continued--be seeing you!