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[Halloweenqueen]

I need to preface my "ultimate theory" by stating that I realize that people associated with Lost have discounted this theory time and again. But why would they ever confess that we guessed it long ago?


Yes, Virginia, it's Purgatory.


I'll try to keep my theory brief. Of course this will allow loopholes in my theory which I hope to answer in replies to posts.


They are "Lost" in a religious sense.

1. What religious tradition tells us about Purgatory-

-Religion talks of a good death where an individual has time to confess their sins and redeem themselves before death. They are afforded a time to say goodbye to Earthly things. A sudden death can lead to Purgatory.

- Purgatory is often described as an island. In Dante's Divine Comedy, he describes Purgatory as an island with levels.

-Dante uses the image of angels coming in boats to carry the souls emerging from Hell to Purgatory and their individual progression.

-Black Smoke described in the Divine Comedy..He eyed the serpent, and the serpent him.
One from the wound, the other from the mouth
Breathed a thick smoke, whose vapory columns join’d.
Lucan in mute attention now may hear,






2. How the Losties are intertwined with the common vision of Purgatory--



-Many believe Purgatory serves two purposes. One that man wash away his remaining sin. Two that man let go of earthly thoughts.

-The Losties seem to be fulfilling both purposes. We see (through their backstories) that they are working towards forgiveness of their past sins and in another sense they are letting go of their pasts.

-Losties seem to "die" when they make their peace.

Boone-sins with sister
Shannon-sin of feeling unloved
Ana Lucia-sin of murder
Libby, Ethan, Oceanic Pilot (to be explained later)

-Losties and their physical being are "whole". This is a common belief in Purgatory theories. The movie "Defending your Life" comes to mind.

The come out of the crash without major injury.
Physical problems that were present before crash are resolved.

(many would now point out the US Marshall, who I believe to be
the only "true" survivor of the crash)


-Losties, though they all share a common "death", live very seperate lives on the island. They do not share information with each other, nor discuss experiences at length with each other. This follows the belief that people in Purgatory experience their spiritual awakening or progression in an individual manner.


4. How the Others fit into this theory.

-I believe there are two sets of others. (One set, the Mr. Friendly, Hatch clan and the Barefoot Others.)


-Mr. Friendly's others are the dead from the Hatch experiment.




This would include Desmond.

They believe they have survived the Hatch disaster (unknown by them) They continue there roles in the various Hatch experiments.

They also view the other set of others as the enemy. I believe the Barefoot Others have also picked off members of their group like they did the Tailies.


-I believe the Barefoot Others to be Guardian's of the Gate, so to speak. Angels who police the island and help people cross over when their time has come.

I believe they are taking orders from the "Big Guy", God.








4. How the Island's Environment tells us it is Purgatory from a Paranormal prospective.


-There are two main types of hauntings. (One intelligent and the other residual.)

-Residual hauntings are when the ghost seems to follow a certain path of activity over and over without recognizing the living around them. An example of this is the civil war soldiers on the battlefield. The ghost seems to follow the last moments of it's life. It appears in it's uniform, gun in hand, rushing the enemy.

This could explain why we see the plane, the Black Rock, the Hatch, the polar bear, the airplane, etc. These are nothing more than the recognized places of the dead who are now in Purgatory. The objects become "real" therefore other people not related with the objects can see and interact with them.

I believe the Hatch is merely a place of death, much like the plane where many died. It may have been an explosion that destroyed the Hatch, but more likely it was the illness that the Hatch Others are preoccupied with. I don't think the experiments within the Hatch have any real significance to the overall Lost story.


The food drop is just a piece of this memory for the Hatch Others.


-Other hauntings can be intelligent. The ghost seems to interact, communicate, or react to the living. These are the ghosts who come back to warn loved ones, seek revenge, or guide others.

I believe many on the island could actually be intelligent spirits. Jack's Father sighting, Hurley's imaginary friend, and many of the surviving Losties who remain anonymous in the background. I think the true Losties see them as a way to explain their own survival. I believe the only true survivors of the tail section to be Ana Lucia and Eko. AL has now "moved on". Libby plays a role in both Hurley's backstory and Desmond's. That is why she just "appeared" and why she died without resolution of her sins.



5. Other Misc. aspects of my theory.

-The children problem

Purgatory beliefs state that it is unnatural for children to be judged if they have no awareness of their sin.

The barefoot others take the children to lead them on to Heaven.

The Mr. Friendly others take the children for similar reasons ghosts are attracted to or drawn to children. This reminds me of the movie Poltergeist where the evil Preacher tries to influence his dead followers by holding Carrie Ann in Purgatory.

The Hatch Others also believe in their Hatch mission and believe the children are in danger of an illness.

I think Walt has the "sixth sense". This makes him important for both sets of others.



-The Others who have infultrated the Losties.


Ethan was a Mr. Friendly Other, sent to find out about the Losties. These Others are still holding the course of their Hatch experiement, believing in an island illness.

Henry Gale is actually a Barefoot Other. Working for the "Big Guy".


Michael---I'm undecided about him. He could have been brainwashed by the Hatch Losties. I believe that Walt has actually passed on, thanks to the Barefoot losties.


The Numbers----a red herring in my book. May have biblical significance, but I don't make too much out of them.


The black smoke---The Eyes of God







I think the Purgatory theory is a simple one where the vast majority of viewers could wrap their minds around. I actually perfer the more science fiction explanations, but I think they are just too detailed for the general public. It would be easy for the writers to make a "George Lucas" type mistake. Unless they think they are going to make a prequel series, a difficult explanation isn't going to work.



This theory gives the writers the endless possibility for multiple seasons. They can keep finding old and new residents on the island and explore their backstories.


Well, I tried to make this brief, I've left further explanations out, but you get the general drift.
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[Ziga]

I'd get mad and do something stupid (perhaps even to the creators) if that were to be true. Fortunatelly it's not.
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House, M.D.: "Rational arguments usually don't work on religious people. Otherwise, there'd BE no religious people".

[Loke holds the Key]

this is too easy, many people thought of this within the first few episodes of season 1. and why would their be a hatch experiment within purgatory? I have no doubt there are religious explinations for the weird goings on and I too believe the smoke is something Godly and only visible to the losties. I thought that the "Man in charge" may actually be the Devil and the others are all bad but will act good and lie to the losties to get them to follow the unholy path, whereas the smoke and the given dreams seem to be giving the losties a holy path and a "mission" to help with the whole and their own personal quest. John, Eko and Rose seem to be the main believers though John has not mentioned a christianic belief as of yet. Jack, Sawyer and Bernard seem to have the least religous or general faith. I believe Bernard and Rose will be imporant in the last 3 installments. I also believe that each lostie is another's saviour. Here are some possible links (one lostie is there to restore anothers faith)

John - Jack
Eko - Charlie
Rose - Bernard

Henry tried to weaken John's faith buy telling him the insignificance, as did the Pearl orientation video.
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Dude!

[Previously, on Lost......]

Youve obviously put alot of thought into this theory, so well done for that, but I dont agree. I for one would rather have a rational, realistic explanation rather than an unrealistic excuse for a story line, that would probably destroy the whole show. It would take it from being exciting and mysterious, to completely off the wall. Get wat im saying? The writers have already discredited the purgatory theory. To be fair to you though, as you point out there are alot of reasons why someone would think there in purgatory.

[no-name]

Next time read the stickies before you start working on a theory:

http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic2.php?t=4885

Sorry.

[Previously, on Lost......]

It would be like turning the matrix into silent hill. (even though silent hill is fantastic)

[hopper]

so are people dying on the island people leaving purgatory?

because what did anyone who died merit to grant them access to leave purgatory, e.g. ethan, shannon, boone etc i dont think your theory on why they left is good at all.

they're all still shits!
if they were meant to be in purgatory they should have done something to leave or realise they are shits and become enlightened and leave.
not get a free ticket out by being shot or squished.

tbh, i didnt read all your post, i'm too lazy but i had just bben discussing purgatory with my friend and these were my views.
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i went for a video, came back with a tan

[DGYDP]

it is not purgatory. i will say this for the thousands time and still people will not believe me. THEY ARE NOT IN PURGATORY. the producers even said so

[stellazella]

I thought it might be purgatory; I don't think that's an unrealistic explanation at all. I was kind of disappointed when the creators said it wasn't purgatory. Good research, though!

[DGYDP]

Yes, it is a good theory and well thought out.
But its not true.

[Halloweenqueen]

[Halloweenqueen]

Why would the people involved with the show confess that we got it?

BTW, I didn't take much time with my post. I'm a longtime lurker before I even became a member. I was tried of not getting on after showtime.
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[Halloweenqueen]

[Ziga]

[AlonNt]

hamm.. Hope it's not true, sorry but it will just destroy the show..

Nice theory anyhow
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