The da Vinci Code is a very enjoyable read. The pace picks up the moment the lead character, Robert Langdon, gets to the Louvre, and doesn’t slacken at all. The reader races through Paris, England, and back to Paris again, following the trail of clues left by the murdered curator of what could arguably be the most famous museum in the world.
The things that the author wrote into the novel - about the Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion - is a mixture of truth and speculation. However, the way Brown mixes all of them in his novel makes them come off as truth. The reader has to be careful, and make sure to check whatever is said in the novel, especially the ones regarding da Vinci’s art.
But let us remember, that without the conspiracy theories, the novel wouldn’t be half as interesting to read.
As a Wiccan, what was written in the novel was like a vindication of my faith and way of life. The ’’smear campaign’’ that was described in the novel, about the early Church’s crusade to obliterate the Old Ways, is quite true. In fact, the effects have trickled all the way down to the present day. While witches (the word, by the way, used to mean ’’wise one’’ or ’’one who practices the arts of the wise’’ until it was twisted around to mean ’’old and evil hag’’) are no longer burned at the stake, we are still burned at the unseen stakes of prejudice and fundamentalism.
Wiccans, witches, and all who practice the Old Ways are simply people who have a different belief system, just like Hindus and Taoists have their own belief systems that are different from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Unfortunately, the Church does not seem as accepting of the Old Ways as it is of Taoism and Hinduism.
The Wiccan Rede - which is something like the Ten Commandments of Wicca - states that we must ’’Live and let live, fairly take and fairly give.’’ Just as we do not impose our ways on others, so we wish that others do not impose their ways upon us. We only wish to live quietly, doing what we wish, without other people breathing down our necks wanting to ’’save our souls.’’ Though their intentions are surely well-meant, we do not need to be saved - we are already saved.
Aside from the entertainment value that the book provides, it can also be seen as a way of opening up people’s minds - of showing them that there is nothing evil about Wicca and witchcraft and the worship of the Mother Goddess, that it is simply another way of viewing the Supreme Deity.
And really, I think the world can benefit from that.