And there was Illuminati-o-n

Ok, so after reading that other Dan Brown novel--you know, the one with the tighter plot line--the Sanchon Hunjang became aware that the Illuminati are still alive and well and running everything from behind the scenes some 2oo years after they were founded. Not only are they behind everything, but they enjoy flaunting their mastery of all by using a funky kind of writing that can be read the same forward or backward. An "ambigram," rather like the very title of that very same book, on its very own cover:



Of course if one of these ambigrams can be custom made to fit the cover of a novel, maybe it doesn't belong to the realms of high art after all...

Still, the only thing ambiguous about ambigrams is which direction is "正 proper." But since they are identical in either direction, it's kind of a moot question.

The other day, the Sanchon Hunjang was musing on some individual graphs that were ambiguous in their own right. Which is to say that any of them could theoretically, in isolation at least, leave you guessing what the original language was supposed to be. Kinda like the Chinese "丫 yā(아)" and the English "Y."

Well that was before I came across the sign. The sign where someone has put together a very interesting ambiguous graph that (1) actually says something, and (2) is ambiguous about what language it is supposed to be read in and even (3) manages to say the same thing in two different scripts at the same time.

Behold a true ambigram...or "bi-language-gram"...or...well let's just get onto the beholding part:



I am impressed. Doubly so since it says the same thing in 한자 and 한글. Simultaneously, no less. That strikes me as quite a feat. Not that advertising logos rank any higher in level of fine art than novel covers, but still, kudos to the graphic artist!

Say...wait just a second here. The word that they have selected to represent in such a mystical fashion: 빛/光. That refers to illumination, right? "Illumination"..."Illuminati"...hmmmm...ambigrams...hmmmmmmmmmmmm...could this be just a coincidence? I hardly think so... *^^*