This may have already been discussed but mostly I see people wondering what the ARG messages are actually referring to, I wanted to just jump in by myself so I haven't looked around everywhere. First off, I don't know everything about Geomancy, I read an extremely lengthy post only once (I don't remember what it was, it was before the BETA so my visual memory is not giving me any names or words) that described it. Second, I'd like to say that I think everyone has figured out that the Ptolemaic system is creating the order for the messages. Third, I'd like to actually explain what I'm thinking here. So the first message describes Mercury, the second describes Mars. As Sinova said [url=http://www.bungie.net/en-us/View/community/Forum/Post?id=59806608&path=1]here[/url] perhaps the messages are directed at a God. That got me thinking, all the symbolism, the orb (the visitor, etc., for the life of me I can't remember what we were calling it) is so augural, so overwhelming like a physically present ethereal idea. Our protector is shown as being as close to the all knowing as we know it; the symbolism is all there for literary buffs, I don't want to waste time going through it. So what if Joyeuse or a council of AI (such as the one in Halo Earth history) is the one sending the messages, the Alpha Lupi howling at the moon (the traveller) and broadcasting decodable messages in hopes of it deciphering them via intertwining cultural linkings like the plaques on the Pioneer and Voyager probes. aka Geomancy, geometric symbols, poetry/riddles describing our astronomy, and hypothetically programming code imbedded in the message itself (whether simply because they are digital messages, or more likely they contain libraries of even more elaborate linking) So the first message describes Mercury, Apollo, the messenger. Good way to start off, the Traveler is silent (as far as we've been led to believe) perhaps it's mere presence are it's murmurings streaming through the void across the planets of Sol. The second describes Mars, Ares, the warmaker. Perhaps this is written as a reassuring warning, apologetic but earnest to show that the double edged sword of emotion does not come without a deep spoils of humaneness. If I may digress, "Every moment matters. And from a great distance, in the midst of a thousand careful disasters, you watch the transformation with your own eyes." Maybe the 'alpha wolves' or remembrancer of them (Joyeuse?) has been leading (Something is falling towards you. Or are you falling towards it?) the traveler to Earth by the slow collapse of humanity's once vast empire. Maybe not. link to Miholjanec Legend- -Not gonna talk about that oh yeah there's a ley line that passes over a vineyard nearby Miholjanec. EDIT 2/13/13(5:25): the first geomancy symbol refers the the Moon, which as stupid as I must now sound, if the traveler is a metaphor for the moon in the sense of the alphalupis metaphor then the traveler still a messenger (or at least the subject of the message which may even make more sense). Has any of this made sense? Has this all been said before? Please reply with your thoughts