Salt of the Earth

[D-Roc]

This came to my attention after re-watching the "?" episode recently. It's not necessarily a theory, but an observation which could either be built upon or dismissed in equal measure.

We all remember the strange ash substance that Locke investigated outside of Jacob's hut. Many of us believe that it encircled Jacob's hut and is perhaps somehow keeping him contained within those four walls - perhaps explaining the "help me". Others believe that the ashes are the remnants of Smokey, and suggest that is what Smokey looks like in it's 'dormant' form. Another thing which I think it could be is substance from the island's volcano (which was referenced in ep.3.19) - perhaps containing special properties which contain non physical beings such as Jacob.

What ever the strange substance is, I was pricked to see Eko suggest that the ground surrounding the 'Pearl' hatch was laced with 'Salt', preventing anything from growing there (ep.2.20).

Whilst this is currently a flimsy link, I do wonder whether a similar thing has happened in relation to Jacob - is the substance (ash?) surrounding is hut preventing physical life from existing within the circle of ash? Is this why he hates technology because technology shouldn't be able to exist where there is no physical life (a kinda paradox, if you will). Of course this is slightly dampened by the fact that both Locke and Ben were able to stride inside the circle and return unscathed - however they weren't there for very long..

[The Wizard]

Well the salt near the pearl was stopping life from growing directly on top of it, rather than inside the circle it created, and there were plants, trees and bushes inside the ash circle at Jacob's place so...

[Our Mutual Friend]

I doubt that the two instances are related, despite some similarities between them.
That said, we never really found out why the ? was salted at all (though since it could presumably only be seen from the sky, we can infer that it was meant to be since by planes or some such).
And of course, we've no idea what the ash is all about. Either some mystic magic to keep evil spirits in (or out) or just volcanic ash that happened to be hanging around.

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted by The Wizard

Well the salt near the pearl was stopping life from growing directly on top of it, rather than inside the circle it created, and there were plants, trees and bushes inside the ash circle at Jacob's place so...

Good points Wiz, and that's something that needs to be considered in light of this speculation.

Could we perhaps look at it from another angle, in that Jacob's 'life-form' is different from normal life-form (i.e. the plants and trees near his hut), in that he appears to only partially physically exist - could the salt (or substance, ash) around his hut be preventing his type of life-form from flourishing, and not necessarily the plants and trees?

Perhaps the Salt near the Pearl can act as a metaphor for the substance which appears to be preventing Jacob from fully manifesting/physically existing?

Or is that too much of a stretch?

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted by Our Mutual Friend

I doubt that the two instances are related, despite some similarities between them.
That said, we never really found out why the ? was salted at all (though since it could presumably only be seen from the sky, we can infer that it was meant to be since by planes or some such).
And of course, we've no idea what the ash is all about. Either some mystic magic to keep evil spirits in (or out) or just volcanic ash that happened to be hanging around.

Yeah, I think it probably was so that the Pearl could be seen from above - the Island managed to help Eko/Locke discover it that way - by climbing up to the cliff top - which, incidently, makes me consider whether that wasn't it's objective with Boone and the Beachcraft? 'Maybe' (to contradict my recent theory) Boone wasn't supposed to be a 'sacrifice'

Yeah, it could well be that the substance is some form of witch-craft even..which would perhaps totally take LOST off into another direction. Although in saying that we don't know much about the ancient civilisations which previously inhabited the island, so perhaps it stems from their traditions/beliefs/protection?

I definetely think the Volcano will come into play some how, and this could well be it - it could make for an interesting revelation if the ash was the ash from the island's now dormant volcano. A volcano which, perhaps, contains some precious properties which entrap non-physical properties such as Jacob..