The word “light” appears three times in the book.
“Find my All, and through the Opening you will see the light.” The last line of clue 470.
“From the heavens comes light.” The title of clue 420
“Seek the Opening that reveals the Heavenly Light.” In the text of the 560.
It also appears in a subtle way in the form of “darkness” in one clue. “The darkness shines” is in the title of clue 600. This suggests that the light appears in the darkness.
Light also appears in two additional clues Max released after the publication of the book.
“The big lights are made of small lights.”
“Clarity will come from three clever rendezvous in the Cantabrian Sea.” The word clarity might suggest light being shone on something.
The proven uses of light in solving the clues are the make-up of white light in the B clue, and using the speed of light to calculate a distance in the 420 enigma.
Although light is a key concept of the book there is no consensus on how to use this theme. Max refused to answer questions about light in madits, which suggests it does have some importance.
Some thoughts…
‘Seeing the light’ is a common phrase for understanding something, could Max have meant the phrase in this context? The 420 mentions that the light comes from heaven, is this something to do with stars or astronomy? This clue’s image suggests the sun and details planets. Could the light refer to a place, the city of Luxeuil has been mentioned as the Latin root ‘lux’ means light. Or could it represent a character? In previous treasure hunts Max used the Sun King and the Lumière brothers.
Light has many different meanings, if this hunt has a scientific theme it might be light waves, if it’s used in a figurative sense it might mean knowledge, the spirit, the truth. In a symbolic sense it might suggest contrasts, light versus darkness. It might be something to do with the sun or time through the rising of sun and the passing of days, or it might be about heaven and celestial light.
The light theme feels like one of the key mysteries of the hunt, understanding this will surely lead to breakthroughs in solving this treasure hunt.