Matrix Programs as Messengers
In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo has advanced to a level where the Oracle can begin to explain the functioning of the Matrix in greater detail. Part of this is an explanation of the world of the Matrix programs.
She reveals this to him:
“See those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset.”
This level of “governance from beyond” may seem surprisingly detailed – a Matrix program for everything?
This too is derived from ancient spiritual teachings:
Every single blade of grass has a corresponding guiding force which hits it and tells it to grow.
– Midrash Rabbah, Genesis 10:6
Observe that whatever is engendered on earth grows through the stimulus of a celestial Chieftain.
— Zohar 2:30b
The Worlds of Matrix Programs
There are two general categories of programs:
- The higher level programs that we meet in the storyline
- The lower level, hidden, programs that carry out basic duties to ensure the Matrix runs in order
Among the higher-level Matrix programs, are the Architect and, Merovingian, Seraph, the Keymaker and of course, Smith and the other agents.
The programs at this level serve specific functions as related to the humans.
As the Oracle explains to Neo in the park bench scene in The Matrix Reloaded:
Neo: “Are there other programs like you?”
The Oracle: “Oh, well, not like me.”
Specifically, as discussed in our Introductory material:
- The Architect is associated with the world of Existence, which is ‘closest’ to the Source
- The Oracle is associated with the highest of the three worlds within creation, just below that of the Architect
- The rest of the programs have some place in the next world down within creation, just beyond the Matrix world. This is the world of “Jacob’s Ladder” as discussed in our Introductory files.
These programs all have their own reason for existing. This is true for them as much as it is for the humans.
The Oracle: “We’re all here to, what we’re all here to do.”
Hierarchy among Matrix Programs
Just as Trinity answers to Morpheus, who is subordinate to Commander Lock, who answers to the Council, there is also a hierarchy within the program world.
At the highest levels we have the very unique Architect and the Oracle. Though they are ‘partners’ in the design and function of the Matrix, the Architect did precede her. Though they are programs, they are above the “program world” as such.
Within the program world itself, we see that Smith, through much of the trilogy, is in charge of other agents.
The Merovingian also had his own little army, in addition to the Trainman and the Twins.
He also had some select henchmen, as mentioned, by his wife:
Persephone: “These fellas work for my husband, they do his dirty work … They come from a much older version of the Matrix.”
Following the Spiritual Pattern
Orders of angelic beings are found throughout ancient literature. The Qumran community classified angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls within a hierarchy of seven ‘archangels’ who oversee the work of all other angels.
If we look further into that text from the Zohar, we find a system of spiritual entities assigned to manage affairs on the earth, in a hierarchical order:
Observe that whatever is engendered on earth grows through the stimulus of a celestial Chieftain who has charge over it, and that all on earth is shaped after a celestial pattern. There are on high seven firmaments, and seven zones of earth. Correspondingly, in the lower world there are seven graded firmaments and seven zones of earth. These are arranged like the rungs of a ladder, rising one above the other, and each zone has ten divisions, so that there are seventy in all. Each one of these is presided over by a Chieftain, and these seventy Chieftains have under their charge the seventy nations of the earth … This alludes to the upper world, and the same is reproduced in the lower world.
Zohar 2:30b
The Matrix presents programs with the ability to act in ways resembling humans – much as angels are depicted in the Bible and other literature. However, they remain, “here to do what they are here to do.”
One might want to argue that Smith went ‘beyond’ what his assigned role was. But this isn’t the case. Though he calls himself “unplugged – a new man,” this too was all part of what was to happen. Some things are ‘inevitable.’
As Morpheus said in The Matrix Reloaded:
No, what happened happened and couldn’t have happened any other way.
