Johann Bessler’s Maschinen Tractate

When Bessler, aka Orffyreus, died his after-death inventory included many papers stored in a box along with several wood ink blocks.  Among those papers was a collection of printed sheets which numbered about 141.  They consisted of a number of illustrations detailing examples of attempted perpetual motion machines.  None of these would have worked but some were accompanied by brief notes. The author hints that he will reveal more later in the sequence of pages.  Many are convinced that the drawings contain codes which when deciphered it is hoped, would lead to the solution to his own perpetual motion machine.

It has always been my contention that the papers were never intended to be published.  I think that they were simply oexecuted prints designed for use by his intended apprentices at his planned school once he had obtained sufficient funds from the sale of his PM machine. I named the collection of pages ‘Maschinen Tractate’, (MT) in error thinking that a book he offered to the Tzar of Russia, Peter the Great, which he described similarly was what was in the box. Later I realised that the Tzar’s book was to contain details of all the agricultural and industrial machinery that Bessler had learned about during his early years.

I envisage a class of young apprentices of around fifteen years of age, numbering a dozen or so.  For each class Bessler would print off a dozen sheets from his box and hand them out for discussion and study. He included some of his minor ciphers but I believe they were there to test his pupils powers of observation and to introduce new ideas and some humour into their classroom discussion. 

The last illustration that seemed intended as part of the series appears to be MT136; MT137 was in my opinion added later but still intended for discussion because it mimicked  Bessler’s acquaintance, David Heinichen’s ‘circle of fifths’. This would be a good subject for class discussion particularly because it drew a link between music and the golden mean. 

After MT137 there followed a single page numbered 138,139,140 and 141. I coined the name the ‘Toys Page’, (TP) for convenience and because I didn’t want people to refer to it as MT138 without the other numbers as I thought it might lead to confusion. I used the word ‘Toys’ because Bessler used the word in a note on that page.

I think that Bessler had already designed and printed this page for discussion in his classroom, but added the note later, possibly for benefit of those who came after.

In summary then I think there is little to learn from MT, which is not available elsewhere, but the Toys page does offer lmore information from a different angle, which I found useful.

On the first page of the MT, Bessler wrote, 

“ N.B. 1st May, 1733. Due to the arrest, I burned and buried all papers that prove the possibility. However, I have left all demonstrations and experiments since it would be difficult for anybody to see or learn anything about a perpetual motion from them or to decide whether there was any truth in them because no illustration by itself contains a description of the motion; however, taking various illustrations together and combining them with a discerning mind, it will indeed be possible to look for a movement and, finally to find one in them.”

I have said this several times over the years, but here goes again - in my opinion when he writes,‘taking various illustrations together and combining them with a discerning mind’  he is not excluding other illustrations, in other words he is also hinting at those in GB, AP and DT.

NB - What ever his original intention may have been in making his collection of illustrations with ink block printing, the above message written on the front of MT suggests that at that point in his life he thought that his illustrations might become the focus of examination by other people.  In which case what is in the collection is sufficient in his opinion for a stranger to discover his solution.  Personally I don’t believe that any of the collection has enough information within it, to help towards that desired end - unless you include the illustrations in GB, AP and DT.

JC

Johann Bessler’s Wheel Could Save Planet Earth.

Some folk seem worried about their future and that of the planet if Bessler’s wheel should be solved, built and developed. But they should be more concerned about their future if Bessler’s wheel isn’t built! Free or cheap, clean electricity might seem politically and economically dangerous, but there are worse dangers waiting for us.

This planet, and all its inhabitants, is facing a far greater danger from global warming than any scenario involving a successful emergence of Bessler’s wheel. I don’t need to tell you what we face or rather our children, but here a little reminder based on what’s happening right now.

“Global Temperature Is Rising. 

The Ocean Is Getting Warmer. ... 

The Ice Sheets Are Shrinking. ... 

Glaciers Are Retreating. ... 

Snow Cover Is Decreasing. ... 

Sea Level Is Rising. ... 

Arctic Sea Ice Is Declining. ... 

Extreme Events Are Increasing in Frequency.”

“In the U.K., communities as far inland as Peterborough, King's Lynn, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire in the east of England, as well as the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex coastlines, would all be underwater by 2050 if nothing is done to stop sea levels rising at their current rate.

Recently, on 12 July 2021 flash floods caused eight underground lines to be suspended and many stations forced to close. In the aftermath of flooded basements and shop floors, Londoners quickly took to social media to share shocking images of water gushing down tube steps, sentimental contents ruined, and cars determinedly ploughing through sodden high streets as they battle against water levels that licked the tops of their tyres. 

Five days later it happened again. In under two hours over 70cm (over 2 feet) of rain hit the streets of London. Once more, homes, restaurants, shops and stations were flooded.

Then again on 25 July the capital felt the effects of another sudden, violent downpour. Following this flood, as well as the now usual flurry of tube stations quickly shutting gates to passengers, two London hospitals had to close too, with patients forced to evacuate their beds and the building due to power outages. 

The Met Office also issued its first extreme heat warning in July as temperatures soared to 32⁰C in large parts of England and Wales. Last year temperatures hit 40°C. (104°F) for several days.

As homeowners and businesses struggled to deal with the devastation, yet again, the events were a stark reminder of projections from the non-profit news organisation Climate Central that parts of London were at risk of being under water by 2050. Just 27 years away.”

It’s the same story everywhere:-

“By 2050, sea level along contiguous U.S. coastlines could rise as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) above today’s waterline, according to researchers who analyzed nearly three decades of satellite observations. The results from the NASA Sea Level Change Team could help refine near-term projections for coastal communities that are bracing for increases in both catastrophic and nuisance flooding 

in coming years.

Global sea level has been rising for decades in response to a warming climate, and multiple lines of evidence indicate the rise is accelerating. The new findings support the higher-range scenarios outlined in an interagency report released in February 2022. That report, developed by several federal agencies – including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey – expect significant sea level rise over the next 30 years by region. They projected 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 centimetres) of rise on average for the East Coast, 14 to 18 inches (35 to 45 centimetres) for the Gulf Coast, and 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimetre’s) for the West”.

So don’t fear the impact Bessler’s wheel would have, fear for us if no way of mitigating the effects of global warming can be found.

JC

What If Johann Bessler’s Machine Really Worked? Imagine!

It is so frustrating trying to convince people that Johann Bessler’s machine could be a great invention, an incredible benefit to the planet, a source of free, clean energy.  But we struggle to climb a gigantic wall of scepticism and yet there is a constant intensifying debate demanding a solution to global warming and all the ramifications associated with it.

I have, over a number of years, tried to interest people in those higher reaches of research and development who I believe would be in the right position to take note of Bessler’s work, and accept it as a challenge and obtain funding to rediscover the secret.  Polite interest was the usual response, adding a comment such as, “build a working model and I’ll take a look at it!”  This remains the response.

I watched an inspiring video by Prince William on climate change, such a good speaker!  No I’m not going to write to him, but he makes a good case for doing all we can to help our planet back to a healthier state.  Like his father he prioritises the environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuaaU0BuCnU

Bessler, aka Orffyreus, invented and exhibited a machine which he claimed used only gravity to make it rotate endlessly. After about fifty years of study, my original opinion that Bessler’s claim was genuine has been strengthened to the point where I know beyond a shadow of doubt that his machine was genuine.  The circumstantial evidence is so strong that in a court of law a judge must find Bessler innocent of an suggestions of impropriety. 

The fact that we have been taught emphatically that such devices oppose the laws of science, not to mention common sense, should not detract from the importance of a proper investigation into the potential advantages of such a device in today’s world of increasing energy costs, pollution and global warming.

Having studied Bessler’s words for over 50 years I’ve come to know him and how his mind worked.  When reading his account of his experiences one can feel his exasperation at the actions of his “enemies” his name for those who opposed his claim to have invented a perpetual motion machine.  He continued to stand by his assertion until his death.  I too will continue to maintain my own conviction that his machine was genuine and worthy of development.

I have written a detailed account of Johann Bessler’s life which is available by clicking the appropriate link in either the top of the side panel under the words, ‘Johann Bessler’s Books and biography’. Alternatively you can click on a link towards the bottom of the right side panel which lists each book.  The biography contains details of letters to and from Bessler plus others writing about him.  There are copies of witness statements, tests and testimonials. 

The other books are copies of Bessler’s own work and each has a full English translation at the end.

JC

“Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine”

― Alan Turing

Johann Bessler aka Orffyreus and his Perpetual Motion Machine

 On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine the outside of it, but it’s internal workings were kept hidden. This was because the inventor feared that his design would be copied and someone else might obtain credit for all his years of hard work looking for the solution. He followed the advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, and recommended a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over a number of years Karl aged and it was decided that after so long it was time the inventor left the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount thought only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money before the buyer was allowed to view the internal workings of the machine. But those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble. 

I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 78). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I realised that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published and I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal enough information about his wheel,to allow “someone with an acute and discerning mind, to build one”.

For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at 

http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/

Take a look at my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at 

http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at 

https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and also my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

This biography contains a wealth of information about Bessler himself, as well as many quotes by Bessler and letters to him or about him from many interested parties. It tells of his life up to and including his years with Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel, and what happened to him later.

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica” and "Das Triumphirende...".

I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at 

http://www.free-energy.co.uk/

Printed books direct from the printer can be obtained from here

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johncollins

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

These books contain the most important information available if you seek to find the solution to Bessler’s wheel.

JC

Gravity Enabled Continuously Rotating Electricity Generator

There are a small group of people wide spread around the world, who believe that Johann Bessler’s claim that he had invented a so-called Perpetual Motion machines was genuine.  But most people’s first opinion is to dismiss such declarations with little further consideration, and it’s not surprising, given the current school of thought about such assertions.

Despite the certainty that the educational institutions have established in their curriculums, teaching the young and old alike that Johann Bessler was a fraud, there are a number of questions which are routinely dismissed or ignored, but which need to be properly examined in a fair and unbiased fashion to determine the truth about his machine.  Why? Because those questions raise serious doubts about the consensus of opinion that any kind of machine such as Bessler’s was or is impossible

The inventor never gave up on his contention that his machine was genuine and he declared that if he was found to have been cheating then he should be executed for it.  You might think that such an end was unlikely but actually several people making claims to take advantage of one or more members of the ruling class were indeed summarily executed by having their head chopped off.

Early on during his initial exhibitions, his claim to have invented and exhibited a perpetual motion machine caused a considerable amount of interest within certain court circles among the intellectuals who inhabited that elite society.  Numerous letters between several witnesses who attended Bessler’s demonstrations sparked the interest of Gottfried Leibniz. He managed to arrange two private demonstrations where he was able to ask several questions and examine the wheel and its motion.  He came to believe that here was a great invention which should not be lost because of the scepticism generally advanced in reaction to the demonstrations.

Following his advice and help, Bessler was ordered to bring his machine to the court of Karl, the Landgrave of Hesse. Karl had spent some considerable time funding the experiments of Denis Papin and subsequent to his departure for London, Karl agreed to provide Bessler with rooms to exhibit his new and larger machine.  Of course Karl insisted on being allowed to confirm the inventor’s claims by examining the workings of the machine which he did.  He concluded that the machine was genuine and remarkably simple.  He was a man of tremendous prestige being held in high regard and had a reputation for honesty and sincerity throughout Europe. This coupled with his interest and knowledge of the latest discoveries in the world of science made him the ideal person to offer Bessler his patronage

Following Leibniz’s recommendations, Bessler developed a series of demonstrations which were designed to provide firm, convincing evidence that Bessler’s wheel was genuine. The most obvious one required a continuous run of around two weeks under lock and key and the Landgrave’s personal seal.  A guard was also placed outside the room for the full period of the run, which was actually extended to 54 days in total.

Other measures designed to reduce the chance of fraud, included providing two alternate sets of pillars supporting the wheel, to enable the device to be moved from set to the other.  This allowed the examiners to check both sets of bearings before and after translocation had taken place. Nothing suspicious was ever found.  An Archimedes pump was attached to the wheel to demonstrate how it could pump water if needed.  A chest of stones weighting 70 pounds was hoisted by the wheel from the castle yard to its roof and lowered many times.

Many have tried to find a way that Bessler might have faked the demonstrations, but no secret method has ever been found, and the truth is there for anyone capable of objective analysis to examine the evidence - to see if it was impossible to fake or impossible to be real! 

Current research suggests that although a perpetual motion machine in an isolated system is impossible, where there is an external force field there must be a way to tap this force continuously for as long as that force exists. Bessler states very clearly that his machine relied completely on the action of some weights thus propounding the force of gravity.

This suggested solution is customarily dismissed because gravity is a force and not a source of energy.  However thousands of waterwheels and hydroelectric power stations are enabled to work due to the force of gravity.  The argument that a fallen weight has to be lifted once it’s fallen is used to dismiss Bessler’s wheel, but if Bessler managed to contrive a method which overcame that problem, then his machine was indeed the real deal.  Obviously he must have succeeded so there is a potential solution to global warming with free, clean energy.  

What are we waiting for!

JC

Johann Bessler’s Tilted Pentagram.

One of the curious features of the pentagram embedded in the Weissenstein wheel shown in Johann Bessler’s Das Triumphans book, (and at the top of my blog) is that it is slightly tilted.  Given that he provides a strong indication that the pentagram is deliberate by including two of Euclid’s pentagram construction steps within the illustration, how come it ended up tilted?

In the illustration below I’ve shown the Weissenstein wheel with Euclid’s 11th proposition, next to it which ran thus::-

“To inscribe an equilateral and equiangular pentagon in a given circle….”

Below I refer to the padlock line (blue) which follows the diameter of the wheel.  I also use the rope line (red) which shows the path of the rope which actually passes behind the wheel.

By including the padlock line (blue) which clearly bisects the angle of 36 degrees formed by CAD at the point where the rope line (in red) meets the padlock line, implies that the result was deliberate and therefore for him to produce a tilted pentagram, either he introduced a deliberate error,  or he deliberately included it as another clue towards an eventual solution.  He emphasised the precision of the pentagram by drawing attention to the base of the triangle where it overlies a succession of hatching lines which are perfectly aligned with it.

Of course he might just have drawn the rope line in the wrong place or at the wrong angle, that could create a tilted pentagram; but given his skills in drawing, measuring etc, that is too unlikely to consider.

Knowing Bessler and his habit of including more than one solution to each clue, I’m sure that he tilted the pentagram for a reason. The rope line should form an angle of 54 degrees with the central pillar upright, 54 being an multiple of 18 degrees like every angle in the pentagram, but it is hard to be sure if it hits that angle.  I considered that he might have altered the angle to 55 degrees but such a small difference would be easily missed missed and I concluded that he didn’t. 

I tried many times over the years to make the pentagram sit straight with the upper chord exactly horizontal,  but failed and it wasn’t until I discovered a second clue which explained how and why the pentagram had a tilt. I’ll explain why it’s tilted in my next blog, next week.

I’m away up north with my granddaughter Amy until the next week.  She’s just hit 3.5 million followers, amy pohl on TikTok. 

JC

Is This the Real Solution to Climate Change? Yes, Absolutely!

 The Legend of Johann Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

There is so much talk about the problems the world faces, due to climate change.  Activists demonstrate and protest, demanding governments take action.  Many people question what can be done to cause real changes, but there is one change that is waiting to be discovered.  Something that could have a real impact on limiting climate change is by changing the way we generate electricity.

Amazingly there is a solution just waiting to be rediscovered.  Rediscovered?  Yes, incredibly the solution was found more than 300 years ago but was lost when the inventor died.  Recent research has unearthed information on the machine and how it worked encoded in certain books he published.

Sceptics have argued that the device wouldn’t generate electricity in any useful way, but this is not true.  All machines are scalable and one of these devices which are cheap to build and use energy which is freely available anywhere on the planet, could remove the need for fossil fuel totally.  Electric cars are making large inroads on the consumption of diesel, and home heating can eliminate the need for coal and gas.  

Let me explain…..

On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine the outside of it, but it’s internal workings were kept hidden. This was because the inventor feared that his design would be copied and someone else might obtain credit for all his years of hard work looking for the solution. He followed the advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, and recommended a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over a number of years Karl aged and it was decided that after so long it was time the inventor left the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount thought only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money before the buyer was allowed to view the internal workings of the machine. But those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble. 

I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 78). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I realised that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published and I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal enough information about his wheel,to allow “someone with an acute and discerning mind, to build one”.

For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at 

http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/

Take a look at my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at 

http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at 

https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and also my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

This biography contains a wealth of information about Bessler himself, as well as many quotes by Bessler and letters to him or about him from many interested parties. It tells of his life up to and including his years with Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel, and what happened to him later.

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica” and "Das Triumphirende...".

I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at 

http://www.free-energy.co.uk/

Printed books direct from the printer can be obtained from here

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johncollins

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

These books contain the most important information available if you seek to find the solution to Bessler’s wheel.

JC

The Intriguing Riddle of the Letter-Numbers.

I know I’ve said this before but I find it puzzling to say the least, that the sheer ubiquity of the thinly veiled insinuations by Johann Bessler, that somehow the number five is of tremendous importance, seems to be largely ignored. Equally perplexing is the opposite adherence to just one other clue that mentions on a single occasion, “….the sound of about eight weights landing on the side towards which wheel turned”. It’s my impression that Bessler-world spends an inordinate amount of time fixated on this supposed fact, while ignoring Bessler’s admission that he had, on occasion, muffled the sound with felt.

Back in the late 1990’s I found the pentagram in Bessler’s first illustration in GB, and that eventually led me to track the ubiquitous number 5s through out his publications. 

He altered his forenames from Elias Bessler to Johann Ernst Elias Bessler.  This, coupled with the adoption of his strange pseudonym, Orffyreus through the application of the ancient Hebrew code, atbash, as it was known, led me to do the same to his initials and convert JEEB to WRRO..

E being the 5th letter of the alphabet, chimed with the pentagram being a circle of fifths, and there were two of them. This also connected with his comment in AP, that his weights operated in pairs. 

The letter J, the tenth letter of the alphabet, seemed superfluous, however once I applied the atbash cipher to JEEB and got WRRO, I understood the presence of the J and W.  The W can be seen to be composed of two Roman number 5s. Bessler always wrote his Ws as two interlinked Vs, suggesting again two 5s, or two fifths, were working together as a pair.

Notice the names of his sworn enemies, their surname initial and then their whole surname in the above picture from AP, Gartner, Wagner and Bosz.

The letter R is the 18th letter of the alphabet and is also the basic number used in the pentagram.  In fact every number in the pentagram is a multiple of that figure - 18, 36, 54, 72, 90 and 108. All of these are used in Bessler’s wheel. Notice there are two letter Rs in the images of his signature below, supporting the letter O. One for each  direction.

The letter O, serves Bessler well as a representation of his wheel, with a dot in the middle representing the wheel itself, it is known as a circumpunct,

A circumpunct is a circle with a dot or point in its centre. Bessler used it in place of the letter 'O' in Orffyreus, in almost all of his abbreviated signatures as well as many of his full ones.  The above two are typical examples. Amongst many other meanings it represents the sun and was the alchemical symbol for gold.

The above examples of coding that Bessler was able to use have one thing in common, they have proved remarkably convenient and apt for his purposes. How fortunate that the 5th letter E should have as it’s atbash equivalent the letter R, the 18th letter.  5 and 18, the basic numbers of the pentagram.  He chose the letter J, the 10th letter because it’s atbash equivalent is W to provide the information that two 5s were interlinked as pairs.  The letter O, the atbash equivalent of his B for Bessler, within the same cipher provided the circumpunct, the perfect symbol for his wheel.  

These simple facts raised questions in my mind.  Was it just coincidence that E/5 and R/18 were each in their precise positions alphabetically, to imply a relationship with the pentagram - or was there some other factor or agent which positioned those two letter/numbers to both be present at the right place?  One way to see if there was anything other than coincidence would be to see how long the alphabet has been in the same order.

It seems, from a brief search, that the alphabet order has always been the same.  This is because it was taught to children while they were learning to read and they taught their children and so on.  Of course letters were added and removed from time to time dependent on the language used.  But it can be traced back almost 2000 years before CE and those letters remained in their current position for at least 4000 years - but that doesn’t answer the question.  

One theory suggests every letter had a number with it in order to keep it in the right position, and the numbers were dropped over time.  But the atbash cipher wouldn’t work if the number/ letters were in a different position, which suggests that the placing was deliberately chosen. 

Someone, at some point, thousands of years ago arranged the order of the alphabet and it hasn’t changed much in most cases.  It would be interesting to find some confirmation that E/5 and R/18 were placed in their positions for the reason I suggested - or is that a stretch too far and it’s just a coincidence!

There is more to this than meets the eye and it’s something that may help us unravel Bessler’s puzzling “Declaration of Faith” in chapter 55 of his “Apologia Poetica”.  He placed 141 abbreviated Bible references at the end of short lines of text, which seem unconnected to the subject matter in the references.  Some of the references do not exist; for instance, in some cases the number of verses quoted are more than can be found. 

I’m currently investigating the output of Christian Weise, Bessler’s teacher who published ideas about the use of number/letter alphabets; also David Heinichen, promoter of his “Circle of Fifths” and the composer JS Bach and “the Riddle of the Number-Alphabet”.  The latter three knew each other, lived within a short distance of each other and at the same time. All three people were involved in the theory of music and the last two wrote extensively on the use of letter/numbers in both music and texts.

JC

Update - Things Are Looking Up!

Finally the builders have left and I’m getting ready to move into my new workshop.  Originally they estimated finishing in January, but a few events  conspired to cause delays.

There’s one wall of bare plaster which I’m painting, then I’m building a work bench to fix to the end wall. I’ve got some of my wheel parts ready for assembly but I’m going to build a test rig just to test the action of one mechanism, which I’m confident will act as I designed it to.  I know how overconfident I sound but the truth is the prime mover is so simple to understand, once you know, it’s a forehead slapping moment…..

I have drawn the mechanisms on computer and also on paper.  There are five mechanisms, each with one weight.  There are ten small pulleys to guide five lengths of cord.  There are no springs. The Toys  page holds much information as do the drawings in GB and DT.  AP and DT also hold some good textual pieces of information.  For me there is little information in the rest of MT, but more may surface once the correct configuration is known.

I know people are sceptical and I don’t blame them, I’ve been positive so many times before (haven’t we all?) but never like this.  For most of the last year, I’ve been writing up details of the clues and the reasons for the meanings I’ve taken from them.  My concern is to try to show what and where the information is in the books, and what it means, and try to avoid dubious interpretations.  I think that if the wheel works that should remove any doubt, but if it doesn’t, I’m still certain that it is very, very close. 

Much of my code breaking has centred on the number five which Johann Bessler appeared to be obsessed with.  I think the number five might have been the one word he was worried about accidentally revealing in case it might give his secret away.  But that does not appear to have happened and perhaps he wasn’t speaking literally, but meant any accidental slip of the tongue.  

Given the very simplicity of his wheel, I half expected someone else to stumble upon the truth about the Prime Mover, before I had a chance to test it out on a model, and although there has been much discussion about certain clues Bessler sprinkled all over his works, and I thought that they were getting close, the focus of the talk moved away.

My one determination is to build and test my design before I release it to the public.  I’m not interested in patents, IPs nor am I concerned at someone else using my/Bessler’s design for their own purposes.  Having spent most of my life chasing information about Bessler, I would like to think it that I did something worthwhile with my life that would be remembered after I’m gone. 

My translations and publications of everything to do with Bessler will still be available for years to come, and probably better translations will appear.  But I like the idea that all information currently discussed and quoted from, originated from my hand and was the source most commonly used in this field of research.

So at last, maybe I’ll succeed in building a proof of principle machine.

JC