In his last and most professional-looking publication, ‘Das
Triumphirende…’ (produced in 1719), on page 144, Johann Bessler included a
logo-like doodle that at first sight seem attractive to the eye but
meaningless. But there is more to it than meets the eye. I have reproduced it enlarged so that it is easy to see the features
incorporated with in it. The logo is
composed of a crown with some curious lettering beneath, some of which on
closer inspection looks like the word Orffyre which was Bessler’s name according
to the atbash cipher and before he latinised it. There is some additional lettering reversed
on the left side of the middle circle.
If I transcribe the letters into modern font it will be
easier to read. It says:-
HTARORFFYRE,
which, when the left side is reversed, reads RATH ORFFYRE. This means COUNCILLOR ORFFYRE.
Below
that there are 5 letters evenly spaced, which might stand for Doctor of
Mathematics, Medicine and Perpetual Motion, attributes he claimed for himself,
or possibly Music in place of Mathematics.
Knowing
of Bessler’s propensity for using numbers and letters substitution in various
ways, I was sure that the logo contained hidden information, and the key to
solving this innocent looking code could be found. One of his favourite puzzles
used alphanumerics and the above is easy to read. If D is the fourth
letter of the alphabet then applying the same principle to the other letters
gives 4 + 12 + 12 + 15 + 12 = 55 (again!) But that cannot be all.
Here
is one of those curious, easily dismissed anomalies I have spoken of previously.
Notice the ‘P’; it does not look quite right. Is it upper case or lower case?
If lower case then the upper curved portion is too big; if upper case then the
downward portion should not extend below the line of text. Which ever is the
intention it should be upper case because the other letters are. But why are the
letters YR above the letter 'P' conjoined? Is there more to
this than just producing five letters or at least five letters if you include
the YR as one letter.
A
possible clue might be seen in a handrawn version of the logo but with some
variations as below
In this example the 'p' has a tail similar to the letter 'q' when hand written. However it might also be also be a 'j' or some other letter, and these puzzles can be read to provide what ever answer you seek! Notice that in the hand drawn picture Bessler has put the letter 'O' at each end instead of in the middle as in the first logo but this is not as good at providing the link to the two way wheel as the first logo does.
As for the other features of the logo, the crown represents Karl, the ruler; Rath Orffyreus tells
us that Bessler was a counsellor under Karl; the D.M.M.P.M. tells us, in my
opinion, that he was a self-proclaimed, Doctor of Mathematics (or Music), Medicine and
Perpetual Motion; the number 55 tells us that he was telling us of the
importance of the number 55. Finally,
the leaf design is similar to the leaves of the Arondo Domax giant reed,
which is commonly used in Organ Pipes of that period, and still is today for
that matter. This is a reference to
Bessler’s skills in organ building.
I am leaning towards the letter 'M' standing for music since Bessler's later connection with organs seems to be more suitable, and of course there are examples of his musical notation for the carillon he was hoping to build one day for another prince, Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelf.
One more item. This a close up of the centre of the logo, and something that Bessler often used in placeof his signature.....
Very very interesting!
JC
One more item. This a close up of the centre of the logo, and something that Bessler often used in placeof his signature.....
JC
I have worked on this all the way down, and I believe I have sorted out the D:M:M:p.M
ReplyDeleteI have documented that the secret numbers are not only 5 and 55! But it is in fact 3,5,15 and 55. So by making the letter "p" small, the others would be Roman Numerals also. So you get: alphabet values D+M+M+p+M = 55 AND you get Roman numerals + the alphabet (lower case) value of the letter p (15). Then you get: 500+1000+1000+15+1000 = 3515 Now you also can see that D:M:M:p.M means: 3,5,15,55 I have worked it through all the way, and there is no other solution to it. It fits all the way down all of his work, including the Rosicrucian legacy. By the way, I sent you an email the other day...If you should interested in more private conversations..
Nice idea Oystein, but unfortunately ‘P’ is 16th letter of the alphabet – One point, I believe that with Roman Numerals ‘D’ cannot come before ‘M’ , therefore if you read the letters backwards, you still get your 3500, but maybe the ‘p’ become a ‘q’ and therefore a sum of 3517?? Regards - A.N.Other
ReplyDeleteNo: A B C D E F G H I/J(9) K L M N O P(15)
DeleteYou refer to the modern alphabet values and the 26 letter alphabet.
http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/download.php?id=18364&sid=c50fe401aa373b7e8d15c4dc0236e8b2
DeleteI have worked in this for some years now so I should know, and I wonder why you haven't read Johns posts for the last 10 years, where he writes that P=15 and a 24 letter alphabet was used back then. Here is a quote from the post I linked to: "First let me restate the importance of what main alphabet that was used by Bessler and his peers at that time. For several hundred years the alphabet with 24 main letters was used. The letter J could be used in place of the letter (I), and V as U. Throughout the 1700s the alphabet was expanded and J and V got their own places in the alphabet, thus 26 letters alphabet as we know today. This is important to know, in case we would want to number the letters".
DeleteThanks for the clarification - A.N.Other
ReplyDeleteImpressive work Oystein, but it is highly unlikely that Bessler coded something very important to his texts. The man was ,rightfully so, paranoid about anyone stealing his work.
ReplyDeleteWould you do such a thing? What if someone steal your idea by understanding your code while you are still trying to sell it? Bessler would never take that risk.
I am not an expert on historical texts, but to be honest, all his texts seem to be written for legitimise himself since he faced a lot of negativity.
yellow
... what if somebody steal your idea and you self do not have any earlier writen proof, that you are/was the first one!? All those writings must be public as soon as possible. But how can achieve that someone else can not steal your idea from those writings? Answer: Only when you have coded your work... cleverly.
DeleteOther way, if you take those not coded writings out from your drawer after when someone else have coming out with your invention. Then this kind of action do not prove to anybody/anytime/anymore/anything, that you are the original inventor. Where your have been previously?!
Also when you do not have any idea how this all will end to your self, with this invention. Specially when you have found somethings very very very ... rare.
You must left behind lot of important clever clues everywhere as possible.
AgAIn! All is under our nose and mean to understand after you know the secret.
PLMKRN
Finally it all is one simple smart play with some letters, words and numbers ... How to fit them together :)
DeletePLMKRN
"Only when you have coded your work... cleverly." so cleverly that noone will ever find it for 300+ years....What a brilliant way to get posthumous recognition!
Deleteyellow
Don't overestimate the capability of scholars. "Great men err too. They weight less than nothing." Even the simplest code can slip for centuries as long as no one has documented the method or pointed out where the code is. Besslers work is no exception. Maybe Bessler was so clever that he overestimated the capability of his peers..? My estimate is that Bessler was possessing an IQ of 160 equalling that of Einstein. How many "Einsteins" has in 300 years tried hard to decode his books? No one.. you are right..300 years is still posthunous though..
DeleteI appreciate your efforts Oystein. But, I wonder how would someone code a complete structural design using only words and numbers? After the encoding process, what are you expecting to find? A description of the wheel? That sounds illogical.
Deleteyellow
Because the secret is encoded in Geometry on a predefined invisible grid!
DeleteYellow! Take this as pre search, what "can" lead for final discovery. But not only, If you see some working wheel in near future, there can see/make connections right away - can it be Bessler solution!?
DeleteI suggest to watch movie "Paycheck", there is lot of different firstly thinken "meaninglessly coded" information, send to future. Witch real meaning you understand when there is right situation.
PLMKRN
... indeed, John. I agree that this graphical details are very, very interesting. IMHO the show parts / all of the movement of the weights in his wheel...
ReplyDeletenot to repeat myself - but as Bessler said:
if one pound falls one quarter
it lifts up four pounds four quarters
and quarters is meant as part of a circle...
so look closely and you will see.
greetings - and keep on working
5park
if one pound falls one quarter
ReplyDeleteit lifts up four pounds four quarters
The tricky part of the phrase is "it lifts up four pounds four quarters".
Could this be a Bessler play on words. Could the accurate phrase of what happens be "it lifts up each of the four pounds one quarter". Thus all four pounds are lifted a total of four quarters.
I’ll reply since no one else has. I offered this suggestion on the forum three or four years ago and got a very small acknowledgement of it’s value, and then nothing. However I have moved on from that point and I think I have the whole meaning and intention behind Bessler’s words. I’m working on putting it all into the design of my wheel and maybe one day I’all get to share it with every one!
DeleteJC
"Could this be a Bessler play on words."
DeleteI'm sure it is....
But you mentioned not all possibilities.
Next hint(s):
... from many single peaces of lead.
they are always two and two....
AND
... if one thing takes an outer place, the other moves to the hub...
AND
... this heavy goes to the center and that one goes up...
Sincerely
5park