I expect everyone knows I believe Bessler’s wheel had five mechanisms. Before you move on and dismiss what I’m going to write, just hang on for a moment. I’m satisfied with my current and long held belief for excellent reasons, the majority of which you don’t know.
Imagine you are Bessler and you have this amazing secret which you believe is worth a fortune, but you can’t tell anyone anything about it, because you want to sell it first. You decide that you are going to publish details of the secret but hidden in such a way that no one will ever find out unless you reveal the way to decipher it. You believe that there are three possible outcomes.
Firstly you sell the machine and it’s secret and you decipher all the ciphers and publish the coded information and the world will gradually realise how exceedingly clever you have been.
Secondly, you never find a buyer and you die with the secret intact. But you have sold many copies of your books. You have inserted various comments that the books contain secret information about the Perpetual Motion machine and a clever person can study the books and eventually decipher the clues and discover the secret.
Lastly, someone else discovers the same solution and publishes it. You prove your priority by demonstrating the clues and codes published in your three books containing all the information, from years before.
It wasn’t just the money he wanted, Johann Bessler sought recognition, which is why he went to so much trouble encoding information in various ways, adding secondary codes for confirmation in many places. He stated that he would rather die without having sold his secret, than just give it away.
To continue imagining you are seeing things as if you were Bessler; before you even go public with your invention, you have planned everything. First you adopt a pseudonym, but it’s not just an assumed name, it’s a clever contrivance, ostensibly to disguise your real name, but actually since everyone knows your real name, it appears to be a stage name. Simple codes were in popular use at the time, and it was very obvious that Bessler chose an easily deciphered code name, using a well known code such as the Caesar shift, to call himself Orffyreus.
Why? Because the use of a simple code in his assumed name, plus the few words of encouragement to readers of his books to search for the encoded secret, was intended to make people like myself and others, search for the coded information and decipher it. Exactly what we have been trying to do for many years.
At the end of the day, we know that Bessler invented a way to obtain continuous rotation enabled by the force of gravity. We know he left secret information which was designed to show us how his machine worked. Why on earth would we ignore this wealth of clues and codes and hints and struggle onwards dismissing this treasure trove of information?
I’ll post some of the clues I’ve uncovered and deciphered in another post, most of which I haven’t shared before.
JC
Nice to see that this blog came back to life again! I checked in several times last year and earlier this year and it looked like a ghost town with no one posting. I actually thought for a while that it had died like so many other blogs have over the years which would be a true tragedy because of the excellent job it does in promoting interest in Bessler and his wheels.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with JC that there is much that can be learned from Bessler's pseudonym of "Orffyreus". The most important letter in it is the one that is right in the exact center of the word which is the letter Y. As some may recall, I have found many clues in Bessler's drawings over the years, especially those in MT, which indicate that the levers he used in his wheels had the shape of that particular letter. Bessler considered this lever shape so important that he made sure that he placed the letter symbolizing it right in the middle of his professional name!
The capital letter O at the beginning of the word is almost hypnotic like the "All Seeing Eye of God" and I've seen Bessler write it with a small diacritic dot at its center. That letter, of course, represents the external drum of one of his pm wheels and the dot is its axle. But, it is also the symbol for the metal gold in alchemy and the Sun in astrology. That could have been Bessler's way of saying his wheels were worth a large amount of gold and could run, if maintained, as long as the Sun shines! Gold is also referred to as a "noble metal" because of its durability, rarity, and value. These are all qualities that could be used to describe Bessler's wheels.
The letter group OR has an alphanumeric sum of 33 and that is a number associated with Jesus in the Christian gospels (33 AD was the year of his execution, etc.). Bessler claimed that the secret of his wheels was contained in the sayings of Jesus and I can point to some of the verses that Bessler had in mind when he said that.
Next, look at the prominent two letter F's to the immediate left of the letter Y. F is the 6th letter of the alphabet. If you multiply the F alphanumeric values, you get 6 x 6 = 36. Supposedly, the prototype wheel that worked for Bessler was only 36 inches in diameter. If you add the F's you get 6 + 6 = 12 which was the diameter, in feet, of his last two wheels. The first public demonstration of one of his wheels was given on June 6th or the 6th day of the 6th month. Amazing what meaning can be found in only two letters in his professional name!
The four letter group to the right of the central letter Y is REUS and the sum of its alphanumeric values is 63. This is a VERY important number that describes what could be a critical orientation of one of his wheels' internal parts but I don't have time to give the details now. It is yet another number which appears hidden regularly in his drawings.
Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler autumn weather and preparing for the coming winter solstice celebrations. This December 21st will, for those living north of our planet's equator, be the shortest day of the year accompanied by the longest night as the Sun at its daytime zenith appears at its lowest southern elevation. Because of the decreased solar illumination in the weeks around that day, many experience a condition called SAD or "Seasonal Affective Disorder" which also seems to have afflicted Bessler. According to what I found on the internet, the symptoms can include "persistent low mood, lack of energy, loss of interest in activities, oversleeping, weight gain, and difficulty concentrating". I have found that one treatment for this problem that always works for me is to buy myself a nice gift! Yes, something I've wanted all year long but denied myself because of various reasons (like a pile of bills that needed to be paid off first!). So, if one is afflicted by this troublesome condition, I recommend he treat himself for a change...one deserves it especially if he's been racking his brain trying to solve the Bessler wheel mystery all year long.
Sayer of Sooths
SoS is back! You haven't been here since last year and have been missed. Please do share any new clues you can with us. When it comes to finding them in Bessler's drawings your PI (psychic intelligence that is) puts AI to shame! I'm still stunned by that severed head clue you found hidden in the toys page. You were the only one who saw it and alerted us to it. Welcome back!
Delete112
Delete"So, if one is afflicted by this troublesome condition, I recommend he treat himself for a change..."
DeleteI intend to "treat" myself by staying stinking drunk from the middle of December through to the middle of next January. When my wife invites her relatives over for Christmas dinner, I shall be doubling my intake of "medicine"!
Hi, SoS. I also remember you and some of those amazing clues you uncovered in the past. Glad to see your back because it makes this blog seem like old times again. I knew there was a letter "y" in "Orffyreus" but I didn't notice it was dead center in the word. Bessler must have put it there on purpose for a reason that was important to him. Your "Y shape lever theory" could explain it. To add to what anon 03:42 said, any new clues you've found for us will be most appreciated. Also happy "winter solstice" to you too!
DeleteThanks for the welcome back greetings anons 03:42 and 19:05. I had only intended to briefly drop in to see if this blog was finally up and running again. When I saw that it was and what the topic was, I just couldn't resist making a quick comment on the numerological significance of Bessler's professional name of "Orffyreus" before heading out again. However, since you both seem to want even more new clues from me on this visit, I will try to oblige.
DeleteAbout a month or so ago I found some "hidden in plain sight" type clues in one of the DT drawings that you two (and hopefully others) may find of interest. I'm very busy at the moment, but if I get a chance during the next few days I'll see if I can post a drawing showing you where they are located. Be prepared for a nice surprise...and don't worry, this time it's not another severed head!
Sayer of Sooths
I learned in the past not to bet against you SoS. I'll be looking forward to any new clues you can provide. Glad to read there will be no more chopped off heads this time!
DeleteWhenever SoS shows up it puts me in the mood to play with numbers. I agree with his analysis of Orffyreus and noticed something. As he said the OR part is 33 and the FF part is 12. That adds to 45. IF Bessler used eight weights on levers in his wheels spaced evenly around the axle then they would be 45 degrees apart. The REUS part is 63. The Y is in the center of the word so it could also represent the axle of a wheel. If so then we see the over balance. 45 on one side and 63 on the other. This could be Bessler telling us his wheels were always out of balance.
DeleteI'm not a numbers guy, but I have something to add. It involves words that can be made from some of the letter groups in Bessler's pseudonym Orffyreus. I also play scrabble a lot!
DeleteOrffyr in Welsh means July in English and July is the 7th month. Bessler liked this number because it's lucky and mentioned in the Bible. Did he know Welsh? Didn't he travel to Britain once?
Fyre in Danish means Fire in English. Fire is a source of energy and so was Bessler's wheels. He also wanted to replace coal and wood fire powered machines with his pm wheels. Did he know Danish?
Eus in French means Had in English. Was that Bessler's way of telling everyone that he had the solution of pm?
Orfeus in Czech means Orpheus in English. Orpheus was a Greek musician who could play magical music that charmed all living things. Wasn't Bessler into music? Orpheus descended into the Underworld to get his wife back. Wasn't there some legend about an ever turn wheel down there...a pm wheel? Didn't Bessler once use the name of Orpheus instead of Orffyreus?
These could all just be coincidences, but if Bessler knew the various languages I'm sure he would have been aware of them.
Hello again, everyone! You will find the new clues I promised posted below in two parts. Hope you find them of interest.
DeleteSayer of Sooths
That's what I like about you SoS....promises made = promises kept!
DeleteHi John, as usual, I look forward to your future posts. I would greatly appreciate you answering this question somewhere : is there any reliable evidence that Bessler's brother knew the secret? And do we know if is brother outlived him? Thanks.
ReplyDeletedon’t know if Gottfried was allowed to know the secret of the wheel’s construction, but it would seem difficult to keep him ignorant. Knowing of Bessler’s apparent paranoia, I imagine he would have made Gottfried swear an oath to keep silent. There were four more brother, three of whom died in infancy, but nothing is known about them to date. We know that Bessler’s parents went to live with him at Carlshafen, I suppose they might have brought the remaining brother with them. Bessler was about 34 and Gottfried about 27 when they lived at Hesse Kassel.
ReplyDeleteJC
Part 1 of 2
ReplyDeleteA day or so ago, I promised to post some new
"hidden in plain sight" clues here for those who requested them. So here they are:
Take a good long look at the second drawing of the Weissenstein Castle wheel in DT. In particular, study the right half of that figure that shows the full circular side of the 12 foot diameter drum of the wheel as a crank attached to its axle raises and then lowers a metal drive rod to make a big visible pendulum swing from side to side. Notice anything that looks odd in the drawing? No? I didn't either until I studied it more carefully.
When you do study it more carefully you will see that the ball shaped weight at the left end of the huge compound pendulum's upper cross bar is slamming up against the ceiling! Because there are two such pendulums (the other is hidden behind the drum and out of sight), that would mean that, as the wheel's drum completed a single rotation, the four ball weights would, one after another, hit the ceiling four times in four different locations. Since the wheel was found to turn at 26 rpm's when running freely, that would mean that during each minute the four ball weights would bang against the ceiling a total of 104 times! Many in the past who noticed this detail in the drawing may have thought it explained the thumping sounds that the wheel made as it turned. But, no, those sounds came from inside the drum and not from the two pendulums' four ball weights banging against the ceiling. If any of the four ball weights of the real pendulums that Bessler attached to the Weissenstein Castle wheel had actually impacted the ceiling as the drum rotated and as shown in the DT drawing, then, depending upon which was weakest, either its cross bar, its cross bar's pivot rod, its drive rod, or its axle crank would have been damaged. So, this could not be allowed to happen with the real wheel's two giant pendulums. Why then did Bessler show it happening in his DT drawing?
In this quick Paint sketch I made, it becomes obvious why Bessler shows that ball weight smacking against the ceiling in his drawing:
https://i.postimg.cc/Y9Q25rH2/Banging-Ball-Wt-Clue.jpg
Sayer of Sooths
(continued and concluded in Part 2 of 2)
Part 2 of 2
DeleteBessler is using the depicted impact to draw the reader's attention to something near the impact point on the ceiling. Look carefully and you will see that the ball weight hits directly under the capital letter W in the Latin word "Weissensteiniani" in the title above the drawing. The letter W looks like it is formed from two letter V's that have their sides overlapped between the letters to form the letter X. A numerologist would immediately recognize this as a way of writing V X V. In his various drawings, Bessler usually treats the letter V like the Roman numeral V and gives it an alphanumeric value equal to the value of that Roman numeral or 5 instead of the usual alphanumeric value for the letter V which is 22 since it is the 22nd letter of both the English and German alphabets. The X formed by the overlapping of the two V's is, however, used here as the same symbol for multiplication in arithmetic. So, numerologically speaking, Bessler's W = V X V = 5 x 5 = 25. This value of 25 happens to be the alphanumeric value of the letter Y and this was another way that Bessler stresses the importance of this number to the design of his wheel's hidden mechanics.
Since the W is near the ball weight of the large swinging pendulum in the drawing, that pendulum can be considered as a symbol for the much smaller levers that he used inside of his wheels' drums. He is telling us with this letter W clue that he placed near the giant pendulum's ceiling impacting ball weight that his levers inside the drum were shaped like the letter Y.
Need more proof of Bessler's use of Y shaped levers?
Then look at the shape of the large compound pendulum itself that is a symbol for the smaller levers inside of his wheels' drums. It can be thought of as made up of two giant letters. The metal cross bar with its attached wooden piece that goes down to the spindle shaped bob weight (blue in my sketch) forms the letter T. The two diagonal metal support rods from the ends of the cross bar that go down to the spindle shaped weight (yellow in my sketch) form the letter V. T has an alphanumeric value of 20 and V which, again using its Roman numeral value as its alphanumeric value, has an alphanumeric value of 5. Add them together and you get 20 + 5 = 25 again!
Still need more proof?
Okay, look at the right side of the pendulum. The diagonal support rod there (yellow in my sketch) and the upper portion of the pendulum drive rod (orange in my sketch) form...the letter Y again!
These three clues would seem to support what anon 19:05 above called my "Y shape lever theory" and, imo, they cannot just be casually dismissed as coincidental. Their presence in the same drawing shows me that they were put there on purpose by Bessler.
However, these are only three of the previously unrecognized clues that can be found in this particular DT drawing. There are also other clues present in it that will have to await future comments by me about them (or by someone else who also manages to find them) before they can finally be fully revealed.
Enjoy the new clues everyone...
Sayer of Sooths
(End of Part 2 of 2 and conclusion)
Welcome back, Sos. It looks like you are still in fine form when it comes to your clue hunting in the B drawings. I admit I never noticed any of your latest clues. Imo, you do make a convincing case for B's wheels using Y shaped levers. My question is why that shape instead of just straight ones which is what I've seen everyone else use?
Delete@anon2:12
DeleteI also wondered why Bessler would use Y shaped levers instead of straight ones. I think the reason is he learned after 10 years of constant failures that he could not make an overbalanced pm wheel work using straight levers. Maybe his connected principle of cords between levers only worked with the Y shape levers? What other reason could he have for being so obsessed with the letter Y?
Like you I never noticed SoS's three new clues for us before. If you look close at that curved crank in the DT drawing you will see that (assuming the drum is turning cw) it has not yet pulled that orange rod down as far as it could. That means that the left end of the pendulum's cross piece has not yet lifted the ball weight as high as it could. This definitely implies that the ball weight is about to smash into the ceiling. I agree with SoS that if that was to happen with the actual Kassal wheel, then the result would be bad...something would have to break to relieve the strain in the parts between the crank and the ball weight although the drum would probably survive.
Thanks, SoS! I've kept track of your many clues and drawings over the years and give each a name. I've made these three new clues into two clues and named them "The Ceiling Banging Weight Clue" and "The Kassal Wheel Y Shape Lever Clues". My list keeps growing!
DeleteJ.E.E.B => wrt Roman Numeral substitution & Rot13 cipher => X V V O => or inside a wheel ..
ReplyDelete< x >
ReplyDelete