The Cryptogram as a factor in Symbolic Philosophyf

The simplest form is that in which two alphabets are written thus: A B C D E F G H I K L M N Z Y X W U T S R Q P O N M O P Q R S T U W X Y Z L K I H G F E D C B A By substituting the letters of the lower alphabet for their equivalents in the upper one, a meaningless conglomeration results, the hidden message being decoded by reversing the process. There is also a form of the literal cipher in which the actual cryptogram is written in the body of the document, but unimportant words are inserted between important ones according to a prearranged order. The literal cipher also includes what are called acrostic signatures--that is, words written down the column by the use of the first letter of each line and also more complicated acrostics in which the important letters are scattered through entire paragraphs or chapters. The two accompanying alchemical cryptograms illustrate another form of the literal cipher involving the first letter of each word. Every cryptogram based upon the arrangement or combination of the letters of the alphabet is called a literal cipher. 2. The pictorial cipher. Any picture or drawing with other than its obvious meaning may be considered a pictorial cryptogram. Instances of pictorial cipher are frequently found in Egyptian symbolism and early religious art. The diagrams of alchemists and Hermetic philosophers are invariably pictorial ciphers. In addition to the simple pictorial cipher, there is a more technical form in which words or letters are concealed by the number of stones in a wall, by the spread of birds' wings in flight, by ripples on the surface of water, or by the length and order of lines used in shading. Such cryptograms are not obvious, and must be decoded with the aid of an arbitrary measuring scale, the length of the lines determining the letter or word concealed. The shape and proportion of a building, the height of a tower, the number of bars in a window, the folds of a man's garments--even the proportions or attitude of the human body--were used to conceal definite figures or characters which could be exchanged for letters or words by a person acquainted with the code. Initial letters of names were secreted in architectural arches and spans. A notable example of this practice is found on the title page of Montaigue's Essays , third edition, where an initial B is formed by two arches and an F by a broken arch. Pictorial cryptograms are sometimes accompanied by the key necessary for their decipherment. A figure may point toward the starting point of the cipher or carry in its hand some implement disclosing the system of measurement used. There are also frequent instances in which the cryptographer purposely distorted or improperly clothed some figure in his drawing by placing the hat on backwards, the sword on the wrong side, or the shield on the wrong arm, or by employing some similar artifice. The much-discussed fifth finger on the Pope's hand in Raphael's Sistine Madonna and the sixth toe on Joseph's foot in the same artist's Marriage of the Virgin are cunningly concealed cryptograms. AN ALCHEMICAL CRYPTOGRAM. From Brown's History of Chemistry. James Campbell Brown reprints a curious cipher from Kircher. The capital letters of the seven words in the outer circle read clockwise, form the word SVLPHVR. From the words in the second circle, when read in a similar manner, is derived FIXVM. The capitals of the six words in the inner circle, when properly arranged, also read ESTSOL. The following cipher is thus extracted: "Sulphur Fixum Est Sol," which when translated is: "Fixed sulphur is gold." *** 3. The acroamatic cipher. The religious and philosophical writings of all nations abound with acroamatic cryptograms, that is, parables and allegories.