The Cryptogram as a factor in Symbolic Philosophyg

The acroamatic is unique in that the document containing it may be translated or reprinted without affecting the cryptogram. Parables and allegories have been used since remote antiquity to present moral truths in an attractive and understandable manner. The acroamatic cryptogram is a pictorial cipher drawn in words and its symbolism must be so interpreted. The Old and New Testaments of the Jews, the writings of Plato and Aristotle, Homer's Odyssey and Iliad , Virgil's Æneid , The Metamorphosis of Apuleius, and Æsop's Fables are outstanding examples of acroamatic cryptography in which are concealed the deepest and most sublime truths of ancient mystical philosophy. The acroamatic cipher is the most subtle of all, for the parable or allegory is susceptible of several interpretations. Bible students for centuries have been confronted by this difficultly. They are satisfied with the moral interpretation of the parable and forget that each parable and allegory is capable of seven interpretations, of which the seventh--the highest--is complete and all-inclusive, whereas the other six (and lesser) interpretations are fragmentary, revealing but part of the mystery. The creation myths of the world are acroamatic cryptograms, and the deities of the various pantheons are only cryptic characters which, if properly understood, become the constituents of a divine alphabet. The initiated few comprehend the true nature of this alphabet, but the uninitiated many worship the letters of it as gods. AN ALCHEMICAL CRYPTOGRAM. From Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer. Beginning with the word VISITA and reading clockwise, the seven initial letters of the seven words inscribed in the outer circle read: VITRIOL. This is a very simple alchemical enigma, but is a reminder that those studying works on Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, alchemy, and Freemasonry should always be on the lookout for concealed meanings hidden either in Parables and allegories or in cryptic arrangements of numbers, letters, and words. *** 4. The numerical cipher. Many cryptograms have been produced in which numbers in various sequences are substituted for letters, words, or even complete thoughts. The reading of numerical ciphers usually depends upon the possession of specially arranged tables of correspondences. The numerical cryptograms of the Old Testament are so complicated that only a few scholars versed in rabbinical lore have ever sought to unravel their mysteries. In his Œdipus Ægyptiacus , Athanasius Kircher describes several Arabian Qabbalistic theorems, and a great part of the Pythagorean mystery was concealed in a secret method in vogue among Greek mystics of substituting letters for numbers. The most simple numerical cipher is that in which the letters of the alphabet are exchanged for numbers in ordinary sequence. Thus A becomes 1, B 2, C 3, and so on, counting both I and J as 9 and both U and V as 20. The word yes by this system would be written 23-5-18. This cipher can be made more difficult by reversing the alphabet so that Z becomes 1, Y 2, X 3, and so on. By inserting a non-significant, or uncounted, number after each of the significant numbers the cipher is still more effectively concealed, thus: 23-16-5-9-18. A CRYPTIC DEPICTION OF DIVINE AND NATURAL JUSTICE. From Selenus' Cryptomenytices et Cryptographiæ. The first circle portrays the divine antecedents of justice, the second the universal scope of justice, and the third the results of human application of justice.