Rosicrucian and Masonic Messages in Henry IV, Part I

In this post I will show what appear to be Rosicrucian and Masonic messages on pages 52 and 53 of the Histories, Henry IV, Part I, in Shakespeare's First Folio (1623).

 

The reason I am examining these pages is that I saw some images of page 53 on the Internet.  The images showed a "rose crosse" message that I believe was found by Petter Amundsen.  I will just show a portion of his solution here:

As can be seen, the words "rose crosse" fall on two points on a 3-4-5 right triangle.  3-4-5 right triangle is a symbol used in Freemasonry.  

As noted above, I am focusing only a portion of what Mr. Amundsen found due to its significance to what I subsequently discovered (see below).  However, based on what he found, I decided to examine both pages 52 and 53 of the Histories, Henry IV, Part I.  The remainder of this post is my work.  To the best of my knowledge, this is new material that has not been noticed or discussed elsewhere.

The next images show some cipher (gematria) solutions to the "rose crosse" message on page 53.

 

The gematria indicates several solutions pointing to the number 33.  The number 33 is associated with the name "BACON," and Francis Bacon. 1st Viscount St Alban.

The next images show another "Rose crosse" message on page 52 of Henry IV, Part I, that I discovered.

 

Again, the words "Rose" and "crosse" fall within the bounds of a 3-4-5 right triangle.  When the base (side length 3) of the triangle is made to equal the length of the line "So Honor crosse it from North to South," the upper point of the triangle points out the word "Rose."  Therefore, an obvious "Rose Crosse" message is indicated.

 

It is also noteworthy that the word "Rose" falls on the 22nd line from the top of the page, and the word "crosse" falls on the 44th line from the top of the page, such that the message spans 22 lines.  This is consistent with John Anthony's hypothesis that the members of the group who placed messages in the King James version of the bible were known as the "Twice Eleven Brethren." See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWpJNxTcvuxd6JcPTD6fuw

The next images show a possible "Shake-speare" message (actually "shooke Speare").

There may be significance in the fact that the word "shooke" appears on the fourth line from the top of the "Rose crosse" message and the word "Speare" appears on the fourth line from the bottom of the message.  In addition, the "shooke Speare" message spans 17 lines.  Therefore, the message "shooke Speare" is associated with both the number 17 (Edward de Vere's earl number) and the concept of "fourth" (or the "Fourth T, or 40).  As Alexander Waugh has shown, the number 1740 is associated with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.  See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHN7SCKlsa9lPYJmqqQ2uIg

The final image shows a circle of drawn from the word "So" at the beginning of the line  "So Honor crosse it from North to South." This circle also falls on one of the points of the 3-4-5 right triangle.  I call a circle of this radius the "marke vpon him...two courses off" circle.  I have discussed why I used this circle in numerous previous posts.

As can be seen, the circumference of the circle crosses the word "Rose" on the 22nd line of the page.  Therefore, as it so happens, the radius of the circle ("marke vpon him...two courses off" circle) exactly matches the hypotenuse of the 3-4-5 right triangle that marks out the "Rose crosse" message.  

In the margins of the image, I set out my interpretation of some of the words that fall near portions of the circumference of the circle.  I posit that there are messages concerning Edward de Vere as the Triple Tau and that lead to the number he is associated with: 1740.  I also discuss possible references to York Rite Masonry, Royal Arch Masonry, and the Triple Tau (The Grand Emblem of Royal Arch Masonry).  If the "Y" in "York" represents a thorn (the letters "TH"), then the words "York Rite" may, again, encode the idea of R being equal to 17 and the Triple Tau (1740 and Edward de Vere).  Therefore I believe the messages in the First Folio are directly linked to the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons.

That is all for now.

 

 Rose Cross and 1740 Message on Page 149 of the Comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream

In this post, I will show a "Rose Cross" message on page 149 of the Comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Shakespeare's First Folio (1623).

In this post, I will be drawing circles of three different diameters on page 149.  I discovered these circles, or compass settings, on page one of The Tempest.  If you want to know more about how I found these compass settings, please read these posts, especially the first one:

https://hiddenmessagesinshakespeare.blogspot.com/2014/10/post-2-part-1-king-of-sea-messages.html

https://hiddenmessagesinshakespeare.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-miranda-is-hidden-mermaid-part-ii.html

Just to show that I have "nothing up my sleeve," as magicians like to say, here is an image showing the circles drawn on page one of The Tempest:

Unfortunately, page one of The Tempest of The Bodleian First Folio is damaged.  If you want to see a complete page 1, the links provided above have other copies.  The reason I am using The Bodleian First Folio for this post it that its image of page 149 of the Comedies is better that images from other online copies of the First Folio. 

I only use circles of the three diameters shown in the image.  For my posts, I typically use only use the circle shown red, but I sometimes have used the smallest circle, shown in purple.  I have used the largest circle, shown in blue, on only a few occasions.  For this post I will be using all three circles.  I do not use circles of any other diameter (I tried to do this in my first book, but I have not done so since).  I have been sticking with these circles to maintain consistency in my method.  Therefore, I cannot be accused of  drawing circles of any arbitrary size to find things.

In addition to the circles, I will also be using a 3-4-5 right triangle.  This triangle is part of Masonic lore.  In addition, Pythagoras (Pythagorean theorem) is mentioned at least four times in the First Folio.  

In this post, I am starting with lines spoken by Titania and Oberon, the fairy Queen and King, at the top left-hand column of page 149.  I will be focusing on the area of the lines with the words "Rose" and "crosse":   

The nine mens Morris is fild vp with mud,

And the queint Mazes in the wanton greene,

For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable.

The humane mortals want their winter heere,

No night is now with hymne or caroll blest;

Therefore the Moone (the gouernesse of floods)

Pale in her anger, washes all the aire;

That Rheumaticke diseases doe abound.

And through this distemperature, we see

The seasons alter; hoared headed frosts

Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose,

And on old Hyems chinne and Icie crowne,

An odorous Chaplet of sweet Sommer buds

Is as in mockry set. The Spring, the Sommer,

The childing Autumne, angry Winter change

Their wonted Liueries, and the mazed world,

By their increase, now knowes not which is which;

And this same progeny of euills,

Comes from our debate, from our dissention,

We are their parents and originall.

   Ober. Do you amend it then, it lies in you,

Why should Titania crosse her Oberon?

I do but beg a little changeling boy,

To be my Henchman.

The next image shows a 3-4-5 right triangle on the page with the side that is 3 units long placed below, and of equivalent length to, the words "Titania crosse her Oberon":

As can be seen, at the top of the triangle, at the point where it crosses the word "Rose," letters that spell "crosse" cross through the word "Rose."  

At the base of the triangle, I placed the letter "T" and the letter "O" together to create an ankh, or key of life, symbol.  I am not sure if this is warranted, but the Rosicrucians do use an ankh as a symbol.

There is also a letter alignment that spells "Tudor" 

(with a bit of letter unscrambling) moving upward along the hypotenuse of the triangle from the letter "T" in "Titania."  There are also letters further up the hypotenuse that can be slightly rearranged to construct "king edward," and this message may be present: "Tudor] parents debate [?] [Tudor] progeny [and] king edward [VI] angry."  The "Tudor" parents debate is difficult to resolve, but it could be a reference to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, Catherine Parr (when she was alive), and other people acting as guardians of the Tudor children.  These messages would be describing an internal debate and reactions within the regime concerning Elizabeth becoming pregnant with Thomas Seymour's child (see below).

In the image above, two small circles are drawn, one is centered on the "T" in "Titania" and the other is centered on the "O" in "Oberon."  The circles are also shown in the image of page 1 of The Tempest (above).  I call this the "marke vpon him" compass setting.

As can be seen, the circumferences of the circles intersect at the top at the line "fall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose."  This is also the line that was pointed-out by the 3-4-5 triangle.  At the bottom, the circles intersect at the line "And grow big bellied with the wanton winde."  This line is about the image of sails filling with wind, but it also alludes to a pregnant woman growing big with child.  The three lines that follow make the connection even more clearly.  I believe these lines are veiled suggestions of Queen Elizabeth (then a princess) becoming pregnant by Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Lord High Admiral.

The right-hand circle also falls on a "BACon" along the left-hand side of left-hand column.  I is not highlighted in the image, but it looks like this:

B

An

Co

This might indicate Francis Bacon's involvement in these messages.  There may be a message along the circumference, going upward from the "BACon,"  which may be something to the effect of "[Edward de Vere and Francis] Bacon are the 'parents' of the 'mockery' and 'childing' about [Thomas] 'Seymour' [in the hidden messages]."  A possible "Seymour" letter alignment can be seen at the words "mockery," "odorous,"  "Chaplet," and "Hyems" that might spell "C-mour" or "seymour." 

What is most noteworthy is that a portion of the circle on the right marks out letters that spell "elisa (and son) beth."  This letter alignment symbolizes Princess Elizabeth pregnant with a son.  This message is consistent with what is described by Titania in the scene -- a "Votress of my Order" pregnant with child.

In the image above, a circle, in red, centered on the "R" in "Rose" and a circle, in blue, centered on the word "crosse" are placed on the image.  The red circle is what I refer to as the "marke vpon him...two courses off" circle, and the blue circle what I refer to as the "marke vpon him...three courses off" circle.  Both circles are shown in the image of page 1 of The Tempest (see above).

As can be seen, the circumferences of the circles intersect at the word "forty" in the right-hand column.  The letter "R" has a simple gematria value of 17  (Elizabethan alphabet).  Combining the number 17 with the number 40 creates the number 1740.  Mr. Alexander Waugh has linked this number with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and the "Fourth T" (the hidden fourth T in the triple tau cross).

Near the lower part of the circle the circumference touches the line "Since once I sat upon a promontory."  This line is the beginning of Oberon's story of the mermaid riding on a dolphins back singing to calm the sea.  I discussed this story and the hidden messages about Thomas Seymour contained in it in my last post.

Considering all of what has been shown, Edward de Vere, known as "1740" (the Fourth T) is being linked to the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross and possibly the secret pregnancy of Queen Elizabeth by Thomas Seymour, suggesting Edward de Vere was her illegitimate son -- a hidden changeling boy, just as mentioned in the play on page 149.

That is all for now.

Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon Message: The Minds that made the Brotherhood of the Rose Crosse

 Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon Message: 

The Minds That Made 

the Brotherhood of the Rose Crosse

This is a short post showing a self-explanatory hidden message on page 266 of Hamlet.

The message is:

The Brotherhood of the Rose Crosse, from the

Noble Minds and Brains of

Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon.

Update: I have been contacted by my colleagues, Owen Sixpence and his brother, B. Holden Sixpence, and they spotted another 1740 solution associated with the word "Brains."  The new solution is marked in green.  B. Holden Sixpence spotted the line "For the demand of our neglected Tribute," and noticed that a line drawn from the letter "F," at the beginning the line, through the letter "B" in the word "Brains" intersects the letter "R" in the word "Reuennew" in the last line of the right-hand column.  Note that the line in which the word "Brains" appears is the 17th line from the bottom of the page. 

Owen Sixpence noticed the letters spelling "For th...T" in the line "For the demand of our neglected Tribute," and the letters "T" and the "H" at the beginning of the lines immediately above and below the line.  The letters "T" and the "H" are the first letters in the words Templum Hierosolym and, when placed together, form a triple tau symbol.  

The triple tau is made of three letter T's, and also contains a "hidden" upside-down cross of St. Peter.  Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is called the "Fourth T" (or "Forty") in the hidden messages.  Thus, the number 1740 is a code number identifying Edward de Vere.  The number 1740 is made from the number in Edward de Vere's title (17) and the number 40 (from the triple tau forth T (forty)).

There is also a "For...T" in the letters beginning the last two lines of the right-hand column.

All of the things noted by the Sixpence brothers indicates another set clues that reveal another set of  "1740" messages.  Furthermore, their "F" to "R" solution (shown in green) in the spelling of "Francis" seems to be better than the "F" to "R" solution, shown in blue, that I initially though was correct.  Well done!

Believe me, there is a lot more crammed into this page, so stay tuned.

Update 2:  I should point out something on the circle in the lower left of the image that spells BACON.  When the "O" in "Ophelia" is reached, the line at that point is "How now Ophelia?".  As the circle is followed counterclockwise, the circle runs into letters that spell the words "how" and "now" just before the capital letter "N" is reached.  The beginning of the lines look like this:

Nor what...

Was not...

O're...

Nor what...

Was not...

O're...

So there is a "how now" clue pointing out the letter "N" as the correct letter to follow the letter "O" in the spelling of "BACON."

The line "He shall with speed to England" could be a clue too.  The letter "E" (England) is the fifth letter of the alphabet.  The letter "N" is the fifth letter in the name "BACON."   The capital letter "N," beginning the line "Nor what he spake...", is the fifth capital letter from the capital letter "E" in "England," counting nearby capital letters encountered going counterclockwise around the purple "BACON" circle from the "E" (There's (1), Madness (2) [in?], His (3), Love (4), Nor (5)). The word "he" is also encountered in the line with the capital letter "N" by following the purple circle counterclockwise from the "E" in "England" ("He shall speed..." to "Nor what he spake...").

Why Miranda is a Hidden Mermaid. Part II

This is Part II of Why Miranda is a Hidden Mermaid (Sea-maid, Sea-mayd, Sea-made, Sea-nymph, Nymph o’th’ Sea, Water Nymph, etc.). 

In this part, hidden messages that are revealed with a compass will be presented.  The Square and the Compass (or, more correctly, a square and a set of compasses joined together) is a symbol of Freemasonry.  Because the messages hidden in Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) were placed there by Freemasons (or Rosicrucians), with Francis Bacon, 1^st Viscount St Alban, as their leader, or one of their leaders, it is appropriate to use a compass to reveal messages.

As I have previously explained, I use compass settings that I found using the text of page 1 of The Tempest.  (For background on the initial discovery of these compass settings, see this post: https://hiddenmessagesinshakespeare.blogspot.com/2014/10/post-2-part-1-king-of-sea-messages.html.) 

There are at least three compass settings that can be found on page 1 of The Tempest.  I am still experimenting with these settings, but  I have found that the second compass setting, the one I call the “marke vpon him…two courses off” compass setting, is the most useful to find hidden messages in the First Folio.   I use this setting almost exclusively.  The first compass setting, the “marke vpon him” setting, is also useful, but as I explained, I am still experimenting with it.  I do not use the third setting very much, and it seems the least useful, at least at this point.  The three settings are shown below.  The “marke vpon him” setting is shown in purple, the “marke vpon him…two courses off” setting is shown in red, and the “marke vpon him…three courses off” setting is shown in blue:

In this discussion, I will only be using the “marke vpon him…two courses off” compass setting.

As shown in Part I of Why Miranda is a Hidden Mermaid, on page 4 of The Tempest, Prospero commands Ariel, his spirit-helper, to take the form of a “Nymph o'th' Sea”:

 

     Pro. Goe make thy selfe like a Nymph o'th' Sea,

Be subiect to no sight but thine, and mine: inuisible

To euery eye-ball else: goe take this shape

And hither come in't: goe: hence

                                                   With diligence. Exit.

 

(Bold and underline added.)

 In the first line, the first word spoken by Prospero is “go,” which is capitalized, and the last word is of the line is “sea.” The word “go” spoken three times in all.  Thus, the idea “go to sea” is emphasized three times by repetition.

Also in Part I, the letters “G” and “C” (from the word “sea”) in the line “Goe make thy selfe like a Nymph o'th' Sea,” page 4 of The Tempest, were converted into a page number using a simple cipher. The simple cipher of the letter “G” is seven (G = 7), and the value of the letter “C,” which sounds like the word “sea,” is three (C = 3).  Thus, the number 73 can be obtained by combining these numerals.

Page number 73 of the Comedies section of the First Folio is a page from Measure for Measure.  In the right-hand column of the page, the following lines mentioning a “sea-maid” appear:

 

      Luc. Yes in good sooth, the vice is of a great kindred;

it is vvell allied, but it is impossible to extirpe it quite,

Frier, till eating and drinking be put downe. They say

this Angelo vvas not made by Man and Woman, after

this downe-right vvay of Creation: is it true, thinke

you?

      Duke. How should he be made then?

(Line 27)         Luc. Some report, a Sea-maid spawn'd him. Some,

that he vvas begot betweene two Stock-fishes. But it

is certaine, that when he makes water, his Vrine is con-

geal'd ice, that I know to bee true: and he is a motion

generatiue, that's infallible.

 (Bold and underline added.)

On page 73 of Measure for Measure, the word “sea-maid” appears in the 27^th line from the top of the page.  Coincidentally, is exactly the line of page 5 of The Tempest where Miranda responds to Ferdinand’s request “If you be Mayd, or no?” by replying that she is “No wonder Sir, But certainly a Mayd”:

                                                               …my prime request

               (Which I do last pronounce) is (O you wonder)

               If you be Mayd, or no?

                    Mir. No wonder Sir,

(Line 27)   But certainly a Mayd.

                    Fer. My Language? Heauens:

               I am the best of them that speake this speech,

                Were I but where 'tis spoken.

 (Bold and underline added.)

Another noteworthy feature of page 73 of Measure for Measure is that, in the left-hand column, directly across from the line with the word “sea-maid,” these lines appear:

 

      Elb. His necke will come to your wast, a Cord sir.

      Clo. I spy comfort, I cry baile: Here's a Gentleman,

and a friend of mine.

 (Bold added.)

These lines are interesting because the letters “G” and “C” are capitalized and are very near to each other.  The letters “G” and “C,” 73 in simple cipher, are the letters from the line in “Goe make thy selfe like a Nymph o'th' Sea,” which led to the examination of page 73 of Measure for Measure.

With that explained, it is time to examine page 73 of Measure for Measure with a compass.

As shown in Part I, the words “go to sea” (i.e., “G” “C”, 73) on page 4 of The Tempest are instructions to examine page 73 of Measure for Measure.  The word “go” or “goe” appears four times in the left-hand column of page 73 of Measure for Measure.  The word “going” appears once on page 73, in the left-hand column.   The word “goe” appears twice, in the same line, in the right-hand column of page 73 of Measure for Measure.

When three circles are drawn, based on the “marke vpon him…two courses off” compass setting, with their centers at three of the instances of the word “go” in the left-hand column, the circumferences of the three circles cross at the word “maid” in “Sea-maid”:

When circles are drawn from the remaining words “go” and “going” in the left-hand column, the circumferences of these circles cross at the word “Stock-fishes,” in the line “Some, that he vvas begot by two Stock-fishes.”  The circle drawn from the word “going” also crosses a capital letter “C”, in the word “Creation,” and the word “made,” twice.  This creates the word “C-made” (i.e., sea-maid).  The word “Creation appears in these lines:

                                                                        …They say

this Angelo vvas not made by Man and Woman, after

this downe-right vvay of Creation: is it true, thinke

you?

     Duke. How should he be made then?

     Luc. Some report, a Sea-maid spawn'd him.

 (Green and bold highlight added.)

The substitution of the word “made” for the word “maid” is implied by the compass result and the text of the scene because there is a play on the word “made” and “maid.”  As will be shown later, the significance of the substitution of the word “made” for “maid” is an important clue for the use of the compass on page 4 and 5 of The Tempest.

The last two instances of the word “go” appear in the right-hand column.  The circles drawn from these words cross at the word “infallible” in the line “and he is a motion generatiue, that’s infallible.”  According to the site *Sparknotes, No Fear Shakespeare, this is supposed to mean “And he’s an impotent puppet—that’s certain.”  What significance this might have is unclear.  (Alexander Waugh has posited that Edward de Vere became a Templar and took a vow of chastity, so perhaps this line alludes to that fact.) 

The circumferences of the circles also cross other words nearby, like “ice,” “urine,” and “stock-fishes” (and fall close to the word “water”).   These are all consistent with the water/sea-maid theme.  The circumferences also fall on, or near, other words like “true” (Edward de Vere’s motto was vero nihil verius (nothing truer than truth)), and “certaine” (this is interesting because Miranda says on page 5 of The Tempest that she is “certainly a Mayd”).

What has been shown thus far in this part is consistent with Edward de Vere, 17^th Earl of Oxford, being the illegitimate son of Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Lord High Admiral, and Elizabeth I.  In the hidden messages, both Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth are creatures of the sea.  Thomas Seymour is like Neptune, the King of the Sea, and Elizabeth is like a sea-nymph, a sea-maid or shipmaster’s maid (because she is the love interest of Thomas Seymour).  Thus, Edward de Vere is metaphorically the offspring of a sea-maid and Neptune, the King of the Sea, and, in this sense, he is like the character Caliban in The Tempest.

The messages on page 73 of Measure for Measure confirm other messages I have found and shown in my books.  In particular, the messages on page 73 confirm messages found on page 11 of The Tempest, page 30 of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and page 30 of Richard II.

Before leaving page 73 of Measure for Measure, a circle will be drawn from the word “Sea-maid.”  The circumference crosses the following words:

 

'Tis a secret must bee lockt with-

in the teeth and the lippes….

 

The message here is that Edward de Vere real parentage— that he was the illegitimate son of Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Lord High Admiral, and Elizabeth I— was a state secret.

This concludes Part II.