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Hello Helen, It sounds very interesting to me that you have written your Masters thesis on the GD cipher MSS. It would be great if you could give, in short, some details on what your conclusions on the MSS. are? I am very interested in the GD and the so called “Theosophical Enlightenment” to use J. Godwin’s term. Best Regards, Tim Rudbøg - Copenhagen _____ Fra: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] På vegne af Helen Farley Sendt: 29. marts 2006 09:21 Til: [log in to unmask] Emne: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Golden Dawn Hi Caroline, I did my Masters thesis on the Golden Dawn Cypher MSS. This is the consensus. In 1499, a Benedictine Abbot named Johann Trithemius from Spanheim in Germany wrote the first known book on cryptography. The book, called Polygraphiae et Universelle Escriture Cabalistique, was printed in Latin, but appeared in German and French around 1561. Alas, the Abbot was accused of black magic and all copies of the book that could be found were publicly burned. The cypher used to encrypt the Cypher Manuscript was derived from this book. It was not a cypher in the true sense of the word, but was rather an artificial alphabet originally used by alchemists to conceal their secrets, and was therefore suitably occult. Waite stated that the key to the Cypher Manuscript was readily accessible in the British Museum. He believed that Westcott would be sufficiently familiar with the old literature of occultism and magic to be able to examine any of half a dozen editions of Polygraphiae et Universelle Escriture Cabalistique in order to find the key. Hope that helps! Helen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Tully" < <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask]> To: < <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:10 PM Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Golden Dawn > OK, forget my first question, I know the answer - or an answer - now: The > 'Polygraphiae' of the Abbot Johann Trithemius. Is this the general consensus > for the origins of the ciphers in the GD cipher manuscript then? > > ~Caroline. >