CONTENTS

ACPOTNMTHEBNVTJSD
Published by Weldon Owen Inc.
415 Jackson Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.weldonowen.com INTRODUCTION BY
PAUL LUNDE 8
Weldon Owen inc.
Executive Chairman, Weldon Owen Group John Owen
CEO and President Terry Newell
VP, Sales and New Business Development Amy Kaneko
Senior VP, International Sales Stuart Laurence

VP and Publisher Roger Shaw

Assistant Editor Sarah Gurman

VP and Creative Director Gaye Allen

01 02 03 04 05
Art Director Tina Vaughan THE FIRST CODES SECTS, SYMBOLS, AND CODES FOR SECRECY COMMUNICATING CODES OF WAR
SECRET SOCIETIES AT DISTANCE
Production Director Chris Hemesath Reading the Landscape 12 The Art of Concealment 64 Classical Codes of War 102
Production Manager Michelle Duggan Early Christians 42 Long-Distance Alarms 90
Tracking Animals 14 For Your Eyes Only 66 The ‘Indecipherable’
Color Manager Teri Bell
The Pentangle 44 Flag Signals 92 Code 104
Bushcraft Signs 16 Frequency Analysis 68
Conceived and produced for Weldon Owen Inc. by Heritage Editorial Divination 46 Semaphore and the The Great Cipher 106
Editorial Direction Andrew Heritage, Ailsa C.Heritage Early Petroglyphs 18 Disguising Ciphers 70
Telegraph 94
Senior Designers Philippa Baile at Oil Often, Mark Johnson Davies Heresies, Sects, and Cults 48 19th-Century
First Writing Systems 20 Medieval Cipher Systems 72
Additional Design Bounford.com Morse Code 96 Innovations 108
Rosslyn Chapel 50
Illustrators Andy Crisp, Philippa Baile at Oil Often, David Ashby, Reading Cuneiform 22 The Babington Plot 74
Mark Johnson Davies, Peter Bull Art Studio Person to Person 98 Military Map Codes 110
Alchemy 52
Alphabets and Scripts 24 The Da Vinci Code? 76
Picture Research Louise Thomas, cashou.com Field Signals 112
DTP Manager Mark Bracey Kabbalism 54
The Evolution of Ciphertexts and Keys 78
The Zimmermann
Numerical Systems 26 Necromancy 56
Consultant editors Grilles 80 Telegram 114
Dr. Frank Albo MA, MPhil., Linear A and Linear B 28 Rosicrucians 58
Spies and Black Chambers 82 Enigma: The
Ph.D. candidate History of Art, University of Cambridge
The Phaistos Disc 30 Freemasons 60 ‘Unbreakable’ System 116
Trevor Bounford Mechanical Devices 84
Anne D. Holden Ph.D. (Cantab.), The Mystery of Hieroglyphs 32
23andMe Inc., San Francisco, CA Hidden in Plain Sight 86 WW II Codes and
D.W.M. Kerr BSc. (Cantab.) Hieroglyphs Revealed 34 Code Breakers 118
Richard Mason
The Riddle of the Maya 36 Cracking Enigma 120
Tim Streater BSc.
Elizabeth Wyse BA (Cantab.) Indigenous Traditions 38 Navajo Windtalkers 122

A Weldon Owen production Cold War Codes 124

© 2009 Weldon Owen Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction

in whole or in part in any form.

Cataloging-in-Publication data for this title is on file

with the Library of Congress
isbn 978-0-520-26013-9 (cloth : alk. paper)

Manufactured in China

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ACPOTNMTHEBNVTJSD DSJTVNBEHTMNTOPC
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
CODES OF THE ENCODING THE CODES OF CODES OF CODES OF HUMAN VISUAL CODES IMAGINARY CODES THE DIGITAL AGE
UNDERWORLD WORLD CIVILIZATION COMMERCE BEHAVIOR
Signs and Signage 238 Modern Magic The First Computers 268
Street Slangs 128 Describing Time 152 Codes of Construction 178 Commercial Codes 204 Body Language 218 and Mayhem 254
Highway Codes 240 Supercomputers 270
From Samurai to Yakuza 130 Describing Form 154 Taoist Mysticism 180 Brands and Trademarks 206 Survival Signals 220 The Bible Code 256
Challenged Talking to Computers 272
Cockney Rhyming Slang 132 Force and Motion 156 South Asian Sacred Makers’ Marks 208 Sporting Codes 222 Communication 242 The Beale Papers 258
Alice, Bob, and Eve 274
Imagery 182
The Mob 134 Mathematics: Codes of Work 210 Etiquette 224 Describing Music 244 Mystery and Imagination 260
Future Medicine 276
The Indescribable 158 The Language of
Ramblers’ Sign Currency and Dressing Your Message 226 Musical Scores 246 Fantasy Codes 262
Buddhism 184 Where Are Codes
Language 136 The Periodic Table 160 Counterfeits 212
Heraldry 228 Animal Talk 248 Doomsday Codes 264 Taking Us? 278
The Patterns of Islam 186
Cops and Codes 138 Defining the World 162 The Book in Your
Formal Dress Codes 230 Extraterrestrials 250
Mysteries of the North 188 Hands 214
The Zodiac Mystery 140 Encoding the Landscape 164
Decoding the GLOSSARY 280
Medieval Visual
The Zodiac Legacy 142 Navigation 166 Unconscious 232
Sermons 190 INDEX 281
Graffiti 144 Taxonomy 168 The Language
Stained Glass Windows 192 PUBLISHER’S
of Dreams 234
Youth Codes 146 The Genetic Code 170 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 287
Renaissance
Digital Subversion 148 Genetic Ancestry 172 Iconography 194 PICTURE
Using the Genetic Code 174 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 288
The Age of Reason 196

Victoriana 198

Textiles, Carpets,
and Embroidery 200
 THE FIRST CODES BUSHCRAFT SIGNS

BUSHCRAFT SIGNS Military signs

In combat or search-and-find situations, silent
communication in the field can be a matter of life or
Penan twig codes
The Penan hunter-gatherers of
Sarawak, Borneo still use an
ancient field message system
A lthough there are various theories about how and when the first spoken
languages evolved, little is truly known, although we live today with the
‘Tower of Babel’ legacy. What is more clear was the necessity among migrant
Water in this direction Turn (left or right) This way Not this way
death. The US military uses a system of hand and
body signaling which closely resembles that used by
other armed forces, and is designed to communicate
key information to fellow soldiers, and to potential
involving cut twigs. suspects who might not speak English.
hunting groups for a sophisticated means of silent communication, involving
hand signals and body language while stalking, and the ability to provide signals
and instructions to others from the same group or tribe concerning their
Indicates direction Must follow movements. We can find examples of these among many primitive cultures the This way over obstacle Party split up Message this way Gone home
to follow
world over today, and some have been adopted and adapted by modern hunters, 1 2 3 4 5
Field information signs
armies, and organizations like the Scouts. While many hunting and gathering groups by colonial military troops, and latterly by
Hurry up Long way
such as the San Bushmen of the Kalahari the Scouts movement. These are designed
Desert and the Penan of Borneo (opposite) to provide information for other people or
developed their own, unique bushcraft groups in the field, and are closely linked to
signals and ways of leaving messages, it was the vocabulary of modern survival signs (see 6 7 8 9 10
from encounters with these systems that page 220). These signs may be drawn in the
Be there in No food, but an internationally recognized vocabulary sand or earth, or constructed from available
three days in good mood of bushcraft signs was developed, initially materials such as sticks or boulders.

Freeze Come Go ahead

Be warned, do
not follow us

File formation Cover Crouch

Shadow Wolves
Bushcraft skills are still important today. An elite
US police unit, the Shadow Wolves, composed of
Native Americans from a number of peoples including
the Navajo and Blackfoot, use traditional tracking
techniques to hunt down drug traffickers along the
Indian signs US/Mexican border. They have impounded over
One of the most comprehensive 45,000 pounds (20,412 kg) of marijuana since
systems of signs used whilst 1972, and have traveled to Central Asia and Eastern
stalking game known to us today Europe to teach tracking skills to local police officers.
Antelope Bad Bear alive Bear dead
was developed by the Plains
Indians. These involved both
complex body language and hand
Beaver in signs, and images that could
his house Bird track Black deer Headless bodies be drawn (left). In addition,
the Plains Indians developed
a complex signing language
which allowed them to overcome
Canoe and
Bow and arrow Brothers Indian camp warriors the language barrier between
tribes (also achieved among the
Aboriginal tribes of Australia’s
Western Desert), and also acted
Cloud Cold and snow Day Death as a primal form of signing for US military personnel learned
deaf people (see page 242). Native American hand sign language.

16
 THE FIRST CODES ALPHABETS AND SCRIPTS

Alphabets and Scripts Syllabic alphabets and syllabaries Chinese script

The letters of a syllabic alphabet normally First appearing as a fully
indicate consonants plus vowels by modifying developed script on oracle

a e(i) u
T he earliest consonantal alphabet was written in cuneiform in the city of
Ugarit on the Syrian coast c. 1400 bc, but the order of the signs suggests
that it was influenced by an alphabet similar to the somewhat later Phoenician,
the shape of the consonant letter, or by
adding diacritics, or both. These alphabets
are richly represented in the many complex
scripts of the Indian subcontinent. The
pa pa- pi
-
pi
bones from c.1200 bc,
Chinese has developed
over the centuries using
four fundamental types
Bhahmi script is the oldest (c.300 bc), and of character: pictographs,
the earliest example of which dates to 1000 bc. The latter was spread throughout the Devanagari (right) is the most widespread. visual representations of
objects; differentiated
b g d the Mediterranean by Phoenician traders. The Greeks perfected the system A true syllabary, with a separate sign for
pu pu- pr
-
pr characters, not pictorial,
each possible combination of consonant and
by adding signs for vowels, while to the east, in India and Southeast Asia, vowel, would have several hundred characters. used for various relational
and abstract ideas;
h chu z syllabic alphabets, possibly inspired by Aramaic letter forms, were brought to an Syllabic alphabets instead modify the shapes
associative pictographic
of the letters depending on which vowel
extraordinary degree of phonetic perfection. Curiously, Akkadian cuneiform and follows or precedes it. Japanese Hiragana ppa pta pra compounds, made up of
two semantic elements Writing Chinese requires
ha kh th
Egyptian hieroglyphics continued to be written in the and Katakana, and the Korean Han’gul script
– two graphic components knowledge of a huge
(below), are examples, and such syllabic Devanagari script An example of an abugida whose meanings taken number of characters.
traditional way for 1,000 years after the invention of alphabets are used to write Inuit and other showing how a single consonant sign is together suggest another
this much simpler way of writing. North American Indian languages. adapted to show its syllabic values. word; and phonetic compounds drawn from either
y k l semantic or phonetic signs which, when combined,
indicate pronunciation and meaning. The latter
are used for some 90% of modern Chinese writing.
m n s Abjads and abugidas Chinese today comprises some 60,000 characters,
Ugaritic was closely related to Phoenician, Canaanite, and k/g kh n t/j th l/r m p/b pp although less than 4,000 are normally used.
Aramaic, as well as to Hebrew. Such Semitic alphabets,
consisting solely of consonants, are today called ‘abjads,’
ss c zha

Differentiated
after the first three letters, aleph, beth, and gimel, the sign for

Pictographic
s ss ng ch/j tch cha kh t p h

Pictograph

compound

compound
characters
aleph representing not the vowel ‘a,’ but a glottal stop. Almost

Phonetic
all scripts used for Semitic languages are abjads. Scripts like
p sha zh
Ethiopic, which developed from the South Arabian abjad, but
modified the shapes of the letters to indicate following vowels, Upwards, Sunset,
are known as abugidas (see Devanagari, opposite). Most Indian Horse rising ending Willow
q r sho and many Southeast Asian scripts are of this type. a ae ja jae aa e jaa je o wa wae
The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet (below), but c.1200 bc
although well adapted to writing Semitic languages, a consonantal for divination
zhu t tt script was clearly inadequate for a vowel-rich language like Greek.
Signs that represented Semitic sounds not present in Greek were we jo u waa we wi ju iu wui i
c.1500 bc
Ugaritic remains the earliest assigned vocalic values, and after much regional experimentation, for religious
known alphabet. Dating from the first ‘true alphabet,’ in which every sound of the language purposes
The Korean Han’gul script is an elegant
c.1400 bc, it was written in could be represented by a single sign, was formed. The Greek syllabary, in which the consonants and vowel
cuneiform. It originally comprised versions of the Phoenician names of the first two letters of the sounds are treated separately, the vowel sounds 221 bc for
22 consonants, but grew to 30. Greek alphabet, alpha and beta, give us our word for ‘alphabet.’ acting as modifiers to the consonants. proclamations
or names
Knowing your Ps and Qs
The Roman alphabet was used not only c.200 bc for
The Roman alphabet, which forms the basis throughout the western empire, but was official texts
of the modern Western writing system, first carried much further by Christian missionaries or literature
het zayin waw he dalet gimel bet ’alef appeared in inscriptions in the 6th century in succeeding centuries, which explains its
ha z w h d g b ’ bc, and was probably derived from Etruscan. modern predominance. In the Orthodox east, c.ad 200 for
Originally it comprised only 21 letters, ‘V’ Greek was still used; a new alphabet was official texts
standing for both the sounds ‘V’ and ‘U’ and developed by Byzantine missionaries in the 9th or literature
‘I’ standing for both ‘I’ and ‘J.’ ‘U’ was not century which combined features of both Latin
distinguished from ‘V’ graphically until the and Greek, adapted to translate the scriptures c.ad 1400 for
samek nun mem lamed kaf yod tet into Old Church Slavonic. Its use was spread general use
10th century, and ‘W’ – originally two V’s
s n m l k y t by Saints Cyril and Methodius who led missions
written side by side – did not appear until
into eastern Europe and Russia, and where it
substantially later. ‘J’ was finally assigned its
took root and became known as Cyrillic (right). 1956 for
own graphic form in the 15th century. Italian Its 33 letters lend themselves to Slavonic vowel general use
still rejects ‘K’ for a hard ‘C,’ preferring sounds, and it is currently used to write some
taw śin/šin reš qof sade pe ‘ayin the digraph ‘CH.’ Special letter forms and 50 Central Asian languages across the former c.ad 200, for
t š r q s p ‘ diacritics have been adopted for certain Soviet Union. drafts, notes,
sounds in Scandinavian and some Central and letters
European languages, as well as Turkish.

24 25
 THE FIRST CODES INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS

INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS Adinkra

The Akan of Ghana in Africa have an elaborate traditional
Adinkrehene
Chief of adinkra
Gateways to nowhere
Most monumental architecture
system of symbols – adinkra – which are not only linked to symbols: – even for religious, ceremonial, or

T
greatness, leadership.
Totemic imagery here are today thousands of ‘lost’ cultures, many highly their proverbs, songs, and stories but also serve to affirm social entombment and memorial purposes
The style of totem carving identity and political views. They are universally recognized by – has a strong functional element,
varies among the Haida,
sophisticated, with rich traditions, rituals, and myths, with equally the Akan, and have been for many centuries, but to outsiders Denkyem in addition to its symbolic qualities.
Tlingit, Kwakiutl, and other complex means of expressing and commemorating them. they appear simply as decorative motifs. The choice of design is Crocodile: A singular exception is the stylized
Northwestern and Coastal therefore an intensely personal statement available even to those adaptability. wooden Japanese O-torii portal (below),
First Nations, and the style of Many oral traditions in the Americas, Africa, and Australasia who are illiterate. Adinkra appear in wood, paint, and metal, but sometimes set as entrances to temples
or shrines, which serve to divide the
decoration and iconography have been eroded by the relentless rise of globalization. However, since the Akan are very much a textile culture, they are most
sacred from the profane world. Often
appears on all sorts of prominent in cloth – for example, the handwoven kente or the Duafe
artifacts: house poles, screens, there remain some enigmatic fragments through which, like Mayan block-printed adinkra or ‘proverb’ cloths. Over 700 symbols with Wooden comb: freestanding, giving on to nothingness –
chests, and canoes, and beauty, femininity, as is appropriate for Shinto, essentially
was also used for identifying
glyphic writing (see page 36), a rich but lost past can at least be glimpsed. their associations have now been cataloged. Some adinkra are
a nature cult – they are also arranged
traditional – a wooden comb for beauty and feminine qualities hygiene.
tattoos among some groups. along paths leading to a shrine.
– while others have taken on modern meanings, wealth symbols
The symbolic system was No one knows the origin of the word
now standing for a BMW or a television. For example, the symbol Dwennimmen
coherent. The universe was A lost heritage – perhaps ‘perching place for birds’ –
of the cocoa tree, introduced in the 19th century, and Ghana’s Ram’s horns: but torii are traditionally made in three
perceived as a house and the Totem poles are a striking feature of Pacific Northwest principal cash crop, does not simply refer to the plant or to strength, humility. pieces, three being the number sacred
house itself a reflection of indigenous peoples, and are found from southern Alaska to chocolate, but also to its social effects, bitterly expressed in the to the kami or gods. Before passing
the cosmos. For example, the northern Washington State. The word ‘totem’ is derived from proverb: ‘kookoo see abusua, paepae mogya mu’ – ‘cocoa ruins through the gateway it is traditional to
different parts of the house Ojibwa or a related language, and means ‘kinship group.’ One of the family, and divides blood relations.’ Again, a pattern which a Ese Ne Tekrema purify oneself by washing at the place
mirrored the human body: the principal functions of the totem pole was to record family and European might ‘read’ as a daisy, a generic flower, or the sun is a The teeth and the provided – temizu – and then to bow
clan legends, lineages, and notable events. When they were created symbol implying unequal opportunity, linked to the proverb: ‘All tongue: and clap three times, asking permission
Front posts Arm bones
they could be ‘read’ by the members of the clan or family that The designs of
Rear posts Leg bones the peppers on the same tree do not ripen simultaneously.’   friendship. to enter the sacred realm. Walking
erected them, but as they decayed their meaning was usually lost. the figures on
Longitudinal toward the shrine, the center of the
Their message could simply be to proclaim the successes of a family totem poles were
beams Backbone path – seichu – should be avoided, for
specific to each Funtunfunefu
Rafters Ribs or individual, commemorate a notable potlatch ceremony, or tell a that is the walking place of the spirits.
clan, although there Denkyemfunefu
Cladding Skin legendary or historical story. ‘Shame’ poles were erected as symbolic These enigmatic gateways are rebuilt on
were some, like Crocodiles:
Decoration Tattoos reminders of unpaid debts, quarrels, murders, and other shameful the Thunderbird a regular cycle, but of their origin little
democracy, universality.
events that could not be publicly discussed. One such pole was surmounting this is known.
The inhabitants represented recently erected in Cordova, Alaska depicting the upside-down head pole, that were
both the spirit of the house of Exxon ex-CEO Lee Raymond. Hwemudua
common throughout
itself and the spirit of their The carvings would represent the crest of the person or clan the area. Measuring stick:
ancestors. inspection, quality
concerned, indicating their moiety – Eagle or Raven – and their
control.
lineage. The Haida alone, for example, had some 70 crest figures,
of which only about 20 were in common use. The following groups of
animals are frequently associated with the Eagle or Raven moieties: Mpatapo
Knot of
Eagle Raven reconciliation:
Fish Skate peacemaking.
Amphibians, such as frogs Sea mammals
Beaver (considered amphibian) Land mammals (except beaver)
Owo Foro Adobe
Snake climing a raffia
tree:
diligence, prudence.

Owuo Atwedee
The ladder of
death:
mortality.

Woforo Dua Pa A
When you climb a
Typically carved of red cedar, good tree:
totem poles usually did not cooperation, support.
survive in the rain forest climate
for longer than a century, and
their original meaning was lost
as they decayed.

38 39
 SECTS, SYMBOLS, AND SECRET SOCIETIES EARLY CHRISTIANS

Early Christians Doves and peacocks

Two further symbols
were rooted in the
The chrismon
The cross was often disguised as the chrismon, or
Christ’s monogram: the two Greek letters chi rho. On

C hristianity in its early years was – literally – an underground sect. Under

Rome, it could not declare itself openly, and its adherents adopted secret
symbols to express their faith but avoid persecution by the authorities. Many of
Classical tradition. To
the pagan world, the
dove was associated with
Aphrodite, but for the
October 27, 312 these letters changed the Roman world
for ever. Two contestants for the Empire, Constantine and
Maxentius, were preparing to confront each other at the
Milvian Bridge, near Rome. The night before the battle,
Christians it represented Constantine had a vision of the chi rho blazing against
these coded messages come from funerary remains, especially in catacombs, in the Holy Spirit, a pair the sky and a voice saying to him “in hoc signo vinces”
Rome and elsewhere, and from Christian secret places of meeting and worship. representing conjugal – in this sign thou shalt conquer. Christians in the army
love, sometimes drinking told him that it was the emblem of their Redeemer and
The faith of the Christian dead was to be declared, but not in such a way that the water of life from symbolic of the triumph of life over death. Constantine
The crucifix their friends and families would be punished. The cross, now the universally a fountain, while one had the chi rho painted on his helmet, his soldiers’
The first representation bearing an olive branch shields, and his battle standard. The pagan army had no
of the crucifixion may be
recognized symbol of Christianity, was, however, little used unless disguised. was one of the earliest idea what it meant. Constantine’s victory was decisive,
the satirical ‘Alexamenos At a time of relentless persecution, it was too dangerous. The first Christians symbols of reconciliation and from this date Rome turned towards Christianity. The
graffito,’ found in the and peace. Pagans wreath surrounding the chi rho is of palm or bay leaves
remains of a boarding within the Roman empire developed a number of secret signs and symbols, believed peacock’s flesh forming a Roman crown of victory. For Christians, this
school on the Palatine Hill often related to pagan traditions, to identify themselves and each other. These to be incorruptible, and came to represent the crown of martyrdom.
in Rome. Christ is shown for Christians this was
on the cross with an ass’s coded messages were fundamental in maintaining the community of belief transmuted to represent
head with a Christian youth
praying, and the Greek
among members of the early church for several centuries. immortality and the
Resurrection.
inscription: “Alexamenos
worships (his) God.” It has
been dated between the
Bread and wine
1st and 3rd centuries ad. Grain and grapes were symbols of
The cross was thus clearly abundance and joy all across the Roman
identified with Christianity world, where they were dedicated to Demeter,
at a very early date, but The disguised cross the goddess of the harvest, and Dionysius,
only emerged as the central The cross was represented by an anchor, a symbol of the god of wine. The Christians transmuted
symbol of the faith in the safety and coming to rest after the storms of life, or them into their central mystery – the
5th century. sometimes as a trident; the sword as a symbol of the Eucharist, the bread symbolizing the body
cross was adopted much later, during the Crusades. and the wine the blood of Christ Himself.

1ST CENTURY 2ND CENTURY 3RD CENTURY 4TH CENTURY 5TH CENTURY

The Orans The living crucifix

The archaic figure of the person praying The first true crucifix is from northern Italy,
The Roman square
with lifted hands was a symbol for dated to ad 420. The earliest examples
A symmetrical arrangement of letters found on the
Ichthus humans throwing themselves on the show Christ on the cross but living and
walls of certain Roman houses was probably an mercy of a triumphant, as on the doors of Santa Sabina
One of the earliest symbols was the fish,
ingenious early Christian means of identification. divinity and in Rome, after the Western tradition wearing
an ancient symbol of fertility and of life
This seemingly not originally a loin cloth to proclaim His humanity; in the
and continuity, or often two fish flanking a P
innocent proverb uniquely east Christ wears a tunic, representing
trident. Fish and fishermen are frequently A
can be interpreted T Christian. His sovereignty.
mentioned in the Gospels and were A O
as an anagrammatic E
associated with the Eucharist, as a reminder
transposition cipher, R
of eternal life. ‘Fish’ in Greek – ichthus –
the letters being P A T E R N O S T E R
was also used as an acrostic:
rearranged to reveal O The ‘Good Shepherd’
Iesous Jesus a hidden message S Depictions of a shepherd with a lamb across
CHristos Christ (right). The Latin words O T A
his shoulders are found from the 3rd century
pater noster, meaning E
THeou God’s – Christ guarding and protecting His people
‘Our Father,’ form a R
Uios Son – but it was also a favorite Classical motif.
The five-letter Latin words when read cross, with the spare As and Os representing A lamb by itself, standing for Christ and His
Soter the Savior
in order (either horizontally or vertically) the Greek words ‘alpha’ (beginning) and sacrifice, would similarly be understood by
The simple outline of a fish was often drawn translate as ‘he who works the plow sows ‘omega’ (end), which also have a strong fellow Christians.
in the sand or spilt wine as a means of secretly the seed.’ Christian significance.
acknowledging one’s faith.

42 43
 SECTS, SYMBOLS, AND SECRET SOCIETIES NECROMANCY

Necromancy Tricks of the trade John Dee

The esoteric implements of the medieval The most famous magician
of his age, an astrologer/

S
necromancer included magic circles,
trictly, necromancy is the purported practice of communicating with or conjurations, sacrifices, swords, and
alchemist/necromancer,
and cryptographer, Dr.
conjuring the dead for the purpose of extracting information or to predict prayer; magical alphabets were also John Dee (1527-1608)
the future. Beginning in ancient Egypt and Babylonia, necromancy was also highly significant. Circles were traced was revered in his time
on the ground, often accompanied by as the most learned man
widely practiced in Israel, China, and throughout the Greco-Roman world. various mystical symbols drawn from a in all Europe. He was
According to the Christian Church, necromancy amounted to diabolical mixture of Christian and occult ideas. the personal astrologer
At the opportune time and location, to Queen Elizabeth I of
commerce with unclean spirits, rites of criminal curiosity, and the forbidden England, and the model
sacrifices and animal offerings were often
invocations of departed souls. But, persisting throughout the Middle Ages, provided to propitiate ethereal beings.
for Shakespeare’s Prospero in The Tempest. He visited
Agrippa has often been identified as the model many courts in Europe, along with the mountebank
necromancy achieved unprecedented popularity among a clerical underworld The most important medieval writings for the priest/sorcerer in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward Kelley (1555-97), to find funding for his
who enthusiastically consulted magical grimoires to communicate with on the occult were by the Benedictine play Doctor Faustus (c.1589) who sells his soul exercises in divination and the occult. It is unsurprising
abbot Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516, to an emissary of the Devil. that Dee made many enemies during his time in the
subterranean spirits and even angels. Other ancient ‘sciences’ such as geomancy see page 73), and his pupil, Heinrich court, several of whom continually brought charges of
and theurgy were also avidly studied. Among alchemists and the clergy alike, the Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535). The The Theban alphabet witchcraft against him. Ultimately, Dee would bring
latter’s Three Books About Occult about his own downfall: despite his powerful position
notion that specially-coded alphabets and other symbolic devices, derived from and prodigious intellect, his occult preoccupations
Philosophy (1531-33) included coded
Magic in the Bible their studies of arcane sources, could place humans in contact with the ‘other formulae for alchemy, Kabbalism, and
overwhelmed him and he died in extreme poverty in
1608, reviled and pitied as a madman.
Despite the Bible’s repeated world’ became increasingly popular. the Theban alphabet (right), a table for
condemnation of magic, in A B C D E
communicating with the spirit world.
one peculiar episode King John Dee condensed all magic into
Saul visits a witch from the a single symbolic equation, the occult
Canaanite city of Endor and equivalent of Einstein’s E = mc2. In his
cajoles her into summoning
Ancient origins Monas Hieroglyphica he and Edward
F G H I/J K
the recently deceased prophet Necromancy rituals and ghost expulsion/ Kelley produced the Enochian alphabet,
Samuel in order to consult exorcism texts were commonplace a purported means of communicating
him about the threat of the throughout the ancient Near East. In with the spirit (or angelic) world.
Philistines. While from the
5th century the orthodoxy
Egypt, as early as the second millennium
L M N O P
of Christian dogma became bc, consultation with deceased royalty John Dee’s
increasingly set in stone, was sponsored by the state for public The Enochian alphabet single equation
the possibility of alternative benefit. The central rite usually consisted
ritual and magical paths to of the rubbing of magical salves onto the
communion with the spirit Q R S T U/V
necromancer’s face or onto the figurine Pa Veh Ged Gal Or
world held its appeal.
of the spirit to be consulted. In ancient b c, k g, j d f
Turkey, ritual communication with infernal
spirits and deities was achieved by W X Y Z
means of pits dug into the ground which
served as a portal for the chthonic deities Un Graph Tal Gon Gon with
to ease their passage between worlds. Sword a e m i point
The origin of the w/y
From this rich bed of mysterious rites, magician’s wand.
and from the great wave of translations of
Arabic magical texts during the 12th and Magic circles
Na Ur Mals Ger Drux
13th centuries, literate, well-educated Marked with mystic
alphabetic symbols, these h l p q n
members of the European clergy mined
provided a sacred space
necromantic texts which contained a protecting the necromancer.
synthesis of astral magic and exorcism
The Key of Solomon is one of
the most notorious medieval techniques combined with Christian An imaginative representation of a Pal Med Don Ceph Van
handbooks of magic (attributed and Jewish teachings. The systems ceremony to ward off entities from the x o r z u/v
to King Solomon himself). of magic depicted in these writings spirit world. Protected within a magic
The book contains magic differed radically from the petty sorcery circle, the necromancers here are
circles (above), instructions for protecting themselves from a demon
characteristic of the earlier centuries,
necromancy, invocations, and released by their excavations by citing
binding spells to conjure and becoming in effect an erudite method of arcane texts, while the central figure Fam Gisg
constrain infernal spirits. conjuration and invocation. transmits the message using a sword. s t

56
 CODES FOR SECRECY THE DA VINCI CODE?

The Da Vinci Code? Life after death

This beautiful rendering of a child

T
in the womb belies the fact that
he notebooks of the Italian High Renaissance artist and Secret writing it was only possible as a result of
dissection. It is surrounded by
engineer Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), which are now The notes da Vinci wrote on nearly every page
da Vinci’s observations.
of his notebooks appear inscrutable, but are in Inside the human body
divided among several major collections throughout the world, have fact simply in ‘mirror writing’; whether this was Da Vinci’s anatomical investigations
attracted considerable attention, not least because of their subject because he felt the need to disguise his notes undoubtedly involved the flaying and
dissection of cadavers, a practice which Origins
matter and his use of apparently coded notes and annotations. The from unfriendly eyes, or because, being left-
Da Vinci has added various sketches
handed, he found it easier to write in this manner, could have attracted the unwelcome
with commentaries explaining his
content of the notebooks ranges from sketches from everyday life to remains a mystery. There is little doubt, however, attention of the Church authorities. To
ideas about the progress of the
modern eyes, his work is informed and
anatomical drawings and fantastic weapons of war, and encompasses that da Vinci was concerned that his notes – often
authoritative, and certainly the product
reproductive cycle from fertilized
for good reason – remained private, or at least egg to fetus.
detailed sketches for artistic commissions as well as mere doodles. of practical scientific inquiry.
obscure to the casual viewer.

Da Vinci at war
At several times in his career da Vinci was commissioned to design
fortifications and develop engines of war for various powerful patrons.
While many were eminently practical designs, his fantastical – and
often gruesome – imagination produced some very unpleasant
machines, and some ingenious devices and flights of fancy
(including, indeed, a prototype flying machine).

Killing machine
Da Vinci seems to have been able to separate
his compassionate fascination with the workings
How does it work?
of the human body from his glee in the deadly
Da Vinci’s text here provides
efficiency of this fantastic machine.
detailed measurements and
descriptions of the mechanism
which activates the scythes.

Attention to detail
Although it was highly
unlikely that the
machine would ever Horsepower Mirror writing
be built (or be that Da Vinci was interested in the science of
mechanics and power, and saw the horse Although naturally written in classical Italian, da Vinci’s elegant hand remains clear,
effective in the field),
da Vinci carefully as the motor-force which would propel this even when written, as it originally was, in reverse (left). When photographically
demonstrated the particular machine into action. transposed (right) the accuracy of his writing becomes clear. His secrecy has given
mechanical workings. rise to numerous far-fetched theories concerning his membership of arcane secret
societies – unlikely in a man so interested in investigating the practical properties of
the world around him, unlike his contemporary alchemists (see page 52).

76 77
 CODES OF WAR ENIGMA: THE ‘UNBREAKABLE’ SYSTEM

ENIGMA: The ‘unbreakable’ system

The daykey settings Using the Enigma machine
Each month the German Plaintext was typed in to produce the enciphered text, this was

T
military would issue a new transmitted by radio, and the receiver merely typed in the coded
he German military recognized the need for a daycode book. This listed the message, and the machine produced the decoded plaintext.
more secure enciphering system in 1923, after individual settings operators
British official histories of World War I revealed that were to use each day to set up
all Enigma machines within
Encryption
This schematic diagram
6 The process is repeated at the
third scrambler which turns 5 The process is repeated at the
second scrambler which turns
German messages had been read. They eventually each respective military unit. follows the letter impulse
one notch (or letter) once the one notch (or letter) once the first
second scrambler has completed scrambler has completed its cycle
acquired over 30,000 Enigma machines, with a more This ensured that the first for U, showing its passage its cycle of 26 letters. of 26 letters.
to encryption as S. For
complex design than those available commercially. message sent could be read
the purposes of clarity,
by all members of the unit.
The Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, and German Navy all only four of the available

issued separate daycode books throughout Setting up Enigma

switches on the plugboard
have been set. 4 The arriving
letter impulse
passes through
World War II. The beauty of the Enigma Following the daycode the disk to a
machine’s mechanical enciphering system setting, every morning the Entry different exit

Inventing Enigma was that it was very fast and all but
operators would: re-order the
scrambler disks; adjust the
7 Each letter impulse
now reaches the Wheel point, and thus
a different letter
The Enigma machine was reflector, which passes entry point on the
first patented in 1918 by eliminated human error – the plaintext was scrambler orientation (which it back through the next scrambler. In
Arthur Scherbius (1878- letter of the alphabet each scrambler disks via a
typed in to produce the enciphered text, different path.
addition, the first
1929) for commercial use, scrambler should display scrambler rotates
but it soon attracted the this was transmitted by radio, and the receiver at the start of the day);
by one notch with
attention of the German Scrambler Disks every letter that
merely typed in the coded message, and the and change the plugboard Reflector
military. Over the next
decade the encoding machine produced the decoded plaintext. In settings. The systems 8 The impulse travels
back through the
plugboard and arrives at
is typed.

system was gradually combined meant a total of

made more sophisticated. addition, without access to the daycode 10,000,000,000,000,000 the lampboard, where
the final encryption
settings it was almost impregnable. calculations would have is displayed to the
to be made to analyze the
encryption.
operator.
3 Passing
beyond the
plugboard, the
Reflector
letter impulses
This did not rotate, thus ensuring
that encrypted text was automatically
Resetting the settings Lampboard travel to and
enter the first
sent back through the scrambler During World War II, in
1 The operator scrambler disk.
disks, mechanically producing the order to increase the level of
decrypted text as it was typed in. types in plaintext,
security, the Enigma operator which is transmitted
would send an initial message, through the machine
by electric current.
Scrambler disks using the daycode settings,
Each contain the 26 letters of the which would be a new
alphabet, and were set in any start Keyboard
setting for the scramblers.
position from A-Z (determined by the
daycode). They were geared to rotate
This would be repeated to
ensure consistency. Thus, if
2 Letters that
have been
switched on the
cyclically. From 1938 the machines
had five scrambler disks. the daykey required B–M–Q, plugboard are
first enciphered
a second signal might be
here. Remaining
Lampboard preceded by a randomly letters go straight
Shows the
chosen combination of three to the first
operator the Plugboard
letters, for example, S–T–P– scrambler.
encryption (or
decryption) S–T–P, requiring the receiver
Plugboard of each letter to alter his scrambler settings
The portability of the Decryption
Each disk has 26 contacts on Originally, you could when it has
Enigma machine was a huge
swap only six letters before accordingly. Having set the machine using the same
each face (which correspond been typed in.
advantage. One is seen here
to letters of the alphabet) wired the plaintext reached the daycode settings as the encrypting operator,
in use on General Heinz scramblers, but in 1939, an
Keyboard
Guderian’s half-track on to 26 different contacts on its For typing the receiving operator types in the received
enlarged plugboard increased encrypted text. The letter impulses pass
the battlefield. opposite face. Each numbered in plaintext
this number to ten.
disk would be wired differently. (or received through the plugboard, the scramblers,
encrypted text). and the reflector, and then returns through
the system to be displayed, decrypted to
plaintext on the lampboard.
116 117
 CODES OF WAR CRACKING ENIGMA

Cracking Enigma Alan Turing at Bletchley Park Jumbo and Colossus

A gifted young mathematician at Cambridge, Alan Turing Turing’s plans for ‘bombes’ running
in series, interconnected, and wired

S
(1912-54) was among the mixed bag of recruits for the new
ince its introduction by the German military, it had been assumed by British cryptanalysis center at Bletchley Park (see page 118).
to reveal loops were approved, and
£100,000 allocated to create them.
everyone that the Enigma system (see page 116) was unbreakable. Although He had been working on binary mathematics and theoretically Each ‘bombe’ consisted of 12 sets of
versions of the commercial machine had been acquired by Germany’s former programmable computers and, confronted by what had been replica scramblers, and the first, named
achieved in Poland (left), he set about designing an improved ‘Victory,’ was in operation by March
adversaries, the workings of the military machine and the codebooks were 1940. As the prototype was being tested
The German series of ‘bombes’ to analyze the newly increased scrambler
and improved, the Germans changed
challenge unknown. But, in 1931 the French secret service bought copies of plans of the settings of the Enigma machine. As the Enigma machine their message key protocol, causing
Upon the outbreak of machine and daycode books from a disaffected German veteran, Hans-Thilo settings were altered at midnight every night, they had to a decrypt blackout. An improved
World War II, Allied work quickly. Nevertheless, the possible settings would be too ‘bombe’ was in place by August and,
cryptographers were Schmidt, who continued to supply details of the daycode books for several years. numerous to work through in the time available without the aid by Spring 1942, 15 more ‘bombes’
confronted by an awesome The French made little of them. It was Poland that opened the door. of some further clues, some of which had been identified before Alan Turing, whose ‘Turing machines’
were in place, running through cribs,
problem. The Enigma scrambler settings, and message keys
system (see page 116) had Turing arrived in 1939. helped to unravel Enigma. at an industrial rate. On a good day, the
many variations. In addition system could decipher all these within
to its existing complexity, in Poland fights back an hour, revealing the encryption behind
1938 the Germans added a ‘Cillies’ – Human error and laziness the rest of the day’s signals. By the end
by some Enigma
further two scrambler disks In the 1930s, aware of German designs on their territory, the Polish cryptanalytical operators led them to use repeated of the war, some 200 ‘bombes’ were
message-key
to many machines, and the bureau, Biuro Szyfrów, prioritized breaking the Enigma coding system. An entente combinations instead of entirely rand in operation. Nevertheless, the entire
om ones. Once
plugboard was made more with France meant that much of the Enigma material was handed over to the Poles, identified these gave the cryptanalysts process still relied on accurate cribs,
a useful clue, and
complex. There were also signals from those operators were so human ingenuity still propelled the
who set about building replica machines. The Poles realized that Enigma was a monitored.
variants on the machines Scrambler codes – The Germans assu mechanical system.
mechanical system that required mathematical rather than linguistic skills to analyze. med that ensuring no
used by different parts scrambler disk occupied the same posit Eventually the number of ‘bombes’
It was an inspired idea. Recent Polish history provided several mathematicians from ion on consecutive
of the German military, Marian Rejewski days would make the system more and the links between them created the
secure. In fact, it
and each had different (1905-80), the man the formerly German-occupied parts of Poland, who were familiar with the language. made it weaker, as once one or two world’s first programmable computer,
of the scrambler
codebooks. The Afrika who cracked Enigma. Among them was Marian Rejewski. positions had been ascertained, it redu code-named ‘Jumbo,’ but known among
ced the remaining
Corps used its own system, potential combinations, while also redu the operators as ‘Heath Robinson.’
cing the possible
as did the Kriegsmarine, combinations for the following day. In 1942 Turing developed a further
the German navy. It was the First Fourth The message key P lugboard shortcut for decrypting the German
latter’s Enigma signals (the letter letter 1 Rejewski concentrated on the initial Enigma 3 The tables unlocked the scrambler settings,
‘Cribs’ – Identifying known words in
could help unravel the settings. Certa
a message, a ‘crib,’
in sorts of signal were
naval Lorenz cipher used in an adapted
Lorenz cipher) that were the three-letter message key, sent twice at the but not the plugboard settings. However,
predictable and formulaic, for example Enigma machine, the Geheimschreiber,
most difficult to penetrate A U beginning of each transmission. Realizing that decrypting what they could using the scrambler those from weather and passed on his ideas to Tommy
B M stations, often beginning with or conta
and the most vital for with only three scrambler disks, every fourth letter setting tables, frequently a recognizable message ining the German word Flowers and Max Newman, who went
C X wetter. Such signals were monitored, and
Bletchley Park to decrypt, must represent a different encryption of the first might appear: educated guesses on to develop the Colossus computer, a
D N made at identifying words of this sort.
as U-boat activity in the letter, he found a chink in Enigma’s armor. He still Another crib was to lay more integrated programmable digital
E C SONVOYC ON SOURCE mines at a specific location, then try
North Atlantic threatened to F B
had no idea of the daykey, but he started to look to find evidence of the device, the true forebear of the modern
known geographical coordinates in U-boa
sever lifeline supplies from G V
for links, or chains, of substitution. With access to It is clear that the ‘s’ and the ‘c’ might have been t messages. computer.
H Q
enough messages in a day, he could build tables of switched on the plugboard which, when adjusted, ‘Pinches’ – The acquisition of Germ
North America. an codebooks was a In July 1942 Turing traveled to
I P relationships between the first and fourth, second would read: priority. During the Battle of the Atlan
tic both U-boats and America to share his ideas with US
J W and fifth, third and sixth letters of the message key. weather ships were raided, codebook
CONVOYS ON COURSE s captured, and the cryptanalysts. Although the British
K O vessels sunk to avoid alerting the Germ shared their secrets with their Western
L E
ans to their loss.
C hains Success Loops – Turing also worked on the
M
N
I
R
2 By analyzing these tables he identified chains, Rejewski’s breakthrough enabled Poland to read
Enigma signals for most of the 1930s. The addition
happen if the Germans stopped repea
problem of what might
ting the message key.
allies, and Bletchley Park was involved
in decrypting Italian and Japanese
O Z
that is, how many links there were before the first He focused on the archive of decrypts, codes as well, the story of Enigma and
letter linked back to itself, in this instance A-U, U- of two further scramblers and an extended plugboard and began to detect
P T a pattern of ‘loops,’ not dissimilar to its decryption was to remain secret until
S, S-A – three links (left). Rejewski realized that, in 1938 set them back. A month before the Rejewski’s ‘chains,’
Q Y which potentially revealed the scram the 1970s.
while the plugboard settings were indefinable, the German invasion of Poland in September bler settings if the
R L plaintext was known or a ‘crib’ gues
S A number of links in each chain was a reflection of 1939, the Poles managed to convey sed. He had discovered
another shortcut.
T K the scrambler settings. Some chains were long, two replica Enigma machines,
U S some short. Rejewski and his colleagues spent a plans for the ‘bombes,’ and Many machines – If he organized enou
gh ‘bombes’ working
V J year compiling tables of all the possible 105,456 Rejewski’s analysis to in sequence, each one imitating the
action of a different
W D scrambler settings, correlating them to the length Britain. scrambler disk, Turing reckoned he
might stand a chance
X H of potential chains. Later, as the Germans changed of churning through the 17,576 vario
Y F us possible settings in
their protocols, making his tables redundant, a short period, but he still required
Z G a mechanical shortcut.
Rejewski developed electronic calculators called This he achieved by linking the sequ
enced machines
‘bombes’ to recompile the tables. together, and establishing circuits betw
The German addition of een them which
revealed a matched loop by lighting
two extra scrambler disks a bulb on the circuit.
meant that their invasion of The plugboard problem – Like Rejew
ski, by setting aside the
Poland in September 1939 plugboard problem, Turing had minim
ized it. With an accurate
was a surprise. ‘crib’ a decrypted word might appear Colossus in operation at Bletchley Park.
with some odd letters in
it which, when transposed, revealed the
plugboard settings.

120 121
 From Samurai to Yakuza
CODES OF THE UNDERWORLD FROM SAMURAI TO YAKUZA

The samurai legacy The yakuza Yakuza traditions

After the modernizing reforms of the 1860s, The yakuza claim to have an inviolable code Yakuza are also famous for their spectacular

T
various organizations invoked the samurai of honor (like the Italian Mafia), derived from full-body tattoos – horimono. These were
The Bushido code: he ideas behind the concept of the samurai go back at least 1,000 years in Japan and past (below), among them Genyosha, or the bushido. Within each gumi or gang, always associated with the ‘floating world,’
the Seven Virtues are based on Confucian ethics, modified for a predominantly martial world. Bushido Dark Ocean Society, founded in 1881, which loyalties are extremely rigorous, hierarchies – marking out those living on the margins of
– the Way of the Warrior – was the code by which, ideally, the samurai lived and died. aimed to unite hundreds of secret societies, as elsewhere in Japanese society – rigid, society. To be tattooed is a sign of group
each with their own covert recognition and feudal rituals are still observed. The
The samurai formed a powerful and prestigious section of Japanese society for centuries. codes. Highly successful and violent, they yakuza are not, however, a secret society
But, from around 1600, the reforms of the Tokugawa shogunate reduced the opportunities turned Japan’s first election of 1892 into but an accepted part of the Japanese
Courage Right
Conduct for battle; peace and prosperity led to the rise of merchant classes, and a bloodbath and, in 1895, assassinated political and business scene – so much so
the Korean queen, triggering the Japanese that some headquarters have a plate on the
the warriors found themselves increasingly marginalized. Finally, the invasion that lasted 50 years. The successor door like any other company. Yakuza are
Meiji reforms of 1868 swept away the feudal world. Many samurai to Genyosha was the Kokuryu-kai, or easily recognizable, even without the mon
were deeply resentful at what they felt was a betrayal of their Black Dragon Society, founded in 1901. lapel pins proclaiming their clan affiliation;
Mercy Loyalty It promoted Japanese expansion into Asia, the clothes, the large cars with darkened
way of life and the true nature of Japan. Nevertheless, the samurai and was responsible for acts of violence windows, the swagger – these are codes for
provided a model for several more recent Japanese organizations gangsters almost anywhere, but especially
and institutions, not least the notorious yakuza. in a country where even heads of major
corporations are physically self-effacing.
Honor Respect
Mon crests
From the 12th century in To atone for an offense, a yakuza will remove
feudal Japan, identifying a finger joint, formally presenting it to his
oyabun (‘father’).
crests – mon or kamon
Honesty – were used on the
solidarity and of physical courage, and a
battlefield, on armor,
These virtues were the declaration of having chosen the dark side.
banners, and personal
keystones of the samurai The samurai who had disobeyed or failed
possessions of all kinds. A samurai helmet
warrior code, (and his lord atoned by seppuku – ritual suicide
Unlike complicated Western displaying the mon of
essentially the same as by disembowelment. The modern yakuza
the US Army ‘Core Values’ heraldry, each mon was generally the wearer’s clan.
atones for his offense by cutting off
adopted in the mid-1990s). a single boldly-stylized symbol within
one joint of his finger – yubitsume.
Of many Japanese works a circle; color was irrelevant. The motif
on the subject, the best Right-wing revivalists reveled in the dress Initiation rituals and rituals
might be military, such as arrows, or an animal, such as and customs of medieval samurai.
known in the West is the marking agreements are also
the butterfly of the Taira clan, but plant motifs were the
Bushido Shoshinshu – Code of great importance, with
of the Samurai written by most common. The eldest son generally inherited his against student and labor unions, politicians
a certain number of cups
Taira Shigesuke, a samurai father’s mon, while younger sons would use a slightly perceived as left-wing, and the democratic
of sake – an appropriate
and military strategist of modified variant, so that there are an estimated 10,000 process in general. For muscle, they linked
the early 18th century. It offering to the Shinto gods
designs registered today. The only crests that were up with the gamblers and gangsters of the
remains an excellent guide revered by the yakuza –
absolutely inviolable were those of the Emperor and his yakuza, which became one of the world’s
to the mindset of modern, being formally exchanged.
chief advisor. After the Muromachi period (c.1336-1573), leading crime syndicates. Not traditionally
and particularly corporate, Blood brotherhood rituals
Japan, and especially the mon became increasingly common across the social scale politicized, the yakuza also romanticized
involving exchanging blood
deep-rooted concepts of The samurai were the military elite, retainers of and the new merchant class adopted them as advertising the samurai past, which lent glamor to
are now being phased out
giri – obligation which a feudal lord or daimyo. logos, which persist today. their occupations of extortion, rackets,
can extend as far as blood because of the threat of HIV.
prostitution, and people-trafficking.
vengeance – and ninjo – the
ability to feel compassion. Traditional mon crests Certain mon were Commercial mon logos Many modern Japanese
reserved for the most powerful in the land. companies still use mon as their logo. Each tattoo is individually
designed, the motifs including
references to the owner’s gang
and mon, and represents
hundreds of hours of work.
Public baths often have a ‘No
Tattoos’ sign, to the mystification
of tourists.
The inviolable crest Crest of the Crest of the Crest of the Yamaha Mitsubishi Toyota Benihana
of the Emperor Prime Minister Tokugawa shoguns Taira clan

130 131
 CODES OF THE UNDERWORLD THE ZODIAC MYSTERY

The Zodiac Mystery The Harden decrypt

The first Zodiac coded message comprised been intentional). The Hardens assumed The key words or phrases
identified by the Hardens are

D
408 characters organized in 24 rows each words such as ‘killing’ and ‘fun’ might appear
espite the popular belief that serial killers tend to play cat-and-mouse games of 17 letters or symbols. It was written out somewhere, and that the killer ‘had an ego,’
highlighted in red; having isolated
these, the Hardens could begin
with the police, this largely remains the stuff of crime fiction and slasher on a single sheet of paper, which was then and that the word ‘I’ would recur. Frequency to flesh out the rest of the
cut into three. This was an idiosyncratic analysis also revealed that the Zodiac was decrypt. Some of the misleading
movies.Very few serial killers want to be caught. While Thomas Harris’s Hannibal homophones are picked out in
substitution cipher cryptogram, which only using homophones (meaning that certain
Lecter might crave public infamy, in reality most try to conceal their tracks. partially followed systematic logic, and letters in the plaintext were represented blue. Interestingly, the key word/
letter ‘I’ was one of them, being
Although the first modern serial killer, Jack the Ripper, did taunt the police included misspellings (which may have by two or more letters or symbols). represented in turn by a triangle, P,
with notes and newspaper cuttings, often identifying his victims and supplying U, reverse K, triangle. In contrast,
‘K’ is always represented by /.
appalling details of his crimes, few others have done this. One major exception
was the self-named Zodiac killer.

“Dear Editor,
The verified murders I am the killer”
A picnic area on Lake
Berryessa was the site of The Zodiac killer stalked the
the attack on Bryan Hartnell parks and lovers’ lanes of the
and Cecilia Shepard on San Francisco Bay and Valley
September 27, 1969. areas, killing five and injuring
This artist’s impression of two in three attacks at remote
the attacker is based on a
description by Hartnell, who
places between December 1968
survived. Although carrying and 1969 (although some think
a firearm, the Zodiac used he may have struck as early as
a plastic clothesline to bind 1966, and continued until 1974,
them, then stabbed both or later; if all claims – including
victims. He inscribed the
his – are counted, the body count
cross-and-circle symbol on
Hartnell’s car using a felt could be nearer 40). He taunted
pen, and added “Vallejo/12- the authorities with a series of
20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27-69- letters and cards, four of which
6:30/ by knife”. included encoded messages (see
Despite the Zodiac’s later page 142). The first, and longest,
claims, there remain only
five official Zodiac killings.
message was sent in three parts to
The first occurred on local newspapers – the Vallejo Times-
December 20, 1968, when Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle
lovers David Arthur Faraday and the San Francisco Examiner –
and Betty Lou Jensen were respectively, each received on July
shot on Lake Herman Road, The Harden decrypt remains convincing
31, 1969. Each coded message was and, although the meaning of the final 18
Benicia, California.
On July 4, 1969 another accompanied by a scrawled cover note letters of the message remains unclear, The Hardens’ decrypt reads:
couple were attacked providing crime scene details that had it reveals inherent inconsistencies and ”I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS S O MUCH FUN
and shot, at Blue Rock not been made public by the police. misspellings (possibly intentional, as with IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE
Springs Golf Course outside The Zodiac demanded that they and the cover notes, to give an impression of FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGERO UES
Vallejo; Darlene Elizabeth the almost identical cover notes (which
Ferrin died, but Michael illiteracy) which provide a chilling insight
ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL S OMETHING GIVES ME THE
Renault Mageau survived. claimed credit for fatal attacks at Lake into the disorganized state of mind of
Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs) MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN
This was followed by the the Zodiac. But the story didn’t stop
Lake Berryessa attack as be published. As a result of this, there there. While the Hardens had provided a GETTING YO UR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST
described above. was considerable public interest. The tantalizing glimpse of the inner workings PART OF IT IS THAT WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN
Finally, Paul Lee Stine, police commissioned forensic tests and handwriting analyses The cover note sent to the of the Zodiac’s mind, his subsequent PARADICE AND ALL THEI HA VE KILLED WILL BECOME MY
a cab driver, was shot dead San Francisco Examiner,
in addition to sending the coded notes to cryptanalysts, but few ciphers and other chilling messages (see S LA VES I WILL NOT GIVE YO U MY NAME BECAUSE YO U
by his passenger on October accompanying one third of the first Donald Harden and
11, 1969 at Presidio solid clues emerged. However, by August 8, high school teacher page 142) proved impregnable, and
coded message. Each cover note his wife Bettye looked WILL TRY TO S LOW DOWN OR STOP MY COLLECTING OF
Heights, San Francisco. Donald Harden and his wife Bettye, readers from Salinas, had revealed unpublished details of the for predictable words continue to fascinate cryptanalysts and S LA VES FOR MY AFTER LIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI”
cracked the majority of the coded message. Zodiac’s attacks. in the cipher. conspiracy theorists alike.

140 141
 CODES OF THE UNDERWORLD THE ZODIAC LEGACY

The Zodiac Legacy “My name is … ”

The San Francisco
Chronicle had received

D
a letter postmarked
espite the Hardens’ breakthrough in deciphering the November 9, 1969
Zodiac’s first anonymous cryptogram (see page 141), the describing in detail a
Arthur Leigh
plan to bomb a school
killings continued, as did his taunts to the authorities (the bus in the Bay Area. Allen in 1969;
Such an attack never he remains the
‘blue pigs’ or ‘blue meanies’ as he called them). Targeting materialized (although most viable
mainly the San Francisco Chronicle or its staff, his subsequent it later inspired the suspect in the
plot of the 1971 Clint Zodiac case.
15 or so letters and cards built up a picture of an obsessive Eastwood film Dirty
Harry). But some five
The Zodiac’s signature symbol not only interested in killing, but in attracting attention months later, on April
Under suspicion
was the most consistent coded Popular speculation produced hundreds
image the killer used. Referencing by revealing details of his crimes, and ever more 20, 1970, a further
of possible perpetrators, but only one
threatened bomb
alchemical and necromantic
imagery, it also chillingly echoes a
monstrous schemes. These mailings included a further attack was sent to primary suspect emerged. Arthur Leigh
the newspaper, at the end of which the Zodiac Allen (1933-92) was a loner, who lived
telescopic sight. three cipher messages which have remained unsolved. included for the first time a scorecard (Zodiac at home with his parents, and worked
= 10; SFPD = 0 ). However, included in the at various elementary schools, among
letter was an even more explosive piece of other jobs. Police were alerted by an
information: the Zodiac revealed his name, acquaintance of Allen’s in 1971, based
The later letters again in cipher, and again it remains unsolved. on bizarre and incriminating claims
The inclusion of scorecards in his later letters, by Allen. He was interviewed several
comparing his claimed body count (ultimately times, and the evidence accumulated:
The last cipher The fashion forensic techniques were still limited
37) versus the SFPD’s success rate (0), reflects a for wearing symbolic badges
and, despite undoubted similarities, a
detection success rate as true today as it was over or buttons temporarily
Department of Justice analysis report
30 years ago. Several suspects were investigated, distracted the Zodiac: he
in 1971 ruled out any connection
realized that his symbol would
but only one remains a strong contender. The fact work just as well as a ‘Smiley’
between Allen’s handwriting and that of
is that the self-named Zodiac appears to have or ‘Ban the Bomb’ logo, and the Zodiac. Nevertheless, he behaved
been active for about two years, and his crimes he recognized the horrific erratically and drank heavily; he was
celebrity he had acquired. A known to humorously misspell words
and subsequent codes remain unsolved.
letter mailed to the Chronicle and phrases; he possessed guns, and
on June 26, 1970 suggests bloodstained knives were found in
“This is the Zodiac speaking.” The a new fashion in Zodiac his car (which he claimed he used
killer revealed his nom de guerre in buttons. It also included a for killing chickens); and he admitted
a letter postmarked August 4, 1969 map (possibly the site of a reading Richard Connell’s 1924 short
to the Vallejo Times-Herald, and for threatened bomb), a further mystery story The Most Dangerous
the first time signed the letter with his scorecard, and the fourth and Game, which appears to be referenced
characteristic cross-and-circle mark. last cipher message which, in the first coded message. Also, he
like the previous two, has owned a Zodiac watch, a present from
never been decrypted. his mother in 1967. Associates and
friends provided further intriguing
circumstantial evidence. Further, Allen
was convicted of child-molesting in
1974. Investigations continued until
The Zodiac drops from view Further letters Allen’s death almost two decades later,
were received by the Chronicle postmarked but the police failed to establish any
July 24 and July 26, detailing more crimes, but
concrete links.
with no further ciphers. Chronicle reporter Paul
Avery took delivery of an ominous Halloween
card mailed on October 27, 1970, but
thereafter the Zodiac would seem to have
stopped his activities. Two later letters
are often included in the Zodiac canon,
one postmarked March 13, 1971 to the
Los Angeles Times threatening a renewed
murder campaign targeting LA policemen,
and four years later a letter extolling the
“Sorry I haven’t written.” Mailed to the San Francisco ‘satirical’ qualities of 1974 movie The
Chronicle on November 8, 1969, this cheap but sinister Exorcist was received by the San Francisco
novelty card included a 340-character cipher. Superficially Chronicle postmarked January 29, 1974,
similar to his first coded message, the Hardens’ decrypting but both seem more likely to be ‘copycat’ The sample of Allen’s handwriting used for
method failed to crack it, and the meaning remains a mystery. mailings and remain unconvincing. analysis. The results were negative.

142 143
 ENCODING THE WORLD THE GENETIC CODE

THE GENETIC CODE DNA is made from four molecules, Thymine Genes and proteins
adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine Living things break down nutrients into their constituent
(C), and guanine (G) that make parts and synthesize what they need according to the

O
Cytosine
up the letters of the DNA code.
f all the codes in existence, perhaps the most fundamental is the These four ‘bases’ are connected
template supplied by their genes. A gene is a length
of the DNA strand containing anything from 500
genetic code. This code, imprinted in the DNA of every organism to a support structure to form a Guanine
to 10,000 base pairs that provide the code for an
‘nucleotide’ and then strung together
alive today, contains a list of instructions for how we function and to form pairs – adenine with thymine,
Adenine
individual protein. The order of the base pairs within the
cytosine with guanine, like the rungs genes forms a ‘template’ or ‘code’ that determines how
reproduce, not to mention deciding the color of our hair, and if we like of a ladder. Within the mRNA strand, the proteins of our body are manufactured, the primary
brussels sprouts. The organization of each organism’s DNA determines thymine is replaced by uracil. Uracil task of genes. Proteins are constantly being produced
in order to regulate our bodies’ functions and build or
whether we are a human, a chimpanzee, or a banana, as well as whether repair tissue/muscle.
we are at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and breast cancer.
Watson and Crick Humans and our closest
‘Cracking’ this genetic code has been the task of scientists for the past 50 relatives
Perhaps the two names
most associated with DNA years, so that we may gain insight on similarities we have to other animals, One of the most important
are James Watson (left, pieces of information we
b.1928) and Francis Crick
as well as our similarities to each other. can learn from studying the
(right, 1916-2004). In 1952 Reuniting genetic code is how humans
both Watson and Crick were The two strands are related to our closest
researchers at the Cavendish How the genetic code works Separation join to re-form the animal relatives. A comparison
Laboratory at the University The two strands double helix. of human (above left) and
of Cambridge with the goal of The instructions, or ‘blueprints,’ that determine how our bodies of the double chimpanzee skulls (above right)
Replacement base
determining the structure of are constructed and function are housed within each of the trillion helix unzip. Uracil replaces suggests marked similarities,
DNA. In 1952 there was no cells of our bodies. Each cell’s nucleus (excluding the germ cells) thymine in the mRNA but many differences. In fact,
definitive understanding as contains an identical set of structures called chromosomes. The messenger RNA Newly-formed comparisons of our genetic
to how DNA was structured, strand. messenger RNA code to that of chimpanzees,
chromosomes in turn consist of a compound called deoxyribose (mRNA) strand.
organized, or how vital it was for example, has shown that we
in determining our genetic nucleic acid (DNA). It is the number of chromosomes and variety share approximately 98.5% of
code. Watson and Crick of genes within each chromosome that makes a human a human, our genes, and that it is only
attempted to discover the a gorilla a gorilla, and a banana a banana. For example, the 1.5% difference between
structure of DNA by playing humans have 46 chromosomes, gorillas have 48 us and chimps that makes
with scale-model atoms. Soon chromosomes, and bananas have us human. In addition to
they discovered how the four discovering how closely related
bases of adenine, thymine,
33 chromosomes. Furthermore, humans are to our closest
cytosine, and guanine fit although all members of the same relatives, genetics studies can
together. They noticed that species have the same number of mRNA strand also determine the approximate
ribosome
the molecular structure of genes housed in the same number of date of the most recent
each of these bases was chromosomes, many genes have a number common ancestor between
such that adenine only fits humans and any number
of variations (e.g. genes for eye color, hair
together with thymine, while of animal relatives. This
cytosine only fits together color, etc.), and it is the specific combination information can be extremely
with guanine. Using this taken from the overall ‘gene pool,’ that makes useful as a complement
information, they decided to each of us a unique being. Codon to fossil or archaeological
stack these bases on top of Three adjacent bases chain of information. Research in this
each other to see the entire Unzipped DNA (codon) provide the code amino acid area has revealed that the
Nucleotides Template DNA strand. for an amino acid.
structure. The result was the most recent common ancestor
Molecules ready to be
now-famous ‘double helix,’ between chimps and humans
Chromosomes are made from DNA paired with template to Transcribing the code When genes are being Translating the code Proteins are
most often compared to a grow the mRNA strand.
was approximately 5-7 million
found in the nucleus of living cells.The read, the two sides of a section of DNA ‘unzip.’ essentially long chains of molecules called
winding staircase. Watson and years ago, a date that is also
double helix structure of DNA contains One of the DNA strands acts as a template. amino acids. Only 20 types of amino acid
Crick won the Nobel Prize supported by fossil data on the
the blueprint for life. Nucleotides align themselves sequentially exist. Each amino acid is specified for by
for their work, together with earliest human ancestors.
by base-pairing along the ‘template’ strand, three adjacent bases (called a ‘codon’) on
colleague Maurice Wilkins,
forming a ‘messenger’ RNA (mRNA) strand. the mRNA strand. There are four different
in 1962. Though their The sequence of bases on the new mRNA bases so 64 different codons are possible.
discovery has been colored by strand thus matches the sequence on the During protein synthesis a cellular organelle,
controversy, such as the role DNA strand that was previously paired with called a ‘ribosome,’ works its way along the
of fellow researcher Rosalind the template (with the exception that RNA strand reading or ‘translating’ the codons.
Franklin’s previous findings, uses a base called ‘uracil’ instead of thymine Another type of RNA molecule, transfer
and Watson’s statements on to pair with adenine). This process is called RNA (tRNA), attaches to the required amino
race and gender, they are ‘transcription.’ The newly-formed strand of acid and delivers them to the ribosome A ribosome reading along
still lauded for bringing to mRNA detaches and migrates out of the nucleus where the protein is built up, amino acid by an mRNA strand, attaching
public light the structure and Cell containing Nucleus containing Chromosome DNA double helix. to a cellular structure called the ‘endoplasmic amino acid, according to the code originally amino acids to each other
function of DNA. nucleus. chromosomes. made from DNA. reticulum,’ which is the site of protein synthesis. inscribed in the DNA. to build a protein.

170 171
 CODES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR BODY LANGUAGE

Body Language Poker ‘tells’ Flirtatious fans

Poker is as much a game of skill as it is uses his expert intuition to recognize when In 19th-century
the chance fall of cards. Much of that skill the criminal mastermind ‘Le Chiffre’ is Spain, wealthy young

A side from verbal communication, the potential for determining or resides in the ability to conceal one’s own bluffing – he blinks. When Le Chiffre knows ladies would always
emotions during a game, and to ‘read’ what his hand is awful, he really gives the game be accompanied by
demonstrating moods and feelings by the manipulation of the face and body is going on in the mind of your opponents. away by bleeding from one eye. Here are a chaperone outside
is huge. Alongside self-conscious use of body language such as winking, frowning, Giveaway signs are known as ‘tells.’ In the a few, more subtle, tells from the gaming the house. These
movie Casino Royale (2006), James Bond tables. chaperones were
or waving, careful observation can reveal a complex of hidden – and often famously zealous, and
were charged with
unintended – subconscious messages. An enormous amount of such information is Hand shakes Eyes down Frozen time I’m in overseeing the behavior
instinctively understood – we can normally tell if someone is interested or bored Look out for shaking Glancing at their Signs of increased An eagerness to of their young ladies,
Body in control hands when betting. chips just after the tension: gum- bet can reveal a and ensuring that they
While most of us strive to by us, if they are embarrassed, or if they have ‘something to hide.’ The science Among new players deal is complete chewers will often lot. Players holding were brought up in
control the messages our of decoding what individuals reveal about themselves is now widely understood this normally (the ‘flop’) usually stop chewing when a strong hand are an honorable manner.
bodies might be sending out, indicates they have means a player has they bluff; similarly usually keen to Conversation with young men that strayed from
some reactions often prove by psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, and this knowledge is used in personnel a good hand, and hit their hand. In a person may get their bet in the virtuous subjects such as the weather, art, literature,
uncontrollable. Blushing, are excited at the contrast, staring at momentarily stop pot. A key tell here and politics was forbidden, forcing the maidens to
perspiring, weeping, and
recruitment, interviews, and interrogation. create their own means of communicating using
prospect of winning. the ‘flop’ – searching breathing when is the player who
reacting to pain often Equally it may for something – often making their play. usually waits, biding their fans. A catalog of gestures developed, designed
cannot be contained. The indicate a bluff. means they missed. his time before for covert courting and flirtation. Of course much
eye can give away many Talk the talk
Conscious and subconscious communication It may indicate a calling, and then of this was intuitive, but late 19th-century fan
signals, the dilated pupil With a strong hand manufacturers began to publish ‘guides’ to fan
forthcoming bluff. players tend to be uncharacteristically
frequently indicating interest If we divide body language into two areas, facial language, partly perhaps to increase sales.
Many professionals confident, talkative, bets quickly.
or attraction, while an expressions and posture or gestures, it becomes clear now wear sunglasses and relaxed. Agitated However, taking
inability to make or maintain that we are much more conscious of many of our facial Moving the fan slowly over the chest I am single.
eye contact usually means to conceal these tells. behavior or forced some time to bet
Moving the fan quickly in snappy movements over
expressions rather than ways in which our bodies can conversation may can conceal many
embarrassment or dishonesty. the chest I have a boyfriend or partner.
show how we are feeling. We are much more aware of indicate weakness. ruses, and can Opening and closing the fan, then touching the
smiles, grimaces, frowns, and shocked expressions, unsettle the rest of cheek I like you.
Making faces although by adulthood the brain is so conditioned that the players. Touching the temple with the fan and looking
Artists from classical times these can be difficult to control. Much can also be read skywards I think of you day and night.
onwards observed and Touching the tip of the nose with the fan Something
from hand and arm movements which are, in the
sketched facial expressions doesn’t smell good here (the man is displeasing her,
and physical stances majority, subconscious gestures that enhance and perhaps by flirting with someone else).
and poses as a means of reflect the speaker’s attitude toward the topic Walking sideways, hitting the palm of the hand with
expressing emotions in their of conversation, considerably more the fan Careful, my chaperone is coming.
work. However, the Austrian commonplace among speakers Opening and closing the fan then pointing with it
portrait sculptor Franz Xaver Wait for me there, I’ll be there soon.
of Romance languages such as
Messerschmidt (1736- Covering the mouth with the fan and looking
83) was one of the first to Spanish or Italian.
suggestive Sending a kiss.
attempt to catalog the range Carrying the fan closed and dangling from left hand
of human expression in a
Examples of more subconscious
body language I’m looking for a boyfriend.
series of over 50 busts, based Fanning very rapidly I’m not so sure about you ...
Legs and arms firmly crossed
on studies made in lunatic Closing the fan very rapidly Talk to my father ...
Disinterest, annoyance, a defensive
asylums in Munich. Although Placing the fan closed over the heart I love you
posture.
often extreme, these studies very much.
Leaning forward, hands to chin
reflect the Enlightenment’s Placing the fan open over the heart I want to marry
Attentive, interested, enthusiastic.
interest in every aspect of you.
Playing with tie or hair (men) Nervous,
human behavior. Giving the fan to the man My heart belongs to you.
uncertain.
Comfortably crossed legs, bouncing of Taking the fan from the man I want no more from
the foot (women) Flirtatious invitation/ you.
sexual interest. Covering part of the face with the open fan We’ve
Eyes looking to left Obvious discomfort, finished.
often lying, bad in interviews. Letting the fan drop I’m suffering but I love you.
Eyes looking to right Fact-finding, Hitting the left hand with the fan I like you.
consideration, fine in interviews. Looking outside I’m considering it ...
Head up, blank eyes Mild interest, Hitting right hand with fan I hate you.
perhaps thinking of something else. Hitting dress with the fan I’m jealous.
Head tilted to one side, narrowed eyes Resting the fan closed on the left cheek I’m yours.
Interest, positive consideration.
Tightening of the jaw/clenching teeth
Frustration and anger.

218 219
 CODES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR THE LANGUAGE OF DREAMS

The Language of Dreams The psychology of dreams Living life through dreams
One particularly perplexing aspect of dreaming
Freud theorized that dreams could be interpreted;
is our participation in unsettling activities,

E
each individual has their own ‘key’ to decoding
verybody dreams: dreaming is part of our sleep process, whether or not we the language of their dreams and therefore their
which both Freud and Jung recognized as the
expression of suppressed desires or anxieties.
actually remember them on waking. In ancient and modern cultures alike, unconscious. Freud believed that ultimately all Some dream activities or situations recur
we have always been fascinated by our dreams – or more precisely, fascinated dreams are unconscious wish-fulfillments, although frequently enough to be tentatively identified:
their representation of an unfulfilled wish may be Dancing Meant to signify good luck.
by what our dreams could mean or tell us. Dreams as prophecy, dreams sent strange and obscure; he believed the same was Flying To fly high forewarns of marital
by a higher power, dreams as the key to the unconscious, dreams as a means of true of any kind of dream – including daydreams. difficulties; to fly low symbolizes illness;
falling forewarns of a downturn in luck,
Dream temples healing, dreams as completely random permutations of our thoughts; different Jung attached greater significance to dreams and but waking before hitting the ground is a
In ancient Greece, temples dreaming than Freud; like Freud, he saw them as good sign. The science of Surrealism
dedicated to Asclepius people at different points in history have believed that dreams are all these things. outlets for our unconscious, but not merely as a Nudity Dreaming of being naked is a sign of There is no set ‘text’ for codifying
the god of medicine were This cacophony of different ideas means there can be no all-encompassing looming scandal in your life.
called asclepieia; they were
key to the unconscious. He believed that dreams the imagery that our brains conjure
had their own internal language and logic and, for Swimming Generally a positive omen; if up when we are asleep, but dreams
essentially places of healing dictionary for the language of dreams, although there have been many attempts. you find yourself sinking, this forewarns of inspired visionary Romantic artists
where people went to be the more spiritual Jung, the unconscious world of a struggle ahead; swimming underwater such as Henry Fuseli, Goya, and
cured. To begin the healing dreams was as important as our waking life. foresees worry and difficulties in your life. William Blake. In the 20th century the
process, a would-be patient
spent a night in the temple,
and the next day would tell
“The interpretation of dreams is Teeth Dreaming about loose teeth is an
unlucky omen; if your teeth are knocked out,
Surrealist movement produced artists
Salvador Dalí (above), René Magritte,
a priest what he or she had
dreamed; the priest would
the royal road to a knowledge this forewarns of sudden disaster; examining
your teeth is a warning that you must make
and Joan Miró, who appear to have
instinctively identified a ‘language’
then interpret the dream of the unconscious activities sure your affairs are in order. of dreams with which most of us can
identify. The more literary Surrealists
and base his prescribed
cure on what the dream
revealed. The language
of the mind.” Animal dream symbols
experimented with ‘automatic writing’
which often involved associative
The appearance of departed relatives or
SIGMUND FREUD, THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS, 1900. game playing, juxtaposing one word
of dreams for followers long-lost friends, often remembered in image with an automatically triggered
of Asclepius was an convincing detail, is not difficult to interpret, response, supposedly revealing some
essential guide to treating if unsettling upon waking. However, the sort of hidden unconscious ‘truth’ or
illness. Such reliance
on the interpretation of
Down the rabbit hole appearance of animals has invited some ‘meaning.’ The American Beat writer
speculation, although most cultures William S. Burroughs meticulously
the symbolism of dreams The significance of dreams is shown by how interestingly concur as to their significance. recorded his (often drug-induced)
is widespread in many often dreams and the act of dreaming feature in Bees A positive premonition; bees dreams, and used his notes as a
cultures across the world. works of art throughout history; dreams and their symbolize a fertile, successful, and happy compositional device, notoriously in The
interpretation are important in both the Old and life for the dreamer. Naked Lunch (1959), before exploring
New Testament (Joseph as a dreamer Cats This can spell misfortune; black cats the ‘cut-up’ method of randomly
are associated with bad luck and dark assembling snippets of texts to provoke
and interpreter of dreams in Genesis, and
forces; white cats indicate hard times ahead. an ‘automatic’ but poetic reaction
Pilate’s wife’s dream in Matthew) and in in the reader. The Surrealists were
Crocodiles Indicate a hidden danger in the
classical works such as Homer’s Iliad very impressed by cinema’s dream-
future of the dreamer.
and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, while like editing, a technique used by film
Dogs A dead or dying dog may forewarn
the Roman emperor Constantine directors such as Luis Buñuel, Federico
of the death of a good friend. Otherwise
attributed his conversion to Fellini, and David Lynch to evoke
faithfulness.
convincing dreamscapes.
Christianity to a dream (see page 43). As a Horses A black horse indicates
result, the dream poem was an extremely mystery, and possibly the occult; a
popular form in medieval Europe, notably white horse represents prosperity
and good fortune.
in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Book of the
Lions Presage influential and
Duchess, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and
prosperous friends who will assist
the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, although you in the future.
such dream poems often served an Owls If you kill an owl or see
allegorical purpose. Later writers have a dead one in a dream, you will
written in dream form, as, for example, survive a dangerous experience.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Whales Symbols of good luck.
Wonderland (1865).
The Nightmare (1781) by Henry Fuseli
Alice’s adventures are presented as a dream shows a sleeping woman surmounted Un Chien Andalou (1928), an exercise
narrative, combining surreal imagery with an by an incubus, a male demon believed in Surrealist filmmaking by Salvador Dalí
underlying logic often derived from the author’s to visit and assault women when they and Luis Buñuel, paraded a number of
experience as a mathematician. sleep, with his steed, the ‘nightmare.’ nightmare dream sequences.

234 235
 IMAGINARY CODES DOOMSDAY CODES

DOOMSDAY CODES Minutes to midnight?

The Doomsday Clock is the creation of the Bulletin of

I
the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago; since
t has many names: Doomsday, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, Judgment Day. its inception in 1947, it has been regularly maintained
Throughout history people of many religions, from many societies, have believed that by its creators. Its purpose is mainly symbolic as it is
supposed to represent the changes and developments
they were living at the ‘end of days,’ that there were only ‘minutes to midnight.’ In the in science and technology that are pushing civilization
last 50 years, more than ever we believe the end of days is looming: nuclear holocaust, closer to the End; the positioning of the hands of
the clock’s face represents how close to ‘midnight’
environmental disaster, global pandemic, World War III – these are popular ways to civilization currently is. The clock’s maintainers take Apocalypse averted
end the world in the media. Many fringe groups and paranoid individuals believe the into consideration the potential of political, economic, Y2K, the ‘year 2000 problem,’ or the ‘millennium bug,’
and environmental influences on impending doom such was the fear that the timing systems programmed into
Apocalypse is nigh, and moreover that it has been predicted already; they believe that if as nuclear war, global warming, and the development computers around the world would not be able to handle 2012: ‘The End of
we can crack the right code, we will see it for ourselves. of biotechnology: the clock stood at one minute to the rollover into the third millennium ad, and that the Days’?
midnight in 1953 (the USA and the Soviet Union had effects of this would be potentially disastrous on a world December 21, 2012 has
tested nuclear weaponry that relies so heavily on computer technology. Would been cited by many New Age
within nine months of we lose control of our nuclear power stations…our followers as the date for a
Nostradamus cataclysmic event that will
Archaic spelling each other), and in 1984, hospitals…our weaponry? The problem stemmed from
Born Michel de Nostredame, the Frenchman either end or change human
The Four Horsemen Probably originally in the midst of the Cold the programming design of early computers that, it
Nostradamus (1503-66) was one of the leading written in Low Latin, civilization forever. Some
The medieval fear of War, War. As of January 7, was believed, would cause date-related processing
astrologers and physicians of the Renaissance. During the quatrains have base their theory on the
Conquest, Pestilence, and 2007, the clock stood at to become defective between and after December
his lifetime, Nostradamus made some 6,338 predictions been translated into Mesoamerican Long Count
Death (as in the Albrecht five minutes to midnight. 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. Many governments
in his best-selling annual publications of ‘almanachs,’ French; about five Calendar (above) used by the
Dürer print, above) remains and private companies invested hugely in upgrading
‘presages,’ and ‘prognostications’; in recent years, percent of the terms Maya that dates back to 1800
with us. A strange mixture computers to make sure they were ‘Y2K-safe.’ In fact,
people have been most interested in his ‘perceptual The first ‘Century’ quatrain are not recognizably bc; this measures dates over
of astronomical, astrological, not much happened on December 31,1999, either in
prophecies’ that are thought to foretell world history up Being seated by night in secret study, French, and another long periods of time (anything
and other calculations have Alone resting on the brass stool: five percent are countries that spent a lot of time and money to insure
until ad 3737. People have linked these prophecies to longer than 52 years) and the
produced an enormous A slight flame coming forth from the solitude, Old French, Greek, their computers were Y2K compatible, or in countries
events as diverse as the rise of Hitler and the Kennedy winter of 2012 is at the end
number of ‘doomsdays.’ That which is not believed in vain is uttered. or Latin. that did not. In Australia, the worst did happen: in two of the 5,125-year cycle the
Nostradamus postulated that family in the USA, and have used these apparently
states, bus-ticket validation machines stopped working, calendar covers. This date
the most inauspicious dates ‘fulfilled’ prophecies as evidence that Nostradamus was
As was typical in 16th-century literature and writing of all but luckily nobody died. coincides with the ‘Galactic
for the human future would a genuine prophet. Many myths and rumors surround kinds – even in what we would term scientific writings – Alignment,’ the alignment
appear when: Nostradamus – for instance that he was buried upright Nostradamus wrote in quatrains (four-line verse), using of the solstice Sun with the
Good Friday fell on April 23, with a medallion round his neck predicting when he flowery and poetic language, and deliberately used obscure equator of our galaxy, the
St. George’s Day; would be dug up – and there are many problems with Greek and Latin vocabulary; although to the uneducated Milky Way, and is further used
Easter Day fell on April 25, his prophecies. Some believe they were written in code, this might seem like ‘code,’ in fact it is just metaphor, by some New Age believers
St. Mark’s Day; but in fact the order of books such as Les Centuries presumably to keep his predictions ambiguous enough not to support their theories.
Corpus Christi fell on June 24, have just become scrambled texts, corrupted over the to upset any people of influence. Oddly, it coincides with one
St. John the Baptist’s Day. centuries; there have also been problems with copied of Nostradamus’ apocalyptic
This has occurred in the
texts differing from early facsimiles and the problem dates (opposite). However,
following years, and some
of interpretative translation. academic Mayan specialists
calamitous events have
dismiss these ideas, saying
been attributed to the
there is no reason to believe
‘coded’ calculations of
the end of the Long Count
Nostradamus:
Calendar signifies the end of
ad 45, 140, 387,
the world (the world certainly
482, 577, 672,
existed before the beginning
919, 1014, Among the
of the calendar) or even
1109, 1204, dangerous dates
to believe that the Maya
1421,1451, predicted by
Nostradamus (left) intended it to.
1546, 1666,
1734, 1886, was 1666, when the
1945. The Great Fire of London
next dates to destroyed the city (right).
beware of It was synchronicities such
are 2012 as this (which nevertheless
and 2096. meant little to a peasant in
France or China)
that have provided
an element of
credence for
millennialists.

264 265
 THE DIGITAL AGE FUTURE MEDICINE

Future Medicine The da Vinci robot A current robotic Battlefield medicine

surgery suite used increasingly for Throughout history, the need
delicate, minimally invasive surgery. to treat soldiers injured in

M
Advantages include greater precision,
The Hippocratic Oath any of us today encounter medical techniques unheard of when we were greater range of movement, and 3-D
battle has provided countless
This venerated code of medical breakthroughs. In
conduct among doctors
born, such as ‘keyhole’ surgery, and routine organ transplants. The speed vision via miniature cameras inserted
the future, mobile, robotic
into the body. Although essentially controlled
worldwide was originated of medical research, especially with the completion of the Human Genome surgical units may be
by surgeons, increasing
by the clinical physician autonomy is being given to the deployed to retrieve fallen
Hippocrates of Cos (c.460- Project (see page 174), coincided with other developing technologies, not least robots as a fail-safe against soldiers and stabilize them
prior to evacuation. Named
c.370 bc), whose ideas were pharmaceutical research, but also miniaturization (nanotechnology) and surgeon error.
‘trauma pods’ after similar
recorded by others in the
Corpus. Across the centuries, robotics. All of these to some extent depend nowadays on coded machines imagined by Robert
in its essentials the code Heinlein in his 1957 sci-fi
enshrines four main moral
computerized technology. In the half century since Watson and book Starship Troopers,
precepts: Crick identified the DNA code (see page 170), our well-being and these units would provide
automatic care during the
Tradition The veneration
longevity, for good or ill, rely increasingly on digital technology. ‘golden hour’ (the first hour
of one’s teachers, and a after injury), crucial to the
commitment to pass on fate of the injured soldier.
knowledge to the next Other advances may include
generation.
New technologies regenerative techniques such
Sanctity of life To offer the The advent of computerization has transformed medical science to the as spray-on skin to treat
best possible medical advice burns, blood clot-forming
extent that machines such as modified ink-jet printers are now being
to the patient, and to refuse powder, and field dressings
used to ‘build’ replacement body tissues while computerized analysis chemically impregnated to
to give a patient poison if
requested (originally extending
of functions such as sight and hearing among animals are helping to stop blood loss (the cause
to refuse to administer reconstruct damaged systems for the human blind and deaf. On the of 50% of deaths on the
abortificants). other hand, DNA-related experiments have shown that rebuilding lost battlefield). These advances
Patient confidentiality To body parts is no longer science fiction, but will soon be science fact. are already in limited use.
never pass on to a third party Small portable anaesthetic
details of a patient’s condition devices that shut down pain
without their consent. signals coming from injured
Respect To avoid intimacy regions of the body are also
with patients. Organ printing Modified Wearable sensor clothing being developed. Ultrasound
ink-jet printers are already Clothing patches can monitor devices are envisioned that
Physicians today are, in development that may health functions, such as pulse, will locate and cauterize
print living tissues and conductivity, breathing rate, and internal wounds. Externally,
however, confronted by
organs, using a support battlefield clothing may
an increasing number of electrolyte levels in the sweat. They will be able
gel for paper and living cell
challenges as society and to communicate directly with health centers, remotely inform medics of
cultures as ink. The cell
scientific research evolves. cultures could be grown giving the medical status and whereabouts of the a soldier’s physical status.
Abortion on demand remains from an individual’s own wearer. This data may be used for general health This early triage will mean
information and emergency service call-out Vital signs the most severely injured will
a heated social, ethical, and cells providing organs
that will not be rejected, in the event of severe trauma. These are assessed be treated first.
often legal issue; arguments and in case of
bypassing the need to find
for voluntary euthanasia in emergency a medical
a matching donor.
cases of extreme distress are Sensors station is notified and
Printing
counterbalanced by moral Clothing is made by assistance immediately
Inks made
issues and clinical advances; weaving together natural dispatched.
from different
the problem of innovations in and conductive fibers.
cell types are
identifying genetic heritage printed onto a Ready to use
are discomfiting, while genetic support gel. The cells merge Fast track
engineering, especially in the as the support gel Data is received
human sphere, remains an relaxes, forming by satellite and Nanotechnology At the nanoscale (one billionth Decoding brainwaves Signals picked up by
enormously controversial issue the final tissue. forwarded to to 100 billionths of a meter) treatments are electrodes inserted into a cat’s brain have
for the medical profession. Complete organs a monitoring being developed that could one day become already been used to recreate hazy images of its
could be printed station. commonplace. Minuscule molecular balls called visual field. The signals, taken from a point just
in this manner. ‘nanoshells’ or ‘buckyballs’ are beginning to be behind the optic nerve, were interpreted using
Data collection used to deliver drugs and other therapies to ‘linear decoding technology.’ Working in reverse,
An in-built processor specific sites in the body – particularly useful for it may be possible to translate images from a
collects and sends the delivery of chemotherapy drugs direct to cancer camera into signals that can be fed directly to a
data to satellite. cells, avoiding normal cells and thereby minimizing person’s visual cortex, allowing a blind person
3-D structures side effects. Supports built from nanotubes called to see. Today, algorithms are being researched Inside the ‘trauma pod’ An
Alternate layers of ‘nanoscaffolds’ will help provide a structure for that can mathematically model the activity of the injured soldier is medically
cells and support regrowth of damaged tissue such as nerve tissue visual cortex. Ultimately, this may lead to ‘seeing’ assessed and stabilized robotically
gel are built up. and as a base for the regrowth of organs. someone else’s dreams and imaginings. prior to evacuation.

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 THE DIGITAL AGE WHERE ARE CODES TAKING US?

Where are codes taking us? Into the matrix

With processors functioning at the atomic scale, we may
soon see a world in which superfast, minute computers

O ur finesse in finding coded languages to describe the world and are printed onto objects or the skin, communicating
through a quantum network. Reductions in scale
manipulating the results is astounding, yet many believe that the ‘digital and cost are already allowing microprocessors to be
attached to everyday objects such as RFIDs; with wi-fi
revolution’ has barely begun. Computing power is doubling roughly every technology and sufficient bandwidth they will soon be
two years, according to Moore’s Law (see page 272), as are improvements in communicating spontaneously with each other and
collecting information via the Internet. Lawn sprinklers
many other aspects of digital technology. Phones, cameras, cars, music systems, will read weather forecasts; children’s clothes will reveal
televisions, and above all PCs have changed so radically in the last few their whereabouts via GPS systems; medicine cabinets
Quantum computers will automatically identify the drugs they contain
The most promising research decades that were we to step back just 20 years their antecedents would seem and warn of possible adverse interactions; and food
involves harnessing the unfamiliar, if not quaint. Is there a limit to this progress? There are certainly packaging will communicate with the oven to tell it how
potential of subatomic the food it contains is to be cooked.
particles and the world of limits to the number of transistors that can be fitted on a silicon wafer. These It is likely that the majority of computing power
quantum physics. When have formed the basis of microprocessors and thereby computing power for will be moved out of our homes and offices to
things are very, very small (the vast, remote computer sites.
size of atoms and subatomic several decades, but overheating and finite size both impose constraints that Our terminals will become
particles), the physical laws reduced to a wearable size
that govern them change
are increasingly difficult to overcome. Time for something new. – wristwatches or perhaps
radically. This is the realm headbands with constant
of quantum physics, where access to the Internet, feeding
particles are also waves, and The DNA connection Digital warfare us information about the world,
matter is energy. Researchers Research into new types of computer points to a future Technological advances in weapon systems are always aware of our location and
are finding ways to exploit of near infinite computing power and capacity at speeds at the cutting edge of our knowledge due to the massive environment, and able to infer
this particle/wave duality to unheard even with today’s supercomputers (see page 270). expenditure on defense research budgets. In this our desires and intentions.
build computers with a vast For example, one pound of DNA has more storage capacity sometimes surreal world reality can be stranger than
increase in storage capacity than all the silicon-based computers that have ever existed, science fiction. This image is of a pilot’s helmet from
and processing speed to solve and DNA is plentiful and relatively cheap. Computers the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a state-of-the-art Plugging in
problems in seconds that harnessing this potential should be able to perform development providing the pilot with unprecedented Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are becoming
would currently take hundreds calculations in parallel rather than linearly (as conventional levels of information and control. In addition to the increasingly sophisticated, along with our ability to
of years, but there are many computers operate). This will vastly increase their speed features detailed below, digital cameras mounted on the decipher the brain’s electrical activity. People can
problems yet to be overcome and reduce their size, enabling computers the size of a exterior of the fighter allow the pilot to access views to already move cursors and write messages on computer
in building fully-functioning raindrop to outperform the fastest of today. Similar ideas the side, above, below, and behind the aircraft. screens by thought alone using sensors mounted
quantum computers. One are being explored using a ‘soup’ of different chemicals on the scalp. Monkeys have been trained to feed
Twin projectors themselves using robotic arms linked to brain sensors,
quantum effect called with operations performed by chemical reactions. These beam a and we have seen through cats’ eyes by interpreting
‘entanglement,’ referred to by
range of images
Einstein as “spooky action at signals from electrodes placed in their brains (see
Freeway to flyway onto the
a distance,” has been used to page 277). Given this, we can envisage a world in
interior of the
‘teleport’ quantum information. Could flying cars, the promise of so many sci-fi which humans and machines are married together
tinted visor.
This has implications for both predictions, finally become a reality? Current research to enhance our cognitive skills, and keep us healthy,
quantum computation and suggests that they will be on the market within two Vocal
informed, connected, and entertained. Anything and
data encryption, and will allow decades. Prototypes of private vertical takeoff vehicles commands everything could be coupled to the Internet – with
for completely secure transfer already exist. The main drawback involves their control Most of dire consequences for our privacy. Will we accept
of data. technology, but computer modeling, GPS, and 3-D the digital electrodes hardwired into our brains? The only brakes
positional software is solving these problems. functions can on the process are cultural: do we consider this
be activated by desirable or an Orwellian nightmare?
voice.

Data cable
The digital Stairway to heaven
feed supplies
An elevator to a
data and relays
geostationary space station
commands.
is seriously being explored.
Computer-aided nanotechnology
is allowing us to create
Oxygen supply Earphones
Air is pumped into These relay radio messages lightweight fibers of enormous
the pilot’s lungs at and synthesized voice strength from carbon nanotubes.
high pressure. information from the aircraft’s These may enable us to haul cargo
computerized control systems. and people into space without the
need for expensive rocketry.

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