VMs: RE: Trithemius / John Dee's "Tuba Veneris"...?

["Philip Neal" <philipneal_vms@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Hi,
> I posted the rest of Tuba Veneris for those who are interested.  The reason
> I speculated that it might be an example of Ars Steganographiae is that the
> invocations do not seem consistent with other magical texts I've examined,
> and seem more like those of Trithemius in Steganographia.

I spent a pleasant weekend with the digital edition of Steganographia.
Knowing about 'Sum tali cautela' from Kahn, I was able to read quite a
lot of the other ciphers, though not all of them. Then I looked at
Tuba Veneris and I couldn't see anything of the same kind: there is
nothing obvious to be found by taking initial letters or every other
letter in the style of Steganographia. If there is an innner mystery,
which I doubt, I would suspect it of being hidden in the verses
'Veneri nigrum te Sacro libellum...' because the words are arranged
in a very strained order and yet they do not scan as Latin poetry.

About Trithemius. Was the key to the first two books always known or
did somebody rediscover it? Is the stuff about angels a complete
bluff or is it some kind of doublespeak about cryptology (I mean is
it deliberate symbolism like the weeping kings and similar figures in
alchemy)? Were the Trithemian ciphers ever used, and did Dee know how
to use them?

The esotericarchives site seems excellent to me, and Mr Peterson
deserves our thanks.

Philip Neal



_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com