PART II
Bacon 101-3. The Deep End of the Ocean
Bacon 101-4. Mapping a Miracle
by
Mather Walker
The Deep End of the Ocean
Bacon - 101-3
In previous parts of this study I laid out a partial foundation of
Bacon's ideas. Time now to put my cards on the table. I will add
additional ideas from Bacon as needed along the way, but for the
present, without further ado, on to The Tempest. The primary focus
of my two cents worth is an effort to determine the details of
the operation of Bacon's logic machine in The Tempest. But this will
come later. For the present I will try to build up a base of
information about The Tempest. In his Novum Organum , Bacon said:
"I am building in the human understanding a true
model of the world, such as it is in fact, not such
as man's own reason would have it to be; a thing which
cannot be done without a very diligent dissection and
anatomy of the world."
And certainly uncovering the details of his logic machine in The
Tempest is a thing that cannot be done without a very diligent
dissection and anatomy of The Tempest. My plan is to work from the
general to the particular in the hope that if all the pieces are
present everything will fall into place later. In the best of all
possible worlds this would happen sometime before I fall flat on my
face.
Think about the opening scene in The Tempest. The play begins with a
ship caught in a tempest.The ship apparently splits after being
driven by the wind against the rocks. The crew of the ship remain on
board, but the passengers leap overboard and swim ashore. As it turns
out this was The Tempest of The Imagination. It was an illusory
tempest, existing only in the minds of those who experienced it (that
is to say it existed only in The Intellectual Globe). Ariel reports to
Prospero that he has anchored the ship undamaged in a harbor with the
mariners stored safely below decks in a deep sleep. The allegory is
obvious. The play is set in the Old World of the Mediterranean and
sometimes ostensibly in the New World far west of the Pillars of
Hercules. This matches exactly Bacon's paradigm of his Intellectual
Globe. In addition Bacon described the quest for knowledge as a sailing
ship of discovery. He also described the existing state of knowledge
in his time as a tempest, and went on to say that those who had
ventured themselves upon the waves of experience had been shipwrecked
upon the rock of the premature desire for works.
Bacon had stressed the dire straits of the existing state of the
Advancement of Learning as being due in large part to a schism between
Human Power and Human Knowledge. They must be united to be effective,
but Human Power has developed an enmity for Human Knowledge, and has
banished it just as Prospero had been banished. The beginning of the
play allegorizes the result. The Ship of Discovery is in danger of
shipwreck. The struggles of the crew to save it are futile. They
represent mechanical arts, which can maintain but not increase
knowledge. The King (Human Power) is the dominant force on The Ship of
Discovery, but without Human Knowledge he is powerless. The words of
the boatswain emphasize this:
"What cares these roarers for the name of king?"
And just as the king and his party represents Human Power so Prospero
(famed for his learning) and his party represents Human Knowledge.
In order to follow the allegory we must always bear in mind the process
that Bacon's science entailed. Bacon said:
"But the rule or axiom for the transformation of bodies
is of two kinds. The first regards the body as an aggregate
or combination of simple natures. Thus, in gold are united
the following circumstances: it is yellow, heavy, of a
certain weight, malleable and ductile to a certain extent;
it is not volatile, loses part of its substance by fire,
melts in a particular manner, is separated and dissolved
by particular methods, and so of the other natures observable
in gold. An axiom, therefore, of this kind deduces the
subject from the forms of simples natures; for he who has
acquired the forms and methods of superinducing yellowness,
weight, ductility, stability, deliquescence, solution, and
the like, and their degrees and modes, will consider and
contrive how to unite them in any body, so as to transform
it into gold.
And this method of operating belongs to primary action;
for it is the same thing to produce one or many simple
natures, except that man is more confined and restricted
in his operations, if many be required, on account of the
difficulty of uniting many natures together. It must,
however, be observed that this method of operating (which
considers natures as simple though in a concrete body)
sets out from what is constant, eternal, and universal
in nature, and opens such broad paths to human power, as
the thoughts of man can in the present state of things
Scarcely comprehend or figure to itself."
Bacon goes on to say:
A separation and solution of bodies, therefore, is to be
effected, not by fire indeed, but rather by reasoning
and true induction, with the assistance of experiment,
and by a comparison with other bodies, and a reduction
to those simple natures and their forms which meet, and
are combined in the compound; and we must assuredly pass
from Vulcan to Minerva, if we wish to bring to light
the real texture and conformation of bodies, upon which
every occult and (as it is sometimes called) specific
property and virtue of things depends, and whence also
every rule of powerful change and transformation is
deduced."
"We must, therefore, effect a complete solution and
separation of nature; not by fire, but by the mind,
that divine fire."
Bacon said: "toward the effecting of works all that men can do is put
together, or put asunder natural bodies", and to reiterate from the
above he also said, "a separation and solution of bodies, therefore, is
to be effected not by fire indeed, but rather by reasoning and true
induction..."
The allegory depicts the particular in nature (the sailing ship of
discovery) as composed of a number of natures (symbolized by the
characters aboard ship, which personify these natures). The natures,
which compose a particular in nature, form one whole until they are
separated through the scientific analysis of the scientist (who, in
Bacon's scheme, is the magician). And the characters aboard the ship
are combined in one group until they are separated. Not through the
fire of the furnace, but through the intellectual fire (as Bacon
notes). The intellectual fire is depicted by Ariel's simulation of St.
Elmo's fire throughout the masts of the ship. Then the separation is
shown by having the natures that constitute the particular leaping
overboard and swim away in their separate directions from the ship.
But just what are the natures that are separated out? In order to
follow the allegory we must know what natures the characters represent.
Bacon provides a key in the De Augmentis. He says,
"The justest division of human learning is that derived from
the three different faculties of the soul" and philosophy
to the reason."
A little later in the same work he says,
"The faculties of the soul are well known;
viz., the understanding, reason, imagination, memory,
appetite, will and all those wherein logic and ethics
are concerned."
Bacon follows the general ideas in Renaissance writings on the
divisions of the tripartite soul set forth in such works as The Anatomy
of Melancholy (1621), Batman uppon Bartholome (1582), Sir John Davies'
Nosce Teipsum (1599), Philippe de Mornay's The True Knowledge of a Man's
Owne Selfe (1602), and Pierre de la Primaudaye's The French Academy.
Therefore, it is not very difficult to reconstruct an anatomy of the
soul of man as Bacon applies it in The Tempest, and this anatomy
supplies the requisite key for The Tempest. For those interested in
following this in more detail it is set out in my "Secret of the
Shakespeare Plays" at sirbacon.org
/Matherpage.htm, but for now it
should suffice to say that the natures (representing Human Power) that
are separated out according to Bacon science are:
Alonso, King of Naples(Will)
Ferdinand, son to the King of Naples (moving faculty)
Sebastian, his brother (Nilling-will)
Antonio, brother of Prospero, usurping Duke of Milan(Nilling faculty)
Gonzalo, the honest old counselor (Willing-understanding)
Adrian and Francisco, lords
Stephano, a drunken butler (intellective appetite)
And the characters (already on the island) pertaining to Human
Knowledge Are:
Prospero (understanding)
Miranda, his daughter (reason)
Ariel (imagination)
Caliban (memory)
Following the schema of Bacon's method the simple natures that made
up Human Power in the existing methodology (or lack of methodology) of
science will be separated out. Required modifications will be made to
these natures, and they will be recombined and joined with Human
Knowledge since Bacon's methodology requires the union of Human Power
and Human Knowledge.
Bacon's science operates by separating the particular into the simple
natures that constitute it, superinducing the desired changes upon
these natures, and recombining them to make the particular with the
desired changes incorporated into it. After the natures comprising the
particular have been separated they must be shown in the allegory as
subject to some influence from the magician which operates upon them to
change their basic nature.
We see this in the play. Gonzalo, who affirms everything is operated
upon so he becomes more critical in his affirmation. Antonio is
operated upon so he becomes more critical in his denial. Alonso is
reconciled and bound to Prospero, and the ambition of Sebastian is
instructed to seek better ends through the device of the illusory
feast.
The characters, or natures, together at the beginning of the play
aboard the ship (which represented the existing state of the
advancement of learning) were separated and operated upon to make the
desired modifications upon them, then brought together to form the
changed particular in nature. Next they were joined with Prospero's
group (ie. Human Power and Human Knowledge are united). Prospero joins
himself to Alonso through the marriage of his daughter to Ferdiand the
son of Alonso. AT THE END OF THE PLAY BOTH GROUPS ARE COMBINED - THEY
ALL ENTER PROSPERO'S CELL TOGETHER. However, very significantly,
neither Caliban or Ariel enter the cell. Bacon's system was an
automatic process that required neither Memory nor Imagination.
But the most important element of the scenario is still missing.
Bacon's Ladder of the Intellect functioned in such a manner that an
ascent up the ladder resulted in the discovery of the "form" of the
particular under inquiry. Bacon saw the existing state of knowledge as
a tempest. But He did something much more interesting here. In my
book, "Secret of the Shakespeare Plays" I showed that Bacon set out in
allegoric format in The Tempest all of the divisions of knowledge in
his De Augmentis. He followed the nine divisions of his De Augmentis
with the nine scenes of The Tempest. Some scenes actually contain more
than one scene, but Bacon makes them one scene so he can come up with
the number he desires for the entire play. So we should expect to see,
somewhere near the end of The Tempest, the symbolization of the "form"
of all knowledge or experience. And, in fact, this is present.
All action in the play leads to the one episode in the ninth scene
where Prospero draws aside the curtain and discloses Ferdinand and
Miranda playing at chess together. In the Mystery Religion symbolism
(that is built into the play) this scene corresponds to the
Anacalypteria, or unveiling of Kore. Like that event (the ultimate
revelation of the Mysteries) this revelation is the ultimate revelation
of the operation of the discovery machine in the play. This is the
revelation of the "form" of all knowledge.
A major aspect of Prospero's work was to unite Human Power and Human
Knowledge. He used love (the basic element in Bacon's science) to
effect this union. Ferdinand, as son of the King, represents Human
Power. Miranda, as daughter of Prospero, represents Human Knowledge.
Their marriage symbolizes the union of both. In this one scene was the
very nexus of the whole play, but how did it show the "form" of all
knowledge or experience?
Examine the game of Chess. It has some interesting features. It is a
microcosm of medieval life that existed at the time it was modified
from the older game from Persia and India for the milieu of Europe.
There is depicted two kingdoms warring against each other with King,
Queen, Bishops, Knights, Castles or Barons, foot soldiers, and so on.
It is a further microcosm of life through the analogy Sancho pointed
out to Quixote, "So long as the game lasts, each piece has its special
qualities, but when it is over they are all mixed and jumbled together
and put into a bag, which is to the chess pieces what the grave is to
life." It epitomizes the medieval world. Moreover a global dimension
is given to the "vision" by the words of Miranda to Ferdinand:
"...for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle
and I would call it fair play."
and by the response of Ferdinand:
"I would not for the world."
Even more to the point is the fact that this microcosm of the human
kingdoms with the panorama of human life is played against a background
of black and white squares on the chessboard. There are exactly 64 of
these: 32 light, and 32 dark. This number ties in very significantly
with the 32 directions of Bacon's Intellectual Compass. The black and
white squares abstract the essence of the entire play.
Some years ago I had a mystical experience in which I apparently
perceived the entire play as its author perceived it. In this
experience I was aware of the entire play in one perception. There was
a unity to it's totality. At the same time, the play was an exquisite
array of precisely counter-poised opposing entities; each precisely
equal to its opposite, so that, overall, there was an absolute
equilibrium of opposing entities; the two radical entities being
darkness and light.
After I had this experience I realized that the details reflected the
insight of the ancient vedic seers. But I didn't see the real import.
Now however after a quarter of a century to think about it I believe I
have a handle on it. It is like the punchline of a joke where some
people catch on immediately. Others need a few seconds. And for some,
like me, it takes a quarter of a century. The whole thing about the
"form" of knowledge goes back to the old problem about the relationship
of the observer to the "real world" out there, and the question as to
what that "real world" really is. It is the relationship between the
internal and the external world. The only thing we can have any
knowledge about is what is "in here". We can never know directly the
world "out there". We only know the conditions of our consciousness,
i.e., our sensations and nothing else. Our five senses tell us about
the existence of this familiar world and provide us with information
about it. That is, we get a physiological "read out" inside ourselves,
that consists of some kind of model reassembled from the electrical and
chemical signals that feed into our brain. But our contact with the
"reality" out there goes no further than our skin. The vital point is
we never know the external world in itself. We see that world only
through the immovable glass of the sense-reports which we receive
concerning it. And from time to time there have arisen some very
peculiar innuendoes about the peculiar nature of the "world" out there.
George Berkeley caused some ripples in the thought of his day when he
put forth a philosophical system built around the idea that the world
we perceive does not exist. According to Berkeley the only thing that
exists are ideas in the mind of God. In response to this, the old
great, hard-headed man, Samuel Johnson, with his feet planted firmly on
what he firmly believed was solid earth, created a quote of some
repute, and showed his total lack of understanding, when he kicked a
stone while uttering the words:
"Thus I refute Berkeley"
Since that time we have, as the saying goes, "come a long way baby".
We have seen the advent of Quantum Reality where Schrodinger's
schizophrenic equations evoked some strange realizations. In 1957 Hugh
Everett and John A. Wheeler made a rigorous mathematical examination of
the issues raised by the equation. Their conclusion was, "the universe
is constantly splitting into a stupendous number of divisions where all
possible realities 'exist', and, at any moment in time an indefinite
number of parallel realities exist."
This was all hairy enough, but the physicists also built up a
repertoire of actual physical observations which showed something very
strange was involved in the nature of that "stuff" out there that we so
fondly think of as reality. Einstein's Theory had shown how illusory
was man's perception of his universe, but one did not even have to
refer to this theory to demonstrate a fundamental illusion in that
perception. Two examples which clearly demonstrated the presence of
some connection between separate events where none should have been
possible was the case of masses of radioactive material of varying
sizes, and the classical experiment designed to demonstrate the wave-
like nature of light.
As if this was not enough, in 1964 a physicist named J.S. Bell made
some mathematical calculations concerning the correlations between
polarized light particles emitted from a central source in the two
opposite directions in such a manner that they passed through
polarizers to a photomultiplier tube which registered reception by an
audible click and discovered that the clicks from Tube A and Tube B
were correlated too strongly to be explained by chance. There existed
some connection a space-like separate area. (Einstein's Theory of
Relativity established the speed of light as the maximum possible speed
in the universe. The term space-like separation was invented by
physicists to designate a separation of two areas or events which
existed in such a manner that there was no possibility of connection
due to insufficient time for a light signal to connect the two.)
The mathematical correlations Bell found demolished the principle of
Local Causes. Bell's mathematical proof(later known as Bell's
Theorem) demonstrated that either the statistical predictions of the
Quantum Theory were incorrect, or the Principle of Local Causes failed.
Since the statistical predictions of the Quantum Theory had been
established as the correct the Principle of Local Causes failed, and
this meant either one or both of the tacit assumptions inherent in this
principle failed. These assumptions were:
1.That we have the ability to determine our own actions.
2.That if at a given moment we have the choice of doing two
things, the one we do is the only one which occurs.
The failure of the first tacit assumption presupposed a
superdeterminism which precluded the idea of alternative possibilities.
According to this type of determinism it was impossible the world could
every have been other than it was (a statement mystics have repeated
since recorded history began).
If the second assumption failed the Many Worlds Theory was posited in
which, "the universe is constantly splitting into a stupendous number
of divisions where all possible realities 'exist', and, at any moment
in time an indefinite number of parallel realities exist." This, of
course, was already predicated by the work Everett and Wheeler had done
using the strange case of the schizophrenic equations as a base.
It seemed highly likely Schrodinger's equation did represent a reality,
but then what decided which outcome of an event was experienced? In
1961, Nobel Prize winning physicists Eugene Wigner proposed a solution.
He carefully weighed the evidence and found that (bizarre as it might
seem) the inescapable conclusion was it was the consciousness itself
which was the hidden variable that decided which outcome of an event
was experienced.
David Bohm, Professor of Physics at Birkbeck College, University of
London, used Bell's Theorem as a base and arrived at the conclusion
that there was no separation of things in the universe, but instead, at
the most fundamental level an unbroken wholeness. This meant again
that the reality man experiences is illusory, and the most likely
candidate for the culprit which created this illusion was again man's
own consciousness.
Again, man's world was a world bound in the adamantine mold of cause
and effect, but Quantum Mechanics failed to find such an order of
things existing down at the bedrock of materiality. Here again the
most likely explanation of the discrepancy was that through the
participation of our own consciousness we have created our own reality.
"Curiouser and curiouser," as Alice said.
All of this leads to a very strange conclusion, one novel to the
physicists, but which has been current in the sphere of mysticism since
recorded history began. There is a word for the creation of events
through the participation of consciousness, and that word is DREAMING.
Michael Talbot says, "In the paradigm of the New Physics we have
dreamed the world."
It should be noted that many commentators had noticed the atmosphere of
dream which permeates The Tempest. David Young remarked:
"So dense and pervasive is the dreamlike atmosphere of
the play that it scarcely needs pointing out."
and Derek Traversi spoke of:
"The dream-like quality which pervades it..."
while Marjorie B. Garber in her more technical study called The Tempest
"the most remarkable of all Shakespeare's dream worlds..."
and James Smith comparing the play with Calderon's LA VIDA ES SUENO
(Life is a Dream) said:
"But on one point The Tempest is different. And though it is
foolish to discuss which of two such eminent masterpieces is
the superior, yet in virtue of that point the Tempest can,
I think, be awarded superiority as a variation upon the argument
that life is a dream. For whereas in Calderon's play one
character only is shown as dreaming, while the rest are wide
awake and so have the opportunity of learning their lesson from
him; in The Tempest all the characters are involved in the
dream contemporaneously."
This dreamlike atmosphere is miraculously heightened by the background
of the sea. The sea seeps into every action and creates new compounds,
sea-swallow'd, sea-sorrow, sea-marge, until the play itself suffers
a sea-change, and the still-closing waters are the sea of the dream
consciousness.
David James points out the pervasive, dreamlike quality of the play
simulated by the incoherent discords of the varying perceptions
of the island upon which they are cast away following the tempest, and
augmented by the recurrence of the words 'sleep' 'waking' and 'dream'
throughout the play, and by the curious actions of the characters of
falling asleep, awakening again; of, while they are awake of
experiencing difficulty in knowing whether they in reality are not
sleeping, and by the speech of Prospero in which he says all of life is
a dream and remarks that in the light of all this, the total impression
made by the play can best be expressed by saying that:
"Prospero in truth never left Milan, and that the island
and everything which happens on it is only a dream of
Prospero's."
James came close to a realization of what was, perhaps, the most
occult feature of the play. For what Bacon had built into The Tempest
was the Vedantic Doctrine of the Self caught up in its cosmic dream
from which in the end it must awaken. The Royal Self has never left
its high estate, says the Vedanta, its adventures are only a dream
which it is dreaming.
In Tantra the projection of illusion from the original Oneness has a
very specific pattern that matches precisely the elements Bacon built
into His play. The concept of Tantra begins with the Bindu. Bindu
means a point (but the idea is very close to the physicists concept of
the "singularity" that they say existed at the beginning big-bang).
According to Tantra everything began with this point, within which
everything is contained, and all matter and dimensionality is projected
from it through the illusory constructs of consciousness. Thus the
universe appears made up of many instead of one, and physical objects
appear extended in space, but when there is awakening and realization
that matter is projected via the illusory constructs of consciousness
everything will collapse back to this original point, and illusion will
cease. Maya or illusion comes about through extension of bindu into
opposites. The presence of opposites is the hallmark of maya, for in
the non-illusory state all is One, and opposites do not exist. The
peculiar feature of the Bindu Model is that it posits, as a whole, a
universe of absolute and undeviating symmetry. Each projected opposite
is a reflection of, and identical with, and therefore in strict
equality and equilibrium with its dual.
Each unit of the opposites in the phenomenal world of illusion is a
precisely equal and diametrically opposed mirror image of its twin
opposite, and the presence of opposites is an infallible sign of the
presence of maya. Paramahansa Yogananda pointed out that Newton's Law
of Motion is just such an example of the presence of maya:
"To every action there is always an equal and contrary
reaction; the mutual actions of any two bodies are always
equal and oppositely directed."
That is, action and reaction are alwlays exactly opposite and exactly
equal. "To have a single force is impossible. There must be, and
always is, a pair of forces equal and opposite."
Yogananda went on to add:
"Fundamental nautral activities all betray their mayit
origin. Electricity, for example, is a phenomenon of
repulsion and attraction; its electrons and protons are
electrical opposites. Another example: the atom or final
particle of matter is, like the earth itself, a magnet
with positive and negative sway of polarity; no law of
physics, chemistry, or any other science is ever found
free from inherent opposite or contrasted principles.
Physical science, then, cannot formulate laws outside
Of maya: the very fabric and structure of creation,
Nature herself is maya; natural science must perforce
Deal with her ineluctable quiddity."
At the sub-microscopic extreme in the realm of Quantum Mechanics, and
sub-atomic particles, the situation is that of a constant dance of
creation and annihilation of particles that exist only for a fraction
of a nano-second, yet each creation is the production of two particles
which are mirror opposites, and each annihilation the absorption of two
particles which are mirror opposites. Yogananda, and his fellow
Vedantists would surely have averred that the physicists have delved
down to the mayic roots of the universe.
But more to the point, for the present study, the physicists are not
the only ones who delved down to the mayic roots of the universe. It
is evident that Bacon knew all this. Because this is what he
determined via the operation of his discovery machine to be the "form"
of all knowledge. He determined that everything that we know, or think
we know, is only an illusion at the base of which are the binary
elements of light and dark in the mayic "world stuff" out there. The
connection of the light "A", dark "A" emblem with this idea is obvious.
Bacon made one remark that is very difficult to understand without this
framework of ideas for context. Bacon said:
".the true rule of a perfect inquiry is, that nothing
can be found in the material globe which has not its
correspondent in the crystalline globe - the understanding"
What Bacon was saying in effect was, It's all in your mind. Anything
that you can find in the material globe must have it correspondent in
your mind otherwise it could not exist for you.
Our relationship to the mayic "world stuff" outside is illuminated by
another look at the Vedanta. According to the Vedanta while Vishnu the
supreme god was sleeping a lotus stalk grew up from his navel to
surface of the cosmic ocean. There a lotus blossom bloomed and when it
opened Brahma creator of universes and worlds was seated within it.
Brahma used the power he derived from Vishnu to create the universe.
This power was Maya, the cosmic dream power. By this power of cosmic
illusion Brahma was able to produce the universe in the same way a
magician is enabled by his incomprehensible magical power to produce
the illusory appearances of things. Brahma, indeed, was the Great
Magician who by his power of illusion created the universe. However, in
addition, from Brahma was produced each individual in the universe, and
each was a miniature reflection of Brahma, each possessing a portion of
his magic, illusory power of Maya. Thus along with Brahma each human
is a creator in his or her own miniature sphere. Humans have an
interactive relationship with the "world stuff" out there. An
interesting illustration of this results from the experiment done in
1803 by Thomas Young. Young thought he had settled one and for all the
question of whether light is a particle or a wave. In his book,"The
Dancing Wu Li Masters" Gary Zukav says:
"He used an experiment that was both simple and dramatic. In front of
a light source (Young used sunlight coming through a hole in a screen)
he placed a screen with two vertical slits in it. Each slit could be
covered with a piece of material.
On the other side of the double-slit screen was a wall against which
the light coming through the double slits could shine. When the light
source was turned on and one of the slits was covered up, the wall was
illuminated showing a round spot of light.
When both slits were uncovered, however, Young made history. The
projection on the wall should have been the sun of the light from the
two slits, but it wasn't. Instead, the wall was illuminated with
alternating bands of light and darkness. The center band was the
brightest. On both sides of the center band of light were bands of
darkness; then bands of light, but less intense than the center band.
What was the explanation of this. The simplicity of the answer was
what made this experiment a great one. The alternating light and dark
bands are a well known phenomenon of wave mechanics called
interference. Interference results when the waves of light diffracting
From the two slits interfere with each other. In some place these
waves overlap and reinforce one another. In other places they cancel
each other.
In areas where one wave crest overlaps another wave crest, the result
is an intensification of light (the light bands). In areas where a
creast meets a trough, they cancel each other and no light reached the
wall (the dark bands).
It is just as if we dropped two stones into a pond simultaneously and
watched the waves spreading from their points of entry. The waves that
the stones make interfere with each other. In places where the crests
of the waves caused by one stone meet the crests of the waves caused by
the other stone, large waves result. In places where the troughs of
the waves caused by one stone meet the crests of the waves caused by
the other stone, the water is calm.
In short, Young's double-slit experiment showed that light must be
wave-like because only waves can create interference patterns. The
situation, then, was as follows: Einstein using the photoelectric
effect, 'proved' that light is particle-like and Young, using the
phenomenon of interference, 'proved' that light is wave-like. But a
wave cannot be a particle and a particle cannot be a wave.
That is just the beginning! Since Einstein 'proved' that light is
composed of photons, let us go back to Young's double-slit experiment
and run it with photons. (This has been done). Suppose that we have a
light gun which can fire, in effect, one photon at a time. The
experiment is set up as before, except that only one slit is open. Now
we fire the photon, it goes through the open slit, and we mark where it
hits the wall (using a photographic plate). Because we have done this
experiment before, we notice that the photon has landed in an area that
would be dark if the second slit were open. That is, if the second
slit were open, no photons would be recorded in this area.
To make sure, we do the experiment again, but this time we leave both
of the slits open. Just as we thought, there are no photons recorded
now in the area where the photons hit in our first experiment. When
both slits are open and interference is present, this area is in the
middle of a dark band.
The question is, HOW DID THE PHOTON IN THE FIRST EXPERIMENT KNOW THAT
THE SECOND SLIT WAS NOT OPEN? Think about it. If both slits are open,
there are always alternating bands of illuminated and dark areas. This
means there are always areas where the photons never go (otherwise
there not be any dark areas). If one of the slits is closed, there is
no interference and the dark bands disappear; the whole wall becomes
illuminated, including those areas which previously were dark when both
slits were open.
When we fired our photon and it went through the first slit, how did it
'know' that it could go to an area that must be dark if the other slit
was open? In other words, how did the photon know that the other slit
was closed?
There is no definite answer to this question. Some physicists, like E.
H. Walker, speculate that photons may be conscious!"
The insight the physicists did not supply was that the observer was
aware of the situation in regards to the slits. Could it have been the
interaction of the consciousness of the observer with the mayic "world
stuff" out there that created the result of the experiment. As Zukav
said, "Think about it." In my opinion this phenomena is seen every day
in the phenomena known as synchronicity. Individuals are co-creators
with Brahma, and often create synchronistic results in the "open
window" areas where their creation is not countered by interaction
with the mayic influence of other individuals.
In my opinion knowing the "form" of all knowledge and experience that
the operation of Bacon's Discovery Machine in The Tempest derived
should be helpful for determining the details of its operation. I
remember in high school I had some problems with Algebra, but then I
contrived to get my hands on a copy of the teacher's version of the
textbook which had all the answers in it. It was amazing how helpful
it was knowing all the answers in advance to the problems I had to
solve. :->
There is a final aspect of the chess paradigm that needs to be
pondered. This is the numbers involved in the chessboard emblem. The
64 that is composed of two sets of 32 which are opposites. And these
are related to other numbers in The Tempest. In my book "Secret of the
Shakespeare Plays" I showed The Tempest has 12 characters set out in
two divisions of six that are opposites, and 24 units of time composed
of two divisions of 12 that are opposites. In addition the 32
directions of the compass are composed of two divisions of 16 that are
opposites. On page 64 of the histories a seemingly significant series
of numbers are introduced either twice or in pairs while other
significant numbers are mentioned separately : 2 and 2 Newgate fashion
(that is at the base of everything that exists in the universe is the
pair of opposites that are shackled together 2 and 2 like the prisoners
at Newgate); 8 is mentioned twice; 12 is mentioned twice; there is a
reference to a compass along with a mention of the number 32; 3 or 4 is
mentioned twice. It seems Bacon may have been trying to bring something
to our attention, and this merits some explanation.
The binary basis of the universe has given rise to some interesting
schemes of thought. Two of the most applicable for the present study
are the ancient Chinese Oracle the I Ching and astrology. In my
opinion it is no accident the numbers from these two systems of thought
match so closely the numbers Bacon built into The Tempest. And I think
the reason is these two systems and The Tempest are built from that
same quiddity of the "world stuff", the omnipresent opposites.
The I Ching is an ancient Chinese Book of Oracles. In antiquity,
oracles confined themselves to the answers "yes" and "no", matching the
basic opposites at the root of the "world stuff". "Yes" was indicated
by a simple unbroken line, and "No" by a broken line. However, the
need for greater differentiation was felt and the single lines were
combined in pairs. This gave, instead of two alternatives, four
alternatives. Next, a third line was added. There were now eight
permutations. With the addition of another line there were 16
permutations. With the addition of another there were 32 permutations.
Finally six lines were settled upon, and these hexagrams afforded
exactly 64 permutations. The I Ching is certainly a very strange
artifact. I can testify to the amazing coincidences that occur when
one consults it. I once consulted it about the outcome of a meeting
that would take place the following day. The oracle spoke of
"humiliation in a golden chariot." Was it coincidence that the meeting
took place in my car which was gold colored and resulted in
humiliation?
The oldest horoscopes were designed around a square in the middle of
the horoscope. There is a theory that even in the remotest antiquity
there was no capstone on the Great Pyramid, and that this square
platform was used as an astronomical observatory and this was where the
square center of the old form of the horoscope originated. Astrology
is based on the teaching of the Law of Three, or of the three forces.
In addition to the line of thought in India about the duality at the
base of the universe, there was another idea that the union of the two
original forces caused the manifestation of a third force, and that all
creation came about from the permutations of these three forces. In
these Indian Scriptures they are called the three gunas. The Srimad
Bhagavatam says:
"Prakriti is that which, though undifferentiated, has
within itself the cause of all differentiation.
Prakriti consists of three gunas - Sattwa, Rajas,
And Tamas. When these gunas are in equilibrium, in
Perfect balance, the state is known as prakriti, or
Nature quiet and formless. When the balance of the
Gunas is disturbed, then is the universe projected."
The idea that everything was formed from the permutation of three basic
forces was not confined to India. James Churchward found a peculiar
expression embodied in a wide variety of exceedingly ancient glyphs
from a number of different countries:
The One became Two, the Two produced
Three. From the Three came all things
Plato expressed the same idea when he described how the universe was
created from triangles. George Gurdjieff said that all phenomena was
derived from a combination of three forces. According to Gurdjieff all
of the various teachings about the three forces could be summarized
into the idea of an attracting force, a repelling force, and a
reconciling force. In order to understand the range of the possible
permutations of these forces each combination can be represented
graphically by a triangle, with the length of the sides representing
the respective strength of the force. The triangle with all sides
equal would represent the equilibrium of the unmanifest pakriti. There
are exactly 6 basic combinations with all sides unequal, and 6
combinations with two sides equal. This schematic is mirrored exactly
in the Zodiac. Furthermore these permutations fall into four well
defined groups of three. Many examples could be cited to show the
presence of this schematic in universal nature. In 1957 Murray Gell-
Mann and E.P. Rosenbaum published an article in the Scientific American
magazine in which the 12 particle theory was put forth. This theory
described 12 particles which fell into four well defined groups from
which every material object known in the universe could be made. By
the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s the number of basic
particles had proliferated many fold, and the subject seemed to have
descended into chaos.
Then a small group of theorists brought order out of chaos. The
principal figure among them was the same Murray Gell-Mann of Caltech
who had co-authored the 1957 article. He declared that all the heavy
particles of nature were made from three types of particles which he
dubbed quarks. They were made he said from the permutations or
combinations of these three particles. To distinguish the three types
of quarks he dubbed them u, d, and s, for 'up', 'down' and 'sideways'.
Each of the various particles composed from the quarks all behaved a
little differently from one another because of their different ratio of
these various types of quarks. The quark theory was exactly what was
predicted by the concept of the three forces and their permutations.
The rationale of the Zodiac is merely an equal division into 12 parts
of the path of the ecliptic beginning at the vernal equinox. This
applies to the annual cycle. To this is added a further equal division
in 12 parts that applies to the diurnal cycle. Then the planets are
slotted into their calculated locations within this schematic. Based
on this simple schema are derived all the results from the horoscope.
And these are just as amazing as those from the I Ching.
There is the old story about how Aeschylus the famous Greek dramatist
died. Aeschylus was a devotee of astrology. He was also bald as a cue
ball. This is an important point for my story so don't think I'm just
knocking the old codger. Based on a horoscope he cast Aeschylus
foresaw that he would die at a given time by something falling on his
head. When the time drew near Aeschylus walked out onto the open
desert so nothing could fall on his head. Along came an eagle holding
a large tortoise in its claws. According to the story eagles were
accustomed to drop tortoises onto stones to crack them open so they
could get to the meat. The eagle saw a nice, smooth stone, which
unfortunately turned out to be Aeschylus' bald head. The Eagle dropped
the tortoise, and that was all she wrote for old chrome dome.
Whether the story of Aeschylus is true or not I can testify from
personal experience to the efficacy of astrology. At one time I was
interested in the subject, and I taught myself how to cast and
interpret horoscopes. I had some extraordinary results. I cast a
horoscope for a women who worked where I worked. The horoscope I cast
was on her son. I knew absolutely nothing about the son, but the
horoscope told me he should have a special aptitude for photography.
The woman came back all enthused after she had read the horoscope
because her son had just won a prize for photography. I began to
experiment with progressing horoscopes. This is a technique where you
assume the positions of the planets for each respective day in the
ephemeris corresponds to a year in that person's life. I progressed a
horoscope for another women and saw an indication in her horoscope that
at a particular time she had stepped off a train and broke her ankle.
She was amazed (but no more than I was) because this had happened just
as the horoscope showed. At my sister's insistence I cast a horoscope
for my niece when she was only a few days old. I progressed the
horoscope through the first 17 years of her life. When she had passed
beyond the 17 year period she was amazed by the accuracy of the
horoscope and clamored for further future revelations. But by this
time I had passed on to an even more interesting subject-Francis Bacon.
The interesting thing about the I Ching and astrology is that they were
apparently formulated by people with psychic ability who were able to
construct their formulation based on an understanding of the
fundamental quality of the "world stuff" out there that exists behind
the illusory surface "reality". These two respective occult sciences
were built upon two basic orders of things arising from this
fundamental quiddity of the universe. The one had as its beginning
point the two opposites, and the other had the triad. However, in
Pythagorean number mysticism the number 3 is viewed as the first
number, or more properly as the first number capable of generation. So
the other base begins with the number 4 which the Pythagoreans called
the "fountain of nature, and which was separately recognized by the
Kabbalists as a type of the Tetragrammaton from which the entire
universe was created. Therefore with the system of astrology and the
system of the I Ching we have the numbers three and four as the base of
these systems that are archetypal systems based on fundamental quiddity
of the root of all manifestation.
We have seen how the number 24 hours and these number 32 are given a
prominent role in the symbolism of The Tempest, and we can add to this
64 which is the total number of squares on a chess board. Now we need
to consider an odd point, but nevertheless one that was certainly
deliberate. Although the alphabet of Bacon's day had 26 letters (as
anyone who has seen a picture of one of the old hornbooks that were
used to teach in the schools of the time knows) Bacon not only used 24
letters when he describes his bi-literal cipher in his De Augmentis,
but specifically says, "four and twenty, the number of letters in our
alphabet". Bacon is being his usual enigmatic self, and is raising a
flag that should alert our attention. Bacon further uses this number
in conjunction with the number 32 in the cipher since he point out that
a transposition of two letters through five place will denote two and
thirty differences. And in addition to this in his list of qualities
in experiment 846 of the Sylva Sylvarum he has carefully contrived so
that the list contains within itself both the numbers 24 and 32. And
the 24 hours of the day or 24 years of the combined rule of Sycorax and
Prospero on the island as well as the 32 compass directions are obvious
in the symbolism of The Tempest.
But knowing Bacon's accustomed manner of packing so much significance
into such small matter one can only wonder if this exhausts all of the
meaning in these numbers. As an example one remembers the amazingly
clever trick he played with his four-fold "light", each with a slightly
different meaning in the following short phrase:
"Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile,"
Can we ever really see to the bottom of the thought of a man with a
mind as amazingly subtle and resourceful as this? Actually it seems
quite likely that there was another significance enfolded in Bacon's
use of the numbers 24 and 32. The numbers relate together in a 3 or 4
relationship reminiscent of the twice repeated 3 or 4 on page 64 of the
Histories. And one of the more interesting discoveries of modern
science is the presence of universal scaling laws in nature.
A group of scientists examined both unicellular and multicelllular
plants, from marine algae to conifer trees, and found that annualized
rates of growth scale as the 3/4-power of body mass, as does pigment
concentration. And other scientists have tried to apply these scaling
laws to the most varied fields.
Dr. Mark A. Changizi of the Department of Psychological and Brain
Sciences Duke University examines the universal scaling laws in
language-like complex systems and asks the question:
"In what fashion does nature increase the complexity of combinatorial
systems? Abstract: There are many complex systems in nature where
components, or "words," are combined together to make expressions, or
"sentences." Such combinatorial systems, as I call them, include: (1)
human language, where sentences are composed of words; (2) bird
vocalization, where songs are built from syllables; (3) organisms,
where functional parts (e.g., the tonsil) are made out of cells; (4)
behavioral repertoire, where mammalian behavior consists of a temporal
arrangement of muscle contractions; (5) universities, where student
academic degrees are comprised of departmental concentrations; and
(6) electronic devices, where the device's actions are implemented via
strings of button-presses. My central aim here is to discover how
combinatorial systems accommodate greater numbers of expressions; that
is, what changes do combinatorial systems undergo when they "say more
things"? Are there general laws characterizing the properties of
combinatorial systems as the number of expressions increases? If so,
what are they? My main result is that, in all six combinatorial systems
mentioned above, there appear to be general laws describing how
combinatorial systems change as they become more expressive. In
particular, in each of these cases, increase in expressive complexity
(i.e., number of expressions the combinatorial system allows) is
achieved, at least in part, by increasing the number of component
types. Furthermore, in the four cases where it could be
unambiguously determined--human language, bird vocalization, organisms
and universities--the expressive complexity increase appears to be
carried out exclusively by increasing the number of component types;
the number of components per expression (i.e., the expression's length)
remains invariant. A proposed explanation for the tendency for
combinatorial systems to scale as they do is that these combinatorial
systems are rich compositional languages with scale-invariant grammars.
By treating these diverse systems as combinatorial systems, in addition
to elucidating general principles underlying such systems, we gain
insight into each of the mentioned kinds of system."
In my article "The Secrets of the First Folio" at sirbacon.org I
supported the idea that in the First Folio Bacon has laid out a map of
universal nature and an abstract of all its laws. We know that in his
De Augmentis Bacon discussed the idea of developing a Philosophia Prima
as the mother of all the Sciences. He says that it is necessary that
this universal science be constructed first as a parent to all the
rest, and this science would deal with the universal laws in nature.
Did Bacon in fact construct a schematic of the universal scaling laws
in nature? As Gary Zukav says: "Think about it."
***
MAPPING A MIRACLE
Preliminary to the The Art of The Tempest
Bacon - 101 - 4
Who needs a comic strip superman? Faster than a speeding bullet,
indeed. A speeding bullet is a snail. We streak along eight times
faster than a speeding bullet as our little planet orbits the sun, and
almost 1,000 times faster than a speeding bullet as it is carried
around the outer edge of the flat whirling disk that is our galaxy.
Hurled by the "big bang" our planet, and the entire universe, flies
outward at a velocity compared with which a speeding bullet is as
stationary as the short hand on a clock. Moreover our entire galaxy,
plus a mighty coterie of galaxies and neighboring systems, streams at
an unimaginable velocity in the general direction of Virgo toward that
vast empty, gaping black hole in space known as "The Great Attractor"
which lies on the far side of the constellation Bootes where everything
disappears with scarcely a gurgle down this gargantuan cosmic drain
hole. So who needs a comic strip superman?
A real superman, on the other hand, is a different matter. Francis
Bacon was a real superman. Superman is defined by his state of
consciousness. SUPERCONSCIOUSNESS IS A STATE IN WHICH A MAN KNOWS ALL
AT ONCE EVERYTHING THAT HE IN GENERAL KNOWS. All other states of
consciousness are embryonic, fragmentary, and illusory. Super
consciousness functions at a level unimaginable to embryo
consciousness. The power of memory is maximized since all data is
always available. Cerebral celerity is also maximized. This higher
order of consciousness is inconceivable to our embryonic consciousness.
In his book, "Tertium Organum" P.D. Ouspensky presented some helpful
ideas. He tried to deduce how the world might appear to different
levels of consciousness. For example, Ouspensky made careful
observations of the interrelation of animals with the things around
them and concluded they had a two dimensional consciousness, perceiving
only surfaces. He thought this accounted for their reaction to certain
objects.
"Why", he asked, "does the dog bark so desperately at the
passing carriage? This is not entirely clear to us for we do not
realize that to the eyes of the dog the carriage is turning, twisting,
grimacing all over. It is alive in every part - the wheels, the top,
the mud-guards, seats, passengers - all these are moving, turning."
If we are to ever to go beyond the critics frantic barking at The
Tempest, and gain any real understanding of the play it is necessary to
realize it is the work of a state of consciousness where everything was
perceived at once, and it comprises an almost inconceivable number of
levels of meanings simultaneously: presenting a comprehensive allegory
of the Ancient Mysteries; allegorizing in exhaustive detail all of the
divisions of knowledge; and at the same time inquiring into the
ultimate "form" of all knowledge. The term Bacon himself used in his
New Organum was, "Miracle of Art." He expressed concern that those
extraordinary models he intended to put forth in The Ladder of the
Intellect, the fourth part of his Great Instauration, those "Miracles
of Art", might "astonish and bind and bewitch" the intellect of those
who contemplated them.
This is the nature of the beast we are dealing with. This is what we
must dissect, anatomize, and map. However my task is alleviated
somewhat since I will only deal with the Discovery Device in The
Tempest. The evidence I have presented so far indicates that Bacon not
only invented a Discovery Device in which imagination plays no part,
but also that he designed the Shakespeare plays as models showing the
operation of this discovery device in certain special aspects of
inquiry. Those who have realized that Bacon claimed to have invented
this device have been unanimous in denying the possibility that he
could have accomplished that. In his book, "Francis Bacon: The First
Statesman of Science", J.G. Crowther said:
"He did not leave any description of an automatic method
of discovery in which imagination plays no part; he
almost certainly did not succeed in discovering this."
The story of these people and Bacon is like the aeronautical engineers
and the bumblebee. After flight was well established, and the laws of
aerodynamics well understood, some aeronautical engineers decided to
apply the laws of aeronautics to the bumblebee. They found when they
factored in the bumblebee's body weight, wing size, and rate of wing-
beats per second, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. But the
bumblebee flew anyway. And Francis Bacon invented his logic machine
anyway. So now we are at the point where we are ready to map The
Tempest and find out how he did it. But how do you map a miracle?
Despite the unique nature of the play the method of analysis is very
simple. All that is needed is a "high level" mapping that presents a
general summary, and a low level summary that sets out all the
applicable fine detail. Then you make your analysis by alternating
between the two maps. As Bacon said in his New Organum:
"Contemplations of nature and of bodies in their simple
form break up and distract the understanding, while
contemplations of nature and bodies in their composition
and configuration overpower and dissolve the understanding:
a distinction well seen in the school of Leucippus and
Democritus as compared with the other philosophies. For
that school is so busied with the particles that it hardly
attends to the structure; while the others are so lost in
admiration of the structure that they do not penetrate
to the simplicity of nature. These kinds of contemplation
should therefore be alternated and taken by turns; that so
the understanding may be rendered at once penetrating and
comprehensive, and the inconveniences above mentioned, with
the idols which proceed from them, may be avoided."
The high-level mapping will not, perhaps, present as many problems as
the low-level mapping. Because we need only to exercise care in
retaining all of the general features of The Tempest. But because of
the almost infinite possible variances in detail it is necessary to
have some idea in advance of exactly what should be included in a low-
level mapping. The message near the beginning of The Tempest
gives us a clue.
SIT THE DIAL AT NBW, F. BACON, TOBEY
spelled out with the first letters of the respective lines:
T Then Prospero, Mafter of a full poore cell,
A And thy no greater Father.
Mira. More to know
D Did neuer medle with my thoughts.
Pros. 'Tis time
I I fshould informe thee farther: Lend thy hand
A And plucke my Magick garment from me: So,
L Lye there my Art: wipe thou thine eyes, haue comfort,
THE The direfull fpectacle of the wracke which touch'd
T The very vertue of compaffion in thee:
I I haue with fuch prouifion in mine ART
S So fafely ordered, that there is no foule
N No not fo much perdition as an hayre
B Betid to any creature in the veffell
W Which thou heardft cry, which thou faw'st finke: Sit
F For thou muft now know farther. downe,
Mira. You haue often
B Begun to tell me what I am, but ftopt
A And left me to a booteleffe inquisition,
CON Concluding, ftay, not yet.
Prof. The howr's now come
T The very minute byds thee ope thine eare,
OBEY Obey, and be attentiue.
For all except the mentally challenged it must be apparent we are given
the instruction here to set a compass dial at NBW, and this instruction
is signed by Francis Bacon and Tobie Matthew. Since AT in the message
is in the 32nd speech from the beginning Of The Tempest, and NBW is the
32nd direction on a compass beginning from the obvious starting point
of NORTH, it is easy to deduce that there is a correlation between the
number of speeches and the compass directions. Furthermore, the 129th
speech from the beginning of the play has the instruction: NOVATUS
(Latin for it begins again) spelled out with the beginning letters of
the speech and the "it begins again" instruction is repeated in the
text:
S Some God O' the island, sitting on a bank,
V VVeeping againe the King my Fathers wracke,
T This Musick crept by me upon the waters,
A Allaying both their fury, and my passion
V VVith it's sweet ayre: thence I have follow'd it
O Or it hath drawn me rather; but 'tis gone.
N No, it begins againe.
(In Elizabethan times W's were often composed of two V's, and U's
and V's were interchangeable.) The message is also repeated in the
text of the speech. We know Bacon described the use four tables in the
operation of his Discovery Machine:
1. The Table of Presence
2. The Table of Absence in Proximity
3. The Table of Variance or Degrees
4. The Table of Exclusion
If a complete circuit of the compass is allotted for each table this
would make up 4 x 32 or 128 speeches, and the process would begin again
with the First Vintage at speech 129. So we may deduce that his is what
he has done in The Tempest. Surely this is obvious.
The beginning steps of the operation of the device is also obvious.
The process flows through the four tables exactly as Bacon describes
the operation in his Novum Organum.
SPEECHES 1 THROUGH 32:
In the Table of Presence we see the frantic activity aboard the ship
caught in the tempest. There are the passengers: Antonio (Human
Power), Gonzalo (Willing), Antonio (Nilling), and Sebastian (Ambition).
Speech 29 through 32 are spoken by Prospero and Miranda, but the
tempest is still a part of these speeches because in these speeches
they are shown as viewing and discussing the tempest. Prospero (the
human understanding) and Miranda (reason) stand apart, and merely look
on while taking no part in the frantic activities aboard ship.
SPEECHES 33 THROUGH 64:
In the second table, The Table of Absence in Proximity, the turmoil of
the tempest is completely gone and Prospero and Miranda are depicted in
the calm surroundings of Prospero's cell. That is, they are shown as
absent from the form of the existing state of the Advancement of
Learning.
SPEECHES 65 THROUGH 96:
In the third table, The Table of Degrees, Prospero, Ariel, and Miranda
are shown as instances in which the existing state of the Advancement
of Learning are present in varying degrees. The degree is greatest
with Prospero or knowledge; less with Ariel or Imagination, and least
with Miranda or Reason.
SPEECHES 97 THROUGH 128:
Therefore in the fourth table, The Table of Exclusion, Prospero
(knowledge), Ariel (Imagination), and Miranda (Reason), as well as
Caliban (memory) are excluded from the form of the existing state of
the Advancement of Learning. The form of the existing state of the
Advancement of Learning does not include knowledge, imagination,
reason, or even memory. They do not even learn from experience.
This is not the only pattern evident in the 128 speeches. Prospero
(famed for liberal arts) is obviously the human understanding.
Included under the faculty of understanding are the subordinate
faculties of Memory (Caliban); Imagination (Ariel), and Reason or
Science (Miranda). The 128 speeches tabulate as follows:
THE FOUR TABLES ENDING WITH SPEECH 128
TABLE OF TABLE OF TABLE OF TABLE OF
PRESENCE ABSENCE IN DEGREES EXCLUSION
(Speeches PROXIMITY (Speeches (Speeches
1 thru 32) (33 thru 64) 65 thru 96) 97 thru 128)
Speeches Speeches Speeches Speeches
Mariners 1 Miranda 16 Miranda 3 Miranda 3
Alonso 1 Prospero 16 Ariel 13 Caliban 6
Ship Master 2 -- Prospero 16 Ariel 8
Prospero 2 32 -- Prospero 15
Miranda 2 32 --
Sebastian 3 32
Antonio 4
Gonzalo 7
Boatswain 10
--
32
This has a very telling point. Human knowledge (Prospero)
includes under it the categories of Reason (Miranda),
Imagination (Ariel), and Memory (Caliban), and since they are
sub headings under Prospero, the sum of their speeches within
each table always adds up to the number of speeches
made by Prospero:
Table of Presence:
Prospero 2
Miranda 2
Table of Absence in Proximity:
Prospero 16
Miranda 16
Table of Degrees:
Prospero: 16
Ariel 13
Miranda 3
-- 16
(Another very telling point in Table three is that Miranda
goes to sleep before Ariel appears and then awakens after
he has gone. The point being that Reason and Imagination
are mutually exclusive. Reason always sleeps when
Imagination is active.)
Table of Exclusion:
Prospero: 15
Caliban 6
Miranda 3
Ariel 8
-- 17
(Although Table four seems to be a contradiction of the point
it is actually an exceptionally striking verification, as well
as an example which shows the need to use the original in the
First Folio. One of the speeches which fall within Table four
is set out as follows in the First Folio):
Pro. Oh, was the fo: I muft
Once in a moneth recount what thou haft bin,
Which thou forgetft. This damn'd witch Sycorax
For mifchiefes manifold, and foceries terrible
To enter humane hearing, from Argier
Thou know'ft was banifh'd:for one thing fhe did
They wold not take her life:Is not this true? AR. I,Sir.
Of course, all the modern editions take this as an error and
Correct it to show the "AR. I,Sir. as a separate speech. But
We can conclude this was done with deliberate intent in the
First Folio since the inclusion of Ariel's speech under Prospero
means we should add it to Prospero's speeches as follows:
Prospero: 16
Caliban 6
Miranda 3
Ariel 7
--
16
Furthermore, the pattern of the message "sit the dial at NBW F Bacon
Tobey" indicates it should be read in two directions - both because
In addition to the compass direction "NBW" another compass direction
"WBN" is also indicated, and because of the alternate pattern in which
the message is set out. In order to understand this it is helpful to
have a larger segment of the message.
The message begins on page 1, column two, and goes to the top of
Page 2 column 2 to spell, DUO, that is TWO, but the message
Below it is BOTTA, Italian for blows, so it is TWO BLOWS. Then
there is the message going across. Hit also meant hid in
Elizabethan times, so it reads, HID TWO SOW (Sons of the Widow?
Masons?), TWO BLOWS. The NBW in the message going down is repeated
In column 2 Just below the AI in column, showing that the AI is the
NBW Setting shown on the dial in my essay "The Authorship Question
And Beyond". In addition, you see that the F Bacon, Tobey reads
Across as TWO ALIKE BANISHED (BANITO, banished in Italian).
Page 1-Column 2
---------------
D
U
Page 2-Column 1 Page 2-Column 2 Page 3-Column 1
--------------- --------------- ---------------
O
-----------------------------------------------------
T
W
H O
I S
T O
W
B
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With this larger segment of the message it can easily be seen that the
direction "NBW" is repeated below the "AI" message to indicate that it
is related to the "NBW" direction. However going up the page there
is another two letter sequence "OA", and this seems to be related to
the "WBN" direction. The question now becomes: why are there two two-
letter groups?
We know the significance of the NBW, but what is the significance of
WBN? Consider, exactly what does one do in using the dial? One
accomplishes two processes, one of which is just the inverse of the
other. The first process is one of inclusion. One determines what
natures are included in the particular being analyzed. The inclusion
process has covered the entire range of the 32 variations on the dial.
But the second process is the inverse process, which is just the
opposite, the process of exclusion, and has covered 26 variations on
the dial. Therefore subtract the 26 from the 32, and we get six which
are the number of natures separated out by the analysis process. If we
count the number of speeches from the bottom of the page on which the
message SIT THE DIAL AT NBW appears, the "AT" in the message is the
26th speech from the bottom of the page. This indicates that the play
is not only constructed so that there is a correlation of the speeches
proceeding forward from the beginning of the play, but also backward
from various starting points in the play. And it is well to always be
aware that each direction of a compass is one of a pair of opposites.
The only occurrence of the word "compass" in the play occurs near the
end of the play in the scene where Ferdinand and Miranda are playing at
chess. Furthermore this passage has the "AI" and the "AO" in the
beginning letters of the lines, but now in REVERSE order:
(Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda, playing
at Chess)
Mir. Sweet Lord, you play me false.
Fer. No my dearest love,
I I would not for the world.
Mir. Yes, for a score of Kingdoms, you should wrangle,
A And I would call it faire play
Alo. If this prove
A vision of the Island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose.
Seb. A most high miracle.
Fer. Though the seas threaten they are merciful
I have curs'd them without cause.
Alo. Now all the blessings
O Of a glad father, COMPASS the about:
A Arise, and say how thou comest here.
In previous parts of this study I noted that this particular scene of
the play is of primary importance because it discloses the "form" of
all knowledge. But there is another point I did not note. At the era
depicted in The Tempest a game of chess in connection with a compass
would have been particularly appropriate. These games had 32 black
squares and 32 white squares which are appropriately the numbers of
directions for two compasses. I say appropriately because the chess
games of the time had instead of two bishops, two ships. This was the
design of the game when it was imported into Europe from Persia. But
the game soon become very popular, and The Holy Roman church found it
intolerable that there could be a popular game that pitted nation
against nation with no role for the church. And only the position next
to the royal family would satisfy. So the ships became bishops, and to
this day every chess player moves his bishop diagonally across the
board, tacking like a ship to catch the wind.
So we now know a number of factors we must alert for in our low-level
mapping. The speech count is significant, and may be significant with
both a forward and backward count in the text. The qualities
represented by the characters making the speeches may also be
significant. In addition, we must be alert for the presence of
anagrams, or messages, spelled out with the beginning letters of the
lines. Moreover, we should also be careful to maintain an open mind
toward the possibility that additional correlations may be indicated in
the low-level mapping process.
In 1922 a book by Natalie Rice Clark was published, titled "Bacon's
Dial in Shakespeare". Clark shows little as far as the intellectual,
analytical faculty is concerned. She has no concept of a "Discovery
Device" or an inquiry into the "form" of any particular in nature. On
the other hand what she presents is very close to these ideas. She has
the idea of a dial, and even of a compass without knowing there is a
message there that has reference to a dial and a compass. She knows
there is a process built into The Tempest that has reference to the
various settings of a compass dial. She even has the idea of a search
for a "form", although in her case this form is an actual physical
shape that she says is derived using the dial she found in the Plays.
Her book may be important because through her intuitive faculty she may
have discerned certain things that are present in the play without any
reasoned analysis of the system that may lie behind them. Most
impressively of all she see a connection with Bacon's Alphabet of
Nature even though she has no idea the plays may represent the fourth
part of his Instauration and is unaware of his statements that the
Alphabet of Nature will be used in connection with this fourth part.
I have already brought up the point that the plays represent the fourth
part of Bacon's Great Instauration, the part that he called, "The
Ladder of the Intellect". Scattered throughout his works Bacon has
various passages that indicate the Alphabet of Nature played a major
Role in connection with the fourth part of his Instauration. In "The
Rule of The Present History" he says:
"It is evident from what has been said that the present
history not only supplies the place of the third part of
the Instauration; but is no mean preparation for the
fourth part, BY REASON OF THE TITLES FROM THE ALPHABET,
and the topics."
In this same work he gives us a summary of what the alphabet consists
of:
"To the Titles contained in the Catalogue which relate to
Concretes, I superadd Titles of Abstract Natures (which I
Have mentioned there as a History reserved for myself).
Such are "the Different Configurations of Matter," or "Forms
Of the First Class," "Simple Motions, "Sums of Motions,
"Measures of Motions of Motions," and some other thing;
whereof I have constructed a new Alphabet, and placed it
at the end of this volume."
Perhaps the most obvious indication of the importance of"The Alphabet
of Nature" is that Bacon apparently used the term "Works of the
Alphabet" to apply to his concealed works. There is evidence I have
covered elsewhere of a secret group in Paris, and in a letter to Tobie
Matthew he says:
"Those works of the Alphabet are in my opinion of less use
to you where you are now, than at Paris."
In order to understand the role of the Alphabet of Nature in connection
with The Ladder of the Intellect, we need to know more about what Bacon
means by "Alphabet of Nature, and how this fits into his scheme of
knowledge. Bacon describes the "Alphabet of Nature" in his De
Augmentis:
"The forms of substances, indeed, viz. The species of
creatures, are so complicated and interwoven, that the
inquiry into them is either vain, or should be laid aside
for a time, and resumed after the forms of a more simple
nature have been duly sifted and discovered. For as it
were neither easy nor useful to discover the form of a
sound that shall make a word, since words, by the
composition and transpositions of letters are infinite;
but practicable, easy, and useful to discover the form
of a sound expressing a single letter, or by what collision
or application of the organs of the voice, it was made; and
as these forms of letters being known, we are thence
directly led to inquire the forms of words: so, to inquire
the form of an oak, a lion, gold, water, or air, were at
present vain; but to inquire the form of density, rarity,
heat, cold, gravity, levity, and other scheme of matter
and motions, which, like the letters of the alphabet, are
few in number, yet make and support the essences and forms
of all substances, is what we would endeavor after, as
constituting and determining that part of metaphysics we
are now upon."
Bacon's fragmentary work titled "The Alphabet of Nature" happened to be
published by a somewhat curious chain of events. When Bacon died in
1626 he left behind quite a few manuscripts in various stages of
completion. These entered the possession of his chaplain, Dr. William
Rawley, after his death. Rawley, died in the 79th year of his age on
June 18th, 1667. Rawley had in his keeping all those years since 1626
the considerable collection of manuscripts that had been left by
Francis Bacon. When Dr. William Rawley died his son John Rawley was
Executor of his estate. John Rawley and his brother William Rawley
both were close friends of Dr. Thomas Tenison who was interested in the
works of Bacon. John Rawley presented to Tenison all of the papers and
manuscripts of Bacon, and in 1669 Tenison published some of these
writings in a book he titled, "Baconiana". Included in this book was
the short, incompleted work, "The Alphabet of Nature." Because of the
importance of the work I have included in the following a transcript of
the entire work:
Francis Bacon's
"The Alphabet of Nature."
From the book:
Baconiana
first published in 1669 by Thomas Tenison
"Seeing so many things are produced by the earth and waters;
So many things pass through the air, and are received by it;
So many thing are changed and dissolved by fire; other
Inquisitions would be less perspicuous, unless the nature
Of these masses which so often occur, were well known and
Explained. To these we add inquisitions concerning celestial
Bodies, and meteors, seeing they are of greater masses, and
Of the number of catholic bodies.
Inquiries concerning Greater Masses:
67th Inquisition Earth Threefold Tau
68th Inquisition Water Threefold Upsilon
69th Inquisition Air Threefold Phi
70th Inquisition Fire Threefold Chi
71st Inquisition Heavens Threefold Psi
72nd Inquisition Meteors Threefold Omega
Conditions of Entities.
There yet remain, as subjects of our inquiry, in our alphabet,
The conditions of beings, which seem, as it were, transcendentals,
And as such touch very little of the body of nature. Yet, by
That manner of inquisition which we use, they will considerably
Illustrate the other objects.
First, therefore; seeing (as Democritus excellently observed)
The nature of things is in the plenty of matter, and variety
Of individuals large, and (as he affirmeth) infinite; but in
Its coitions and species so finite, that it may seem narrow
And poor; seeing so few species are found, either in actual
Being or impossibility, that they scarce make up a muster of
A thousand; and seeing negatives subjoined to affirmatives,
Conduce must to the information of the understanding: it is
Fit that an inquisition be made concerning being, and not
Being.
Inquiries concerning conditions of Transcendental Beings:
73rd Inquisition Existence/Non-Existence Fourfold Alpha
74th Inquisition Possibility/Impossibility Fourfold Beta
75th Inquisition Much and Little Fourfold Gamma
76th Inquisition Durable & Transitory Fourfold Delta
77th Inquisition Natural & Unnatural Fourfold Epsilon
78th Inquisition Natural & Artificial Fourfold Zeta
We have not subjoined examples in the explication of the
Order of this our alphabet: for the inquisitions themselves
Contain the whole array of examples.
It is by no means intended, that the titles, according to
Which the order of this alphabet is disposed, should have
So much authority given to them, as to be taken for true
And fixed partitions of things. That were to profess we
Already knew the things after which we inquire; for no man
Does truly dispose of things into their several classes,
Who does not beforehand very well understand the nature
Of them. It is sufficient, if these titles be conveniently
Adapted to the order of inquiry; the thing which is at
Present designed.
The Rule or Form of the Alphabet
After this manner we compose and dispose our alphabet:
We begin solely with history and experiments. These, if
They exhibit an enumeration and series of particular things,
Are disposed into tables; otherwise, they are taken separately
And by themselves.
But, seeing we are often at a loss for history and experiments,
Especially such as are luciferous, or instructive, and, as we
Call them instances of the cross; by which the understanding
Might be helped in the knowledge of the true causes of things:
We propose the task of making new experiments. These may
Serve as a history in design. For what else is to be done
By use who are but breaking the ice?
For the mode of any more abstruse experiment, we explain it,
Lest any mistake arise about it; and to the intent, also,
That we may excite others to excogitate better methods.
Also, we interspect certain admonitions, and cautions
Concerning such fallacies of things, and errors in invention,
As we meet with in our way.
We subjoin our observations upon history and experiments,
That the interpretation of nature may be the more in
Readiness and at hand.
Likewise, we lay down canons (but not such as are fixed and
Determined) and axioms which are, as it were, in embryo:
Such as offer themselves to us in the quality of inquirers,
And not of judges. Such canons and axioms are profitable,
Though they appear not yet manifest, and upon all accounts
True.
Lastly: we meditate sometimes certain essays of interpretation,
Though such as are low and of small advance, and by no means
To be honoured (in our opinion) with the very name of
Interpretation.
For, what need have we of arrogance or imposture, seeing we
Have so often professed that we have not such a supply of
History and experiments as is needful; and that, without
These, the interpretation of nature cannot be brought to
Perfection. Wherefore, it is enough for us if we are not
Wanting to the beginning of things.
Now, for the sake of perspicuity and order, we prepare our
Way by avenues, which are a kind of prefaces to our
Inquisitions. Likewise, we interpose bonds of connection,
That our inquisitions may not seem abrupt and disjointed.
Also, we suggest for use some hints of practice. Furthermore,
We propose wishes of such things as are hitherto only desired
And not had, together with those things which border on them,
For the exciting the industry of man's mind.
Neither are we ignorant that those inquisitions are sometimes
Mutually entangled; so that some things of which we inquire,
Even the same things belong to several titles. But we will
Observe such measure, that (as far as may be) we may shun
Both the nauseousness of repetition, and the trouble of
Rejection, submitting notwithstanding, to either of these,
When, in an argument so obscure, there is necessity of so
Doing, in order to the more intelligible teaching of it.
This is the form and rule of our alphabet.
May God, the creator, preserver, and renewer of the universe,
Protect and govern this work, both in its ascent to his glory,
And in its descent to the good of mankind, for the sake of
His mercy and good will to men, through his only Son,
Immanuel, God with us."
*****
Clark noted the 12 inquisitions set out in two parts of six
From the fragment of Bacon's "Alphabet of Nature" and decided
That this was the instructions for a cipher wheel. She drew
Up a wheel that combined the 12 inquisitions with the 32 points
Of a compass and also 36 derived by diving the 12 hours of the
12 inquisitions each into three parts. She decided that
questions marks in the Plays were designed to apply to the 12
hour wheel, advancing one division in the wheel for each question
mark until the round was completed, and then beginning over
again. She next used the speeches in the Plays, distinguishing
between the all speeches, and the speeches of an individual
character. She seemed to have trouble distinguishing between
her round of 32 and 36 in this. At one place she says the
speeches in general follow the compass count, and at another,
she says both speeches in general and individual character
speeches make a round of 36. She actually constructed a
board and used little pieces for markers for both the hour
count and the speech count, and goes on to show that there
is often a tally between the location of a marker on the
board and the compass direction or quality from the
inquisitions. For example, she finds:
"To run upon the sharp wind of the North"
in The Tempest at Q36, H12 which she has at North on her
compass dial. She finds a match with:
"A South-west blow on ye"
From The Tempest with her compass dial. Again on the 25th
Question at Hour one which she has at North she finds Prospero
says that his `Zenith' depends upon a most `auspicious star.'
And so on, and so on. It is not much, but there is some
Evidence for a `periodicity' in The Tempest.
Clark gave no indication that she realized (what indeed was
quite obvious since the listing began with the 67th item) that the
titles given in The Alphabet of Nature Represented only a partial
listing. In his division of nature in his De Augmentis Bacon
divided physics into:
1. The Principles of Things
2. The Structures of Things
3. The Variety of Things
Under The Variety of Things he had:
1. Concrete
2. Abstract
And under abstract he had:
1. The Schemes of Matter
(Density-Rarity, Gravity-Levity, Heat-Cold, etc.)
2. Appetites and Motions
(Resistence, Connection, Liberty, etc.)
So that it could easily be seen that his Pyramid of Nature began with
The particular in nature at the base, then ascended to the Schemes
Of Matter at the next step above the base, and then ascended at
The next step to Simple Motions, while above this was the actual
"form" of any particular. And his Ladder of The Intellect would
follow the Pyramid of Nature from the base up to the "form". So
it was easy to reconstruct the entire listing of his "Alphabet of
Nature" as follows:
THE ALPHABET OF NATURE
Inquiries concerning simple motions:
1st Inquisition Resistance Onefold Alpha
2nd Inquisition Connection Onefold Beta
3rd Inquisition Liberty Onefold Gamma
4th Inquisition Matter Onefold Delta
5th Inquisition Continuity Onefold Epsilon
6th Inquisition Want Onefold Zeta
7th Inquisition Greater Congregations Onefold Eta
8th Inquisition Lesser Congregations Onefold Theta
9th Inquisition Magnetic Onefold Iota
10th Inquisition Flight Onefold Kappa
11th Inquisition Assimulation Onefold Lambda
12th Inquisition Excitation Onefold Mu
13th Inquisition Impression Onefold Nu
14th Inquisition Configuration Onefold Xi
15th Inquisition Transition Onefold Omicron
16th Inquisition Royal Onefold Pi
17th Inquisition Rotation Onefold Rho
18th Inquisition Trepidation Onefold Sigma
19th Inquisition Repose Onefold Tau
Inquiries concerning compound motions:
20th Inquisition Generation Onefold Upsilon
21th Inquisition Corruption Onefold Phi
22th Inquisition Increase Onefold Chi
23rd Inquisition Diminution Onefold Psi
24th Inquisition Alteration Onefold Omega
25th Inquisition Translation Twofold Alpha
26th Inquisition Mixtion Twofold Beta
27th Inquisition Separation Twofold Gamma
28th Inquisition Conversion Twofold Delta
Inquiries concerning the schemes of matter:
29th Inquisition Density Twofold Epsilon
30th Inquisition Rarity Twofold Zeta
31th Inquisition Gravity Twofold Eta
32st Inquisition Levity Twofold Theta
33nd Inquisition Heat Twofold Iota
34th Inquisition Cold Twofold Kappa
35th Inquisition Tangibility Twofold Lambda
36th Inquisition Intangibility Twofold Mu
37th Inquisition Volatile Twofold Nu
38th Inquisition Fixed Twofold Xi
39th Inquisition Determinate Twofold Omicron
40th Inquisition Fluid Twofold Pi
41st Inquisition Humid Twofold Rho
42nd Inquisition Dry Twofold Sigma
43rd Inquisition Unctuous Twofold Tau
44th Inquisition Crude Twofold Upsilon
45th Inquisition Hard Twofold Phi
46th Inquisition Soft Twofold Chi
47th Inquisition Fragile Twofold Psi
48th Inquisition Tensile Twofold Omega
49th Inquisition Porous Threefold Alpha
50th Inquisition United Threefold Beta
51st Inquisition Spirituous Threefold Gamma
52nd Inquisition Jejune Threefold Delta
53rd Inquisition Simple Threefold Epsilon
54th Inquisition Compound Threefold Zeta
55th Inquisition Absolute Threefold Eta
56th Inquisition Imperfectly Mixed Threefold Theta
57th Inquisition Fibrous Threefold Iota
58th Inquisition Simple Position Threefold Kappa
59th Inquisition Similar Threefold Lambda
60th Inquisition Dissimilar Threefold Mu
61st Inquisition Specificate Threefold Nu
62nd Inquisition Unspecificate Threefold Xi
63rd Inquisition Organical Threefold Omicron
64th Inquisition Inorganical Threefold Pi
65th Inquisition Animate Threefold Rho
66th Inquisition Inanimate Threefold Sigma
Inquiries concerning Greater Masses:
67th Inquisition Earth Threefold Tau
68th Inquisition Water Threefold Upsilon
69th Inquisition Air Threefold Phi
70th Inquisition Fire Threefold Chi
71st Inquisition Heavens Threefold Psi
72nd Inquisition Meteors Threefold Omega
Inquiries concerning conditions of Transcendental Beings:
73rd Inquisition Existence/Non-Existence Fourfold Alpha
74th Inquisition Possibility/Impossibility Fourfold Beta
75th Inquisition Much and Little Fourfold Gamma
76th Inquisition Durable & Transitory Fourfold Delta
77th Inquisition Natural & Unnatural Fourfold Epsilon
78th Inquisition Natural & Artificial Fourfold Zeta
The great panorama of the First Folio is, has as its subject, for the
most part, nature. This is why we have the title, "The Alphabet of
Nature". It is the key for an investigation into universal nature.
We remember that the Novum Organum (New Machine) had eleven parts:
1. Presentation of Instances to the Understanding
2. Indulgence of the Understanding, or the commencement of
Interpretation, or the First Vintage
3. Prerogative Instances
4. Of the Supports of Induction
5. Of the Correction of Induction
6. Of Varying the Investigation according to the Nature
of the Subject
7. Of the Prerogative Natures with Respect to Investigation
8. Of the Limits of Investigation, or a Synopsis of All Natures
that Exist in the Universe
9. Of the Application to Practical Purposes, or What Relates to Man
10. Of the Preparations for Investigation
11. Of the Ascending and Descending Scale of Axions
And the Alphabet of Nature would supply the eighth of these eleven
parts. The Tempest would apply to the sixth of these eleven parts,
Since The Tempest does not deal with nature, but with the "form" of all
knowledge. However, Bacon tells us in his Cogitationes de Natura
Rerum,
"The passions of bodies which have sense, and of bodies without
sense, have a great correspondence."
So the same principles govern the inquiry into both.
Another peculiarity of Bacon's Alphabet of Nature should be noted.
Where I have listed Fourfold Alpha, or Fourfold Beta because I do not
have the Greek alphabet available Bacon actually listed these (I use
the English alphabet as an example) as AAAA, or BBBB, and so on. This
suggests a possible third example of the schema of his Discovery
Device. I have already cited the examples Bacon gave in his Novum
Organum, and in the 11th chapter of his Valerius Terminus. However in
the Physiological Remains in the "Articles or Questions Touching
Minerals" there is some intriguing information. This begins with:
"The Lord Bacon's Questions and Solutions concerning the
compounding, incorporating, or union of metals or minerals;
which subject is the first letter of his Lordship's Alphabet."
Then the next section is labeled:
"The second letter of the cross-row, touching the separation
of metals and minerals."
And the next section has:
"The third letter of the cross-row, touching the variation
of metals into several shapes, bodies, or natures, the
particulars whereof follow."
And the next section has:
"The fourth letter of the cross-row, touching restitution."
This is an indication that title labels such as the fourfold alpha, and
so on may be designed to fit into an automatic processing schema in the
Discovery Device where compounding, separation, variation, and
restitution are sequenced in an order designated by the letters in the
cross-row, while the listing of the titles applies to the vertical
sequencing of data. It is to be noted that in his De Augmentis Bacon
said:
"The design of learned experience, or the chase of Pan, is
to show the various ways of making experiments; and as we
not it for deficient, and the thing itself is none of the
clearest, we will here give some short sketch of the work.
The manner of experimenting chiefly consists in the variation,
Production, translation, inversion, compulsion, application,
Conjunction, or any other manner of diversifying, or making
Chance experiments. And all this lies without the limits
Of any axiom of invention; but the interpretation of nature
Takes in all the transitions of experiments into axioms, and
Of axioms into experiments."
So it may be seen how meticulously he has set out all the element
necessary for the automatic processing of data. But this enters into
an area I reserve for future parts of this study when the appropriate
time comes for considering the role this plays in Bacon's "Formula of
Interpretation".
******
Comments for Mather Walker
See:
Bacon 101-5. The Tempest :
Finding Bacon's Discovery Device
