| |
|
January 2010 - now ended |
| For
competition updates - and the answer - see below. |
|
|
| |
| |
21st
June 2009 |
| Start
date of puzzle. |
|
10th
July 2009 |
| Several
entries received but NO CORRECT ENTRIES YET! |
| Keep
them coming! |
| A
clue will be given over the weekend 11-12 July here on the website
and on the Myspace BLOG. |
|
| 11th July 2009 |
| CLUE 1: |
| Sixteen
treasures |
| In
the Alchemist’s box
|
| And
the golden key
|
| Is
everything you need
|
| To
set the secret free |
| |
22nd
July 2009 |
| CLUE
2: |
| To
find the alchemy of your desire |
| Search
for “A Treatise on Salt and Fire” |
| |
23rd
July 2009 |
| *
WE HAVE OUR 1st WINNER * well done Cathy from the US! |
| 4
more chances to win - keep at it! |
| |
6th
Sept 2009 |
| Just
the one winner so far - there's still 4 more chances to win.
Are there 4 more 'alchemists' out there who can yet solve this
riddle..? |
| |
1st
November 2009 |
| *
WE HAVE OUR 2nd WINNER * well done Harold from Cornwall UK! |
| 3
more chances to win this tricky conundrum... |
| |
| 8th
December 2009 |
| Still
3 more chances to solve this riddle - up to midnight on the
31st December. |
| |
| |
....................
* 1st January 2010 * THE SOLUTION ! * ....................... |
|
The
maddening search for the Alchemist's Secret Formula is now over! |
|
The
final clue read: |
| |
To
find the alchemy of your desire |
Search
for “A Treatise on Salt and Fire” |
| |
If
you search Google for a treatise on salt and fire, one of the
first results is a reference to an |
alchemical
treatise on fire and salt by a certain Blaise de Vigenère.
("Abhandlung vom Feuer und Salz".) |
|
If
you do a further search on Vigenère, you'll find that
he's famous for a code called the "Vigenère cipher". |
The
details of how this cipher works can be found online, but briefly,
you need to know the encrypted |
text
and a key phrase in order to decipher it. |
| |
Sixteen
treasures |
In
the Alchemist’s box |
And
the golden key |
Is
everything you need |
To
set the secret free |
|
The
encrypted text was shown in the letter grid - the "sixteen
treasures". But what was the key? |
|
...the
golden fruit that grew within the Garden of the Hesperides,
upon the "Tree of Life". And that's the key. |
|
The
key phrase was: "Tree of Life"! |
|
Using
the Vigenère method to decipher the letters in the grid,
you get: |
|
XSOLVEETCOAGULAX |
|
The
secret formula - and the answer to the puzzle, is therefore:
|
| |
"Solve
et Coagula" |
| |
'Solve’
means to ‘dissolve’. ‘Coagulate’ means
to ‘join’. '
Solve et Coagula' is the name |
| given
by the alchemists of old to the process of the breaking down
of matter into its elements |
| and
their coming together once more in a new guise; the process
of transmutation. |
|
As
an interesting additional reference, certain figures in the
tarot deck, such
as the
|
Magician
or the Devil, are represented as standing or sitting in the
'coagula/solve' position |
-
with one arm raised and pointing upwards, and the other lowered
and pointing down. |
| |
| This
principle of the opposite action of energies is also one of
the main ideas behind the |
| Tree
of Life - the Left ‘Black’ Pillar being indicative
of the katabolic or breaking-down aspect |
| of
energy/god/force, and the Right ‘White’ Pillar indicative
of the building-up or anabolic |
| aspect.
They are both two sides of the same coin, and like the Yin and
Yang symbol, they both |
| work
as necessary ‘complementary opposites’ in order
to make a harmonious whole in the |
| centre
- the Middle Pillar of harmony. |
|
Thanks
to all who joined us in this quest. We hope you enjoyed it.
:) |
|
|
|
|
