Real DaVinci-Type Codes?: Secrets in Plain Sight

[Piggy]

A co-worker recently asked me if there had ever been a documented DaVinci-type code: That is, subversive, esoteric, secret information encoded in a publicly displayed work such as a song, quilt, book, or painting?

I can't think of one.

Every reported case I can recall has turned out to be bogus:

• quilts containing codes meant for slaves following the Underground Railroad;
• suppressed Catholic doctrine encoded in "The 12 Days of Christmas" song;
• the DaVinci code;
• the Bible code;
• etc.

Of course, there are plenty of examples of secret codes and encryption, of trivial information being encoded in public works (such as the name of Poe's beloved woven into a poem), and of dogma represented in public works such as stained glass windows.

But does anyone know of any truly important, secret, subversive information coded for display "in plain sight", not in, say, a telegraph message, but in a work meant to endure and be displayed continuously or repeatedly?

There is one possible example that comes to mind, but I don't know enough about it: American slaves communicating with runaways or aspiring runaways through field songs.

I have heard that this was done, but I don't know if it's bone fide, or another "quilt code" type claim.

The disadvantages of using any such semi-public code to transmit information are formidable. For example, what if someone betrays the code, or is forced to reveal it, or someone simply figures it out? If that happens, then suddenly -- unlike messages delivered individually -- the groups secrets are now being broadcast to the world.

But that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I'd be interested to know if it has, and if so, where I can find out more about it.

Thanks.

 

[NeilC]

http://www.cremationofcare.com/illu_molech.htm

 

[Piggy]

http://www.cremationofcare.com/illu_molech.htm

No, I mean seriously.

 

[ChristineR]

I'm not sure what you mean. As you say, there are numerous works of arts of with hidden or deceptive images and messages, frequently including political and religious criticisms. These don't qualify?

 

[Phil]

Some people think that the writings of Nostradamus were not predictions of future events, as the non-critical thinkers believe, but highly veiled social commentary of the prominent figures and politics of his day.

 

[drkitten]

A co-worker recently asked me if there had ever been a documented DaVinci-type code: That is, subversive, esoteric, secret information encoded in a publicly displayed work such as a song, quilt, book, or painting?

There have been a number of them.

For example, the BBC would routinely broadcast "coded" messages to agents in the field during the Second World War. Jargon codes were used in World War I, placing orders for goods that were, of course, thinly-disguised military reports. Still further back, the Times of London has a long history of accepting (and publishing) coded personal ads that were used, often by frustrated lovers trying to arrange elopements and stuff like that.

There have also been recent (but disputed) reports that steganographic messages are being used in Ebay photographs. Unfortunately, I cannot officially confirm that such steganographic messages are being used, but..... well, let met put it like this. I've had too many law enforcement people ask me questions about steganographic techniques for me to believe that the reports are entirely false.

Usually it's not worth the effort to publish something on the large scale -- if, for example, I wanted to communicate with a friend or co-conspirator, it's much easier/faster/cheaper for me to write a want-ad than to paint a mural on the side of a building.

But does anyone know of any truly important, secret, subversive information coded for display "in plain sight", not in, say, a telegraph message, but in a work meant to endure and be displayed continuously or repeatedly?

Part of the problem is that you're describing an unusual message. Most messages aren't meant to endure and be displayed continuously or repeatedly. If the message is a typical one-off ("Troopship sails on Tuesday," "Sell QQQQ," "Meet me outside St. Adelaide's Church tomorrow at midnight"), why bother to immortalize it?

 

[Piggy]

Usually it's not worth the effort to publish something on the large scale -- if, for example, I wanted to communicate with a friend or co-conspirator, it's much easier/faster/cheaper for me to write a want-ad than to paint a mural on the side of a building.

Part of the problem is that you're describing an unusual message. Most messages aren't meant to endure and be displayed continuously or repeatedly. If the message is a typical one-off ("Troopship sails on Tuesday," "Sell QQQQ," "Meet me outside St. Adelaide's Church tomorrow at midnight"), why bother to immortalize it?

Exactly. That's why claims of preservation of esoteric knowledge in public works are rather far fetched on the surface.

If the information is meant only for initiates, then why encode it into a publicly available book, painting, or song?

I wouldn't count the WWI/II codes as DaVinci-type codes b/c they are ephemeral.

I'm not sure what you mean. As you say, there are numerous works of arts of with hidden or deceptive images and messages, frequently including political and religious criticisms. These don't qualify?

I dunno. Maybe. I'm not up on my esoteric art history. Were these in some cases intended to preserve secret knowledge, or just to poke fun at the powers of the day?

I'm still interested in the field songs, too, if anyone has any sources on that.

 

[NoZed Avenger]

Exactly. That's why claims of preservation of esoteric knowledge in public works are rather far fetched on the surface.

If the information is meant only for initiates, then why encode it into a publicly available book, painting, or song?

What about the art at Rosslyn Chapel? The topic came up on paltalk last week, and I had coincidentally picked up a book on it that turned out to be very woo-ish.

But the artwork on the walls have a lot of freemason symbolism and some of it appears to include some type of "secret" message hidden in the art.

Similarly, images of the green man or similar pagan symbols worked into church designs and artwork might qualify.

 

[Piggy]

• quilts containing codes meant for slaves following the Underground Railroad;
• suppressed Catholic doctrine encoded in "The 12 Days of Christmas" song;
• the DaVinci code;

Just to clarify what I'm after, in the cases above it has been alleged that a body of esoteric and suppressed knowledge -- the meaning of the grail and the existence of a secret lineage of Jesus; the fundamentals of Catholic dogma during protestant persecution; a system of signals for smuggling slaves to free states -- was "hidden in plain sight" via symbols in public works that could be deciphered only by initiates.

The "Bible code" is debatable, depending on whether one believes that these messages were knowingly encoded by scribes or miraculously encoded by the hand of God.

I think a "field song code" would qualify as a true DaVinci-type code, if it were generally understood among slaves separated geographically so that runaways could interpret the meanings of the songs along their route.

Hidden meanings in paintings would also qualify if the intention were to preserve suppressed knowledge in order protect it from dying out (or from being discovered and destroyed if preserved in personal documents) or in order to communicate it to initiates who could not be contacted in person.

 

[Piggy]

What about the art at Rosslyn Chapel?

<snip>

But the artwork on the walls have a lot of freemason symbolism and some of it appears to include some type of "secret" message hidden in the art.

Interesting. I don't know about the Rosslyn Chapel. There are a lot of masonic symbols about, but these don't necessarily qualify. What would qualify would be a situation in which, say, an ordinary person would not see the intended secret meaning in the art, but initiates would see this meaning and therefore the art in the chapel becomes -- for them, and them alone -- a book of lore intended to preserve the tradition from dying out. As long as new generations are taught the keys of interpretation, the knowledge is preserved, hidden in plain sight.

 

[specious_reasons]

The Bible does contain a code. Revelations is widely understood as coded language.

 

[ChristineR]

Revelations and similar books were not intended to be shown to the uninitiated though. They were meant to be confusing so that the authorities could not prove that they were subversive propaganda. I suppose you could read it literally as kind of a fairy tale involving seven headed monsters who are not thinly disguised Roman emporers, or at least tell the authorities that you had read it that way. I don't think that's quite what Piggy's looking for...it brings to mind the child pornography sold in plain covers with titles like "A case study of incest in identical twin juvenile males."

 

[drkitten]

Just to clarify what I'm after, in the cases above it has been alleged that a body of esoteric and suppressed knowledge -- the meaning of the grail and the existence of a secret lineage of Jesus; the fundamentals of Catholic dogma during protestant persecution; a system of signals for smuggling slaves to free states -- was "hidden in plain sight" via symbols in public works that could be deciphered only by initiates.

Well, how about hobos and hobo code? From the Wikipedia article

To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. Some signs included "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on.

These markings were typically written on the sides of the buildings or areas to which they applied, so a doctor's front porch might be marked with a caduceus. The intent was, of course, exactly to "communicate it to initiates who could not be contacted in person," to wit, other hobos.

This page has some further examples.


Of course, a modern equivalent is 'warchalking,' althougn it's not really widespread or popular.

 

[Hagrok]

The Acoma Indian Pueblo here in New Mexico were forced to build a chapel by the Spanish in the 16th century. They added a bunch of their own spiritual symbolism in the construction unbeknowst to the Spanish; it's a pretty cool tour to take.

There's a photo of the outside here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsme_jae/138410978/

As I recall, they don't allow photography of the inside.

 

[drkitten]

The Acoma Indian Pueblo here in New Mexico were forced to build a chapel by the Spanish in the 16th century.

Similarly, the Crypto-christians of Tokugawa-era Japan might qualify. There's a lot of "Buddhist" religious art dating from that time (esp. in the far south and some of the distant islands) that's actually disguised Christian religious symbolism -- for example, statues of the Virgin Mary that were "disguised" as Buddhist or Shinto icons, and so forth.

 

[ChristineR]

Hmm, the hobo code made me think of gang signs. Some of them are quite elaborate and artistic, and are in a code only meant to be read by the initiated.

 

[drkitten]

Exactly. That's why claims of preservation of esoteric knowledge in public works are rather far fetched on the surface.

I disagree.

Specifically, I think the concept of "esoteric knowledge" that needs preservation is somewhat far-fetched, in the specific sense that such knowledge is extremely unusual. It shouldn't be surprising that you can't find many examples of methods used to transmit and preserve such information generally, because you can't find many examples of the information itself.

It's like if I were to ask whether or not "men's size 20 shoes" really existed, on the grounds that I've never seen any. Of course I haven't seen any -- I don't know any men that have feet that large.

If the information is meant only for initiates, then why encode it into a publicly available book, painting, or song?

Because distribution is easier. Look (again), at the Times cryptograms. The information is meant only for initiates, but the whole point of using the Times is that I can communiate with my partner without revealing who s/he is.

I wouldn't count the WWI/II codes as DaVinci-type codes b/c they are ephemeral.

Again, this is more a limitation on the type of message than the type of code. What kind of message do you expect people to send that isn't ephemeral?

 

[Piggy]

drkitten, I also think that "'esoteric knowledge' that needs preservation is ... unusual". I don't expect to find it lying about at hand, if at all. That's why I'm posting here.

My co-worker asked if I knew of any examples of such knowledge actually being encoded in enduring works meant for open display, publication, or performance -- such as paintings, hymns, architecture, and the like -- and I couldn't come up with any that weren't bogus, so I thought this would be a good place to ask around.

As for the Times cryptograms, classified ad communiques, and such, they are certainly real, but just not what I'm specifically asking about. Publishing encoded information in ephemeral media is one thing -- putting it in, say, a painting on the rotunda of a state capitol building is another.

That's not to say it's never been done. But in the case of the purported Underground Railroad quilt code, for example, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

As for non-ephemeral messages, heretical religious dogma is a good example. It's not completely ridiculous that, during a time of severe persecution, punishable heresies might be preserved in coded form in songs to keep them from being lost or discovered. But I don't know of any verified examples.

Also, if field songs were intended to convey standardized messages to hidden runaways such as "the coast is clear" or "don't come out of hiding yet" or "there will be a wagon waiting tonight", then that would qualify as non-ephemeral messages encoded in enduring public works.

 

[Piggy]

Well, how about hobos and hobo code?

The hobo code was an obvious code, like blazes on trails. It was meant to be only decipherable by insiders, but it wasn't purporting to be something else entirely, such as a public painting or hymn or quilt, seems to me.

 

[Piggy]

I wouldn't count the book of Revelation as a DaVinci-type code b/c it appears utterly incomprehensible to outsiders. Ditto for gang signs.

A DaVinci-type code masquerades as something else, something comprehensible and acceptable like a painting or quilt or children's song, so that even the existence of potentially coded information is hidden. The medium carrying the code can be displayed openly and no one but the initiated even realize there's a message.

The claim behind the purported "Bible code" was that specific prophecies were buried deep in the numerology linked to Hebrew characters making up the books. So the book could be read on its surface in a normal fashion, but secret knowledge could be teased out by breaking the code.

The encoded messages published in newspapers that drkitten has mentioned are ephemeral examples of this kind of communication. The only thing separating them from DaVinci-type coding is that they're situational, not intended to preserve a body of knowledge or hidden symbol system.

The religious art mentioned by drkitten and Hagroc probably qualifies as true DaVinci-type coding. I'll be looking into them -- thanks, guys!