The Mysterious Cryptex and Codes of The Da Vinci Code

In 2003, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown captured readers and became one of the top best-selling mystery thriller novels of all time. The book, claiming to be based on historical facts, included secrets protected by an ancient society known as the Priory of Sion. These secrets involved controversial questionings on the teachings of the Catholic Church and challenged the Church’s stance on a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The book suggested the two were married, had children, and that a continuing bloodline jeopardized the establishment of the Catholic Church.

While Brown’s tale included some facts, most was pure fiction. Like the part about the Cryptex.  In the story, the Cryptex is said to be an invention of Leonardo da Vinci, but this intricate device was actually from the imagination of Dan Brown.  There isn’t any evidence Da Vinci ever created such a gadget. It certainly fit well into Brown’s fictional narrative though.

As described in The Da Vinci Code, the Cryptex consisted of ‘five doughnut sized disks of marble stacked and fixed to one another within a delicate brass framework…..each end of the cylinder was affixed with an end cap, also marble, making it impossible to see inside.’

The Cryptex was a portable vault used to hide secret messages or other valuable information. ‘Each of the five disks had been carefully carved with letters of the alphabet.’ By use of a password, the disks would correctly align and allow the Cyrptex to slide open, revealing its hidden compartment where the secrets were held.

There was a safeguard to the device, however.  If a password was not successfully used to unlock the compartment, but was instead forcefully opened, a vial of liquid inside the Cryptex would break, quickly destroying the information held within its concealed vault.

The story of The Da Vinci Code contained codes as well.  These helped with the discovery of the Cryptex, and of the Passwords used to open the Cryptex.  They would also lead to the ultimate secret at the end; the location of the Holy Grail.

Readers come across the first coded message in the beginning chapters. It was written in a victim’s blood, and is as follows:

The characters of the story quickly determine the coded meaning to the curious message.

With the hint of the scrambled numbers (they were noticed to be of the Fibonacci Sequence out of order), the odd phrases were realized to be anagrams. Anagrams are one of the oldest codes. Letters are scrambled, creating other words, to encode the initial words.

Unscrambling the phrases gave:

O, Draconian Devil = Leonardo Da Vinci

Oh, Lame Saint = The Mona Lisa

PS Find Robert Langdon was not part of the message to be anagrammed. Robert Langdon is one of the main characters, along with a Sophie Neveu, who work together to solve the mystery during the novel.

The anagrammed phrases led these characters inside the Louvre Museum to The Mona Lisa where another odd phrase was found written in blood:

So Dark the Con of Man

This too was realized to be an anagram of:

Madonna on the Rocks

Again, the characters were led to that painting for which a key was discovered on the back of that painting.  The intricate key had the markings 24 Rue Haxo. An address to the Bank where a Safety Deposit Box was housed. 

Along with the use of the key, a 10 digit code needed to be used to gain access to the Safety Deposit box and its contents.  The Fibonacci Sequence of the initial code was used once again. This time not as a hint, but as the account number needed to retrieve and learn what the Safety Deposit Box held.  1123581321. What was found inside the box was a beautiful Cryptex resting inside a wooden case.

At this point in the story, Riddles become more of a play. Inside the case that held the Cryptex, mysterious writing was discovered on the underside of a Rose. This message was read easily after placing it in front of a mirror.  Mirrored writing was a common practice of Da Vinci, and so a theme is continued. The riddle was a hint for the correct password to open the Cryptex:

Atbash is another type of code.  Again, a very old one, like that of anagrams, found used in the Bible. The riddle is solved by applying the Atbash Cipher to the Hebrew word for Baphomet (A head worshipped by Templars). It reveals the ancient Greek word for Wisdom: SOFIA.

Opening the Cryptex resulted in discovering another, smaller Cryptex, inside. This Cryptex was wrapped in the following Riddle, and offered a hint for its password:

The answer to the above Riddle, was APPLE, which connects to Sir Isacc Newton. Upon opening this smaller Cryptex, another Riddle was yet discovered. This one to be solved for the location of the Holy Grail.  I won’t give away the answer.

The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits

The blade and chalice guarding o’er Her gates.

Adorned in masters’ loving art, She lies.

She rests at last beneath the starry skies.

The book offers evidence to suggest Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, and had created a Royal Bloodline in existence today.  The term San Greal, translates to Holy Grail, but if separated Sang Real, it translates to Royal Blood.  This then, the Royal Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is considered the Holy Grail and protected secret.

Whatever one believes, it is a novel.  However, there are many historical mysteries touched upon within the book that remain unsolved. One of which is the mystery of Rennes Le Chateau and the unexplainable amounts of money a small time Priest, Berenger Sauniere spent during his later years. No one conclusively knows where his money originated. Was it a lost treasure or was it payment to keep a secret, a secret?  No one knows.

For those who enjoy codes, ciphers, mystery, and suspense, mixed in with history, the Da Vinci Code novel is a fun read. It also opens up many paths to explore.

We explore some of those paths here on MW!

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