The June 2010 clue of the Maranatha Puzzle said, “The teacher of Thibault knew the measure of a man”. It followed the clue, “Masters who know are simply why they are called masters”, which also included a short page about Leonardo da Vinci. Because the two clues were given next to each other, it had been questioned by puzzlers if ‘the teacher of Thibault’ could have been da Vinci?
It would seem this very well could be the case and, therefore, leads to further support for the possibilities thought about for the rest of the clue. Recently I was reading the book entitled The Byrom Collection by Joy Hancox. This book is mentioned in both the Maranatha-Et in Arcadia Ego puzzle book and the puzzle’s companion bibliography. It contains the passage written below which is speaking about Gerard Thibault’s great grandfather, Jan:
“As physician to Francis, Thibault would have met Leonardo, possibly even attended him as his health failed. He could not have been unaware of the proudest acquisition to the King’s household. Jan’s acquaintance with Leonardo would have become part of the Thibault family lore and one means of the transmission of Leonardo’s Vitruvian ideas to Gerard.”
Gerard Thibault is well known for writing one of the most prized manuals on fencing called The Academy of the Sword (1628). In this book, Thibault utilizes a ‘mysterious circle’ that highlights the proportions of man. Along with illustrating techniques used to master the sword, the circle shared the belief that man is the microcosm of the universe.
The Vitruvian Man (1490) by da Vinci shares this concept as well. The name of da Vinci’s image (shown above) relates to the work of the Roman architect, Vitruvius, who da Vinci based his famous drawing from. By understanding man and his proportions, Vitruvius (and later da Vinci) believed a person could design the perfect Temple and more.
The back of the Maranatha puzzle books and the TimeMonk webpage displayed an image of the Vitruvian Man. It was thought this geometric design of man was of importance for the solving of the puzzle. With the appearance of the above paragraph stating the teacher of Thibault was very possibly da Vinci, and since it was found in one of the books used for research for the puzzle, it would seem the June clue is indeed directing puzzlers to delve deeper into these geometrical relationships.
Another sentence within The Byrom Collection caught my attention too. The sentence refers to Dee’s Monas Heiroglyphica. However, know I am not drawing attention to the symbol, just the way Truth can be revealed. It is;
“Just as today a physicist might reduce a universal law to an equation, so Dee chose to express the complexities of his belief in visual form.”
It brought back to mind the mention of Einstein’s equation in the TimeMonk article by Duncan Burden. Burden used the example of the equation (E=MC squared) to ask if the concept in which the equation conveyed was discovered to have been already known before Einstein stated it, wouldn’t that be amazing?
It would seem to suggest the geometric key that Priory Publications/Cambridge Group discovered is a concept which is older then what is thought. Is that what you surmise?
Understanding what that concept is, and how it is used, seems to be the Key.
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After reading this article by Jenny along with the comments from Nate, I decided to do a little research. What I discovered was that Jenny was correct in coming to the conclusion that “The Teacher of Thibault” was both a reference to Gerald Thibault (the student) & Da Vinci (The teacher). However, it’s my belief that there’s a lot more to the understanding than that.
“That is why Masters are Masters …”
If I were to explain to you what I think Mr. Burden meant by this, the answer might surprise you! It’s my understanding that Mr. Burden was trying to say that Da Vinci understood “The measure of a man,” but Thibault did not … Which is why he stated that Masters (Teachers) are Masters … Meaning that his student did not understand (the measure of a man).
How do I know? For several reasons. Let’s first begin with Mr. Burdens phrase “the measure of a man.” It’s my belief that this is a reference to a saying mentioned by Plato which reads:
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”
This is a reference to “the sword” mentioned by Thibault. Where Thibault commits an error in measurement is when he measures the end of the circle to the tip of his index finger. I would argue that Da Vinci understood the measure of a man, from end to end, differently.
However, there is another point which I believe that Mr. Burden might have been trying to make when he uses the wording “the teacher of Thibault.” When we “hear” the word “Thibault.” It sounds a lot like “the bolt.” Assuming that I am correct, “The Teacher of the bolt (thunderbolt) would be a reference to Zeus, the King (Master) of the Gods. For me, the Rod (lightening rod) which is held in Zeus’s hand & the “sword” which is mentioned in The Bible represent the “same” understanding. So it’s possible that Mr. Burden was attempting to tie all of these different understandings together in this way.
Both Da Vinci and Thibault’s men are idealised. The question isn’t whether people really have those measurements. The question is what those measures represent.
I think the main point Duncan was making with “the measure of a man” was to get people to look into the “mysterious circle” of Thibault. He may have been making a reference to Plato as well, but I think that’s secondary.
Rods and swords are most definitely different things. That’s why they are different suits in the Tarot. Swords are associated with the air element, and rods are associated with the earth element and with the completed measure.
“For he is the measure of all things” suggests to draw a circle around the picture of the king (David).
That makes perfect sense:
DaviD
The 2 D’s in the word DaviD represent a Circle being cut in half (the sword). In between the 2 D’s is the Latin word “avi” which means bird. Virtruvian Man looks a lot like a man (bird) stretching out his arms (wings).
Also notice the similarities between the 2 names:
DA VI nci
DA VI d
Both names also contain the word AVI which means Bird. VI represents the Roman numeral 6. This could be suggestive of the fact that each half of the Circle (D)has a numerical value of 3. True, D is the 4th letter of the Alphabet, but D is actually C (3) with a I (1) added. Similarly, there are 2 C’s in the equation “E = MC2.”
David was originally written in Hebrew, where Ds don’t look like half circles. So Jews would never think of it as a circle cut in half.
On the other hand, Ds in Greek look like triangles (deltas). So the Greeks would easily remember that the star of David consists of two triangles.
I think it isn’t simply that the geometric figure that was shown in the article is older than thought. I think what’s in the Maranatha puzzle is a whole system of thought, older than what most people suspect. It’s even possible that you can use the knowledge to reveal that some scientific facts were known before our history tells us. For example, imagine if the ancients knew the Law of Gravity, or simply Kepler’s three Laws of Planetary Motion.
“Masters who know are simply why they are called masters” simply draws attention to the fact that the word “master” derives from the Latin “magister”, that means “teacher”. Clearly, you can’t be a teacher unless you know.
Leonardo Da Vinci hid a lot of sacred geometry in his drawings and paintings, and the Vitruvian man is particularly remarkable for this.
I’ll just add that the mysterious circle of Thibault shows some sacred geometry, but the Vitruvian man contains even more than that.
I wonder why Duncan chose the example of E=MC2. Surely nobody could have possibly come up with that formula before the 20th century, but what about other famous science? Is it possible that the ancients knew much more about the movements of the planets and even the law of gravity? Isaac Newton said that he believed the ancients might have known the law of gravity, and he was in a position to know.