Is there a second blue metre cycle in the Regula Benedicti?
John Bjarne Grover
My blue metre PEB ('POLAKK English Bloggi') seems to run in 1000 year cycles in such a way that it is possible to align the 366 poems against a text divided into 366 parts for finding the optimal match and thereby determine the year when it was written. But there is the weakness that one cannot be certain which millenium it was written in. For example, if the Acts of the Bible is shown to have been written in AD 67-68, it is by my PEB possible that it was written in AD 1067-1068 - and therefore matters of authenticity are not immediately settled thereby. However, if one could find an alternative blue cycle for 'cross-bearings', then precision could be made much better.
The benedictines - and even more the cistercians - live strictly according to the monasterial rule and when they have grown more or less identical to it in conduct of life, they can transcend the historic time and step into heaven. That suggests that their monasterial rule is a sort of blue metre - and if the rule of Benedict - the Regula Benedicti - can be considered an alternative cycle, one could get the chance to cross-correlate for higher precision when navigating in the time of history.
I leafed in the PEB untill I came aross #164 where a mystic code seemed to whisper the answer to me - including the last words of #163 - receiving a certain meaningful echo on the day of Epiphany which was the day of the year when I made this discovery (6 jan 2018). Having reorganized the text of the rule relative to the edition I made in 2016, deleted explanatory chapter titles etc which could have been added in later centuries, there are 13836 words in it - and that is the mystic code in #164 which starts as follows: "It is a mystery. / I got it from an oracle / who said that there are three / parts of a numeral: // It's 86.3". It says at the end of #163 that the storm is in threes.
Well, strictly speaking, there are 13837 words - originally I got an extra word from the confusion of enumeration in chapter 7 verse 65 - and there were two 'amen' which could be omitted - that left just 13836. But correcting the enumeration of chapter 7 and retaining the two amens, there are 13837 words - which divide perfectly with 33 to the factor 389.
At the time of Benedict, it is possible that the only canonical and authoritative blue metre that factually existed was the Odyssey - in which there are appr 33 verses per segment if 365-366 segments such as in my blue PEB. (There are 12110 lines in the Odyssey, which means 12110/366 = 33.0874317 lines per PEB poem). I divide 13836 with the same 33 words and find that the cycle of the Regula then should be 389 years. Assuming that the Regula is written in 529, as is normal, one gets a new cycle of 389 years by this scheme:
BC 3361, BC 2972, BC 2583, BC 2194, BC 1805, BC 1416, BC 1027, BC 638, BC 249, AD 140, AD 529 (when it was written), AD 918, AD 1307, AD 1696.
I have divided the Regula into 389 segments - which means one per year.
Acts of the Bible
My PEB has established that Acts was written in AD 67-68 - but that could also theoretically have meant AD 1067-1068 - a year when 'secret freemason services' could have composed the gospels from the white stone. But with a new Regula cycle it can be tested whether the time point is right. It means that if Acts was written in AD 68, the Regula cycle starts on BC 249 - and then AD 68 will be after 249+68 = 317 of the 389 years of the cycle. Acts has 18450 word in greek so there are appr 47,5 words per part of the 389 - since my editor did not allow for greek on the web I reproduce only the translation from King James (biblegateway.com) and leave it to the reader to check the greek from other sources:
317 frater novicius prosternatur singulorum pedibus ut orent pro eo et iam ex illa die in congregatione reputetur 24 Res si quas habet aut eroget prius pauperibus aut facta sollemniter donatione conferat monasterio nihil sibi
= Acts verse 1-3 (...autois kai) =
1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days,
318 reservans ex omnibus 25 quippe qui ex illo die nec proprii corporis potestatem se habiturum scit 26 Mox ergo in oratorio exuatur rebus propriis quibus vestitus est et induatur rebus monasterii 27 Illa autem vestimenta quibus
= Acts verse 3 (legon ta...) - 6 (...kurie)
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord,
319 exutus est reponantur in vestiario conservanda 28 ut si aliquando suadenti diabolo consenserit ut egrediatur de monasterio quod absit tunc exutus rebus monasterii proiciatur 29 Illam tamen petitionem eius quam desuper altare abbas tulit non
= Acts verse 6 (ei en...) - 8 (to the end of the verse, plus a word from 9)
wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 1:9 And
314 suorum et oboedientia 18 coram Deo et sanctis eius ut si aliquando aliter fecerit ab eo se damnandum sciat quem irridit 19 De qua promissione sua faciat petitionem ad nomen sanctorum quorum reliquiae ibi sunt
= Acts verse 23 (profeton...) to verse 26 (...laon touton kai)
out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say,
315 et abbatis praesentis 20 Quam petitionem manu sua scribat aut certe si non scit litteras alter ab eo rogatus scribat et ille novicius signum faciat et manu sua eam super altare ponat 21 Quam dum
= Acts verse 26 eipon akoue...) to end of 27
Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
316 imposuerit incipiat ipse novicius mox hunc versum Suscipe me Domine secundum eloquium tuum et vivam et ne confundas me ab exspectatione mea 22 Quem versum omnis congregatio tertio respondeat adiungentes Gloria Patri 23 Tunc ille
= Acts verse 28 to end of chapter
28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. (28:29 omitted) 28:30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 28:31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Since these seem perfect, I take it that the hypothesis is supported by these data. If one should assume that these fragments were written not in AD 68 but in AD 1068, then the segments from the Regula would have been 150-151-152 in the beginning and 147-148-149 in the end (same as for Grillparzer below).
The Odyssey
In 'Poetic semiosis' I concluded that the optimal correlation of my PEB with the Odyssey was at offset 58 - which means 58/0.366 = 158,5 years. Subtracting these 159 years from 2009 takes it to the year 1850. Could be this is the reason why I concluded in 'Poetic semiosis' that the Odyssey was written around 850 BC - the correct guess should, though, rather have been at 1150 BC, even if 850 is closer to what is normally assumed. If 1150 BC is the year, then the Regula cycle will suggest 1416-1150 = segment 266. Indeed it makes sense to read #266 against the 31 first verses of the Odyssey, 267 against the verses 32-62 etc - and, likewise, according to the solution in 'Poetic semiosis', wherein the 665 last verses are moved forwards and appended to the end of song 18, before song 19, the REG 265 will be against Od.23:224-255, while REG 264 will be against Od.23:193-224. These correlations make good sense and suggest that the year 1150 could be right.
Sophocles 'Oedipus Rex'
In 'Poetic semiosis', I determined this to 430 BC with my PEB. With the Regula it should then be 638-430 = REG 208 which makes sense relative to the first four lines. Likewise the following - and the 8 last lines compare well with REG 206-207.
Franz Grillparzer: Der arme Spielmann
Written in 1846, although the writing seems to have started in 1831, published in 1847. It contains 15068 words which means 38,74 words per segment - 389 segments. This suggests that the alignment starts at 1846-1696 = REG 150. Source http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8961/pg8961.html - here is the beginning aligned with the corresponding three segments:
150 In Wien ist der Sonntag nach dem Vollmonde im Monat Juli jedes Jahres samt dem darauffolgenden Tage ein eigentliches Volksfest, wenn je ein Fest diesen Namen verdient hat. Das Volk besucht es und gibt es selbst; und wenn Vornehmere
151 dabei erscheinen, so koennen sie es nur in ihrer Eigenschaft als Glieder des Volks. Da ist keine Moeglichkeit der Absonderung; wenigstens vor einigen Jahren noch war keine.An diesem Tage feiert die mit dem Augarten, der Leopoldstadt, dem Prater
152 in ununterbrochener Lustreihe zusammenhaengende Brigittenau ihre Kirchweihe. Von Brigittenkirchtag zu Brigittenkirchtag zaehlt seine guten Tage das arbeitende Volk. Lange erwartet, erscheint endlich das saturnalische Fest. Da entsteht Aufruhr in der gutmuetig ruhigen Stadt. Eine wogende Menge erfuellt die Strassen.
And here is the end of the text aligned against the corresponding 3 segments:
147 es uns nicht an!" Dabei nahm sie das Instrument von der Wand, besah es von allen Seiten, blies den Staub herab und legte es in die Schublade, die sie, wie einen Raub befuerchtend, heftig zustiess und abschloss. Ihr Gesicht
148 war dabei von mir abgewandt, so dass ich nicht sehen konnte, was etwa darauf vorging. Da nun zu gleicher Zeit die Magd mit der Suppe eintrat und der Fleischer, ohne sich durch den Besuch stoeren zu lassen, mit lauter
149 Stimme sein Tischgebet anhob, in das die Kinder gellend einstimmten, wuenschte ich gesegnete Mahlzeit und ging zur Tuere hinaus. Mein letzter Blick traf die Frau. Sie hatte sich umgewendet, und die Traenen liefen ihr stromweise ueber die Backen.
Is the year of publication 1847 better? Could be not, even if that sunday looks tempting.
Conclusion
It seems - from this meagre material - that there are reasons to believe that the Regula Benedicti can be considered a blue metre with a cycle of 389 years - at the time of Benedict in 529, this served to make a new and christian blue metre to take over after the Odyssey which could have been the only canonical metre up to that time.
With two metres, mine of 1000 years starting in the year 2009 and the Regula Benedicti of 389 years starting in the year 529, it is possible to make cross-bearings to determine not only exact year but also exact millenium.
However, for concluding that one now has two and not only one blue metre, more data should of course be considered. But it sometimes happens that one has a feeling of seeing the solution right away. I just looked at Hesiod's 'Works and days' and considered it to be from 665 BC - which seemed to be confirmed by both metres. However, I did not check much of it.
The BITCOINs
I have to add this story: In the beginning of chapter 1, Benedict tells that there are four types of monks - in segment 24 he mentions the 'coenobitarum ' and 'anachoritarum', in 26 the 'sarabaitarum' and in 28 the 'gyrovagum'. It was in the summer 2016 that I took the vaporetto from the Doge Palace in Venice out to the nearby St.George Island where the Benedictine monastery is and gave them a copy of my PEB and an attempt to date the Regola. St.George is also the name of the anglican church in Venice. In 2017 there started to arise much news about the new socalled 'cryptocurrency' called BITCOIN - which can be recognized in the first type of monk called 'KOINoBITes'. I see there seems also to be a new 'cryptocurrency' called 'Doge Coins'. I do not know anything about the alleged story of this BITCOIN phenomenon, but notice that when Monte Cassino is the main monastery, the place also where Benedict wrote the rule in probably 529, there is a potential link to not only the idea of a political intrigue in 'gambling', 'gamblehjem' and things like that - but also to the important austrian benedictine monastery of Melk - where the Annaberg terror was. The 'anachoritarum'? It is therefore possible that there could be old intrigues on this - for such reasons - which does not mean that there has to be any link from the socalled 'Bitcoin' to the present theory of a second blue cycle in the Regula Benedicti. However, even if I worked with the dating of the Regula in 2016 and have speculated on it as an alternative cycle, it was only on the day of Epiphany 2018 that I came across the solution which I have outlined here.
The Regula Benedicti divided into 389 segments
© John Bjarne Grover
On the web 7 january 2018