TTTTA encoded riddle 1

I'm trying to write a book or get a "hidden mysteries" type fiction novelist to adopt my idea.  I may not be up to the job.  I have the necessary obsessive qualities to do the work but I'm too much a creature in need of instant gratification.  I can imagine Mr. Gann or his buddy Mr. Frank Higgins, each, alone in a room reading and composing for hours.  I can't imagine myself being able to do that as much as I dwell on their work and the work of many others.  So, to amuse myself and hopefully others, a series of puzzles confined to "Tunnel Thru the Air" that may add up to something of value.

First, a concept in encoding, some very old and all but forgotten encoding methodologies and then a treasure hunt.

An interesting take found at the Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies on Philo of Alexander is that he considered allegory as less capable of teaching truths than the use of enigma.  Allegories are too dependent on the observer's subjective interpretation to be relied upon to convey meaning.  Enigmas involved wrestling with concepts to refine understanding.

We know Mr. Gann was a distinguished Mason and there are signs (see other essays) of a Rosicrucian, Hermetic orientation.  So where do we find Pythagoras of Samos in TTTTA?  Pythagoras' notable accomplishments including the theorem, the diatonic scale and the first elements of the gematria system often attributed to him?  Sure, we can draw a 40X12 right triangle on page 69 using the "J" in Jonas as shown in a previous essay.  [At least I think I published that.  It was not my original discovery but given to me by a persona screen named "JB" which he may or may not have discovered.]  But that does not identify Pythagoras.  It might allude to Masonry, Rosicrucianism….  Where is Pythagoras, personally, appearing in TTTTA?

That's the Philo concept.  I call it strategic denial.  We sense that Pythagoras is a great component on Mr. Gann's but we can't find him anywhere.  Only telltale bits and pieces.  Perhaps its the opposite of "The lady doth protest too much methinks."  Lord Francis Bacon is said to have never spoken of the great William Shakespeare, yet, Ignatius Donnelly and Petter Amundsen, in my opinion, offer conclusive evidence Bacon wrote some or most of works attributed to Shakespeare (Stratfordians disagree).  [And, by the way, Lord Bacon was very important, IMO, in Mr. Gann's work.]

Is Mr. Gann's denial of Pythagoras an emphasis of the latter's greater importance?  If so, again, where do we find Pythagoras of Samos secretly in TTTTA as confirmation?  That's one of many concepts of Philo that Gann may have used so let's follow it to the next step.  That's the strategic enigma IMO and the next step would be to find a tactical confirmation of Pythagoras.

In this case the tactic is an an affirming acrostic or telestic.  An acrostic is a word spelled using the first letter of consecutive line and an acrostic/telestic is a word spelled using the last letter of consecutive lines.  [Actually, you could define it as every other line, but I doubt you'd have anyone ever discovering the encoded word you want them to discover.  You'd have outsmarted yourself.]

I'll give you exactly where you will find Pythagoras in TTTTA and unmistakably so; the bottom of page 128 and top of page 129.  There are several "plain word" allusions but one defining an acrostic/telestic Mr. Gann had to actively contrive.

You can find the first edition printing of TTTTA at archive.org.  I'll open up the website for comments and give the answers I have (you might find more) tomorrow.

I have dozens, if not hundreds, of these in TTTTA.  But this one "proves", IMO, not only the importance of Pythagoras, as measured by the extent of denial and buried confirmation, but the contrivance of Mr. Gann to create the tactical confirming device.

Perhaps I overstate the case, but perhaps not.

Jim