Alphabet Murders
Zodiac's Name
Master
Zodiac's Name Cipher
It is an urban myth that the Zodiac’s ‘my name is … ‘ puzzle reveals Zodiac’s real identity.
This myth is surprisingly persistent, even though common sense says it’s probably false. The Zodiac would be a fool to reveal his real name, but while the Zodiac is many things, he is not a fool.
Solving the puzzle is a two-stage process that reveals several clues about the Zodiac Killings; however, it does not reveal the Zodiac’s identity.
The puzzle consists of 13 letters and symbols (see above) and contains three groups of letters. The first seven letters and symbols constitute a word; the next three refer to the rows of letters on a Qwerty keyboard and the number of letters in each row, and the final three point to the first letter in each row.
To make sense of the first seven letters and symbols we need to do three things:-
Replace the archaic form of the Greek letter theta (the cross surrounded by a circle) with ‘th’, its Romanized equivalent;
Replace the Taurus symbols with the letter ‘e’ – i.e. replace the second sign of the zodiac with the second vowel; and
Rearrange the letters to form the word.
Following these simple rules, we get the Greek word ‘anetheke’. Originally meaning ‘to set up’, it eventually became a standard formula for dedicating a votive offering to a God. When a Greek named Paktyes dedicated a cup to Hera, for example, he had the cup inscribed with the following words: ‘Here [Hera] anetheke Paktyes’.
An eagle-eyed contributor to Zodiackiller.com found the word ‘anetheke’ inscribed on a Greek temple of Poseidon at Cape Matapan about thirty years ago. The inscription, which included the archaic form of the letter theta, is shown above.
The temple’s location on the southern tip of Greece is another vital clue. Not far from the temple is a cave, considered a gateway or entrance to the underworld. The entrance was one of several pathways to the House of Hades, and Orpheus used it in his failed attempt to rescue Eurydice and bring her back to the land of the living. It was also the route taken by Heracles (Hercules) when he fetched the brother of Orthus, the hellhound Cerberus, from the underworld to the surface of the Earth.
Answer:
We can use the final six characters to elicit the ‘name’ of the Zodiac. The solution involves the use of the standard (QWERTY) typewriter keyboard and is as follows:-
The first three characters represent the rows on the keyboard. The first character, the letter ‘M’ is on the third row. Taurus is the second sign of the Zodiac and refers to the second or middle row on the keyboard. The final symbol is the inverted sign for Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac, and refers to the top row of letters.
The order in which the rows appear determines the number of letters contributed by each row. Because the order is row three, row two, and then the top row, we should draw one letter from the third row, two letters from the second row, and three letters from the top row.
The final three letters point to where we should begin to select the characters from each row. That is, the pointer in the bottom row is the letter ‘N’, the pointer in the second or middle row is the letter ‘A’, and the pointer to the first letter in the top row is ‘W’. (Note: The pointer on the top line is ‘W’, not ‘M’ because both it and the pointer on the top line – the Aries symbol – are upside down.)
Selecting characters across the keyboard from left to right, beginning with the pointers, gives us N-A-S-W-E-R or ANSWER. Since the answer is not ANSWER, the approach needs to be refined.
Master
The solution is to begin with the character immediately to the right of the pointer on rows one and three while starting with the pointer on the second row. This approach yields M-A-S-E-R-T or MASTER, yet another example of the 2:1 ratios and relationships used by the Zodiac to frame his various riddles and puzzles.
As the man says, the answer to this part of his puzzle is MASTER. But that was never doubted, as the Zodiac gave us the solution in the letter containing the puzzle. He deliberately misspelled ‘kid’ as ‘cid,’ and CID means MASTER.
CHRISTIANS
However, not everyone agrees that the figures in the puzzle are Taurus symbols. They maintain they are letter 8s. Now, three 8s are not a name, but they are the number of a name. Irenaeus, the second-century Bishop of Lyon, claimed the number of the name of Jesus was 888. So which is it: Taurus symbols or 8s? Why not both, i.e. Christian ‘cattle’? After all, Christians are ’slaves’ par excellence.
WHY MASTER?
The most likely reason the Zodiac is called Master is because he adheres to the principles of Master Morality. Sharply contrasting with Slave or Herd Morality, Master Morality is a mode of living that glorifies the strong and despises the weak. The Zodiac is not constrained by convention or a god-given moral code. He acts in accordance with his wishes and desires without pity or regard for the feelings of others. For him, a thing is good if it helps him to achieve his goals and evil if it tends to thwart his plans. He is the measure of all things.
Another reason is found in The New Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology. In it, the Olympian God, Poseidon, has a name that means ‘to be master’. Although usually considered a god of the sea, he was also responsible for lakes, rivers and streams. Zodiac calls himself ‘Master’ because Poseidon possesses him, i.e., in addition to being human, he is also a god and the son of a god. Although divinely possessed, the Zodiac’s personality and character remain intact – unlike the followers of Dionysus, whose god took over. The Greeks always maintained that poets and prophets were divinely possessed and that their works were directly attributable to divine inspiration.
Here, the Zodiac is suggesting that that Poseidon divinely inspires his actions. Moreover, because Poseidon is a god who does evil, Poseidon is worthy of worship. By evil, the Zodiac means Poseidon isn’t afraid to spill or inspire others to spill blood. In this instance, the Zodiac worships Poseidon by sacrificing ‘slaves’ or members of ‘the herd’ to him. His actions contrast sharply with Christ, both man and god, who honoured the Father by sacrificing himself for the benefit of others.
Just as the Father deemed Christ’s sacrifice worthy, Poseidon accepts the Zodiac’s sacrifice. He is so pleased that he readily agrees to continue their union in the afterlife.
Poseidon and Dionysus
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