The Mystery of the Fool’s Cap Map of the World

reply to post by ChaoticOrder

Weird question... but I guess my answer is pretty weird too. My first memory of this picture is back when I was probably 9 or 10, some where in that age range (over a decade ago now). There was a strange book in my primary school library and that picture was used as decoration for the inside of the cover. The book itself was some sort of strange picture puzzle book which appeared to contain hidden messages and codes but I can't remember much of it. Some of the messages were written in the same language as the map. At that age I couldn't make heads or tails of it but I'd like to find that book again. For some reason that memory of reading that strange book aways stuck in my head, and I have an extremely small number of memories from that age. So I guess that's what comes to my mind when I see that picture.

That book wouldn't happen to be the Masquerade Puzzlebook Wiki Link
I have a vague recollection of seeing it when that came out.

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by jude11
Nice reply except for one thing. In the Spanish language, the phrase "nova" is pronounced no-va. Its literal translation means no go.

So would this translate to "Don't go to Guinea?. Or perhaps "Don't go here?"

More questions...

Peace

The map's in Latin.

Read much?

Harte

You're kidding right?

Your exact quote:

and the "nova guinea" part looks like a decent map of the torres strait which was named after "Luís Vaz de Torres" who was known to have possibly sailed through there in 1606. He was working for the spanish crown at the time, so perhaps it was after 1606 and this map has spanish origins, taking the writing into account?

Only following YOUR lead my friend.

perhaps it was after 1606 and this map has spanish origins, taking the writing into account?

You mentioned Spanish right? NOVA.....NO GO.

And to address your question...

This is a discussion of like minds and people trying to learn about a fascinating topic. Please take your insults to another thread because it just doesn't quite fit here.

Damn....There's always one...

Jude11

reply to post by Bybyots

In the medieval version the young people, who played the chief parts, chose from among their own number a mock pope, archbishop, bishop, or abbot to reign as Lord of Misrule. Participants would then "consecrate" him with many ridiculous ceremonies in the chief church of the place, giving names such as Archbishop of Dolts, Abbot of Unreason, Boy Bishop, or Pope of Fools.

It sounds exactly the same as Discordianism... fascinating.

Originally posted by evc1shop
reply to post by ChaoticOrder

 

Weird question... but I guess my answer is pretty weird too. My first memory of this picture is back when I was probably 9 or 10, some where in that age range (over a decade ago now). There was a strange book in my primary school library and that picture was used as decoration for the inside of the cover. The book itself was some sort of strange picture puzzle book which appeared to contain hidden messages and codes but I can't remember much of it. Some of the messages were written in the same language as the map. At that age I couldn't make heads or tails of it but I'd like to find that book again. For some reason that memory of reading that strange book aways stuck in my head, and I have an extremely small number of memories from that age. So I guess that's what comes to my mind when I see that picture.

That book wouldn't happen to be the Masquerade Puzzlebook Wiki Link
I have a vague recollection of seeing it when that came out.

Yes there's a fair chance that is the book because it has a similar look but I did an image search to look at some of the pages in the book and I didn't really recognize any of them. Although I only remember about 2 pages from the book so I can't be sure.

reply to post by jude11


Hey Jude. Thanks for posting this extremely interesting topic. I've never heard of this map before. Glad you brought it to my attention.

One thing I want to ask (if it hasn't already been mentioned), does anyone else think the scepter looks as if it may represent the moon?

I could be way off but as I was looking at the map closely, the scepter kind of intrigued me and then it struck me that it looked like it could be the moon.

Well, those are my thoughts anyways.

reply to post by jude11


Dear jude11,

The map is absolutely a nautical one. The line at the bottom shows how to traverse the world, I am sorry I did not see it earlier. There is another famous map that showed the Antarctic and has never been explained. Piri Reis map is one of the most famous. There are those who claim that the map is not-representational and was accident; but, it was a working map and you could have traversed the oceans using it, that is not an accident.

reply to post by Harte


Hey man, i saw your other reply. No need to be so angry at the posters. It is latin, yes, but he was just providing a response... Your replies don't provide much.

reply to post by jude11


woah, dude, don't flame my response. "Harte" is the one writing the stupid comments. I made the comment about it having spanish origins. Read the display names before you reply.

Possibly designed by a resident of hy brasil?

A more advanced civilization would surely see our attempt at intelligence betray us as fools.

We are known as the planet of children according to some.

Originally posted by evc1shop
reply to post by ChaoticOrder

 

Weird question... but I guess my answer is pretty weird too. My first memory of this picture is back when I was probably 9 or 10, some where in that age range (over a decade ago now). There was a strange book in my primary school library and that picture was used as decoration for the inside of the cover. The book itself was some sort of strange picture puzzle book which appeared to contain hidden messages and codes but I can't remember much of it. Some of the messages were written in the same language as the map. At that age I couldn't make heads or tails of it but I'd like to find that book again. For some reason that memory of reading that strange book aways stuck in my head, and I have an extremely small number of memories from that age. So I guess that's what comes to my mind when I see that picture.

That book wouldn't happen to be the Masquerade Puzzlebook Wiki Link
I have a vague recollection of seeing it when that came out.

Oh yes, I remember that book - the whole nation went mad trying to figure out where the golden hare was located. Just about everyone had a copy of the book.

Originally posted by xxdaniel21
reply to post by jude11

 

woah, dude, don't flame my response. "Harte" is the one writing the stupid comments. I made the comment about it having spanish origins. Read the display names before you reply.

edit on 22-6-2013 by xxdaniel21 because: (no reason given)

my bad.

Apologies to you of course.

Peace

There is the face that an individual presents to the world, and the world that presents to the individual a face...the fool is a wise choice

One was to remain an objective outsider, learning “to have a consideration betwixt a godded and an ungodded Man” while, at the same time, walking “unseene and unknowen before all those that are with out the Family of Love.”

Greenblatt likewise points to the dismantling of the old religious system as the basis for the division between public and private identities. His focus, however, is on the theater as representative of larger social alterations.


The pliability ofhese once-sacred signs extends to the pliability of one’s persona. Like the player, the face the individual presents to the world is something that is cultivated or, in Greenblatt’s terminology, “fashioned” to meet the demands of the present. The individual’s true identity, like the wreckage of partially disrupted belief systems, is emptied and rendered negotiable in the process

F amily of Love

After looking at the map below and reading the comments people made one thing hit me like a brick to the head. If sailors made this, or it was made for navigational purposes, it was made really poorly; mainly because its not even close to how the earth has looked for the last thousand years. There are 3 major parts of the Fool's Cap Map that stand out as a wtf moment.



1) Look at the rivers in America. The Mississippi River and all of the Great Lakes are MISSING. The St. Lawrence river shows another river originating way up north near the arctic circle connecting to it. This northern branch is not on any current map that i know of.

2) There is a river in Africa that isn't currently in existence.

3) There are way to many islands scattered across the ocean.

Why are the Great Lakes missing? Why are there extra islands in the ocean? Where is the Mississippi River?
Then it dawned on me. The Great Lakes aren't on the map because they are covered by a mile of ice. There are more islands because the ocean is 400 feet lower.

This map is of the Last Glacial Maximum ... 18,000 years ago.



Look at whats in Africa... that river that isn't there now, but is on the Fool's Cap Map. This map matches the Fool's Cap Map much more closely then our current map does. That would mean this map is somewhere in the ballpark of 18,000 to 10,000 years old, when the last ice age was melting.

you decide.

S&F for sharing this great map.

Call me captain obvious because I have nothing really insightful to say. So instead I will just point out that I can spot only three images in the waters, one looks like a ship off the West Coast of Africa. Another image is off the East Coast of Africa, however I am unable to make out what it is, it looks like a chicken head. The final image I noticed is off of coast of North America, I can't make out what it is but it certainly looks peculiar.

1. Why place the ship in that location vs anywhere else?
2. What is that creature off the coast of North America?
3. What is the one to the East of Africa?

As the map was based off of another possibly more functional version, are these little images used to delight, add hidden meaning, or were they obvious to any known sailor at that time? Say, where the ship is, designating the only known passage from Pacific to the Atlantic?

Originally posted by Cherry0
reply to post by jude11

 

Hey Jude. Thanks for posting this extremely interesting topic. I've never heard of this map before. Glad you brought it to my attention.

One thing I want to ask (if it hasn't already been mentioned), does anyone else think the scepter looks as if it may represent the moon?

I could be way off but as I was looking at the map closely, the scepter kind of intrigued me and then it struck me that it looked like it could be the moon.

Well, those are my thoughts anyways.

Ok, so to expand on what I said, I found this little tidbit of info while looking up the meaning of the words on the scepter: Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

All Is Vanity

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.


Source: Ecclesiastes

So this is what Salomon the preacher saw happening under the sun. This is what vanity means:

"Vanity," in Ecclesiastes, and usually in Scripture, means, not foolish pride, but the emptiness in final result of all life apart from God. It is to be born, to toil, to suffer, to experience some transitory joy, which is as nothing in view of eternity, to leave it all, and to die.

Biblehub.com

I found all this rather intriguing. There are interesting little finds coming from all over the map.

I have been scanning his map for about 30 mins. Very interesting. I just wanted to add, that could some of the non corespondent land features possibly be due to sheer lack of main land exploration, and the features just "fudged" in? Especially in Northern America, it is all out of kilter, rivers, mountains etc... Had anyone actually explored that far in land to truly map it at that time?
As some one else noted above, the ball of the scepter def looks like the moon to me. It was the first thing that jumped out at me on first glance. I would also like to add, that the bells at the end of the cap could be representative of ringed planets maybe? So, maybe the underling theme could be suggestive of something outside peering down/in...
Anyhow, good stuff!

Originally posted by QuietSpeech
S&F for sharing this great map.

Call me captain obvious because I have nothing really insightful to say. So instead I will just point out that I can spot only three images in the waters, one looks like a ship off the West Coast of Africa. Another image is off the East Coast of Africa, however I am unable to make out what it is, it looks like a chicken head. The final image I noticed is off of coast of North America, I can't make out what it is but it certainly looks peculiar.

1. Why place the ship in that location vs anywhere else?
2. What is that creature off the coast of North America?
3. What is the one to the East of Africa?

As the map was based off of another possibly more functional version, are these little images used to delight, add hidden meaning, or were they obvious to any known sailor at that time? Say, where the ship is, designating the only known passage from Pacific to the Atlantic?

I think you have confused Africa with the America's. I see a ship to the West of S. America, a swimming chicken thing off the west coast of what is now Mexico and a swimming pit-bull like head with a beak East of South America's tip. Are these what you are referencing?

I do not have any theories yet but wanted to make sure we are all on the same track.
Let me know if I am seeing something other than what you have stated.
ty

Originally posted by Mugen
On the map Antarctica is called "Pfitacorum.". The 'Pf' stood out to me. I googled it... basically the same map, but some extra wording.

Ok on the OP map, look far left of America, left of supposed Hawaii, "Nova Gui" - is that Australia?

Because here it says "Pfitacorum regio, Land of the Parrots, with fronti/ piece."

I goog led "land of parrots" and it says Australia is the land of parrots.

So in the 1500's Antarctica was not completely iced over? And had parrots? If you got parrots, you got.... what caterpillars? Maybe i'm reaching for nothing here.

Uh. the creature left of 'America', is that supposed to be a whale? or dolphin? Compared to the map it's a pretty weak representation.

EDIT

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by evc1shop
reply to post by jude11

 

This man's blog may shed some light on the maps origin.
Head Map

For many it only deepens the mystery:

Orontius Fineus. This name (the Latinised version of the French name Oronce Finé) is associated with a map dated 1531, purportedly showing an ice-free, river-rich Antarctica. Why would the name of this cartographer crop up on a map made decades later? Could he have been the mapmaker (12)? Or is he the one being made fun of?

Some mysteries are more interesting than others.

Peace

edit on 6-20-13 by Mugen because: (no reason given)

edit on 6-20-13 by Mugen because: (no reason given)

Atlantis! 1st

edit on 6-20-13 by Mugen because: (no reason given)

If you enlarge the map enough, you'll see that the name Nova Gui has 3 letters under Gui. They are nea, so I'll bet it means New Guinea.

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by jude11
Nice reply except for one thing. In the Spanish language, the phrase "nova" is pronounced no-va. Its literal translation means no go.

So would this translate to "Don't go to Guinea?. Or perhaps "Don't go here?"

More questions...

Peace

The map's in Latin.

Read much?

Harte

You're kidding right?

Your exact quote:

and the "nova guinea" part looks like a decent map of the torres strait which was named after "Luís Vaz de Torres" who was known to have possibly sailed through there in 1606. He was working for the spanish crown at the time, so perhaps it was after 1606 and this map has spanish origins, taking the writing into account?

Um...,
That's not me.

And no, I'm not kidding. The text on the map is Latin.

BTW, don't worry about misquoting like you did. I've done that plenty myself!

Originally posted by jude11
This is a discussion of like minds and people trying to learn about a fascinating topic. Please take your insults to another thread because it just doesn't quite fit here.

Damn....There's always one...

Jude11

Dear Jude,

Pardon my astonishment that a person could stare at Latin text and believe he was reading Spanish.

Also, you're wrong. This site is (apparently) not made up of "like minds." This mind, the one that is typing at you right now, can tell the difference between Latin and Spanish.

If you were insulted by my incredulity, well, you deserve derision for such a ridiculous statement.

Harte

Thanks - never heard of this before.

1580 - 1590? There are lots of things on this map that they shouldn't have known about at that time, such as an accurate depiction of antarctica.

I'm gonna do some more reading on this - thanks for piquing my interest.