1.06 - The Literal Qabalah

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CHAPTER SIX
THE LITERAL QABALAH

I N the previous three chapters, giving a brief descrip- tion of the philosophical Alphabet employed by
Qabalists, a series of correspondences embodying a comparison of extremely dissimilar topics has been sys- tematically placed under the category of each letter of that
Alphabet, rendering study and memorization more simple than otherwise might be the case. It is essential to again emphasize the fact that unless these attri butions are com- mitted to memory, at least partially, and a number of new correspondences added from the separate store of know- ledge at the disposal of each student, very little benefit will be derived. The Tree must be made to grow in one's own mind so that, although its roots are firmly implanted in the earth of one's body, its uppermost branches soar high and sway gently, wafted to and fro by faint zephyr-like breezes of the spiritual realms.

A few methods of applying Qabalistic ideas will now be demonstrated, the reader bearing firmly in mind that each letter has a number, symbol, and Tarot card attri buted to it. The Rabbis who originally worked on the Qabalah discovered so much of interest and importance behind the merely superficial value of numbers and of words embody- ing and representing these numbers, that they gradually developed an elaborate science of numerical conceptions altogether apart from mathematics as such. They devised various methods of number interpretation to discover, primarily, the hidden meaning of their scriptures.

Gematria

The first method is called Gematria, derived from a
Greek root implying the sense of numbers represented by letters. Gematria, therefore, is the art of discovering the

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THE LITERAL QABALAH 107
secret sense of a word by means of the numerical equivalents of each letter. Its method of procedure depends on the fact that each Hebrew letter has a definite numerical value and may actually be used in place of a number. When the total of the numbers of the letters of any one word were identical with that of another word, no matter how different its meaning and translation, a close correspondence and analogy was seen.

For example, the word CTO Nachosch, a " Serpent ", adds to 358 : w 300 + n 8 + 2 50 = 358. Also rpB
Messiah adds to 358 ! n 8 + ' 10 + w 300 + a 40 =
858. A certain relation might theoretically be said to exist, but the problem is, how is this relation to be discovered ?

The Serpent is a symbol of the Kundalini, the spiritual creative force in each man which, when aroused by means of a trained will, re-creates the entire individual, making him a God-Man. Thus, the Initiates of Ancient India called themselves Nagas or Serpents, and thus, also, the Serpent
Worship (far more than mere Phallieism) in all countries of all ages which ever has been the problem to archaeologists.
The word Naga, too, or Naja is discovered, so I am informed, on some of the cuneiform tablets in the ancient Temples of
Egypt where Osiris, the Sun-God was hailed when arising from the primordial deep. The Neophyte, during his initiation, when he was Osirified and plunged into a deep trance enduring for three days, was crowned with glory when the sun's rays would illumine the cross to which he had been secured, and given a head-dress marked by a
Uraeus Naja, an emblem of cosmic significance and spiritual knowledge.

Moreover, if we add up the digits, 3, 5, 8, we obtain 16.
If we look up the correspondences of the sixteenth Path, several attri butions may be found there which may tend to edification. It is the " Son " of Tetragrammaton- Diony- sius-Zagreus ; and Parsifal who has become the Hierophant or Messiah, able to solve the mysteries of existence, and performing the miracle of redemption.

We thus see the specific analogy between the words
" Serpent " and " Messiah " which the Qabalah has been able to reveal.

When dealing with the Path of Shin, it was there stated

108 A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES
that the general implication of that Path was that of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Apart from all the other information furnished, how may we confirm such a conclusion ?

The Hebrew words d'rtb.s nn Ruach Elohim may be translated " The Spirit of the Gods ", By Gematria, its numerical value is ascertained to be 300. The numerical value of the letter Shin was also said to be 300, and we see, therefore, that they are identical.

There is another method of applying the processes of
Gematria along slightly different lines. In her Secret
Doctrine Blavatsky writes that Fohat is the vitalizing electric principle animating and propelling the cosmos, magnetism and electricity being its purely terrestrial pheno- mena. Comparison of description and explanation yields the fact that Fohat is very similar in function and quality to Sakti, already referred to Binah, our third Sephirah.
But there is another way of arriving at this attri bution, even if we were unable to find a description of some known quality already placed on our Tree with which to compare it.

When transliterated into Hebrew, Fohat would be spelt :

The Gematria of this would be S 80 +3?
70-f-n 5 +n 1-fa 9 = 165. The Hebrew word
C';rn Chazokim, which means Strength or Energy, also has the numerical value of 165. 40 + ' 10 + p 100 +
f 7 -fn 8-165. A connection is thus traced between
Fohat and the idea of Strength or Energy, and from this alone we could assume that Fohat was martial in character.

We can continue yet further in our application of the details of our philosophical alphabet. 1 +6 +5 =12.
1 +2 equals 3, which is the number of Binah, to which
Sakti, as we have seen, was attri buted.

Still another method of spelling Fohat is tasns. Its value is D 80 -f n 5 -f n 1+ a 9=95, which is the number of a Hebrew word c'En HaMayim, meaning the
Waters. The Great Sea has previously been mentioned as one of the correspondences of Binah, and Binah is not only
Shechinah, the Holy Spirit, but Sakti.

By adding the digits 9 and 5, we obtain 14. The Hebrew

THE LITERAL QABALAH 109
word in D6d equals t 4 + 1 6+t 4=14. Its meaning is Love, which is of course harmonious with the Great
Mother, and we could assume it as part of the meaning of
F ohat. This love may be construed as a form of magnetism manifesting as cohesion and attraction among the objects and particles of the phenomenal world.

After having written the above, the writer referred to that section of The Secret Doctrine dealing with Fohat, and discovered that Blavatsky gives Eros, the young God of
Love, as a correspondence of Fohat ! The writer had completely forgotten this fact when investigating this word by number. Moreover, Blavatsky writes elsewhere that
Fohat is in the cosmos what Kama, the principle of indivi- dual desire or passion, is in the microcosm. The symbols are seen, hence, to tally in a perfect manner.

But we may continue still further. 1 plus 4 equals 5.
Five is the sphere of Geburah or Mars. The reader will recall that this Sephirah repeats on a lower plane the force- element attri buted to Binah.

This can be proved in another manner, by analysing each letter of the word separately, q F is 3 Mars, with its implicit connotation of Strength and Brute Energy, y O is Priapus, the Greek God of sexual fecundity and fruit- fulness. n H is V Aries, in which <$ Mars is exalted. Its
Tarot attri bution was the Emperor wherein was found con- cealed the symbol of Sulphur, or the Hindu Gunam of
Rajas. M A is Thor with his Swastika, hurling thunder- bolts and lightning from heaven. Aleph, too, is the whirling
Force of the Primum Mobile, formulating cosmic dust into lihe spiral nebulae, & T is Si Leo, the Lion, with its Tarot attri bution of VIII - Strength. All these correspondences repeat the general meaning of strength and force, coinciding with Blavatsky's description of Fohat.

The above will go to show how the Qabalists proceed to discover the meaning of a word which, previously, was an unknown quantity.

Notariqon

The second method of exegesis employed by the Qabalah is Notariqon, which is a derivative from the Latin notarius, meaning a shorth and writer. By this method, one con-

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structs a completely new word from several existent words by employing the initial or final letters of these words and combining them. Alternately, by taking separately each letter of a given word, and expanding each one into another
word, a sentence can be formed.

An example may be given. In Chapter One, it was remarked that the doctrine of the Qabalah, as a philoso- phical system, is denominated " Chokmah Nistorah ", the
Secret Wisdom. By taking the first letter of each of these two words we obtain in Chen, a Hebrew word meaning
" Grace ". The implication is that the study of this arcane wisdom of the Qabalah endows one with the Grace or
Shechinah from the Gods on high.

Another way is to take the last letters, viz. : nrr Heh, meaning a " window ", showing that the Qabalah is that window through which one may envisage the true meaning of existence.

Moreover, the former method of Gematria can be applied to the process or results of Notariqon. The numeration of
Chen is n 8+T 50=58, which is the numerical value of
Chili, a word meaning " My Strength ". The
Qabalistic doctrines are the strength and support of a man's inner life.

Heh equals n 5 +n 5=10. There is a word roa
Gevoh, translated by " To Fly ", which also adds to 10.
The reader can assemble all these meanings and results ; the total giving him a conception of the real meaning of the purpose of the Secret Wisdom.

The word of Power AGLA, so frequently em- ployed in the rituals of the Practical Qabalah, is composed of the first letters of the four words \hn nbirb -roa nm
- Atoh Gibor LeOlahm, Adonai ; which we can translate
" Thou art Mighty forever, my Lord ".

The Path of Caph was explained to imply the infinite priapie prodigality and fruitfulness of Nature. It was also stated to represent the Wheel of Samsaric rebirth, sweeping us headstrong into existence after existence. This idea can be amplified considerably by Notariqon.

Caph is spelt in Hebrew rp. The first letter 3 may be made to stand for the Greek word /crei?, and the last letter
$ for <3?aAAo?, implying that the coition of the sexual organs

THE LITERAL QABALAH
is the instrument of Nature's rash prodigality, which tie us perpetually to the wheel of existence, with its accompany- ing burdens of joy and sorrow, birth and death.

The well-known word Amen is composed of the first letters of the words jKSa qbo \nw, "Lord, Faith- ful King ", which open the Hebrew prayer called the
Schemah.

Temurah

The third method is called Temurah, meaning Permuta- tion. The letters of a word are transposed, according to definite schemes, and substituted for another letter before or after it in the alphabet, forming an entirely new word.

One method, known as Album, is to take the Alphabet and place the last half below the first half as follows :
s'EnTin-rarifc
nt") p2D3>D3&b

Various permutations are arrived at, for the top row of letters may be substituted for those in the bottom row, and vice versa.

An interesting example is supplied by a Qabalist with whom the writer is somewhat acquainted. The word ri'B'D Messiah, when treated by the above-mentioned mode of permutation, gives us the word pD'a Bishak.
The M is substituted for B, the Sh for a Y (or I), the Y for
Sh, and the Ch for Q.

Not having a Hebrew dictionary at my side at the moment of writing, I am not able to enquire as to whether there is such a Hebrew word as i But a little knowledge of Hebrew grammar and our Qabalistic corres- pondences will suffice, and the difficulty is soon overcome.

The first letter a B may be construed to be the pre positional prefix meaning " in ", " with ", or " by ", leaving the three letters pw 1 Yishak. The numerical value of these letters is 410, viz: ^ 10 + tP 300 + P 100 =
410. Now there is a Hebrew word tnp Qadosh, whose value is 410 also, and it means a " Saint ", or " Holiness ".
Obviously, this is harmonious with our original word
Messiah, for will not the Messiah come with holiness and in sanctity ?

112 A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES

Some little time after the above passage was written, the writer had the opportunity to consult a Hebrew lexicon in which he discovered much confirmatory matter ; that pan may be considered primarily as a verb in the future tense, third person singular, and in all probability derived from the root derivative meaning " to burn, kindle, or light ".

All these words are very much in accord with the general implication of the Messiah or Adept who comes with sanctity, for these words symbolize the facts which apper- tain to the state of him who is God-Man, the regenerated and illuminated Adept. For within his heart, his Soul is enkindled, and upon his brows the lissome light of the Silver
Star doth radiate - his " light shining before him " ; and above his head burns the thousand and one petalled lotus of the Sahasrara Chakra upon which the Shechinah has descended, and wherein Adonai doth disport himself with the Gods.

The method of letter analysis, previously described, helps to clarify the general conception. 2 B is 9 Mercury, the Magician bearing in his hand the Wand representing his
Divine Will and Wisdom. * Y is the Tarotic Hermit ; also it is the symbol of innocence and spiritual virginity.
K* Sh is the Holy Spirit, his Divine Self which has been successfully invoked in the thaumaturgic rites, p Q is X
Pisces, the Fishes ; representing the regenerated sex force, or libido, transmuted into the Kundalini which Madame
Blavatsky informs us is an electric spiritual force, the great pristine creative power.
pe *3 itself yields the number 412, as follows : p 100
+V 300 + ' 10+3 2=412. The words DV+S nifiNT*
Yeheshua Elohim, translated by Yeheshua (or Jesus) is God, also have the same numerical value, 412.
The correspondence of all this with the idea of Messiah is certainly most clear. Numerous other examples, dealing mainly with the Scriptures, have been worked out with laborious painstaking and ingenuity by the Qabalists. I doubt, however, that they are sufficiently important to warrant mention here.

A few remarks are necessary at this point, since the name
Jesus has been introduced into this work. It is not the

THE LITERAL QABALAH 118
desire of the writer to be drawn into the maelstrom of con- troversy with regard to the character or nature of Jesus, the individual sacred to Christians ; nor is it his intention to engage in polemics as to whether Jesus actually lived, whether he was a great Adept, or simply a solar myth, as many of the exponents of the higher criticism claim. The
Qabalah simply uses the name nn> Yeheshua because it implies a certain philosophy descriptive of certain of its prime theorems. This is a point which must be remem- bered. The name refers to a definite type, and not to anv individual.

The letters mm YHVH of the Tetragrammaton are used to imply the whole gamut of the four elements. ' Y as the creative function of the Archetypal Realm, is Fire the
Chiah ; the first n H represents the Cup, the symbol of the passive character of the Creative World, and is Water the
Neschamah ; 1 Y is the Son, the active vice-regent of the
Father, and is Air the Ruach ; and the final H n is the
Nephesch ; the passive receptive Earth, fructifying all things.

The whole word, comprising the totality of these explana- tions, is conceived by the Qabalah to represent the unre- generate man, who lives entirely in his body, eating, drinking, and copulating, etc. The Divine Self or the
Yechidah has not yet made its appearance within him.

In the course of the practise of Meditation and Practical
Qabalah, it is conceived that a man so regenerates and purifies himself, that he opens himself to the Holy Spirit, which completely revitalizes him, exemplifying in him a living testimony of the Word made Flesh.

The Holy Spirit or the Shechinah, as we have already observed, is symbolized by the . letter w Shin. When, therefore, a man has invoked the Spiritual Self, his Holy
Guardian Angel, and attained to His Knowledge and Con- versation, the process is described as the descent of the letter w Shin into the midst of the elemental name of mm Tetragrammaton, thus forming a new word mtm
Yeheshua, the Pentagrammaton, the symbol of a new being, the Adept or Tsaddik in whom the birth of Spirit has equilibrized the base and unredeemed elements of matter.

There is obviously no Christian bias in this interpretation.

114 A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES
as unfair critics have alleged, the symbolism being merely used as graphically descriptive of what is considered to be a real fact in mystical experience, without having the slight- est reference to the central figurehead of the New Testa- ment. I make this remark to reassure those of my readers who may be of Jewish persuasion.

Having made reference to Pentagrammaton I should indulge, perhaps, in a little explanation of its significance.
The attri butions with reference to the actual geometrical figure are as follows :
u?

The Yod represents Fire ; the He primal is Water ; Shin, the crowning point is the Shechinah, the Holy Spirit ; Vav is Air ; and He final is Earth, the synthesis of all the other elements and principles. The symbol is therefore one which denotes the whole of the constitution of man. Those of my readers who may be familiar with the processes of cere- monial Magick, particularly that having reference to Skry- ing in the Spirit Vision, will recall the power of this five- pointed star to invoke or banish, at will, the spirits of the
Astral Plane. That it does actually do so is referable finally to the fact that it is a very adequate geometrical epitome of a completely enlightened man, the Tsaddik or
Adept, than whom there is no more powerful being in the universe.

The little grammatical suggestions given with regard to

THE LITERAL QABALAH 115
the Hebrew letters also are most important. I shall give an example to illustrate the idea.

One Qabalist of tremendous knowledge was endeavouring to transliterate into Hebrew the name of a preterhuman intelligence by the name of Aiwass. This is, of course neither the time nor the place to go into the reason for his desire to obtain this name in Hebrew, and yet have the numerical value of 418. Had this Qabalist, whom the writer greatly esteems, known of the remark made with regard to the letter of the thirty-second Path, n Tav, he would have been saved several years of effort. For that letter, when without a dSgish, is pronounced as an " S ". Aiwass should have been spelt :
n 400 +n 1 + ) 6 +' 10 +N 1 =418.

Those of my readers who are familiar with Qabalistic terminology will notice too that in this work nTY' 2 D has been rendered as " Sephiros " and not " Sephiroth ". The last letter does not, and cannot in Hebrew grammar, take a dSgish at the end of a word. Its pronunciation is therefore

At the close of this exegetical chapter on the methods of
Gematna, Notariqon, and Temurah, it is perhaps advisable to mention that, to the so-called ordinary individual, these methods will be of little or practically no real use. They are included here only to render this treatise moderately com- prehensive.

It may, indeed, have already dawned upon the mind of the astute reader that there is the greatest of probabilities that one can produce, so far as the results are concerned, the precise opposite of those conclusions which have been obtained and set forth above. In other words, these methods may seem to be purely arbitrary.

In this connection, however, I recall to mind a saying attri buted to the Buddha, I believe, that only an Arahat can fully comprehend the excellence of the Dhamma. The implication of this statement applies likewise and with even greater emphasis to the Qabalah. The writer is of the firm opinion, and most intelligent students will also concur therein, that only an Adept or a Tsaddik within whose heart has been enkindled the light of the Knowledge and

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Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel, will be enabled to utilize in a correct manner - that is in a way wherein arbitrary notions do not intrude - the three processes demonstrated here. For the Adept will have the inner spiritual vision with which to see beyond the mere letter and external form of the Law. In basking in the sunshine of Shechinah, and the revelation vouchsafed to him by reason of these- what otherwise might justifiably be termed - " juggleries ", he will have obtained much new knowledge to assist him on the Path. And this Path it is which goes for ever onward. Its way proceeds undeviat- ingly forward and forward, upward and upward, unto that
Goal which has neither beginning nor ending, start nor finish, but journeys eternally in every direction and dimension into Infinity.

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