Gematria By Phaedron The ancients protected their knowledge in a most secret place, where it could be opened only by a certain key. That place is the word, and the key is gematria. Gematria not only reveals the esoteric teachings of the early masters but the process itself (when done properly) releases wisdom and understanding contained within the word. Gematria, as taught by traditional magickal orders, is the process of obtaining certain wisdom by discovering the number-to-letter correspondences through various arrangements and procedures. It is the language of the numbers of the Qabalah. The numbers found within a word or group of words may not always be there by design, but they always coincide with the word itself, as you shall see. Gematria is a method for revealing the secrets of holy texts, because it unites the practitioner with the inner wisdom of the word, bypassing the intellectual centers, going deeper into the soul. It sharpens one's powers of attainment and excites certain points of the divine part of the self. Gematria and language were considered so powerful that holy men of ages ago would only teach it to selected students. A small allusion to the power of words are the meanings of the word spell: one can spell a word and cast a spell—they are the similar acts. Words have power because they bring ideas into manifestation. Each word produces a different reaction in every person. All words—even those seemingly common, frivolous or mundane words—take on an astral form that embed themselves in the subconscious. Gematria is a requisite for every magickian; it is a ritual that brings one to a deeper understanding of a word or concept. There is little to memorize for this art, it is a psychic process. Gematria most often uses ancient Hebrew, although it can be used with Greek, Egyptian or other languages, including English. The old Hebraic language is the easiest to use. The practice of gematria incorporates a great variety of procedures and stages. Qabbalists avail themselves of all of them as required. Of the very few books that address the age-old practice of Gematria, none really reveal enough to be of great use to the layperson. Such magickal operations are oral, so this article can only acquaint you with gematria, and show a few typical examples for those who may become sincerely interested. It should be clear that the experience is very individual and would vary from person depending on their spiritual needs at the time. Adonoi is a magickal concept sometimes misunderstood. Conventional translations confuse the words Lord and God (e.g., Webster's Dictionary). As you will see by this article, the two words are quite different. Gematria is an excellent method for learning this. The following is an elementary yet effective gematria progression that a student of qabbalistic magick might incur on the concept Adonoi. The student first spells the word or phrase in question (a Hebrew/English dictionary is available at most bookstores):
(Remember Hebrew is written from right to left.)
10 + 50 + 4 + 1 = 65 Before continuing, the student might find it peculiar that Adonoi that translates to Lord in the Old Testament has the same numerical equivalent as man (which is Adam) spelled:
605 reduces to 65, by eliminating zeros (a common practice). As the Qabalah is the point of reference for the magickian, the student might next get a general feel for the word Adonoi by adding its numbers together to see what Sephirah it vibrates to (see the Tree of Life): 6 + 5 = 11
1 + 1 + 2 Number 2 represents the second Sephirah, Chokmah. Chokmah represents the characteristic force that God expresses Itself as; it is a direct reflection of Creator. Chokmah is the seat of the Will in general (See my article On the Will, NMR 3:5). So, we can relate Adonoi to the divine part of man. The Tarot card depicting man as his own master, The Magus is attributed to the Hebraic letter Beth, which is also 2. Man is a creation of God. He is a complex of body, mind and soul. The body vibrates to Malkuth. The mind vibrates to Tiphareth. The soul vibrates to Kether. Also, Malkuth is a reflection of Tiphareth which is a reflection of Kether. We cannot truly comprehend the term God, only those exalted of physical restrictions can do that. (The Qabbalist's axiom is that man cannot see the face of God and live, meaning it is exalted above human mortality.) But we can comprehend Higher Self (Kether) in mortal terms, through Tiphareth; this is our link to God. Furthermore, when the Qabalist sees 11 in this context he might consider the first digit as 1; Kether, unity, God.1 The second digit reflects the first, so 11 must be a reflection of God; not God. Since different words of the same sum are always related, the next step would be to look at other words of the same value: 65. (Crowley's 777 is a good source of reference for this): 65 = The High How does this word relate to what we have discovered so far about Adonoi? The High suggests man as exalted as the higher attributions of Man (Chokmah) not God (Kether). Not coincidentally master is another translation for Adonoi. As a noun, master means child to a Higher (or superior) one. As a verb it means to control a challenging obstacle. So far Adonoi starts to take of the idea of one that is master of himself as his god-self, as man having power over his mortal self. This is further supported in the words have power.
So far there is no reference that equates Adonoi to God. By looking at the symbol chart (page 14), the student might think of fundamentally breaking down 65 to the simple mathematics of 40 + 20 + 5. After looking through the combinations of these 3 letters in any Hebraic/English dictionary, one finds:
faint, with longing for thee
This same combination also means blind from birth. Now, faint for thee suggests amore—love; that is the lust to unite with one's lover, God. The metaphor blind from birth (the magickian knows never to take any holy text literally) means blind to the illusions of one's form so as to discover ones deeper true purpose/Will. We can elaborate even deeper on the word birth as a part of spiritual growth; not a physical birth. Both phrases certainly impart humanity rather than divinity. For another view of 65 the Qabalist might try 65 which equals 7776. 777 + 6. Now, 777 is the number of the perfected Man (as in Mankind the Macrocosm). And 6, as expressed, is Tiphareth the higher Genius of the individual (the Microcosm). This is represented in the hexagram, with its upward pointing triangle of the Macrocosm entwined with the downward pointing triangle of the Microcosm. Also, for those familiar with the system of magickal squares, 65 is the sum of the numbers in the square of mars. Mars, allegorically, is the symbol of Man, the microcosm, and the home of Man long before Lemuria (Mu), Atlantis, etc. With all the references to Adonoi as a Lord, it appears that a person is Lord but not a god—as if Lord is a lower vibration of god. But let's go further: The confusion between the terms God and Lord is resolved in the gematria of both words: God the Father refers to The Creator of All. To look for the relationship between Adonoi and God, compare 65 to 34. We note the difference of 31. La means not. Therefore we see 65 (Adonoi) is not God the Father. Earlier we saw created Man equals 65 so, literally, the ancients would read this as Adonoi (the Lord) = Man. This is important because for so long the establishment religion has not recognized the relationship between God/Lord/Man. Thus, when looked at in the qabbalistic (Kether) sense, past religious formulae take on a new magickal meaning! In magick one concurrently develops many higher senses including those of intuition. One unifies one's lower with one's higher, so here the student might examine the word unity. 13 into 65 is 5. 5 represents the microcosmic man that is composed of the four Elements of his Lower Self (Fire, Water, Air, Earth) and the fifth component, Spirit. Doesn't this, then, thrust the key upon us that uniting all 5 constituents of man would produce, Adonoi/Tiphareth, the link to God. Thus, Adonoi would equal the hidden part of the soul united with the material part of the soul! Gematria is a meditation. So meditate on all that we have discovered so far about Adonoi. Then meditate on the symbols (letters) that make up the word. The word begins with a symbol/letter that represents divinity: Aleph. It resembles the symbol of all beginnings2 which is the fylfot cross (called the swastika in modern times). This swirling symbol suggests the act of creation, the original Man. Evolved out of the Aleph comes the symbol Daleth suggesting the four Worlds that comprise all physical manifestation. Thus, from the one source (God) all Man has been begotten with the purpose of standing aright, as the symbol shows. The Fool has a doorway (Daleth is door) to a straight path. The doorway is the gate which qabalistically is Malkuth, the world of Elements. It is nature (Empress card) which Man is born from and yet cooperates with. The next symbol is Nun that is composed of the symbol Yod at the top and Yod at the bottom, connected. This vertical connection is like the serpent climbing up the tree of life and the qabbalistic lightning flash emanating down from Kether. By climbing it, man can pull down the Higher. The final symbol is a Yod that is an abstraction of the hand. The hand is power made manifest. It is the smallest of the symbols, as though such attainment is powerful, but demure and quiet—an internal process resulting from external means. It knows what being humble means. This elimination of human arrogance is needed for attainment. The Hebraic alphabet is intended to be used as a set of graphic symbols. All ancient alphabets are graphic. The sounds attributed to the letters are of secondary importance. Hieroglyphs are a superb example of this. Some letters change their shape when they are the last letter of the word. This is called its final form. But, like all gematria, the Law to remember is that gematria has almost no laws! So the use of finals is optional. The reason they are used is to change the energy of a word. (Similarly a painter may start with a set of primary colors, but can alter them by straying from the rule that these are definite and must be used as manufactured.) Gematria is an art, and there is great fluidity to its practice. Crowley's Vision and the Voice is a good illustration of such fluidity. In gematria, the magickian is familiar with the book of natural laws called the Book of Thoth, or Tarot. Meditating on the corresponding Tarot cards is a good way to gain access to the hidden meaning of words. (So for Adonoi, we can lay out The Fool, Empress, Death and The Hermit together.) Then look at them. A gematria on Adonoi could go on forever, but aspirants reading this article will have to take it from here. As a final note, translates as your might, suggesting that Adonoi is one's own power. If you look gematria notes, you'll see applied gematria is abandoning the confines of algebra and delving into the broader and creative aspects that transcend rigid dogma. This article offers a smattering of a typical rendering of one possible thought process. Another qabbalistic student could approach this same subject entirely differently and derive just as much wisdom! No teacher of gematria professes right or wrong with such intimate development. The process of gematria (once learned) is a personal one. From this abbreviated sample gematria, we can see that the concept of Adonoi is the Higher Self of the individual—the Tiphareth self, not Kether. So when you hear the word Lord you'll understand it as your own Higher Self, not that of a separated god. The Best Materials for practicing Gematria are: Primary
777The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley.
A Note on Genesis, Alan Bennett.
Crowley's Thoth Tarot Deck.
The Hebraic Tongue Restored (If you can find it) published by Weiser.
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Francis Brown (Claredon Press; Oxford University Press).
The best Hebrew/English, English/Hebrew dictionaries you can find. If you have access to Judaica's in Jewish neighborhoods for such gems, you're fortunate. If not do the best you can at the local bookstore.
A calculator. Secondary
The Vision and the Voice, Aleister Crowley Tertiary
A Garden of Pomegranates, Israel Regardie.
Man Know Thyself, Raphael Ornstein. Foot Notes 1) Any God from any pantheon would apply. This is the beauty of Qabalah: every tradition uses Qabalah no matter the name of the deity. 2) In Qabalah, letters are considered to be symbols of energies and phenomena, not simply vocalizations. ?1995 The Holy Order of the Winged Disk, all rights reserved. Phaedron is the G. H. Hierophant of the Holy Order of the Winged Disk, Director of its International Academy of Hermetic Knowledge and author of The Practica Arcanum. For more information call (804) 293-7485, or send $1 for information to: 1710 Allied St., Charlottesville, VA 22903. QABALAH The Study of the Tree of Life Wisdom is a very abstract thing. It is different from knowledge. It can be attracted by certain metaphysical experiences. All phenomena have a profound wisdom deep inside. The Tree of Life is a system of symbols that bypass the intellect and goes right to this profound state. So, for example, the idea of love can be intellectually defined in a dictionary, but cannot be understood in all its wisdom except through the proper experience(s). Meditations on the Tree can provide such experiences and go even deeper so that we can understand—not just define! Any thing, thought, concept, emotion, etc. can be attributed somewhere on the Tree of Life. Once we understand the 10 categories called Sephiroth (Sephirah, singular) we can attribute anything somewhere on The Tree. Conversely, we can understand the phenomena using the Tree. It explains simple or complex concepts. The Sephiroth are aspects of any thing (phenomenon, or whatever terminology you wish to use to describe manifestation) and how it is related to existence. The paths that connect them are the Higher Forces that influence or create manifestation. In other words, the Sephiroth are manifestations (whether ethereal or material) of Creation and the paths are direct expressions the Creative process itself. Here are some brief definitions of the Sephiroth (definitions of the paths can be found in the accompanying Symbols chart): 1-KETHER: most important the inception of everything. It is, therefore, all things; thus it is called unity. Since it is everything, it has no definitive boundaries. It is free from restriction. Thus, God is attributed there. It represents perfection. It is associated with the planet Pluto. 2-CHOKMAH: the identity of any fragment that splinters off (emanates?) from Kether. (All manifestation emanates from Kether down, in order.) The identity of anything is its energy. It is the Yang (expansive) expression of Kether. Neptune on the Zodiac. 3-BINAH: the form that the energy from Chokmah will take. The Yin (contractive) expression of Kether. Saturn. 4-CHESED: how the spiritual form of Kether takes on a humanly comprehensible form. It translates expressions of God and the above 3 Sephiroth, into that which man can ultimately define (which is the eighth Sephirah) in manifestation. Literal translation is mercy. Jupiter. 5-GEBURAH: the comprehensible type of force or energy that anything will have. Literal translation is severity. Mars. 6-TIPHARETH: balance, harmony, and beauty. It is the link between the divine top of the Tree and the lower reflections of it. Sun. 7-NETZACH: the senses. Nature. Venus. 8-HOD: the intellect. Science. Man's definitions of anything. Mercury. 9-YESOD: the purification (i.e., summation) of all the above aspects of anything so that it can manifest in a characteristic physical form which must contain all the above. Moon. 10-MALKUTH: the material body of anything. Elements. Earth. Attributions of the Hebrew Letters Hebrew English Numerical Qabalistic Tarot
Character Equivalent Value Meaning Symbol Path Trump
A 1 origin ox 11 Fool
B(PH)P 2 compliment of house 12 Magus
(Magician)
G,CH,C 3 synthesis of and camel 13 Priestess
D(DH) 4 formulation door 14 Empress
H 5 that which redeems window 15 Emperor
anything in the world
V(U)O,OU,W 6 link to higher nail 16 Hierophant
Z 7 combining; opposition sword 17 Lovers
Ch(e,h) 8 ambition and labor; fence 18 Chariot
breaking through
T 9 one's own protection serpent 19 Lust
(Strength)
Y(I,J) 10 result of power and humility hand 20 Hermit
K,KH,CH 20;500 measure; offer or possession palm 21 Wheel of
Fortune
L 30 raises, expands, exalts ox goad 22 Adjustment
(Justice)
M 40;600 mercy, water 23 Hanged Man
passivity for reflection
N 50;700 potential; mature; messiah fish 24 Death
S 60 complement; prop 25 Art
finale within limits (Temperance)
O,U,H,WH 70 total disharmony; eye 26 Devil
inability to perceive
P,F,PH 80;800 one's creation may be mouth 27 Tower
obsolete or restrictive
TZ 90;900 refuge in fulfillment; fish-hook 28 Star
from occult (hidden)
Q 100 energy used back/head 29 Moon
to build or destroy
R,r 200 direction, renewal head 30 Sun
SH,S 300 3 antagonisms; tooth 31 Aeon
meeting resolutions (Judgment)
T,TH 400 universal mind; tau cross 32 Universe
completion of the Great Work;
enlightenment with no illusion;
entrance to the secrets & mysteries of Nature | 
