A Request: Original Ordering of the Hebrew Letters.

Rosanne

In Tarot.com There is an essay called 'Confluences of the Three Great Systems' by Christine Payne-Towler. In the section 'The Hebrew Letters and the Tree of Life' is this....
A glance at page 30 of Aryeh Kaplan's great work the Sephir Yetzirah will illustrate the original ordering which the ancient Hebrews kept among themselves from ancient times, and which was recently reaffirmed in the 18th century by the Gra, also known as Rabbi Eliahu, Gaon of Vilna. This pattern is dictated very specifically in the Sephir Yetzirah text, with careful attention to detail. We seldom see this form in modern occult literature or on Tarot cards of the last five centuries, however.......
I do not yet have this book. If someone does, could you print out this pattern for me? Or scan page 30? This is the original ordering of the 32 Paths/Letters I presume. This would be of great help to me. Many thanks if you can assist. ~Rosanne
 

kwaw

Rosanne said:
In Tarot.com There is an essay called 'Confluences of the Three Great Systems' by Christine Payne-Towler. In the section 'The Hebrew Letters and the Tree of Life' is this....
A glance at page 30 of Aryeh Kaplan's great work the Sephir Yetzirah will illustrate the original ordering which the ancient Hebrews kept among themselves from ancient times, and which was recently reaffirmed in the 18th century by the Gra, also known as Rabbi Eliahu, Gaon of Vilna. This pattern is dictated very specifically in the Sephir Yetzirah text, with careful attention to detail. We seldom see this form in modern occult literature or on Tarot cards of the last five centuries, however.......
I do not yet have this book. If someone does, could you print out this pattern for me? Or scan page 30? This is the original ordering of the 32 Paths/Letters I presume. This would be of great help to me. Many thanks if you can assist. ~Rosanne

Christine has been somewhat confused by the presentation in Kaplan and taken a late 18th century redaction of the SY (the Gra's) as the 'original' and oldest. Partly because of this confusion there is hardly a paragraph in any of her online essays that incorporate kabbalah that do not contain at least one, and usually more, errors of fact or anachronistic interpretation. That being said the Gra natural array is nonetheless very interesting, and I think you will find it of great interest in comparison with your own tree [I presumed you were already familiar with the natural array].

I am of to work now but will scan and send the Gra natural array version of the Tree later if you haven't found it [I am pretty sure you are likely to find it on the web, try search terms 'Gra' 'Tree' 'Natural' 'Array'].

Kwaw

Found one for you [searched in google images for Gra Tree]:

http://noreah.typepad.com/image_library/images/cptusoriginalgratree.jpg

Kwaw
 

kwaw

kwaw said:
Found one for you [searched in google images for Gra Tree]:

http://noreah.typepad.com/image_library/images/cptusoriginalgratree.jpg

Kwaw

Re: The Gra tree note the Gra's planetary letter / attributions are:

Beit - Moon
Gimel - Mars
Daleth - Sun
Kaph - Venus
Pe - Mercury
Resh - Saturn
Tau – Jupiter

{That's of the top of my head, I think I remember it right but as it is not a set I use I have never commited it to memory as such and so there may be an error, I will check it when I get home later}.

Kwaw
 

kwaw

kwaw said:
Re: The Gra tree note the Gra's planetary letter / attributions are:

Beit - Moon
Gimel - Mars
Daleth - Sun
Kaph - Venus
Pe - Mercury
Resh - Saturn
Tau – Jupiter

{That's of the top of my head, I think I remember it right but as it is not a set I use I have never commited it to memory as such and so there may be an error, I will check it when I get home later}.

Kwaw

This is the version used in Westcott's translation of the SY [of which he notes in the printed version, this is a modern set of attributions not to be found in any older editions of the SY. Which is quite correct].

Westcott's translation:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/yetzirah.htm

Other translations:

G. Scholem translation:
http://homepages.compuserve.de/tar294/sephscho.htm

Isidor Kalisch translation:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/sy/index.htm

Saadia's [translated from the French]:
http://www.wbenjamin.org/saadia.html
Leo Baeck's translated by Scott J. Thompson
http://www.wbenjamin.org/baeck.html
The Gra version with Hebrew text translated by Kaplan [note you will Hebrew font installed to view Hebrew text]:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~astroqab/231kaplan.htm

Kwaw
 

kwaw

Rosanne said:
If someone does, could you print out this pattern for me? Or scan page 30? This is the original ordering of the 32 Paths/Letters I presume. This would be of great help to me. Many thanks if you can assist. ~Rosanne

As I said, it is a late 18th century ordering, here is the Gra tree with letters and also the planets on the vertical paths:

gratree-1.gif


BTW: Read Christines articles with care and discretion, I find them error ridden.

Kwaw
 

Rosanne

kwaw said:
and I think you will find it of great interest in comparison with your own tree [I presumed you were already familiar with the natural array]

Kwaw
No I have been trying to find one Kwaw! Thank you. I did not know the type I drew was a Gra-Tree. You put me right with swapping Venus and Mercury around, with the Sun on the middle pillar. I have in my possession, my Great Grandfather's weird cube, made of marble. It figured in my Universe dreams, but I did not understand how. Now I do. The cube stands on four animals/insects they are Rabbit/Hare?Moon, DogMercury, BeeVenus, FrogEarth?. On the four top corners are LizardSun, CalfMars, FlyJupiter? and a Bird/Crow?Saturn. My Grandfather was a Freemason, I do not know if this has anything to do with his grand ornament, but it looks like the planets to me. (I have to find out why a Fly would be Jupiter though) The Frog is Earth I guess.
This has been a very exciting journey- thank you so much for your help.~Rosanne
 

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Rosanne

Before I can understand anything, I will read the books when they arrive. Thank you for reminding me about discretion- I tend to be a believer, if it is written in a book. I never realized how fascinating the subject is!~Rosanne
 

kwaw

Rosanne said:
My Grandfather was a Freemason, I do not know if this has anything to do with his grand ornament, but it looks like the planets to me. (I have to find out why a Fly would be Jupiter though) ~Rosanne

GF Cube is fascinating, love to know more about it [any ideas anyone?].

Re: Flies, jupiter as Baal, lord of flies perhaps. The plague of flies corresponds to the fourth sefirah Chesed, frequently attributed to Jupiter. There is also a lot of Jupiter symbolism in the tower card as I have described elsewhere, and I vaguely remember a version of card xvi [minchiate perhaps] with adam and eve (?) exiting through a door, and there being a fly on the wall? (Thereagain my memory may be playing tricks on me and it is a different card completely).

Kwaw
 

kwaw

kwaw said:
Re: Flies, jupiter as Baal, lord of flies perhaps. The plague of flies corresponds to the fourth sefirah Chesed, frequently attributed to Jupiter.

From "The Teachings of all Ages" on the Phoenix masonry site:
"The fly symbolizes the tormentor, because of the annoyance it causes to animals. The Chaldean god Baal was often called Baal-Zebul, or the god of the dwelling place. The word zebub, or zabab, means a fly, and Baal-Zebul became Baalzebub, or Beelzebub, a word which was loosely translated to mean Jupiter's fly. The fly was looked upon as a form of the divine power, because of its ability to destroy decaying substances and thus promote health. The fly may have obtained its name Zebub from its peculiar buzzing or humming. Inman believes that Baalzebub, which the Jews ridiculed as My Lord of Flies, really means My Lord Who Hums or Murmurs.
Inman recalls the singing Memnon on the Egyptian desert, a tremendous figure with an Æolian harp on the top of its head. When the wind blows strongly this great Statue sighs, or hums. The Jews changed Baalzebub into Beelzebub, and made him their prince of devils by interpreting dæmon as "demon." Naudæus, in defending Virgil from accusations of sorcery, attempted a wholesale denial of the miracles supposedly performed by Virgil and produced enough evidence to convict the poet on all counts. Among other strange fears, Virgil fashioned a fly out of brass, and after certain mysterious ceremonies, placed it over one of the gates of Naples. As a result, no flies entered the city for more than eight years."
End quote from:
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/secret_teachings_of_all_ages/table_of_contents.htm

Kwaw
 

Rosanne

You are a Prince Kwaw! I have never heard of the connection between Flys and Jupiter. Only a Venus Fly Trap lol. I do not have a digital camera, but I will try and find someone who does and take a photo of the cube. I wonder if anyone else has seen such a wonderous symbolic cube? The animals/insects are so finely crafted, I guess it would have been expensive to have made or bought. I was wondering if I should take it to an auction house for assessment. It has become a 'beside the point' since it set me on my search into the subject of the Letters/Paths/elements and planets.~Rosanne