Kabbalah-of-the-Golden-Dawn-Pat-Zalewski - D Ank Unlimited
Kabbalah-of-the-Golden-Dawn-Pat-Zalewski - D Ank Unlimited
Kabbalah-of-the-Golden-Dawn-Pat-Zalewski - D Ank Unlimited
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8 The <strong>Kabbalah</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> <strong>Golden</strong> <strong>Dawn</strong><br />
FORMATION OF THE 22 LETTERS<br />
The following lecture, in abridged format, was written for <strong>the</strong> Hermetic<br />
Order <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Stella Matutina (called <strong>the</strong> <strong>Golden</strong> <strong>Dawn</strong> prior to 1900) by<br />
Mrs. Felkin, wife <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n Order head, R. W. Felkin. Though undated,<br />
I would place it about 1923. It is based on <strong>the</strong> work Hebraic Tongue<br />
Restored by Fabre d'Olivet, first published in English in 1921.<br />
In studying <strong>the</strong> actual letters as we now possess <strong>the</strong>m, we<br />
must <strong>of</strong> course admit that <strong>the</strong>y have undergone a considerable<br />
modification since <strong>the</strong> days <strong>of</strong> Moses, <strong>the</strong> most important<br />
being <strong>the</strong>ir approximation to <strong>the</strong> Chaldean, owing to exile.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> Chaldean also was borrowed <strong>the</strong> vocalisation system<br />
by means <strong>of</strong> points placed above, below, or within a letter.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> hieroglyphic idea is retained in that each<br />
letter represents not merely a sound, bur also an object, and<br />
<strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> letter is also <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> object.<br />
Aleph (Arabic Alif) not only means <strong>the</strong> letter A or E (or<br />
more accurately, <strong>the</strong> opening <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mouth to make a sound);<br />
it is also <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> an Ox. The word Beth is not only <strong>the</strong> letter<br />
B, but it is also <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> a house. There is ano<strong>the</strong>r thing<br />
you have to bear in mind. In all ancient languages <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
only one system <strong>of</strong> notation for both sound and number.<br />
Therefore, each letter is also a number, and each word has a<br />
numerical value equal to <strong>the</strong> sum <strong>of</strong> its numbers. Thus AL is<br />
not only a sound and a Divine Name. It is also 30 plus 1 = 31.<br />
Moreover, a language like Hebrew had comparatively few<br />
words, but each word had numerous shades <strong>of</strong> meaning, indicated<br />
ei<strong>the</strong>r by <strong>the</strong> context or <strong>the</strong> inflection, and also each<br />
individual letter had its own essential meaning. Therefore it<br />
follows that <strong>the</strong> word was <strong>the</strong> sum <strong>of</strong> or modification <strong>of</strong> those<br />
meanings, just as numerically it was <strong>the</strong> sum <strong>of</strong> those individual<br />
numbers. Thus AL, which signifies <strong>the</strong> number 31, is<br />
formed from Aleph, <strong>the</strong> sign <strong>of</strong> power, and from Lamed, <strong>the</strong><br />
sign <strong>of</strong> extension. Its spiritual meaning is <strong>the</strong>refore "Extended<br />
Power," and hence God, <strong>the</strong> Power extended over all. Used in<br />
a restricted or materialised sense it may be translated as<br />
"towards, against, upon." The same letters reversed, LA, represent<br />
spiritually <strong>the</strong> prolongation <strong>of</strong> movement to infinity,<br />
which translated upon a lower plane becomes a negative and<br />
may be rendered as "no, not."