Of all the archetypes given to us by the Divine through the creative life force of Binah, the letters – and specifically, in our tradition, the Hebrew letters – would seem to carry the full weight of hidden wisdom and the key to understanding the Sacred Unity and ourselves.Language itself, which separates us from our closest relative in evolution, the primate, is what gives us the ability to communicate and express ourselves so that we may pass knowledge and wisdom along. Through writing and sharing – via sacred discourse or the everyday exchange of sparks in conversation – language has and is changing our world. Through language we understand and grow. We should be thankful for language not only because it played a vast role in our evolution as humans but because that evolution plays such a huge part in our spiritual growth as a collective.
This being said, we can’t help but take notice of the importance of language to communicate our true heart’s desire and intention. If you are going to know me through my language, let me try to communicate it in a way that shows you that I understand the innate power of the words I choose.
Some might say that the discussion of letters and the discussion of language are very different, but letters are the building blocks of language just as they are the building blocks of our universe. In our tradition we believe that God created the universe with 10 utterances. These utterances are or became letters. These letters became words. These words became language. Rabbi Michael Monk wrote, “The 22 sacred letters are profound, primal spiritual forces. They are, in effect, the raw material of creation.”
There is a great mystery behind Adam’s naming of the creatures. For, at that moment, the power of the letters was given to humanity, and this marked our ability to be co-creators with God. The potential which had existed since the desire or concept of the universe in the mind of Ain Sof Or begins to unfold when Adam is given the power to name.
We tend to think the power is in the word or in the way we construct beautiful sentences, and there can be a certain amount of splendor there, but a study of the Hebrew letters is a study of the mysteries of creation. I encourage everyone who is interesting in exploring these letters and mysteries in more detail to check out the discussion threads on the letters at the Sophian Forum. I also recommend The Oracle of the Kabbalah by Richard Seidman.
For instance, Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, not only signifies the beginning but symbolizes that “God is One” and it represents both unity and multiplicity, thus also Yahweh Elohim. Significantly, Aleph is a “silent” sound or the nothing before the sound. Is this the silence before the Big Bang, the thought or desire that is no sound but holds the power to create or manifest? Aleph is perhaps the hardest to understand just because it has no sound. How can a letter have no sound? It’s almost like a manifestation of the mystery of Ain Sof as no-thingness, that aspect of God which we cannot fully grasp.
So many mysteries are contained in just one letter. Let us study and contemplate the letters with a prayerful and focused intention so we may understand them in our hearts as well as our minds.
In response to this topic, Tau Malachi has written the following:
ReplyDelete"In Judaic tradition it is said that creation comes into being through the Holy Torah, the Torah being the foundation, the metaphysical matrix, of creation; the Torah, of course, is composed of the Holy Letters, the Alef-Bet. The Torah spoken of in this way is the primordial Torah, the written and oral Torah we have being only a limited reflection. Thus, if we are to speak of a true Master of the Law, just as a true Master of the Good Name, their knowledge reaches into the primordial and supernal – they have knowledge and understanding of deep mysteries, and so also much wisdom, illumination.
If we know and understand the Holy Letters we know that they are talismans of great spiritual powers – something like the metaphysical DNA of creation, and we know that there are holy angels within and behind them, great luminous spirits, these angels being called “supernal angels” by the Zohar. Needless to say, the images of the Letters are objects of meditation in the tradition, as well as being viewed as magical talismans – we focus on them in meditation and use them in sacred ceremony to draw upon their corresponding spiritual powers.
Some would say that merely “scanning” Hebrew Letters, or gazing upon them mindlessly without any real knowledge or understanding of them, invokes great power and light. No true mekubal would say this, however, for it is falsehood – without some knowledge and understanding of the Holy Letters there cannot be kavvanah, concentration, and devekut, cleaving, and without kavvanah and devekut no real spiritual power is drawn in. Thus, desiring to draw upon the power of the Letters we study and contemplate them, and we pray seeking deeper insight into them, and we meditate upon them seeking to draw out the wisdom of God in them.
Now, Adam, the Human One, is called the “Speaking One,” a power that becomes fully activated by the reception of the Word, and so in the Messiah tzaddikim bear a great power in prayer – as is taught in the Kabbalah, their prayers swiftly ascend into the heights and pass into the depths without hindrance or obstruction, and they are heard in heaven by the holy angels and Ha-Shem. Thus, the prayers of tzaddikim, or saints, are powerful and can be helpful to us.
If we look into prayer and prophecy, or look into “spell speaking” in the wonderworking art, it is a play of the Word and Holy Letters – the mekubal is orchestrating, configuring and moving these divine or spiritual powers, and so moving all manner of spiritual forces that depend upon them, in effect shifting the flow of reality as the Holy One ordains.
The more we know and understand the Holy Letters, and acquire their wisdom, the more we ourselves entertain this play, becoming increasingly more empowered to direct spiritual forces with our speaking, our prayers and invocations.
In the midst of this play with spiritual forces when we cease to be the doer great wonders may transpire,
These were a few thoughts I was inclined to add to our discussion…
Peace be with you!"