Hebrew based Celestial Alphabets and the Picatrix

My previous essay titled "Celestial Alphabets & Dream Questions" elicited a number of queries regarding correlations between the Arabic/Latin "Picatrix" and the Hebrew based "Magical Alphabets." Since I believe the topic is of interest to a wider readership, I thought I would respond publically. I should mention that I have devoted two chapters respectively to "Magic Squares" and Hebrew based "Magical Alphabets" in my "The Book of Seals & Amulets." In both instances I have presented a comprehensive and detailed investigation into the said subjects, having consulted the most primary sources I could lay my hands on.

Be that as it may, it is worth considering that there are several magical scripts, called Kolmosin (lit. “angelic pens”) or “ketav einayim” (“eye writing”), believed to be angelic alphabets. These are addressed in certain primary Hebrew magical manuscripts, [Tirshom, J. ben E.: Shoshan Yesod Olam, Bibliothèque de Genève: Comites Latentes 145, Genève; Zacutto, M.: Shorshei ha-Shemot, Hotzaat Nezer Shraga, Jerusalem 1999; etc.] as well as in a number of Latin texts.[Agrippa, H.C.: De Occulta Philosophia, 3 Vols., Apud Godfridum & Marcellum, Beringos 1550; Postel, W.: De Originibus seu de Hebraicae Linguae & Gentis Antiquitate, deque variarum linguarum affinitate liber, Apud Dionysium Lescuier, Paris 1538; Gaffarel, J.: Curiositez Inouyes hoc est Curiositates Inauditae de Figuris Persarum Talismannicis, Horoscopo Patriarcharum et Characteribus Coelestibus, Gothofredum Schultzen: Hamburg; Janssonio Waesbergios: Amsterdam 1676; Bartolocci, G.: Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica, Vol. 4, Carlo Giuseppe Imbonati, Rome 1693; Müller, A.: Alphabeta ac Notae Diversarum Linguarum pene Septuaginta tum & Versiones Orationis Dominicae prope centum collecta olim & illustrata ab Andrea Mullero, Johann Lieberman, Berlin 1703.]

In some of the Latin writings it was surmised the angelic scripts were derived from the Samaritan alphabet. This claim is debatable, and the origins of these magical alphabets still remain obscure. It has been noted that whilst “in many discussions of Jewish magic these signs are often referred to as ‘Kabbalistic signs’,” “they are mostly non-Jewish in origins, and predate the rise of Kabbalah.” [Bohak, G.: The Charaktêres in Ancient and Medieval Jewish Magic in Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis, Vol. 47, Univ Debreceniensis, Debrecen 2011.] In recent years it has been suggested that the "Magical Alphabets" listed in the writings of Cornelius Agrippa, were derived from the "Picatrix." [Bing, G.: “Picatrix” das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Magriti, The Warburg Institute University of London, London 1962; Atallah, H.: Picatrix (Ghayat al-Hakim): The Goal of the Wise, edited by W. Kiesel, 2 Volumes, Ouroboros Press, Seattle 2002.] Whilst this text comprises delineations of amulets and talismans, and references to certain magical glyphs of similar format to some of those appearing in the “Heavenly Alphabets,” and some of which I have delineated in "The Book of Seals & Amulets," I have not found direct reference to any of the complete magical alphabets listed by Agrippa, most of these appearing in the earlier mentioned "Shoshan Yesod Olam."

It is however clear, as Moshe Idel noted, that the "Picatrix" had a “profound influence” on Renaissance magic,” [Walker, D.P.: Spiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to Campanella, The Warburg Institute, University of London, London 1958; Yates, F.A.: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge & Kegan Paul, Henley-on-Thames 1964; Idel, M.: Kabbalah in Italy 1280-1510: A Survey, Yale University Press, New Haven 2011.] There are indeed direct correlations between certain magical glyphs appearing in both the "Picatrix" and Jewish magical literature. After all, the "Picatrix" was translated into Hebrew in an abbreviated format under the title “Tachlit he-Chacham” (“Aim of the Wise”), which is said to have “significantly influenced Jewish circles in the 14th and 15th centuries.” [Schwartz, D.: Central Problems of Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden 2005.] This certainly suggests the "Picatrix" as a primary source in certain Jewish magical traditions, i.e. "Magic Squares"; certain Planetary Seals; etc.

Celestial Alphabets & Dream Questions

When I was a little boy I overheard a conversation between a burly Jewish biker, and my paternal grandfather who was trying to convince the biker of the "error of his ways." The gentleman in question used to go on, what appeared to be, long journeys at night on his bike, traversing for no apparent reason the extensive flat-lands of the Free State province of South Africa. When my grandfather advised him to rather stay at home, say his bedtime prayers and retire to bed, the biker said that he was communicating every night with the Almighty. In fact, he maintained that he knew the "secret language" by which creation is being manifested, and that he could read its "unfoldment" in the night sky whilst crossing the open spaces of the Free State.

As my grandfather shook his head in disbelief, and waved the "heathen" away most indignantly, I ran after the biker and asked him if he could teach me how to read the "secret messages" in the sky. He gently informed me the stars are part of the very big saga of the beginning and end of everything happening at once in an enormous, most holy "talisman." He told me that the universe changes all the time in accordance with this ongoing "telling of life in the sky," and that, when I was a little older, he would teach me the very "holy alphabet of creation." Then I too may read the "Word of God" at night in the stars. Being at the time unacquainted with the term "talisman," I wanted to know what it was. In very simple language, he defined it a deliberately constructed "spiritual channel" through which Divine Power can be transmitted for our benefit.

To say that I was deeply impressed by this individual would be an understatement. I was imagining a diversity of huge invisible pipes reaching down from the stars, through which the "Holy Power" of the Divine One is flowing down into our world, in order to affect our lives for the better. Alas, that was the only conversation my biker friend and I would ever have, since he died a short while afterwards in an automobile accident.....during the hours of daylight, when he was not being "distracted" by divine messages in the night sky!

Around twelve years later, when I chanced upon the conception of Guillaume Postel that the will of the Eternal One appears in the vault of the heavens in the form of special Hebrew glyphs, I surmised my biker friend gained his notion of reading the "Word of God in the night sky" either from Postel, or from his admirer Jacques Gaffarel, a 17th century French Kabbalist and librarian to the famous Richelieu, who adopted Postel’s cosmic writing notions, and created the following illustration of the "celestial alphabet" in the ever changing "talisman of the heavens."

The endings of each letter comprise little circles. Each of these represents a star, sets of which are joined by lines to form the "magical language" of the "celestial alphabet." These constructs are based on the Hebrew alphabet, and Gaffarel derived his version of this alphabet from the "occult" writings of Cornelius Agrippa, as shown in the following table indicating the formats of the "Celestial Alphabet" from Agrippa to our own time:

The “Celestial Alphabet” is probably the most well known of all the angelic scripts. As indicated, it appears in a miscellany of calligraphical configurations ranging from simple lines to the following emboldened and outlined format:

An entire magical system was built around a magical alphabet comprised of glyphs emboldened in this manner. Such "fattened" glyphs are at times employed in Hebrew amulets, as indicated in the following Kamea created for the purpose of finding an answer to a vexing question, or a beneficial response to a special request:

In standard Hebrew script the magical inscription reads:

These three names, which we are informed should be drawn in the format of the magical seals listed above, are in fact acronyms of the following angelic names:

Transliteration:

Vad’el A’ma’el D’avi’el Micha’il [Miva’el] Av’mi’el Vav’da’el Mamav’el A’av’el Tat’va’i’el Mat’ri’el B’mati’el

The magical inscription, the associated angelic names, as well as five concluding Divine Names should be written on deerskin parchment, or a sheet of clean, good quality paper. The mentioned five concluding Names are:

Transliteration:

’gaf n’gaf sh’gaf t’gaf r’gaf

Afterwards the writing is dissolved in a glass of water, which is then ingested by the one seeking the spiritual response. This is followed by spontaneous prayer which does not include any form of adjuration. We are told that without a doubt, the query will be answered in dream during sleep, and that this is a tried and tested technique.

It should be noted that the first three of the odd sounding concluding Divine Names, i.e. , are also employed in a somewhat more complex "Dream Question" procedure. In this regard, one is instructed to carefully wash the body from the hips downwards. Afterwards the "Hashkiveinu" prayer is said. It reads:

Transliteration:

Hash’kiveinu YHVH Eloheinu l’shalom v’ha-amideinu malkeinu l’chayim ufros aleinu sukat sh’lomecha, v’tak’neinu b’eitza tova milfanecha v’hoshi’einu l’ma’an sh’mecha v’hagen ba’adeinu v’haser me’aleinu oyev dever v’cherev v’ra’av v’yagon v’chaser satan milfanenu u’mei’achareinu uv’tzel knafecha tastireinu ki El shomreinu u’matzileinu atah ki El melech chanun v’rachum atah ush’mor tzeiteinu uvo’einu l’chayim ul’shalom mei’atah v’ad olam uf’rosh aleinu sukat shlomecha baruch atah YHVH shomer amo yisra’el la’ad

Translation:

Help us YHVH to lie down in peace, and raise us up, our King, to life. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace; guide us with Your good counsel, and save us for the sake of Your Name, and shield us from foe, pestilence, and from starvation, sword and anguish. Remove the evil forces that surround us, and shelter us in the shadow of Your wings, El who watches over us and delivers us, and El our gracious and merciful King. Guard our coming and our going, to life and to peace from now unto eternity. Blessed are You YHVH, Guardian of Your people Israel forever.

Next, after donning clean clothes and prior to falling asleep, one has to address the listed Divine Names with strongly focussed intention (Kavvanah) and in great purity, extend the query to which one is seeking an answer in sleep and dream, saying:

Transliteration:

b’vakashah mikem shemot ha-kadoshim v’ha-tehorim shetar’uni b’chalom ba’lailah ha-zeh shehenachti et shmoteichem m’rashoti tshuvat she’elati shehi [.....state the question.....] v’lo ira v’lo afached v’lo yishachach mimeni klum b’shem Argi Nargi Sargi ’gaf N’gaf S’gaf

Translation:

Please I request from you pure and Holy Names, to receive in dream this night, in which I put your names under my head, an answer to my question which is [.....state the question.....] I will have no fear and I will not be scared, and I will not forget anything, in the name Argi Nargi Sargi ’gaf N’gaf S’gaf

Afterwards write the Divine Names on a kosher scroll, and place it under your pillow, then go to sleep.