The "Name of Seventy-two Names": A Biblical Spin-off - Part 7

Regarding the four expansions of the Ineffable Name, it would naturally be very useful to investigate all associations and related meanings, but space here would not afford such an intense investigation. This means we have to settle for the essential number 72 addressed in this chapter of "The Book of Sacred Names," and thus limit ourselves to AV , the “Expanded Name of 72,” as well as to the related concept of the “cantillation notes” (Te’amim). As noted, this refers to the highest “World,” Atzilut, and, as it pertains to the actual chanting of the words and Names formed from the Otiot, it represents the elevation and exaltation of all existence through the medium of music and song.

I have had the good fortune of listening to music in a vastly expanded state of consciousness, and I have yet to encounter another medium more capable of raising ones spirit to such heights of Divine realisation. It is thus no wonder that music and song is the expression of AV, the highest expansion of the Ineffable Name in the highest “World.” In this regard, we have the benefit not only of aligning ourselves through the medium of song with the highest “Realms of Being,” the “World” of the “Expanded Name of 72,” but we can achieve this by chanting the “Name of Seventy-two Names.”

Now, the number 72 is related to the Tetragrammaton in yet another manner. The Ineffable Name is often presented in the form of a triangle comprising ten letters. It usually starts with the letter Yod at the apex, followed by Yod-Heh, then by Yod-Heh-Vav, and finally completed with the entire Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh construct, as shown below:

This image was often engraved on silver triangles and worn on the body as protective amulets. It is claimed that the four layers of Hebrew glyphs represent the “Four Worlds,” four principles of manifestation, and four aspects of ones being, i.e. Tzelem or Guf, Nefesh, Ru’ach and Neshamah. The ten letters comprising the triangle are also said to correspond to the ten Sefirot on the kabbalistic Tree of Life, and, as indicated in the following table, the combined numerical value of the letters comprising the construct is again 72:

Of course, one might speculate that the four layers of this “Tetragrammaton Tetractys,” so to speak, would align with the earlier addressed division of the “Name of Seventy-two Names” into four sectors associated with the four glyphs and twelve permutations of the Ineffable Name.

Be that as it may, as can be expected the seventy-two triplets of the “Shem Vayisa Vayet” have been divided into an assortment of segments for a variety of purposes. For example, in some arrangements the Name is divided into nine rows, each comprising eight segments. This specific division is understood to relate to what is termed the nine “rectifications” (Tikunim) originating in Chochmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding).

I certainly do not want to overburden readers with elucidations of complex Kabbalistic doctrines, however we might briefly note that these nine so-called “rectifications” are based on the concept of the “beard” (Digna) of the Blessed One which, we are told, is focussed in Binah, the Sefirah of Understanding on the Sefirotic Tree.

To understand the meaning of this, we need to look at the process of “Divine Emanation” as expounded in Kabbalah. The “Creative Force” commences in Keter (Crown), and thence pours into manifestation via Chochmah (Wisdom), the “masculine” principle comprising pure, undifferentiated “creative force,” and Binah (Understanding), the “feminine” principle in which the “creative force” becomes differentiated, or “channelled” into forms or patterns.

You will notice that the entire process is a union, as it were a “play” between “force” and “form.” In this regard, we are told that the “beard” of the Holy One, is drawn downwards because of the sacred union of Chochmah and Binah. This is said to be the hidden meaning of Psalm 118:5 reading:

Transliteration:

Min ha-metzar karati Yah anani va-merchav Yah

Translation:

Out of my straits I called upon the Lord; He answered me with great enlargement.

In this instance the hidden key is said to be . Two principles are basically being addressed here, i.e. (Yod—Abba [“Father”]) and (Heh—Imma [“Mother”]), respectively associated with Chochmah and Binah, as well as their sacred union from which proceed nine “restorations” (Tikunim) of the “divine channels” through which Shefa, the “Divine Abundance”is drawn into our domain of existence. In Kabbalistic literature these “divine channels” are symbolically termed the “beard” of the Eternal One.

Curiously enough, the “Name of Seventy-two Names” was also divided into two equal parts, each comprising thirty-six of the seventy-two Names. The first grouping commences with
, the first three-letter segment of the “Shem Vayisa Vayet,” and the second grouping with , the thirty-seventh portion of the Name. These two groups are also respectively aligned with Chochmah and Binah, or with the “masculine” and “feminine” principles within Divinity. Again these two groups are often respectively arranged into six rows, comprising six Names each. These are called its “sides” or “edges,” six to the male portion and six to the female.

We might note that the combination (Ani Vaho) is part of a phrase employed as a Segulah, the latter referring to a unique action or an object, often comprised of Divine Names, special signs, words or phrases, which is considered to be a most precious “spiritual treasure” to be employed in a unique manner, in order to affect a physical outcome in harmony with the intention of the one who employs the Segulah. Regarding the Ani Vaho expression, the particular phrase utilised as a Segulah in times of great trouble, distress and oppression, reads:

Transliteration:

Ani Vaho Hoshi’ah Na

This exclamation could be translated literally and succinctly to read “I and He save now!” Some readers may recall this phrase to be part of a Hakafah, a special circumambulating practice, which I addressed in the first volume of this series [The Book of Self Creation]. In fact, the very same phrase is traditionally employed in exactly this manner during the Hoshanot processions of Sukkot (Festival of Booths). These procedures are expounded in Sukkah 4:5 of the Mishnah.

Be that as it may, in uttering the words “Ani Vaho” we are expressing the division of the “Name of Seventy-two Names” into the two groups comprising, as said, thirty-six Names each. This is believed to pertain to the “saving from the sea,” the latter being a reference to the Israelites being saved from the Egyptian onslaught when Moses split the waters, and the Israelites passed their way in peace on dry ground, so to speak (Exodus 14). Of course, this aligns directly with the plain meaning of the three verses from which the “Shem Vayisa Vayet” was derived.

(More to follow)

The "Name of Seventy-two Names": A Biblical Spin-off - Part 6

To fully comprehend the intimate relationship between the Tetragrammaton and the “Shem Vayisa Vayet,” we have to consider the kabbalistic “Four Worlds” concept, each “World” being, as it were, a single letter of the Ultimate Word represented by the four letters of the Ineffable Name. In this regard, it is worth noting again the four expanded versions, i.e. full spellings of the individual letters, of the Tetragrammaton [addressed in chapter 1 of "The Book of Sacred Names"]. These four expansions are said to pertain to the “Four Worlds” in the following manner:

Kabbalists use the acrostic ASMaB in reference to these four expansions, and it is understood that the “Four Worlds” came into being as expressions of these expansions of the Tetragrammaton. However, it should be kept in mind that the extended Name termed (AV) does not only correspond to Olam ha-Atzilut, but it is understood the “World of Emanation” actually emanated out of this Name. The same applies to the other three expansions of the Ineffable Name.

However, there are further aspects regarding the “Four Worlds” which need to be considered. We are taught that from the powerful rays of light streaming from the forehead of Adam Kadmon, the primordial human prototype, marvelous forms were emanated into manifestation. These are said to comprise Te’amim (cantillation notes), Nekudot (vowel points), Tagim (crowns), and the Otiot (Hebrew glyphs). Regarding this Gershom Scholem wrote “Thus, two essentially different symbolisms—that of light, and that of language and writing—are here joined. Every constellation of light has its particular linguistic expression, though the latter is not directed toward the lower worlds but rather inward toward its own hidden being. These lights combine to form ‘names’ whose concealed potencies become active and are made manifest through concealed ‘configurations’ (millu’im) where each letter is fully written out by its name in the alphabet. This primordial world described by linguistic symbols was precipitated from the lights of Adam Kadmon’s forehead.....”

Again it should be noted that the listed forms, collectively known by the acrostic TaNTA (Te’amim, Nekudot, Tagim, Otiot), are understood to pre-exist within the inner being of primordial man prior to their radiation into manifestation. Furthermore, they are considered to correlate exactly with the ASMaB, the four expansions of the Ineffable Name, as indicated in the following table:

Both the ASMaB and the TaNTA refer to the manner in which the light of Ayn Sof became inhibited and focussed into forms. However this process is further facilitated in a most meaningful way, because each aspect of the ASMaB and the TaNTA are conjoined with a single letter of the Ineffable Name, as well as with the Sefirot, and finally with a Partzuf (an archetypal image). Thus we have:

Briefly the “cantillation” refers to a style of liturgical chanting indicated by the small chanting pointers in Hebrew scripture. The “vowel points” refer to ten types of markings placed underneath, inside, or on top of the Hebrew letters, in order to indicate which vowels are to be used in the pronunciation of a Hebrew word. The “crowns” refer to the little decorative lines which are placed on top of certain letters in some Hebrew sacred writings:

In this regard, there are also illustrations of the Ineffable Name adorned with twenty-four “crowns,” each of which comprises three apexes or “rays” resulting again in the combination 24 x 3 = 72, as indicated in the following highly decorative illustration:

These “triple-rayed crowns” are understood to align with the “Name of Seventy-Two” Names. Simpler versions of the same image can be found in primary Kabbalistic writings:

In the latter instance the author ensured the four letters comprising the Ineffable Name are clearly distinguishable, in contrast to the more elaborate version in which the letter Heh is represented as a Chet . Be that as it may, such illustrations are particularly popular amongst Hermetic Kabbalists, especially with those who marvel at the “mysteries” of the “Shemhamforash” referred to in works like the “The Key of Solomon” in which the author, purportedly King Solomon, tells us that he had “done great things by the virtue of the Schema Hamphorasch, and by the Thirty-two Paths of Yetzirah. Number, weight, and measure determine the form of things; the substance is one, and God createth it eternally.

Happy is he who comprehendeth the Letters and the Numbers. The Letters are from the Numbers, and the Numbers from the Ideas, and the Ideas from the Forces, and the Forces from the Elohim. The Synthesis of the Elohim is the Schema. The Schema is one, its columns are two, its power is three, its form is four, its reflection giveth eight, which multiplied by three giveth unto thee the twenty-four Thrones of Wisdom.

Upon each Throne reposeth a Crown with three Rays, each Ray beareth a Name, each Name is an Absolute Idea. There are Seventy-two Names upon the Twenty-four Crowns of the Schema. Thou shalt write these Names upon Thirty-six Talismans, two upon each Talisman, one on each side. Thou shalt divide these Talismans into four series of nine each, according to the number of the Letters of the Schema.

Upon the first Series thou shalt engrave the Letter Yod, symbolised by the Flowering Rod of Aaron. Upon the second the Letter HE, symbolised by the Cup of Joseph. Upon the third the Letter Vau, symbolised by the Sword of David my father. And upon the fourth the HE final, symbolised by the Shekel of Gold. These thirty-six Talismans will be a Book which will contain all the Secrets of Nature. And by their diverse combinations thou shalt make the Genii and Angels speak.” These and similar notions found in other writings, have been expanded upon by “adepts” of “Hermetic Magical Orders.”

(More to follow)