Hebrew Amulets: Let's drink 'em.....bottoms up!!

In "Practical Kabbalah" there are literally thousands of Divine Names, many of which were derived from biblical verses, etc., by means of highly specialised techniques. Notwithstanding this, there are many "Divine Names" the origins of which appear to have been lost in the mists of time. Take the following set of amulets as a case in point. All comprise variant formats of the same set of Divine Names, and are employed with slight variation for virtually the same purposes. Another common factor amongst all of them is the fact that one has to literally "drink the amulets." In this instance the procedure requires one to dissolve the "Divine Names" in water, which is afterwards imbibed by the individual requiring this unique support. As it is, the latter action is not altogether unique, since it is recommended not too infrequently in a number of primary Jewish magical writings dealing with Kameot, Segulot, Refuot, etc.

Now, the first set of the mentioned mysterious Divine Names, was created to defend an individual against the offensives of injurious spirits, e.g. those who strangle humans, or of any malevolent force for that matter. Here the instruction is for one to write the following set of Divine Names in ink on a piece of paper with the right hand:

The writing is then, as mentioned, dissolved in a glass of water, which is afterwards consumed by the one who is afflicted. Next, in order to prevent these malevolent forces from returning, one has to write the following seals with ink on a clean piece of paper to be carried on the victim’s person:

I was informed the letters in the top right and bottom left triangles of the large Magen David, are abbreviations of the Ineffable Name () which, in combination with the expression below, reading v’lech (“and go”), are meant to “inhibit” the power of the baneful spirit forces, and direct the “goodness” of the Eternal Living Spirit to the one carrying the amulet.

As indicated, the peculiar set of Divine Names listed above are employed in variant formats, all for purposes of protection against man, spirits, etc. In the next instance it is recommended the following version of the Divine Names in question being employed as a safeguard against negative thoughts and fantasies, especially those acting in a most powerful corrupting manner on ones personal being. These are said to be particularly powerful on a Tuesday (the day of Mars pertaining to fury) and a Saturday (the day of Saturn pertaining to melancholy and despondency). Here the format of the said Divine Names is:

The instruction is for a man to write this particular set of Divine Names on a piece of paper with his left hand, and for a woman to do the same with her right hand. The writing is again dissolved in a glass of clean, fresh water, which is afterwards consumed by the individual requiring the special support rendered by this activity. It is said, that with the help of the Divine One, the action will be effective, especially if one drank the infused water from a kosher glass.

Elsewhere again, the set of Divine Names is listed as:

In this instance the application pertains to special protection when one is being threatened by humans intent on taking ones life. We are informed to write the listed set of Divine Names in ashurit, i.e. the standard square Hebrew letters, on a sheet of paper with the right hand. The writing is again dissolved in a glass of water, to be consumed by those whose lives are being threatened. Afterwards the set of Divine Names is rewritten and carried on the person of those requiring this unique protection.

Considering the three variant formats of the Divine Names in question, I have been told that all of them could be and were successfully employed interchangeably for exactly the same listed purposes.

Sacred Writ & Kameot: Psalms.....Psalms.....Everywhere! - Part 4

As far as “amuletic uses” are concerned, not many Psalms are listed in this regard in the Sefer Shimmush Tehillim. As it is, this text paid very scant attention to Psalm 67, referring only to its magical uses for prisoners and the mitigation of unrelenting fevers, whereas this Psalm is extensively employed in Hebrew amulets. This beautiful Psalm reads:

Transliteration:

(Verse 1) Lamnatze’ah binginot mizmor shir

(Verse 2 [1]) Elohim yechoneinu vivar’cheinu ya’eir panav itanu selah

(Verse 3 [2]) lada’at ba’aretz darkecha b’chol goyim y’shu’atecha

(Verse 4 [3]) yoducha amim Elohim yoducha amim kulam

(Verse 5 [4]) yishm’chu viran’nu l’umim ki tishpot amim mishpor ul’umim ba’aretz tanchem selah

(Verse 6 [5]) yoducha amim Elohim yoducha amim kulam

(Verse 7 [6]) eretz nat’na y’vulah y’var’cheinu Elohim eloheinu

(Verse 8 [7]) y’var’cheinu Elohim v’yir’u oto kol afsei aretz

Translation:

(Verse 1) For the Leader; with string-music. A Psalm, a Song.

(Verse 2 [1]) God be gracious unto us, and bless us; may He cause His face to shine toward us; Selah

(Verse 3 [2]) That Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy salvation among all nations.

(Verse 4 [3]) Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, O God; let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, all of them.

(Verse 5 [4]) O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for Thou wilt judge the peoples with equity, and lead the nations upon earth. Selah

(Verse 6 [5]) Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, O God; let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, all of them.

(Verse 7 [6]) The earth hath yielded her increase; may God, our own God, bless us.

(Verse 8 [7]) May God bless us; and let all the ends of the earth fear Him.

It has been suggested that this Psalm is based on the Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 reading:

Transliteration:

Y’varech’cha YHVH v’yishm’recha

Ya’eir YHVH panav eilecha vichuneka

Yisa YHVH panav eilecha v’yasem l’cha shalom

Translation:

YHVH bless thee, and keep thee,

YHVH make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee,

YHVH lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

We are reminded that the “word” of the Almighty “often took the shape of light. So frequent was the writing of Psalm 67 in candelabrum design it was called the menorah psalm. Letters of the words shaped the branches of the light holders: ‘God bless us, be merciful to us, and cause the light of his face to shine upon us’” [Cosman, Madeline P. & Jones, Linda G.: Handbook to Life in the Medieval World, Vol. 2]. As it is, the 15th century kabbalist Isaac Arama maintained in his “Akedat Yitzchak” that this Psalm was engraved in the image of the Menorah (seven branched candlelabrum) on the shield of the biblical King David as shown below:

The superscript of the Menorah Psalm comprises the twenty letters of the introductory verse divided into six groups of three letters each, i.e. three to the right and three to the left, with the centre column headed by the two middle letters of the verse. In turn, the seven branches of the construct comprise the remaining seven verses, with verse 5 [4] forming both the central branch and the base of the menorah.

In terms of the conjecture that Psalm 67, rather than the standard hexagram, was the original “Magen David,” there is a statement in a tractate titled “The Golden Menorah,” published around 1580 in Prague, that “this psalm together with the menorah alludes to great things.....When King David went out to war, he used to carry on his shield this psalm in the form of a menorah engraved on a golden tablet and he used to meditate on its secret. Thus he was victorious” [Zion, Noam & Spectre, Barbara: A Different Light: The Big Book of Hanukkah]. It is thus no wonder that the psalm in question has been accredited enormous powers of healing and protection, and it is mainly in terms of the latter magical quality that Psalm 67 is employed in a variety of Hebrew amulets.

(More to follow)

A Legendary Priest-King and a Geometric Design

I marvel at how people simply "buy" into the most preposterous rubbish, and it would seem they actually relish being led by the nose. I have lost count of the number of times correspondents have tried to convince me of the verity of the most blatant nonsense, by informing me that "it is the absolute truth" since they have seen it written "in black and white." In the current instance it was on Wikipedia, which my correspondent maintained is "a most reliable resource." As it is, Wikipedia certainly offers information but can hardly be construed trustworthy. In numerous instances this resource is dishing up the biggest boloney as fact.

I am presently specifically referring to the ramblings of an individual who styles himself the direct descendent of the biblical Melchizedek, and who claims grand galactic origins, and an equally grand design for himself. Of course, this character is certainly not the first amongst a number of 20th century would-be "messiahs," who have commandeered and abused the identity of the legendary biblical Priest-King. However, he is apparently the first to have misappropriated an ancient, simple, and very popular geometric design, newly styled the "flower of life," to which he assigned a lot of browbeating pseudo-scientific twaddle. It would seem that subsequently all and sundry are satisfied to dance merrily to the crazy rhythms of this off-beat tune!

Now, the image in question is generally known as the six-petalled rosette, a most popular geometric design employed in legal documents like Jewish Ketubot [marriage agreements]; Hebrew amulets; etc. In fact, it is the simplest geometric design which can be drawn with any flat circular object. I constructed it when I was six years old with the aid of a lid of a canned fruit bottle, and was very proud of my "discovery" only to be later greatly disappointed at my lack of originality, when the very same image was shown to me in published format.

As it is, the design in question is widely used in traditional folk art, some even calling it a "hex" sign. It was also extensively carved on ancient Middle Eastern ossuaries, as well as employed in a variety of Hebrew amulets, and as a decorative design in illuminated manuscripts, etc. It appears in both the most simple format, and in more complex and expanded versions as shown in the examples below: or or

As hinted at above, throughout the ages the popularity of these designs is due to the fact that the basic image is easily drawn with any circular object, i.e. the edge of a cup, etc. Researching its inclusion in Hebrew amulets, I have recently perused various examples of its uses in the arts and crafts of Kurdistani Jews, including in magical items like amulets. These people refered to this item as a Chabusa, i.e. a "quince" design. The Hebrew for the quince-fruit is chabush, which the Kurdistanis thought this image represented. Others referred to it as an "apple" design, and others still thought it representative of a lily, the six-petalled Shoshan on which it has been claimed the "Magen David" (Shield of David) is based. In fact, the design in question and the hexagram often complemented each other on the walls of ancient synagogues, like the famous one of Kfar Nachum (Capernaum); or the synagogue of Kfar Shura near Rosh Pina in Israel; etc.

So, in contrast to the many fanciful notions regarding the derivation of the six-petalled rosette, its origins are really quite simple and far removed from all the fictitious "extraterrestrial" jabber.