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)

Sacred Writ & Kameot: Psalms.....Psalms.....Everywhere! - Part 2

When it comes to the recitation of the Psalms for magical purposes, I personally prefer doing so in Hebrew, since I concur with those Kabbalists who believe every word of the Hebrew Psalms to be a “Holy Name,” the utterance of which will invoke specific forces with very definite effects. For that reason it would be extremely important to pronounce the words correctly, and this is not as easy as it may seem. Besides the inability of most readers to do so, as they are not familiar with Hebrew and will probably have to learn the psalms “parrot fashion,” mistakes could creep in during the utterance of a specific psalm, which might invoke psycho-physical responses not quite bargained for. The pronunciation of Hebrew words is in itself a problem, as there are different ways of speaking Hebrew amongst different communities. In this regard, as far as I have been taught, it is most important to know how to pronounce a Hebrew word, yet with some reservations, since the utterance of Divine Names equally differs amongst the various factions.

Psalms.....Psalms.....Psalms everywhere, used for every imaginable “magical purpose,” hence a full investigation into the “Magical Use of Psalms” is important, and warrants more than superficial perusal. In fact, such a study deserves to have the entire Shimmush Tehillim presented here. However, in this present volume of the “Shadow Tree Series,” we will pay attention to the employment of Psalms and other portions of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) in Hebrew amulets only. It should also be kept in mind that the Psalms and their respective verses are presented in the order they appear in the Hebrew Bible, which is different from their format in the Protestant Christian Bible. Hence we will commence this investigation with the first Psalm employed for “amuletic” purposes, which is in fact Psalm 1. The anonymous author of the Sefer Shimmush Tehillim instructs us to write the first three verses of this Psalm on deer skin to be worn as a pendant, for the purposes of preventing a pregnant woman from premature delivery or from suffering a miscarriage. The mentioned verses read:

Transliteration:

(Verse 1) Ashrei ha-ish asher lo halach ba’atzat r’sha’im uv’derech chata’im lo amad uv’moshav leitzim lo yashav

(Verse 2) Ki im b’torat YHVH chef’tzo uv’torato yeh’geh yomam v’lailah

(Verse 3) V’hayah k’etz shatul al palgei mayim asher pir’yo yiten b’ito v’aleihu lo yibol v’chol asher ya’aseh yatzli’ach

Translation:

(Verse 1) Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.

(Verse 2) But his delight is in the law of YHVH; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.

(Verse 3) And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf doth not wither; and in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper.

We are informed the associated Divine Name is El Chad , which Selig informs us is signifying “great, strong, only God.” The term “Chad” in the Divine Name does not really mean “great,” “strong” or “only.” The Hebrew term means “sharp” or “acute.” The translator may have derived the meaning of “only,” by seeing a connection between the words “Chad” and “Echad,” the latter meaning “one.” As it is, the Divine Name, El Chad, was derived from the initial letters of first, second and fourth words, and the last letter of the second as shown below:

from (Ashrei — “Blessed” [verse 1]);

from (Lo chen—“not so” [verse 4]);

from (Yatzliach—“prosper” [verse 3]; and

from (Derech R’sha’im—“way of the ungodly” [verse 6]).

I cannot quite fathom why the author chose these specific words in the mentioned verses, as there are several others he might have chosen, and which would have sufficed equally. For example, the word Derech appears several times in the Psalm, in fact in the very first verse. So why select the term from verse 6, when the latter is not employed in the amulet? I am also left somewhat stranded, when I thought that I might find a meaning by reading the four words as a sentence. This proved to be somewhat nonsensical. Of course, one could “force” a meaning out of it, but I prefer to leave this to the speculations of those more intrigued than I am by this peculiarity in the Sefer Shimmush Tehillim. Be that as it may, to complete the construction of the amulet in question, we are informed to include on it the following prayer:

Transliteration:

Y’hi ratzon milfanecha El Chad sheta’aseh l’ishah [.....fill in the name of the woman.....] shelo tapil v’tirpa’enah r’fu’ah shleimah mei’atah v’ad olam omein omein omein selah selah selah

Translation:

May it be your will El Chad to protect this woman [.....fill in the name of the woman.....] against miscarriage and to heal her completely forthwith and throughout eternity. Amen Amen Amen, Selah Selah Selah.

Curiously enough, the same three verses from the first Psalm are also recommended as an amulet to promote success in all ones endeavours. In this regard the specific reference is to the concluding phrase of verse 3 reading "and in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper."

(More to follow)