Tracing the Bet - Part 2

As mentioned previously regarding the attribution of the "Twelve Banners" to the Zodiac, in Lurianic Kabbalah the attributions of Elul and Adar are reversed, and the same applies to the associated verses, as shown in Sharabi’s “Or Levanah.” We should also remember that the twelve permutations are attributed to the central six sefirot on the Tree of Life, specifically:

Additionally, the “Four Banners,” comprising three permutations each, respectively corresponding to the four directions, i.e. the first three permutations starting with the letter Yod pertain to Mizrach (East); the second set starting with the first Heh corresponds to Darom (South); the third group starting with the letter Vav relates to Ma’arav (West); and the last three permutations starting with the final letter of the Tetragrammaton, Heh, pertain to Tzafon (North).

While Aryeh Kaplan lists these specific directional attributions in his “Sefer Yetzirah,” even here there are some differences of opinion. For example, Moses Cordovero offers a different set of attributions in “Pardes Rimmonim,” e.g. he assigns the first three to the South; the second set to the North; the third group of three to the East, and the last three to the West. What is perhaps strangest of all, is Cordovero’s version of the “Twelve Banners,” which is totally at odds with Gikatilla’s original version, as shown in the following table. The highlighted permutations indicate the differences between the two sets.

It is worth noting that the arrangement Aryeh Kaplan described in his “Sefer Yetzirah,” comfortably aligns with the exercises involving the application of these specific twelve permutations in the “Tracing the Bet” meditations.

Before we finally get to share a few practical applications, it is worth perusing the attribution of the twelve permutations to the hours of the day. In this tradition the daily cycle is marked from sunset to sunset, rather than from sunrise to sunrise. Hence the daily cycle comprises two sub-cycles of twelve hours each, the first from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.; the second from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The pattern of twelve permutations follow the two sets of twelve hours in exact order, e.g. the cycle is repeated in each twenty-four hour cycle. In related teachings, we are told that the twelve hours comprising the “night cycle,” pertain to the twenty-four permutations of ADONAI, while the twelve hours of the “day cycle” are associated with two sets of twelve permutations, respectively those of YHVH and EHYEH. For our purposes, the simple attribution of the twelve permutations of the Tetragrammaton to the hours of the day in two sub-cycles of twelve hours each, works perfectly well without any need for further complexities at present.

(More to follow)

Tracing the Bet - Part 1

In "The Book of Self Creation" I addressed certain practical workings based on the set of permutations of the Ineffable Name termed the “Twelve Banners” in Joseph Gikatilla’s “Gates of Light” as indicated in the following table:

These permutations have been attributed to the twelve months, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the twelve ancient Hebrew Tribes. They have also been divided into four groups, each attributed to an “Element,” “Direction,” etc. However, there is again no consensus to be found in primary Kabbalistic literature regarding these attributions. For example, Aryeh Kaplan noted that the permutations attributed to Elul and Adar are interchangeable. It would seem that Gikatilla’s delineation of the “Twelve Banners” was fairly standard amongst the older Kabbalists, and that the switching occurred specifically in Lurianic Kabbalah, i.e as shown in “Or Levanah” by Shalom Sharabi, Lurianic Siddurim (prayer books); etc. We might also note that much of the practical techniques of pre-Lurianic Kabbalah were dismissed out of hand as “bad” and even declared taboo by the Lurianic faction.

Having investigated the related sets of permutations in, amongst others, “Chayei ha-Olam ha-Ba,” “Mafteach ha-Shemot,” "Sefer Raziel," and "Shorshei ha-Shemot," all of which align with the “Sha’arei Orah,” I personally subscribe to Joseph Gikatilla’s attributions, as shown in the following illustration. It certainly offers the clearest sequence of attributes in terms of the practical workings we are addressing:

To facilitate a better understanding of the associated practical applications, we need to consider additional details, i.e. besides the alignment of the “Twelve Banners” with months, Zodiac signs and Hebrew Tribes, each permutation is respectively associated with a verse from the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), in which the initial letters or final letters of the component words spell the related permutation, like this:

(More to follow)