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)
(Eh’yeh), which is said to greatly increase its power.In another instance, employing this Name as a meditation device, Abraham Abulafia, asserted each letter comprising the “Name of Seventy-two Names” should be vocalised with the vowel directly associated with the name of each letter, e.g. 
(Alef) is uttered “ah”; 
(Bet) is pronounced “Beh”; 
(Gimel) is voiced “Gih”; etc. Other variances remain in a number of manuscripts and publications dealing with the “Name of Seventy-Two Names,” however, some forty years ago I was taught to enunciate the “Shem Vayisa Vayet” in the following manner, which is effective, powerful and easily memorised:
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