Puzzle: New Word for a Magical Formula
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I'm really out of my depth here, but hey, no better way to learn than to 'turn up the volume.' If the neighbors don't complain I can only assume the like the tunes I'm playing.
So I had this dream a few days ago. The really short version is this: I was trespassing on a wealthy man's estate, caught, and instead of being killed or something worse I was given a substantial amount of money as a reward/bribe/incentive not to talk about what I had seen.
The incentive, in the words of the dream, was "between four and seven thousand dollars."
In the Hebrew numbering system a thousand is represented by an over sized Hebrew letter. For example, a large Aleph represent 1000. Extrapolating form this notion, and based on the description of the pay-off as it was expressed in the dream I get four letters—those between four and seven, inclusive: Daleth, Heh, Vav, and Zayin.
Somewhere in Magick and Theory and Practice Crowley asserts the magician should create many names designed to encapsulate in their structure and in their interpretation a magical formula, not unlike the extensive work performed on the Tetragramaton that most of us are in some way familiar with. From his analysis of Elohim in MTP I gather this kind of work is not so much about scholarship as it is about the creative resources of the Magician to turn any string of letters to his spiritual advantage.
So I'm curious, what would anyone make of Daleth, Heh, Vav, and Zayin?
To get us started I will point out that when the traditional values of these letters are added up they total 22. Since I am talking magickal formula here, I immediately thought of the twenty two paths of wisdom! A good start for a formula that describes in some essential fashion the path of return.Any takers?
Love and Will?
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Well, if it was between 4 and 7, it was neither 4, nor 7.
The two numbers left are 5 and 6. And I think that's much more poetic... you're trespassing on the estate of someone of a higher life station than you, and your reward is 5=6. But the key is that you're not allowed to talk about your experience. You're not even told about 5=6 except indirectly.
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Well, if it was between 4 and 7, it was neither 4, nor 7.
The two numbers left are 5 and 6. And I think that's much more poetic... you're trespassing on the estate of someone of a higher life station than you, and your reward is 5=6. But the key is that you're not allowed to talk about your experience. You're not even told about 5=6 except indirectly."
AvshalomBinyamin, I like this, it's clever.
But, about the poetry—since you are more interested in analyzing the dream than playing with the letters, let me respond in kind: the wealthy man is Pluto, the giver of gifts as well as being the god of the dead. We trespass in his realm expecting a harsh punishment but instead we are surprised to find wisdom.
Honestly, mine is less clever, but then I didn't have to mangle the original images as much.
Now we are both off-topic! I wonder if the god's of the forum will be as understanding as my wealthy dream patron.Love and Will
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@RobertAllen said
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The incentive, in the words of the dream, was "between four and seven thousand dollars.""the Path of Kaph immediately came to mind... (it's between 4 and 7)
maybe some formula along the line of meaning of: rota, jovus, palm (the literal meaning of the letter Kaph is 'palm of the hand') etc
or if you are looking for the visual, not verbal formula, you can go for some of the colors and/or images from ATU X
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@RobertAllen said
"Honestly, mine is less clever, but then I didn't have to mangle the original images as much.
"
In my defense, I was interpreting the images in my head that sprang from reading your post, not the original ones. -
Um, it's intoxicating.
"And a voice comes: "Who is he that hath the key to the gate of the evening star?"
And now an Angel cometh and seeketh to open the door by trying many keys. And they are none of any avail. And the same voice saith: "The five and the six are balanced in the word Abrahadabra, and therein is the mystery disclosed. But the key unto this gate is the balance of the seven and the four; and of this thou hast not even the first letter. Now there is a word of four letters that containeth in itself all the mystery of the Tetragrammaton2, and there is a word of seven letters which it concealeth, and that again concealeth the holy word that is the key of the abyss. And this thou shalt find, revolving it in thy mind. "
@danica said
"the Path of Kaph immediately came to mind... (it's between 4 and 7)
maybe some formula along the line of meaning of: rota, jovus, palm (the literal meaning of the letter Kaph is 'palm of the hand') etc
or if you are looking for the visual, not verbal formula, you can go for some of the colors and/or images from ATU X"
@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Well, if it was between 4 and 7, it was neither 4, nor 7.
The two numbers left are 5 and 6. And I think that's much more poetic... you're trespassing on the estate of someone of a higher life station than you, and your reward is 5=6. But the key is that you're not allowed to talk about your experience. You're not even told about 5=6 except indirectly."
Danica, I'm not sure I'm trying to do anything other see what is possible. Kaph, Rota, very cool...
Dar, I don't think it matters if 'Between 4 and 7 thousand' means the balance of the seven and the four, but it's making me high just letting these images swirl about in my brain.
AvshalomBinyamin, seriously, the 5=6 puzzle, was unexpected and has effect of making me feel a little more awake (from the dream?).
It's all just play in my book. I'm looking for ways to make this kind of play a useful meditation, which is how I understand the value of this kind of work. I just haven't really dome much along these line to date, and I'm looking for a way in. These several posts were very helpful.
Love and Will
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93,
RobertAllen, just thought I'd play devil's advocate: I seem to remember reading a post about a month or two back wherein you mentioned (I believe; memory's not clear) you were reading one chapter of The Vision & the Voice each night aloud... If that's correct, would it make sense if the dream was images bubbling up from that? Anyway, the fact that the "between four and seven thousand" was money seems highly significant, in that it colors whatever "wisdom" you might have been asked to hide.
Also, did you feel any pang of guilt in posting the dream info here, as if doing so made you no longer "eligible" for the reward money? I ask these questions because I've been finding with my own dreams it's good to approach interpretation from both avenues of thought -- that "there is deeper meaning," and that "there are mundane explanations" -- simultaneously, since it provides some degree of "triangulation." Your dream sounds very interesting on this note.
93 93/93.
AL H-ShMATh
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Sorry, realized I was moving off topic to "dream interpretation there...
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@Al Ha-Shema said
"Sorry, realized I was moving off topic to "dream interpretation there..."
Will see if I can respond and bring it back my original interest.
@Al Ha-Shema said
"RobertAllen, just thought I'd play devil's advocate: I seem to remember reading a post about a month or two back wherein you mentioned (I believe; memory's not clear) you were reading one chapter of The Vision & the Voice each night aloud... If that's correct, would it make sense if the dream was images bubbling up from that? Anyway, the fact that the "between four and seven thousand" was money seems highly significant, in that it colors whatever "wisdom" you might have been asked to hide."
I've actually finished and I am now working through each of the visions slowly. I would not be surprised if this is affecting my dreams. I sometimes think so, but this can be a tricky thing to asses, imho. Sometimes the dream just appropriates imagery I happen to be exposing myself to, but uses it to pursue a totally different objective. Worth mentioning are several other factors of this type that I also suspect of getting into my dreams: the daily meditations on this forum; and the Rite of Saturn, which I have agreed to play a part in with a local group.
@Al Ha-Shema said
"Also, did you feel any pang of guilt in posting the dream info here, as if doing so made you no longer "eligible" for the reward money? I ask these questions because I've been finding with my own dreams it's good to approach interpretation from both avenues of thought -- that "there is deeper meaning," and that "there are mundane explanations" -- simultaneously, since it provides some degree of "triangulation." Your dream sounds very interesting on this note."
No, no guilt. But this has something to do with what for me is a major myth-type for dreams, the sorrows or trials of Psyche. Basically any classical descent to the underworld, but in this instance this one myth stands out, specifically the last trial where she has to go to the underworld and retrieve a box of beauty secrets from Proserpine. She is instructed not to look in the box, but of course she does. Nevertheless, as far as my dream was concerned the reward was the numbers, which were not secret—you will note that I did not describe what I saw in the house.
It so happened that this sequence from the dream coincided with an ongoing interest of mine to integrate and explore the possibilities of Qabalistic manipulation in my daily work. I already do this to a lesser degree, and this includes my dreams, but at a relatively rudimentary level. It strikes me as a very powerful and creative adjunct to my other work. And I would have more of it!
Gaining control over a new method I tend to follow a very predictable pattern: casual, open ended experimentation; emulation of classical models and methods; and then adjustment of the technique to suit my individual needs. But since I understand the Qabalah as a fundamentally creative kind of work I thought it would make sense to try and illicit responses to a problem I am currently working on as a way of opening myself to possibilities I otherwise would not have thought of.
Love and Will
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the violence of articulation...
I've got a few closing observations and comments to this thread. I realize that I had a couple of assumptions at the outset that I became more aware of by posting and then by fielding the handful of responses that I got. My observations amount to a clarification of a few ideas about the nature of Qabalistic Exegesis, informed by opinion, by practice, and my personal experiences to date. These opinions are expected to change over time, but as a working model it is the best I can do at this time.
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It's possible to do anything and to draw almost any conclusion, or rather to connect any two ideas using the traditional tools. By traditional I mean what I have come to understand as acceptable method: gematria, notariqon, temura, cyphers of various sorts, and the free-form kind of associative logic that is often the main method championed by Crowley in Magick and Theory and Practice (his examples are a major source of inspiration for me). This last point allows the worker to jump freely between various systems of symbolism: Malkuth = 10 = Yod = Virgo = Agriculture = Saturn = The Universe tarot card = Malkuth = Final Heh of Tetratragramaton = 5 = the color red, and so on... There is nothing particularly brilliant about these discoveries, being commonplaces in the Qabalah.
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The main value in this activity is not to discover truths. It is about cultivating the creative resourcefulness that is predisposed to making connections. Being able to connect any two ideas is a precursor to other types of mystical experience and is itself a type of mystical experience. There are types of sudden connections between ideas that can release significant amounts of energy and light. I know this as an artist. The amount of power in any of these connections is not so much a question of its truth, as it is of its beauty. I was reminded of this from the contributions to this post, each idea was a little light going off in my mind, something I didn't think about, a delight and small wonder in its own right—they made me a little high.
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In this effort there is something I think is not appreciated as much as it should be. For lack of a better word I call it 'appropriateness.' It is this sense that one is actually following a trail of some sort, and not just making random connections. It was this little statement that reminded me of this idea, and why I think I started with the context of the dream in the first place—I didn't just pull a few letters from a bag of scrabble letters—since the origin or contect of the puzzle would, or should color all subsequent efforts at finding a solution:
@Al Ha-Shema said
"Anyway, the fact that the "between four and seven thousand" was money seems highly significant..."
Those are my points.
A final note on how people use the Qabalah to bolster an idea or discover a mystery: I am vaguely aware of a certain class of Qabalistic exegesis that is used as actual proof for various magical and mystical assertions. These either incorporate the notion of elegance, the beauty of a formula as part of its proof, or they don't. Those that are especially beautiful, like the analysis of the word Abrahadabra are winners in my book. Those that don't are just practice—see above, #1.
I hope all this wasn't too painfully obvious to peeps.
Love and Will
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I don't think your insights were painfully obvious at all! "Foundational" is a much better way of putting it -- and that's in no way meant to seem a trifle of a thing. No matter how "advanced" you get, it's always important to practice your fundamentals!!! I think it's great to reassess things from time to time, and it's especially nice to be able to find out how others see things. Particularly with such a vague thing as gematria, which nobody seems to teach clearly (if someone even could!) it's easy for things to get convoluted, and even fall into the realm of OCD. So clarifying once in a while what the goals are, what the purpose is, is very helpful.
To build on this, I'll share my perspective on gematria, since often I'm baffled by the approaches of others, and hopefully if we share ideas I can get a better grasp of the perspectives of others... [If this should be another thread, let me know or feel free to copy/paste over to a new thread....]
So I've got an analogy in mind for my perspective on gematria, though it may or may not be perfect. Gematric data strike me as being like little shards of glass: pretty much worthless units in themselves, but capable of reflecting the light of insight. When one stumbles upon two shards that reflect the same thing, it can fire off an insight or break down a mental barrier.
The danger, as I perceive it, would be in getting too hung up on the shards of glass themselves -- the old Chinese saying comes to mind: "It's like a finger pointing to the moon; don't stare at the finger, or you'll miss the moon."
But this is my standpoint, and I'm interested in getting the perspectives of others! I'm not so self-assured as to think I've got it "right."
