Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

GEMATRIA

A Kabbalistic system for discovering the hidden meaning of letters words and sentences, using numbers and letters of the alphabet. Each letter corresponds to a number. The numerical values of words are totaled and interpreted in terms of other words with the same numerical value.

The first known use of gematria dates back to the ancient Babylonian king Sargon II in the 8th century B.C., who built the wall of Khorsabad exactly 16,283 cubits long, because that was the numerical value of his name. The ancient Greeks used gematria to interpret dreams; the system also appears in the literature of the Magi. The Gnostics applied it to the names of the deities Abraxas andMithras, equating them because they both added up to 365, the number of days in a year.

It is claimed by some that the ancient Hebrews used gematria as a form of Divination, and that the early Christians borrowed the technique to come up with the dove as the symbol of Jesus: the Greek word for dove, peristera, adds up to 801, and so do the Greek letters of alpha and omega, which represent the Beginning and the End.

It was the Kabbalists, however, who delved deeply into gematria and raised it to an art form . The early Kabbalists of the 13th century believed the Old Testament to be written in code and inspired by God. Gematria was one of the key means to decipher the code.

For example, Jer. 9:9, "From the fowl of the heavens until the beasts are fled and gone" was interpreted to mean that no travelers passed through Judea for 52 years, because the Hebrew word for beast, Behemah, has a numerical value of 52. Entire verses were added up and interpreted in this fashion. The German Kabbalistic scholar, Eleazar of Worms, did extensive gematric commentaries on the Bible in the 13th century.

Gematria was also used to search for and interpret the secret, holy names of God, which were believed to carry incredible power (see NAMES OF POWER). Ceremonial magicians used these Kabbalistic writings to create new Words of Power used in conjuring and Incantations.

Opinion among Kabbalists was divided over the efficacy of gematria. Two schools of thought emerged, one that advocated it and one that cautioned against it, pointing out that gematria should not be used simply to reinforce one's conclusions. Various methods of gematria were developed; one Kabbalistic tract lists 72 of them.

Two other decoding methods related to gematria are Notarikon and Temurah. In Notarikon, the first and last letters of a word or phrase are put together to create a new word, or to turn a word into a phrase. Temurah is the creation of anagrams through systematic letter substitutions.

The system is based on the fact that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been accorded numerical equivalents, in which the numerical value of letters in words are added together to give specific values.

Words of similar numerical values are regarded as having correspondences or analogies in accordance with a complex mystical system, which is used to determine the precise meaning and significance of the scriptures, or of a sacred building or holy object.

see also: KABBALAH

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc