About the tetragrammaton or shem hamephorash
Posted: 26 Oct 2018, 16:49
Doesn't it sound terribly impressive? The tetragrammaton means "four letters". Which four letters? Well, simply the four Hebrew letters that make up the Divine name. In Hebrew, it's called shem hamephorash.
Let's take a look at the meaning of the expression shem hamephorash. Again, it sounds a bit frightening but is easy to understand. Shem שם means "name" in Hebrew, and mephorash מפורש means "explicit".
The explicit name of the creator and divine force is יהוה , in Greek tetragrammaton because it's made of four letters. Yud - heh - vav - heh. Nobody knows how to pronounce the name since in Hebrew, we don't write vowels, only consonants. It could be yahava, yeheve... many possibilities.
How is it possible to read a text without vowels?
For example, the name Joseph is written יוסף in Hebrew, yud - vav - samech - peh, YVSP. If you know Hebrew, you simply add in your head the vowels you need, and you understand that the vav might stand for U or O.
Miriam is written מרים, mem - resh - yud - mem, MRYM. You just add the rest, just like you do when you read wysisyg or LotR or Gwtw etc. Actually, also when you read etc... it's really not difficult to read Hebrew and to add the missing letters.
Evn n nglsh txt cn b ndrstnd qt wll wtht vwls.
But wouldn't it be useful to know how to pronounce the divine name, just like Yosef or Miriam?
Nobody needs to know how the divine name of the four letters is pronounced anyway. It's too private, too powerful to be used by humans speaking to their creator. Like you wouldn't call a revered master by a nickname. Out of respect of the divine power and might, Jews don't use that name.
Christians who didn't know how forbidden it is to say the name added the vowels of the word adonai, Lord, to the tetragrammaton, and the result was Yahova or Yehova, a word no Jew would say. The name Jehova is a simple misunderstanding of the Jewish custom to say Adonai instead of the explicit name.
So Jews don't say the divine name, they will always say adonai, the Lord, or ha-shem, the name. That's why YHVH is called shem ha-mephorash, the explicit name - your'e not allowed to use the explicit name. All kinds of mystical variations of the divine name developed over time, some by Jewish mystics (in the book Sefer Raziel, "secret of G-d") and most by Christian writers who adopted and adapted Jewish mysticism/kabbalah.
The other 72 names, you're allowed to say, but not the One, yud he vav he. Jews won't even put it in writing and they'll write G-d.
The names of the angels etc are on the cards of the Hermetic Kabbalah, a good learning deck, and some decks like the Hermetic mention them.
If you look at the angels' names, they're all variations of divine qualities. They end either on -el or -iah, both endings that mean "of G-d". Just like the name Mi-cha-el means "who is like G-d?" and Yedidiya means "friend of G-d". (I write it here the Jewish way because you're allowed to say these syllables, but not the shem ha-mephorash, because these syllables are not explicit).
It's obvious that anything based on the number Four, like the tetragrammaton/explicit name, is associated with the four elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth), the four worlds of the kabbalah (Aziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah), the four suits and the four court cards.
These are the basic Golden Dawn kabbalistic correspondences for the Thoth, and in hidden form, also RWS:
Fire - Aziluth - the first letter yud י - Thoth Knights/RWS Kings - Kether - the Aces.
Water - Briah - the second letter ה, first heh - Queens - Binah - the Threes.
Air - Yetzirah - the third letter vav ו - Thoth Princes/RWS Knights - Tif'eret - the Sixes.
Earth - Assiah - the fourth letter, second heh ה - Princesses - Malkut - the Tens.
There is an ongoing discussion about these associations of the court cards of RWS and Thoth, and an alternative association is proposed for example on this blog.
Tarotists use a version of the kabbalah which is an alchemical mixture of Jewish and Christian mysticism with Neo-Platonism and some astrology. A Jewish kabbalah scholar wouldn't recognize much of what is counted as kabbalah in tarot circles Nevertheless, it's good to know where the names and concepts come from. I try to explain them in an accessible way, and if you have questions, I hope I'll know enough to be able to answer!
Let's take a look at the meaning of the expression shem hamephorash. Again, it sounds a bit frightening but is easy to understand. Shem שם means "name" in Hebrew, and mephorash מפורש means "explicit".
The explicit name of the creator and divine force is יהוה , in Greek tetragrammaton because it's made of four letters. Yud - heh - vav - heh. Nobody knows how to pronounce the name since in Hebrew, we don't write vowels, only consonants. It could be yahava, yeheve... many possibilities.
How is it possible to read a text without vowels?
For example, the name Joseph is written יוסף in Hebrew, yud - vav - samech - peh, YVSP. If you know Hebrew, you simply add in your head the vowels you need, and you understand that the vav might stand for U or O.
Miriam is written מרים, mem - resh - yud - mem, MRYM. You just add the rest, just like you do when you read wysisyg or LotR or Gwtw etc. Actually, also when you read etc... it's really not difficult to read Hebrew and to add the missing letters.
Evn n nglsh txt cn b ndrstnd qt wll wtht vwls.
But wouldn't it be useful to know how to pronounce the divine name, just like Yosef or Miriam?
Nobody needs to know how the divine name of the four letters is pronounced anyway. It's too private, too powerful to be used by humans speaking to their creator. Like you wouldn't call a revered master by a nickname. Out of respect of the divine power and might, Jews don't use that name.
Christians who didn't know how forbidden it is to say the name added the vowels of the word adonai, Lord, to the tetragrammaton, and the result was Yahova or Yehova, a word no Jew would say. The name Jehova is a simple misunderstanding of the Jewish custom to say Adonai instead of the explicit name.
So Jews don't say the divine name, they will always say adonai, the Lord, or ha-shem, the name. That's why YHVH is called shem ha-mephorash, the explicit name - your'e not allowed to use the explicit name. All kinds of mystical variations of the divine name developed over time, some by Jewish mystics (in the book Sefer Raziel, "secret of G-d") and most by Christian writers who adopted and adapted Jewish mysticism/kabbalah.
The other 72 names, you're allowed to say, but not the One, yud he vav he. Jews won't even put it in writing and they'll write G-d.
The names of the angels etc are on the cards of the Hermetic Kabbalah, a good learning deck, and some decks like the Hermetic mention them.
If you look at the angels' names, they're all variations of divine qualities. They end either on -el or -iah, both endings that mean "of G-d". Just like the name Mi-cha-el means "who is like G-d?" and Yedidiya means "friend of G-d". (I write it here the Jewish way because you're allowed to say these syllables, but not the shem ha-mephorash, because these syllables are not explicit).
It's obvious that anything based on the number Four, like the tetragrammaton/explicit name, is associated with the four elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth), the four worlds of the kabbalah (Aziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah), the four suits and the four court cards.
These are the basic Golden Dawn kabbalistic correspondences for the Thoth, and in hidden form, also RWS:
Fire - Aziluth - the first letter yud י - Thoth Knights/RWS Kings - Kether - the Aces.
Water - Briah - the second letter ה, first heh - Queens - Binah - the Threes.
Air - Yetzirah - the third letter vav ו - Thoth Princes/RWS Knights - Tif'eret - the Sixes.
Earth - Assiah - the fourth letter, second heh ה - Princesses - Malkut - the Tens.
There is an ongoing discussion about these associations of the court cards of RWS and Thoth, and an alternative association is proposed for example on this blog.
Tarotists use a version of the kabbalah which is an alchemical mixture of Jewish and Christian mysticism with Neo-Platonism and some astrology. A Jewish kabbalah scholar wouldn't recognize much of what is counted as kabbalah in tarot circles Nevertheless, it's good to know where the names and concepts come from. I try to explain them in an accessible way, and if you have questions, I hope I'll know enough to be able to answer!