The Symbolism of Letters My Brothers & Sisters: In our recent discussions of the science and symbolism of Numbers, we have seen that Numbers can be used as a language to express certain mystical and philosophic ideas. This should suggest to us a closer relationship between numbers and language than we have been aware of. In other words, both Language and Numbers must have had a common origin. Both are means of communication. Martinists hold that once there was an interior or super-sensible language, a means of communication not dependent upon outward signs or sounds. However this may be, it is true that when communication became an outward and external thing, disparity began to exist. What had been an Enochian tongue, or angelic language, was known to few and communication between men was limited like everything else on the Earth Plane. Martinists, however, have not lost hope of Man’s recovering his right to use the angelic language, and part of our study has been devoted to the languages of Man in order to recover those secret and interior elements of the tongue of the spiritual world. Of living languages today, the Chinese is the most ancient. Sanskrit, Hebrew and Egyptian are likewise very old; but with the possible exception of Hebrew, they are no longer in use. Nevertheless, a careful examination of the structure of these tongues will give some indication of the original force of language and will show that in the beginning its powers were greater than they are today. In Hebrew, especially, one can see something of the original force inhering in the very letters of the alphabet. In themselves, they have a meaning and purpose, a fundamental characteristic, which they carry over in the words they form. First of all, they are divided into three classifications: There are three first or fundamental elements called mothers, — Aleph, Mem and Shin: * * * (Note: Hebrew characters are read from right to left. In the Sepher Yetzirah 1 or “Book of Creation”, said to be the first Hebrew metaphysical essay, it is written: “The three fundamental letters, * * * , signify, as * (Mem) is mute like the water and * (Shin) hissing like the fire, there is * (Aleph) among them, a breath of air which reconciles them.” Next there are seven double letters, so called because they have two pronunciations. Lastly, there are twelve simple letters. These 22 letters were established and appointed by God, according to the Sepher Yetzirah: “He combined, weighed and changed them, and formed by them all beings which are in existence, and [9] all those which will be formed in all time to come.” It is in the Dogmatic Qabala that one finds the metaphysical system developed from these Hebrew letters. In our later study of it, we shall discover the source of much that is fundamental to all true mystical teaching; and we shall, as well, bring ourselves nearer to an understanding of the strength and beauty which must have characterized the angelic tongue. Whatever the exact nature of that spiritual tongue may have been, we must recognize the fact that, hampered as he is in his state of exile, man still struggles to speak it even though it may be but a syllable and that imperfectly uttered. The memory of it fills his moments of aspiration and prompts him to make some effort to communicate it to others. If he must use words, they are full of beauty and vibrant with the subtle overtones of meaning. If he is an artist, his colors blend in higher hues of scintillating light. If a musician, then his chords strike deep into the soul consciousness and awaken it to recognition of infinite harmony. Poetry, music, painting -what are these but faint echoes of that angelic tongue by which man communicated with his fellows when in his First Estate? These are no small amusements or ideal occupations as the mystic knows them. They are the remnants of a divine speech which momentarily break through the fog of ignorance which surround man in his exile in the Forest of Errors and inspire him with memories of that life he once knew and may know again. Poetry comes not from corruption, nor is it born in frivolity. It is one of the most sublime among the gifts of Men. It expresses something which recalls man’s lost language and First Estate and lifts him from the sordid thoughts in which he has engulfed himself. This is why so many mystics in times past expressed their most sublime thoughts in poetic form. The same is true of painting and music. Painting is the science of mystical sight. Viewing sensible objects in nature, the true mystical painter transcends them to find subjects in the realm of spiritual imagination. Even in copying what is seen, the painter strives to see that which is real and lasting and to prefigure the values and dimensions of the higher world. He is never content to limit his work to reproducing only what the physical eye beholds; it strives to infuse into his creation something of the eternal principles toward which man aspires, which are invariable. Music has ever been related to what the mystic terms the harmony of the spheres. Pythagoras worked equally with music and number to disengage man from the bondage of earth. Because of music’s effect upon the subtle faculties of Man in helping him recall the experience of his First Estate, Pythagoras recommended its daily use among his disciples. He expounded the theory of the harmony of the spheres, explaining that the seven planets were comparable to the seven strings of a harp, which it is said he invented. Each planet has its individual note, all blending to make a great music within the universe itself. Too little is known even now of the mystical stimulus evoked by chants, mantras and vowel sounds, and of the effect which such things have on the different parts of the body. When musicians become mystics, or when mystics turn to music to express themselves, the whole moral and ethical tone of their life is elevated. A definite purification takes place within the Plastic Envelope and man’s reintegration and regeneration are thereby advanced. According to Plato, it is through music that man can be most quickly attuned to the realm of the Archetypes. May you ever dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 12:29:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015