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Where do I begin? - Exploring Consciousness and the Spirit
The first line of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." While it's widely believed that Moses wrote the text in the 14th century BC, it was most likely compiled more recently, between 700BC and 400BC. The text, originally penned in ancient Hebrew, uses the word "Bereshit," meaning "in the beginning," and "Elohim," which refers to God in plural.
Several centuries later, the Gospel of John in the Christian New Testament proclaims, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The term "Word," originally written as "LOGOS" in Ancient Koine Greek, is later used to describe Jesus Christ as "the word made flesh." However, "LOGOS" has multiple interpretations, including "arrange," "gather," "choose," "count," "reckon," "discern," "say," and "speak."
Predating both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament are the hieroglyphic writings of the ancient Egyptians. Their term for magic was "Heka," embedded within which is "Ka," the Egyptian word for the vital principle, animating force, or soul. The ancient Egyptians viewed the world as a magical place and incorporated magic and ritual into their daily lives over thousands of years of civilization.
Today we’re going to be exploring the fascinating world of magick words, symbols and their mystical significance in ancient cultures. These cultures believed in the power of words and sounds to create reality, to heal, to harm, and to tap into divine energies. They saw language not merely as a tool for communication, but as a profound spiritual instrument. These magical words, often shrouded in mystery, have survived through the ages and continue to be used in modern spiritual practices. Let us delve deeper into this intriguing realm of spoken spells, divine utterances, and the power of the Word.
The Hebrew word "בראשית" (Bereshit), translated as "in the beginning", carries deeper meanings. For instance, it can be rearranged to "ברא שית" (created six), indicating the six days of creation. Additionally, "בית ראש" (The First House) refers to the first emanation of the world in Judaism, located at the holiest point of the world, where the holy of holies sat, in the temple mount.
The interpretation of "ברא שתי" (He created two) emphasizes the concept of duality in creation, referring to the creation of two worlds - the material and the spiritual, representing dualistic concepts such as the beginning and the ending, light and darkness.
"ירא שבת" - Fear Sabbath, suggests that the final outcome is always present in the initial thought. The Sabbath represents this end result, indicating that the beginning inherently creates the ending along with the fear of that ending.
The term "Bereshit" also forms "ברית אש", meaning "the covenant of fire", a reference to the Torah in Jewish religion. Seen as a purifying force, fire symbolizes the path to purification and self-improvement through the guidance of the Torah.
The Torah starts with the Hebrew letter 'ב' (Bet), not 'א' (Alef), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This choice signifies a 'bracha' or blessing, indicating that the Torah is intended to bless us, a manifestation of God's wish to give.
The numerical values of these letters also hold symbolism. Alef, representing unity, has a numerical value of one while Bet has a numerical value of two, reflecting the duality - the physical and the spiritual - it signifies.
This duality is also observed in the two Torahs - the written law and the oral law. The written law is the known Torah, the text that later became the Christian Bible. The oral law, often kept secret, is the knowledge passed down through generations via oral tradition, reserved for the students of the Torah.
On a Kabbalistic level, the number 2 symbolizes the finite world, characterized by perceived separateness. It represents the realm of duality, encompassing both subject and object. The moment the creator initiates creation, something separate from the creator itself is produced. This concept embodies the knower and the unknown, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.
The Alef symbol represents God and Unity, given its numerical value of one. It expands in all directions, whereas Bet deviates from Alef. This acts as a reminder that God, who is infinite, became concealed when the finite world was created. The happenings before our finite reality exceed our limited understanding. God is hidden within finite spaces.
In Hebrew, the word "world" is spelled "עולם", which includes the letters of the word "עלם", meaning hidden.
The Hebrew word for God, אלהים (without the letter vav), has a numerical value of 86. Intriguingly, in Hebrew Gematria, this is the same numerical value as הטבע (hateva), meaning 'nature'. This implies that the tangible, finite natural world can sometimes mask our ability to perceive the infinite, spiritual, and non-physical realms.