Dear Reader,
In this new text I will explain to you how I use Gematria. I guess that this should have been one of the first texts being published in this blog, but as this kind of work will never be finished and always needs to be perfected, I've made the decision to talk a bit about my own studies & practice of Gematria.
I'm dedicating a text to this specific question because I feel that writing only about the history of ciphers may not be enough, so I thought about sharing a bit of myself with this text, explaining to my Readers my own perspective about Gematria, and above all, to encourage my Readers to be inventive regarding their own practices of Gematria.
Above all, Gematria is a cryptographic tool, and the reason why I'm calling it that way will become apparent to you, noble Reader, during this exploration of the true meaning of Gematria and some of its most interesting historical uses.
So... let's start by talking a bit about this lovely topic.
What is Gematria?
Gematria is one of three techniques of Hebrew Qabalah which are mostly applied to biblical texts, in order to extract secret meanings or occult correspondences from them. Each technique works in a different way:
— Gematria: the practice of assigning values to the letters of the alphabet and thus to words and sentences, based on an alphanumeric cipher. From this technique alone many considerations can be taken, namely concerning the mathematical and geometric properties of the values of the words, as well as the connection between words or phrases which share the same value.
— Temurah: a technique which rearranges the letters of a word or phrase, or exchanges letters for others using substitution ciphers. Some of these substitution ciphers are known as Atbash (exchanging the first letter of the alphabet for the last and vice-versa, like A⇄Z, B⇄Y, etc), Albam (exchanging the first letter of the first half of the alphabet by the first letter of the second half of the alphabet, like A⇄N, B⇄O, etc), Avgad (grouping the letters in interchangeable pairs, like A⇄B, C⇄D, etc), and others. However, there is a problem when adapting this technique to the English alphabet, which lies in the fact that the Hebrew script is an Abjad, i.e. an alphabet composed solely of consonants (or semi-vowels, in some restricted cases); so it is easier to make more sense from a string of random Hebrew letters than from a string of random English letters.
— Notarikon: a technique which involves noting the first letter, middle letter(s) or final letter of each word in a sentence, thus extracting a new word or phrase from it.
It becomes clear, then, that Gematria is a cryptographic technique designed either to decrypt or encrypt secret correspondences or references inside a text.
But how do these techniques work in practice, you may ask?
Let me show you some examples.
Gematria
One of the examples of the use of Gematria in the biblical texts that I like to talk about is the curious connection between the name "Moses" (משה) and the Name of God according to Exodus 3:14, "I Am That I Am" (אהיה אשר אהיה). In Hebrew Gematria, the values of these two names are composed by the same numerical digits in reverse order:
Likewise, the value of "Moses", 345, also matches that of "El Shaddai" (Almighty God):
In Jewish Qabalistic mysticism, Moses and his Staff seem to be somehow related to Metatron מטטרון, the Highest Angel who is also called "The Lesser YHWH". In a grimoire known as the Greater Key of Solomon, the First Pentacle of the Sun contains an artistic representation of the Face of Metatron, who surprisingly seems to have horns:
In a note to this Pentacle, Benjamin Rowe writes the following:
This singular Pentacle contains the head of the great Angel Methraton or Metatron, the vice-regent and representative of Shaddai, who is called the Prince of Countenances, and the right-hand masculine Cherub of the Ark, as Sandalphon is the left and feminine. On either side is the Name "El Shaddai". Around is written in Latin:– "Behold His face and form by Whom all things were made, and Whom all creatures obey".
Perhaps not by coincidence, there are many artistic representations of Moses which also depict him with horns — or "rays of light". Check this article for more information about this intriguing detail.
Some researchers have pointed out that 345+543 equals 888, which is the value of "Jesus" in Greek Isopsephy. And while there may be something to this, there's also another intriguing connection in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis chapter 3, that I would like to briefly talk about. It has to do with the Hebrew word for the Serpent of Paradise, nachash נחש, which has the same value as moshiach משיח, "Messiah", in Hebrew Gematria:
This connection was first noted by Jewish qabalists who searched the Torah for clues and hidden teachings by applying qabalistic techniques to the sacred texts. Eventually this match inspired some
Other parallels exist in the biblical texts that equate the Serpent with the Messiah, like John 3:14-15, where it is written:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (KJV)
This text refers to a passage in the book of Numbers 21:8-9 where God commands Moses to make an image of a brazen serpent and mount it on a pole; everyone who had been bitten by a snake and looked at that image, would be immediately healed. Eventually, that image gave origin to the symbol of Medicine, the Rod of Asclepius (not to be confused with the Hermetic Caduceus, which has an entirely different meaning):
Next comes...
Temurah
In the Bible there are at least two clear examples of the use of Temurah (substitution ciphers), both of which can be found in 51ˢᵗ chapter of the book of Jeremiah.
The first instance occurs in the verse Jeremiah 51:1:
"Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind." (NIV)
In the King James Bible, "Leb-kamai" (לב קמי) is translated as "the midst [=heart] of them who rise up against me", even though it is actually a cryptographic reference passing unnoticed to most eyes.
Applying the Atbash cipher to the name "Leb-kamai", replacing the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the last, the second for the second-to-last, etc, לב קמי (Leb-kamai) becomes כשדים (Kasdim), which means "Chaldeans".
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| The Atbash cipher. Each letter is replaced by its opposite letter according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet. This would be the cryptographic equivalent of the "Reverse" cipher that many of us know. |
The second example of the use of Temurah in the Bible also occurs in the 51st chapter of Jeremiah, this time in verse 41:
"How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate Babylon will be among the nations!" (NIV)
Applying the same Atbash cipher to the name "Sheshak" (which only shows up another time in Jeremiah 25:26) we see that Sheshak ששך becomes Babel בבל, precisely the Hebrew word for "Babylon".
Notarikon
In order to keep it simple, and since the main focus in this text will be Gematria, I will provide only one example of the use of Notarikon in the Biblical texts.
In the Hebrew text of Genesis 49:10, a certain "Shiloh" is mentioned. In fact, that verse contains three Hebrew words which, when their initial letters are noted, spell the name "Yeshu" ישו (Jesus).
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (KJV)לֹא-יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִיהוּדָה, וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו, עַד כִּי-יָבֹא שִׁילֹה, וְלוֹ יִקְּהַת עַמִּים.
Now let's talk about...
Using Gematria to decode
secret references inside a text
In my years of practicing Gematria, I always saw it as a powerful tool for decoding (or encoding) secret references inside a text. What this means is that, if I saw something "fishy" in a text (be it a misspelling, a weird name, or a phrase containing strangely capitalized words or differently formatted text) I would immediately apply some ciphers of Gematria to it and see if I could get some "interesting" results.
Many years ago, when I was excited with my decodes of the 1 Dollar bill with the Illuminati cipher, the first cipher I would always look at would be the Illuminati cipher. Later, as my studies progressed, eventually I would also look at the Baconian/Elizabethan ciphers, and nowadays, as I've become much more disciplined in my uses of the ciphers of Gematria, I always pay attention to the context first, and then I decide which ciphers I should apply to the texts in question.
In order to better explain what I mean with all this, let's look at an example of a secret reference I found inside a text regarding the Masonic legend of Hiram Abiff. You can find this text on this online PDF (69,2 KB) which contains an interpretation of the Ritual of the Third Degree. On page 4, first paragraph, you'll be able to see that there is a phrase that is suspiciously italicized and capitalized, showing us that it must be important:
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| (click to enlarge) |
Now, knowing that this text is about Freemasonry, and that the Baconian/Elizabethan ciphers have been consistently used in a Masonic context throughout history, I wondered what would be the value of this sentence in the Elizabethan Simple cipher (A=1, B=2, etc, until Z=24, counting I/J as the same letter, as well as U/V). The result was more than satisfactory:
Coincidentally or not, the value of "Search for That Which Was Lost" in the Simple cipher is 287, which not only is a Baconian/Rosicrucian Seal number (together with 157) but it was highly encoded in the works of Sir Francis Bacon, in the Rosicrucian manifesto "Fama Fraternitatis", and also, even in Shakespeare's works. Knowing that many of Francis Bacon's writings were a major influence in Freemasonic teachings, it isn't surprising to see that this specific phrase was chosen precisely because of its numerical value. It is an unmistakable Masonic/Rosicrucian/Baconian signature.
One of the occurrences of 287 in Shakespeare is in the "monster word" Honorificabilitudinitatibus which only shows up once in all of Shakespeare's works. Its value in the Simple cipher is 287:
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In the Rosicrucian manifesto "Fama Fraternitatis", the same number is encoded in the measures of Christian Rosencreutz's crypt:
"In the morning following we opened the door, and there appeared to our sight a Vault of seven sides and corners, every side five foot broad, and the height of eight foot (...)"
Please note:
7 corners and 7 sides, each side being 5 x 8, which means:
7 + 7×5×8 = 287
287 is the value of "Fra. Rosie Cross" (Fraternity of the Rosy Cross) in the Rosicrucian Kaye cipher, and this also matches the value of "Fr. Christianus Rosencreutz" in the Elizabethan Reverse cipher:
(Remember that one of Francis Bacon's titles was Viscount St Alban...)
And last but not the least...
Now let's talk about another very pertinent question.
What is a numerical match?
In practical terms, a numerical match is when two words or phrases share the same value, when their total value is calculated according to one or more alphanumeric ciphers. There are two main types of numerical matches:
1. Same-cipher matches:
1. Same-cipher matches:
As the name indicates, this is the case where two phrases match their values in the same cipher. Usually this is the strongest kind of connection between two phrases, and it can be really useful in encoding secret references inside a text. In the examples given above, you could see how "Search for that which was lost" and "Honorificabilitudinitatibus" share the same value in the Elizabethan Simple cipher. That's a same-cipher match.
2. Cross-cipher matches:
This is a secondary, thus weaker connection between two phrases which share the same value in different ciphers. Usually this is only relevant if the ciphers are connected somehow (i.e. they belong to the same "family" of ciphers), or if there are strong reasons to note the direct equivalence. In the examples given above, my Reader will be able to see that "Francis Bacon" and "Fra. Rosi Crosse" share the same value (287) in two different but related ciphers — the Kaye and Modern Kaye ciphers. This is an example of a cross-cipher match.
Now the question rises: why are numerical matches important?
Numerical matches are important because they allow us to hide secret references inside a text by using certain names, phrases, etc, that actually mean something else. It's almost like a game of "hide & seek". You encode clues in a text, and only someone having the same key (=cipher) will be able to know what you really wanted to say.
Take the following example from The Canon by William Stirling (a pseudonym):
In this case, Stirling is talking about an intriguing symbolical connection between Orpheus and Jesus Christ, and he mentions the number 1275 (the value of "Orpheus" in Greek) as the reason why the two were connected.
In the following paragraph he mentions that the Greek names Achilleus and Odysseus add to 1276 and 1479 respectively, and if you subtract 1 from the first name and add 1 to the second, you get 1275 and 1480 — the first being equivalent to Jesus Christ, and the second being the exact value of the word "Christos" in Greek. However, Stirling never actually explains why 1275 is the equivalent of "Jesus Christ". In fact, only if we use Agrippa's Latin cipher will we be able to understand what he wanted to say:
And there are myriads of other possible uses of Gematria. You can look for patterns in our language while using Gematria, write poems where all lines add to the same value, hide geometrical riddles inside a text you write, etc, etc, etc. In fact...
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Take a look at this sentence:
Jesus, also called Joshua or Y'shua in Hebrew, the Messiah who was a preacher of the Gospel, rode a donkey into Jerusalem and taught in parables, died on a Cross for our sins.
My dear Readers obviously noticed that some of the words in this sentence were willingfully highlighted. That's an important clue which, however, would pass completely unnoticed for most people who were unaware of Gematria. What's so special about this sentence, then? Well... this is:
This, of course, is but a small part of everything you could do with Gematria. Obviously, other patterns can be found with other ciphers, and that's precisely one of the most interesting aspects of Gematria. You could spend hours, days, even months or years, finding significant synchronicities when applying the ciphers of Gematria to the English language.
An Example of possible creative uses of Gematria
At this point I'm going to show you one of many possible creative uses of Gematria as an encryption method.
This is a poem that was created by "Sean Virroco" (not his real name), the person who's behind my favorite Gematria calculator of all time, GEMATRO. This poem contains a secret, and it is only by using Gematria that we'll be able to decode its hidden message:
First of all, we will notice that the first letters in each line spell the word "GEMATRIA" when taken together. However, there is more to this than it seems, and the clue is given in the last two lines:
"In every line there's code, a numberAnd its signature — one hundred pi."
The
first time that Sean showed me this poem, my first thought was not to
calculate the value of each line, but instead to count the number of
letters in each line. And I was pretty intrigued when I noticed that the total number of letters in the poem is 227,
which could be considered to be a cryptic reference to the value of Pi
(22/7 = 3.14).
However, this couldn't be the final answer, as the poem
specifically states that the numerical signature contained in the poem is "one hundred pi". If the value of π (pi) is 3.14, then "one hundred pi" would correspond to the number 314, not 227. And if we look closely, what the poem is actually telling us is that every line adds up to a number, and that its value is "one hundred pi", that is, 314. And if we use the English Ordinal cipher, we will notice that that is precisely the case:
This is quite an ingenious exercise, to encode secret references inside a text by using Gematria as a cryptographic tool. At this time I would like to bring the attention of my Readers to a book that contains a lot of other similar exercises — even full poems going through several pages in which each line always adds up to the same value (!!!). That book was written in 1903 by Rev. Walter Begley, and its title is Biblia Cabalistica, or The Cabalistic Bible. It can be read and downloaded for free at Archive.org.
Experimenting with Gematria
to decrypt/decode secret references
Even though I already wrote about this in my first post about the History of Ciphers, I would like to recall some of the things I explained previously in that post. Since at this time I'm writing about "How I use Gematria", I honestly think that this will be a good idea.
By 2008, when I was studying secret societies, I stumbled upon a numerical cipher that was used by the Bavarian Order of the Illuminati. This cipher was uncannily similar to other two ciphers that were used by the time of Sir Francis Bacon — in fact, it seemed to be a cross between the Elizabethan "Simple" and "Reverse" ciphers:
By that time I was also reading about some "conspiracy theories" (?) that explained how the symbols in the 1 Dollar bill and the Great Seal of the United States contained Illuminati symbology. So... as I stumbled upon the actual numerical cipher of the Bavarian Illuminati, I thought: so, if that's the case, I'm sure that the Illuminati cipher will deliver good results when applied to the Great Seal of the United States. And in fact, I was more than surprised when I finally did it.
To my absolute surprise, I found out that the mottos in the Great Seal that contain 13 letters also add up to 169 in the Illuminati cipher, and 169 is 13 × 13. And the motto at the center of the 1 Dollar bill, "In God We Trust", which contains 12 letters, adds up to 168. If we add the "ONE" (1) below the motto to those values, we will obtain the values of 13, and 169, which again is 13 × 13.
Later I would also notice that "Novus Ordo Seclorum" adds up to 229 (the 50ᵗʰ prime number) in the Illuminati cipher, and that the value of "USA" is 50 — coincidentally, the number of states in the United States of America.
After this many curious discoveries followed, but by now my Readers should be able to understand how I used Gematria in this case. In fact, this was an absolutely uncharted territory, and it was only through experimentation that I was able to find these very curious patterns in the Great Seal of the United States, when applying to it the numerical cipher of the Illuminati.
Sometimes, it's experimentation itself which opens our "doors of perception" to other possibilities.
Some Final Words
Even though this was not an exhaustive explanation of all the possible ways how Gematria can be used (of which the limit is our own imagination), I believe that by now my Readers will have a good idea of how I personally use Gematria.
Of course, my Readers should always have in mind that I don't consider my methods to be the "only valid" ways of using Gematria. It's just how I work — and even then, I still didn't show every single way how I use Gematria. So, in my view, each and every person can find their own methods, and will be able to get more or less insights from the way how they use Gematria.
Gematria can be extremely fun to work with, while at the some time it can (in some restrict cases) be a powerful weapon. So, as in everything, Reason, together with Equilibrium and Respect for all, should always be our guiding principles when working with these tools.
I bid my Readers farewell, until we meet again for a fresh new text about the Ciphers of Gematria.
My best regards to All,
Luís Gonçalves
