Beauty and Glory of the Dei BY ADAM J. GOLDMAN, PM, HARMONY LODGE NO. 17
Have you ever wondered why the “column of the South” is named Beauty? What about the other two columns, Strength and Wisdom? How did they get their titles? And why are each of the columns associated with phases of the Sun? The answers may be found in the Jewish mystical system known as Kabbalah. In this article, we will look well to the South—and there, discover the “Beauty” of the hidden number 6—which is coded in the Junior Warden’s pillar.1 In the Beginning
cepts. Accordingly, we find the bridge between the opposing forces of Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Heavens and Earth. Each one of God’s acts of creation also begin with the word “and”—as in “And God said…” When the Old Testament is translated to other languages, like ours, the Master’s word is lost. Appropriately, Vav is shaped like the Latin letter “I” or a column/pillar and has the esoteric meaning of “nail” or “peg.” The letter Vav (on the right) is formed by “dragging” downward the letter Yod (left)—which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or a point.
The Old Testament starts with a passage familiar to all Masons, “In the beginning God created the heavens And from a point to a line, was created the just and and the earth.”2 Here we find our first “Secret 6.” Notably, upright letter Vav. In man, Vav is also associated esoteriGod takes 6 magickal days to complete his creation of the cally with the spine and erect phallus because of its shape. universe before resting on the 7th, the Sabbath. In Hebrew In God, Vav holds the 3rd position of Deity’s the word “in the beginning” is BRAShITh and, when sacred name, YHVH, commonly pronounced The Tree of Life viewed through the oculus of Jewish mysticism, we are as “Yod Hé Vav Hé” or “Jehovah.” Rememable to uncover the esoteric meaning beneath God’s very first act of bering that Vav is the connecting word “and,” we creation, manifesting the Secret 6. may now interpret the word “Jehovah” through anagrams of its constituKabbalah provides a system by which we may divide words ent parts—the male YH (Jah) and into smaller parts—or even into single letters or numfemale HVH (HeVe or Eve). bers to uncover their hidden, or “esoteric,” meanings. Applying this lens to the word “in the beginning,” or Though Hebrew is generally/ BRAShITh, we find the constituent words BRA “he exoterically read from right to left, in Kabbalah, words created” and ShITh “six.”3 may be read in any direction. When YHVH is read up to down, we can see more easily that Vav is, indeed, In the Book of Genesis, God’s creation of the numthe human spine with its 33 vertebrae (or Yods) which ber 6 took the form of the 6th letter of the Hebrew correspond to the 33 degrees of the Scottish Rite. In alphabet, Vav.4 This process of assigning numeric value Gematria, the two 3s that make up 33 maybe be added to letters is called Gematria. Truly, the Book of Genesis together (3+3) to reveal another Secret 6. chapters 1-5 contain more sentences that commence with the 6th letter Vav than any other letter in the Hebrew In the hermetic teachings, we find that man is a “microcosmic” alphabet. For students of the ancient mysteries, this fact just begs reflection of the “macrocosmic” deeper study. Another clue is that the 6th day was the only day that Deity.6 Esoterically speaking, the God beheld as “very good”—all other days of creation were just macrocosm may be depicted as two plain “good.” interlocking triangles, or a 6-pointed hexagram/hexagon—also known as “ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our the “Star of David” and “Seal of likeness […] And God saw everything that he had made, Solomon.” Pentagrams/pentagons, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the on the other hand, are symbols of morning were the sixth day.”5 the microcosmic man. Together, they convey the hermetic axiom, “as In Hebrew, the letter Vav may be translated as the word “and” above, so below.” which makes it a connecting word, or bridge, between two con1 The number 6 was of particular importance to the Sumerians, Greeks, and Israelites. 2 Genesis 1:1 3 ShiTh s a Chaldean form of the Hebrew letter, ShSh; see Leonard Bosman’s (1932) The Meaning and Philosophy of Number . 4 The word “alphabet” comes from the first two Hebrew letters, A and B, or Aleph Bet. 5 Genesis 1:26-31 6 See the “Kybalion.”
12 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019
