Klarinet Archive - Posting 000053.txt from 1999/03

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] The Strange World of Gematria
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 21:29:06 -0500

"Steve (on my way to hell) Goldman" wrote,
>Just came across this article from an orthodox Jewish sight (for better or
worse I am not orthodox and do not personaly subscribe to the ideas on the
sight). It discusess gematria and how it is used, and since it was discussed
on the list I thought some of you may be interested in it. > [Snip of table of
gematria.]

Most interesting. Thank you! Since medieval times, occultists and Christian
and Pagan theologians using the Roman alphabet have worked on similar tables
derived (loosely; the alphabets don't correspond exactly) from the one using
the Hebrew alphabet that Steve Goldman quoted. Numerologists use this table
for occult purposes such as divination and sorcery. Just think, we could use
it to find the perfect instrument, mouthpiece and reed combination! For an
example of the type of system Bach may have used, see Lewis Spence's _Occult
Encyclopedia_ (London: Bracken, 1988 reprint of earlier Routledge edition,
about 1920). Spence, a Christian rationalist, attributed his system to
Cornelius Agrippa's _Occult Philosophy_ (1533) and said it was the system
behind astrology.

Here is a revised version of the most common Roman alphabet gematria used in
the USA, most of Europe and the UK today:

A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=8, G=3, H=5, I=1, J=1, K=2, L=3, M=4, N=5, O=7,
P@-----.

To find the value of a word, add up the numbers from left to right:

clarinet @-----.

To get the "spirit number" or "soul number" of a number with more than one
digit, add them up: 2+4 @-----. If you want to
know, then "Cheiro" will explain it all to you. If you don't want to know,
congratulations and welcome to the real world.

Cheiro's is the "serious" contemporary system for people with an interest in
applied popular numerology. His system is more complex and intellectual than
most of the others. (Calling it scholarly would be going a wee bit far,
IMHO.) Occultists who use this system insist it's ancient, but most of them
don't attempt to find it in ancient sources when it's so much easier to copy
it from Cheiro. Cheiro was the pseudonym of Count Louis Hamon, 1866-1936, who
wrote a handy manual entitled _Cheiro's Book of Numbers_. I haven't been
able to find the date of the original, which was self-published and undated,
but I believe he first issued it in the late 1880s. Arco brought out an
edition in 1964, then a paperback reprint in 1977. I think the book is still
in print. Cheiro, who was English and primarily known as a palmist, didn't
like for people to call him a professional fortune- teller. He made a point
of not charging money for sittings, although naturally if a grateful
supplicant wished to give him a little gift, well, it would have been rude to
turn it down. Cheiro consolidated previous attempts to base a Roman alphabet
gematria on Chaldean and Hebrew systems, then applied his gematria to
numerology. He tied his system into the Tarot and conventional astrology as
practiced by the Order of the Golden Dawn (an esoteric society).

For numerology based on a gematria different than Cheiro's, see two common New
Age systems, Morris Goodman, _Modern Numerology_ (NY: Bell, 1945, PB
reprinted late 1960s, ND) and Jean Simpson, _Hot Numbers_ (NY: Jove, 1986).
Both books are dumbed-down guides for analyzing personality and finding true
love. They'd probably work just as well for finding the ideal mouthpiece.
(Any large book store will carry several other books of this type, too.)
Simpson's letter chart is the same as Goodman's. Her date chart differs
slightly from his, but these are fundamentally the same system. Although
(FWIW) Goodman and Simpsonn make as much sense as Cheiro (and fit the Roman
alphabet better), they pay scant attention to details of the metaphysical
background of numerology.

For the record, I'm a skeptic, a rationalist and a great fan of The Amazing
Randi and L. Sprague deCamp, whose works debunking superstition I highly
recommend to anyone tempted to do numerology instead of practicing the
clarinet. Meanwhile, I'm busily basing the science fictional pipe organ in my
novel, _Passacaglia and Fugue_, on Cheiro's numerology, an inconsistency he
would probably attribute to my being a typical two-faced Gemini.

Lelia (just visiting in Hell) Loban
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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