This section explores the Matrix of Meaning for the Hebrew Alphabet. The 27-letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (22 medial letters, plus 5 final-letter forms) are traditionally arranged in three layers of nine letters each. The first set of nine, Alef through Tet, represents the Archetypal; the second letter, Yod through Tzadi, represents the Inner/Spiritual; and the third represents the Outer/Physical.
From TORUS, Vol. 2, #4:
When we understand the meaning of the Archetypes, we naturally also understand the Inner and the Outer levels as well. Each level proceeds along the same idealized life-cycle starting with the Unity of the Consciousness (at each level). Each, in turn, proceeds from Unity through 7-stages until it returns to nourish the next whole level or generation of life. (For further details on the toroidal 7-stage process, see the work of Arthur M. Young.)
THE 27-LETTER MATRIX OF MEANING — DIAGRAMMATIC OVERVIEW
Illustrations in this section make use of letter-icons, one for each Hebrew letter. These icons contain keywords about each letter, designed to aid in remembering its logical placement in the Matrix of Meaning.
Hebrew Alphabet-Matrix: Vessel & Flame Mirror Arrangement
A view of the entire Hebrew Alphabet-Matrix, with an explanation of the meaning-structure of the matrix itself.
Each letter-icon is in its appropriate position on the matrix, illustrating the vessel/flame mirror symmetry
of the letters' meanings in this arrangement.
A MATRIX OF MEANING FOR SACRED ALPHABETS: LETTERS IN RELATIONSHIP
The most important quality of the posters and discussion in this section is that they demonstrate the operational meaning of each letter in relationship to the other letters, based on a natural model of unity — the hypersphere. At the abstract level, the 27-letters correspond to the basic pointing directions in hyperdimensional space; in principle, any quantum state vector can be specified by a combination of these pointing directions. At the personal level, the 22 letter-gestures (in the section elsewhere on this site, on Hebrew Alphabet Gesture Posters) can be used to project meaning from one's mind into the world. In many cases, spelling Hebrew root words by means of these gestures directly demonstrates the functional meaning of the word.
A dictionary of examples, and samples of correspondences between Hebrew and English words is possible, and will be presented when it's available.
Some of these posters were used in our videotape presentation, A Matrix of Meaning for Sacred Alphabets; some are from the Meru Foundation Journal, Torus, Vol. 2 #4. New material will be added as available.
HEBREW ALPHABET GESTURE ANIMATION AND
POSTERS These posters demonstrate the hand-gestures
used to form the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
At
the personal level, the 22 letter-gestures can be used to project
meaning
from one's mind into the world. In many cases, spelling Hebrew root
words
by means of these gestures directly demonstrates the functional meaning
of the word.
This animation of Stan
Tenen
illustrating the Hebrew letter-gestures Ayin, Gimel, Dalet, and He is
courtesy Ron Engert. Mr. Tenen demonstrates all of the 22
letter-gestures on the Meru Foundation videotapes Dance of the Hebrew Letters, The Alphabet
in our Hands (part 1 and 2),and Squaring the Circle. To order Meru videotapes, go to www.meetingtent.com.
PUBLISHED
ARTICLES
ON LANGUAGE AND GESTURE (update 1999-2000)
Considerable research has been done on the
subject
of the gestural origins of language in the three years since we first
published
these Hebrew alphabet gestures. For those interested in this research,
the articles below are highly recommended.
The
Role
of the Hand in the Evolution of Language, by Prof. Ullin T. Place
(as published on the website of Psycoloquy, a
refereed online journal, January 2000 issue)
This important article by Prof. Place was published
shortly
after his death in January 2000 in Psycoloquy, an
online referred journal sponsored by the American
Psychological
Association. The following is an excerpt from the Abstract: "Section III sets out eleven pieces of evidence for
the view that vocal language must have been preceded by an earlier
language
of gesture. Based on those principles and evidence, Section IV
sets out seven proposed stages in the process whereby language evolved: (1) the use of mimed movement to indicate an action
to be performed, (2) the development of referential pointing which, when combined with mimed movement, leads to a
language
of gesture, ..."
Articles from the New York Times:
The New York Times has recently published several
news articles relating to the topic of gesture and the evolution of
language.
The articles below are available from the New York Times online
archives.
Readers will need to join the NY Times Online Service to read these
articles;
this service is free, and gives access to the Times' entire online
archives.
(If you are not already a member of the Times Online Service, a
membership
screen will appear when you click on either of the links below.)
Discovery
of Egyptian Inscriptions Indicates an Earlier Date for Origin of the
Alphabet
Article by John Noble Wilford,
published in the New York Times, 13 November 1999
The print edition of the Times
published a picture in conjunction with this article which is not
included
in the Internet version.
This picture is referred to in
the article as a glyph of a man with arms upraised, which later
developed
into the
letter H, the author says, "for
reasons unknown."
What
We All Spoke When the World Was Young
Feature Article on Joseph H. Greenberg, from
the NY Times series, Scientist at Work
Written by Nicholas Wade,
published
in the New York Times, 1 February 2000
Dr. Greenberg's hypothesis on how
languages spread and evolve sees relationship in words with related
meanings
in languages that current
linguistic
scholarship considers to be unrelated. This article refers to a chart showing the close relationship
of words in several different
languages
having meanings related to the concepts of one, finger, or point.
Dr. Greenberg does not include
Hebrew, but the hand-gesture for
the letter Yod, meaning "I," "me", "to me", and point/pointer (as an
expression
of personal
will or volition) as pictured on
the Meru letter-gesture chart, is clearly consistent with his
findings.
Yad, "hand," spelled Yud-Dalet (I-D),
fits the pattern of root letters
used to spell the word meaning "pointer" throughout Dr. Greenberg's
chart. View
Dr. Greenberg's Chart on Words meaning "one," "finger," or "point" View
the Meru Foundation Chart of Hebrew Letter-Gestures
The autocorrelation of the text of Genesis
makes
use of a special arrangement of the Hebrew letters. Using the "base-3
count"
of each letter, which can be understood as its position in the 3x3x3
"Rubik's
Cube" arrangement of the 27-letter Hebrew alphabet, one can derive the
four "symmetry groups" actually used for the autocorrelation, as shown
in the posters below.
AUTOCORRELATION PATTERNS OF VERSES IN GENESIS:
Articles and Supplementary Posters
The essay and posters in this section section
demonstrate and explain various ways that the letters of Genesis I.1
can
be autocorrelated. An early version of an autocorrelation pattern
for Genesis I.3 is also included.
Articles
Symmetry Woven into the First Verse of the
Hebrew Text of Genesis NEW Dec 1999
This article explains the AABA "Woven" pattern found
in the first verse, and also
the method by which the toroidal "autocorrelation
pattern"
of the letters of the first verse was derived. Please note: This two-page article is
presented
here as two graphic files, due to the heavy use of graphics and non-English characters.
Genesis and Sepher Yetzirah NEW Jan 2002
A discussion of how the ambiguous meaning of the
supposed
word, B'limah, which opens the Sepher Yetzirah,
is unambiguously and elegantly resolved by reference to the
autocorrelation
patterns of the first verse of Genesis. Please note: This six-page article is
presented
here as six graphic files, due to the heavy use of graphics and non-English characters.
