Gematria
Gematria is an Assyro-Babylonian system of numerology based upon the relation of the Hebrew alphabet to numeric values. As a branch of kabbalah, gematria is usually used to find relationships between words in the Old Testament with the underlying assumption that if two words, say Adam & Yehova or Man & Beast, have the same value, then there is a relationship to be made between their meanings.
There are several different techniques:
- Creating a phrase from a word as if the word were an acronym.
- Creating a word from a phrase, using the first letter, last letter or both.
- Considering two words or phrases either equal, complimentary or otherwise related if their numeric totals are the same.
Similar practices based on other languages exist. Some examples are: Isopsephia using the Greek alphabet, and Gematria of Nothing and The New Aeon English Qabala both intended to be used with English words.
Hebrew gematric values
| Name | Glyph | Transliteration | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aleph | א | A | 1 |
| Bet | ב | B | 2 |
| Gimel | ג | G | 3 |
| Dalet | ד | D | 4 |
| Heh | ה | H | 5 |
| Vau | ו | V | 6 |
| Zayin | ז | Z | 7 |
| Chet | ח | Ch | 8 |
| Tet | ט | T | 9 |
| Yod | י | Y | 10 |
| Koph(1) | כ | K | 20 |
| Lamed | ל | L | 30 |
| Mem | מ | M | 40 |
| Nun | נ | N | 50 |
| Samekh | ס | S | 60 |
| Ayin | ע | O | 70 |
| Peh | פ | P | 80 |
| Tzaddi | צ | Tz | 90 |
| Qoph | ק | Q | 100 |
| Resh | ר | R | 200 |
| Shin | ש | Sh | 300 |
| Tau | ת | Th | 400 |
| Koph(1) | ך | K | 500 |
| Mem(1) | ם | M | 600 |
| Nun(1) | ן | N | 700 |
| Peh(1) | ף | P | 800 |
| Tzaddi(1) | ץ | Tz | 900 |
(1) final form of the letter, only on word endings.
Gematria of nothing
The Gematria of Nothing, or GoN as it is refered to in shorthand claims to be a newer gematria and common with chaos magicians. In the GoN, A = 13, B = 12 and so on, until N = 0, and eventually Z = -12. The use of negative numbers seems to be a new development in gematria, and it allows for all kinds of wonderful corespondences. In addition to the GoN 1, there is the GoN II, which omits the zero, making for a balanced alphabet (A = 13 and Z = -13)
The Gematria of Nothing Research Foundation set up by Infek bin Laden on his website before his death, can be found here.
Some interesting correspondences:
- East = 11
- West = -11
- One = 8
- Zero = -8