Mystical Speculations

Part II - The Magen David

¨     Sefer Yetzirah 3:2
Three Mothers: Alef Mem Shin ( m c a ) A great, mystical secret covered and sealed with six rings And from them emanated air, water and fire And from them are born Fathers, and from the Fathers, descendants.

The Jewish religion knows several names for God. All these names are holy and may as such not be pronounced. Most commonly God is referred to as Lord (Adonai). As mentioned in the first chapter there are indications that the first Christians also considered the name Jesus as as so called "nomen sacrum", which as such was not supposed to be pronounced. In the fragment of the Gospel of Matthew of the Magdalen Papyrus, the name Jesus is mentioned as Ks, an abbreviation of Kyrios or Lord. After what has been explained about the mystical number value of the the name Ιησους, this won't come as a surprise.

As you probably know, the Jewish religion is very mystical and knows several legends, rituals and symbols. Very well known are the shield of David and the Seal of Salomon, respectively a hexagram and a pentagram. Salomon was supposed to have obtained magical powers through a seal with on it a pentagram an several secret incanting signs. In the same way was supposed to have obtained invincible power by means of a shield bearing a pentagram and several highly secret signs.

The name "shield of David" (in Hebrew Magen David" and "seal of Salomon" appear for the first time during the14th century, which does not mean that both phenomenon were not known long before. It was however only in the Middle ages that both terms became associated with the pentagram and the hexagram and that the last mentioned, the hexagram or six pointed star became more and more identified as the symbol of the Jewish people. Before this time, both hexagram and pentagram were mentioned as the seal of Salomon. Already very early in history both stars appear on archeological findings and also the legends regarding the magical powers obtained by means of the secret texts on the seal of Salomon are so old that the speculations on this page enter well into the tradition of early Jewish mysticism. 

Some famous archeological examples of the use of pentagrams and hexagrams can be found in the old synagogue of Capernaum, dating from the beginning of our year counting. Regarding the pentagram it is no surprise to find many examples of the use of this geometrical figure, considering that it was one of the most widely used symbols of antiquity.

Some other examples of Jewish pentagrams and hexagrams are: a seal dating from the 7th century BC, found in Sidon. Nabateistic plates and Herodian buildings from the 1st century BC. Dating from the beginning of our year counting are the inscriptions on tombstones in Kfar Yosef and Beth Shearim, and besides the Synagogue of Capernaum mentioned above, also in the synagogue of Esjtemoa, on the wall of the Temple mountain and on a tombstone in Sjeik Ibreiq. Also the famous coin of Simeon Bar Kochba, which shows one of the very few images of the Temple in Jerusalem like it lived on in memory 65 years after its destruction, shows a hexagram on the roof of the Temple. It is however not very likely that there has ever been a hexagram on top of the roof of the Temple.

It is as such absolutely sure that the hexagram just as the pentagram were important symbols in the old Jewish religion.

Regarding the secret magical incants that Salomon used, we know with certainty that these legends date from well before the Christian year counting. It was Flavius Josephus that in his Antiquities mentions a signet ring of Salomon used by the king to exorcise demons. Besides this there exists a Jewish magical text from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, titled "Salomon's Testament", in which the same magical signet ring is mentioned. In chapter 1:5--7 we read:

"And after this it happened that, while I prayed to the God of the heavens and the earth, that to me, through the Lord Sabaoth and through the intervention of archangel Michael, was given a ring with a seal, in which a precious gemstone was engraved.
He said to me: "Salomon, son of David, take this gift that the Lord God the highest Sabaoth has sent to you. Through this you will capture all demons, both female as male demons, and with its help you will build Jerusalem, when you bear this seal of God."

Very important are the pentagram and the hexagram as Messianic symbols. It was the start of Bethlehem that guided the kings to Jesus cradle. In the old testament we read in the book of Numbers 24:17 "A Star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth".

An image of a mystical star also is used in the following comment of Jesus in verse 83 of the Gospel of Judas Thomas: "Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light."    

Besides its Hebrew tradition, the pentagram has become known in the Mediterranean Hellenistic world through the Pythagoreans who considered it their secret recognition sign, containing all mystical knowledge of their school. Besides the pentagram also the hexagram had an important meaning in the Hellenistic world. The hexagram was interpreted as two interwoven triangles, which one points upwards to the heavens and one points downwards to the earth. This symbolism is comparable with the circle and the square discussed before in this book. The same symbolism regarding the two triangles is also found in later Jewish mysticism. The verse from the Sefer Yetzirah quoted on top of this page mentions three mothers (A,M,S). These are the beginning characters of the Hebrew words Avir (air), Majim (water) and Esj (fire). One of the later copies of the Sefer Yetzirah has the following line added to the quoted verse: "understand, calculate and draw, that the fire carries the water". This addition is a reference to the geometrical figure of the hexagram, and completely complies with the Hellenistic cosmogonic teachings. Fire and water are represented by the upwards and the downwards triangle. The same depiction is also found in the Haggadic etymology, which explains that the heavens (Sjamajim) are made up of fire (Esj) and water (Majim). This Haggada was later integrated by Christian cabalists and is currently still in use amongst theosophists.

In the first chapter of this book, an introduction to the later cabalistic work Zohar has been quoted. In this text the Fibonacci numbers 5, 13 as well as 21 are mentioned in the context of the creation story. This article has a number symbolic approach and as such it has been tried to express the deeper symbolism of the Fibonacci "resurrection numbers" through the two triangles of the hexagram creating in this way a hypothetic religious symbol that contains the concepts of God, Creation and (Messianic) Salvation.

In the overview of the first chapter on Biblical numbers it is visible how many holy numbers that are considered to be directly to God are made up of pairs. The holy number 10 is made up of two times 5; the holy number 42 is made up of two times 21 and the holy number 26 is made up of two times 13.

Just like the two triangles of the hexagram that represent heaven and earth, also the two times three numbers that can be drawn on the six points of the hexagram should ad up to the holy number 26, because God is represented in both heaven and earth.

In the illustrations below, the number value of the Hebrew characters of the illustration on top of this page have been replaced with normal numbers.

The numbers that are used belong to the first eight numbers of the Fibonacci series, the two ones and the zero that precede the list are symbolic for the two triangles themselves and the unity of the entire symbol that as a whole represents God himself.

In the upward triangle we find the number 13 on top. This is a direct reference to God as a creator because this is supposed to be the mystical number through which God manifested his creation. Below the number 13 we find the numbers 8 and 5. The number five is symbolic for the world order as expressed through the Pentateuch. The number eight is the number of the covenant as promised first day of the renewed creation.

In the downward triangle we find the number 21 as symbol for the threefold seven of the finished but imperfect earthly creation and as the Christian symbol of the death of the Messiah for the salvation of mankind. The numbers 3 and two represent man and woman or better Adam and Eve, a symbolism that has been taken from the Greek, who claimed all even numbers to be female and all uneven numbers to be male. For them the number one was not a number hence the number three was considered the first male number. As such the downward triangle represents the earth, the original sin and the salvation

Put together the hexagram becomes an amulet that represents the Messianic concept of the Jewish and the Christian religion. In the upward triangle: God's creation, the promise from the Pentateuch and the covenant. In the downward triangle we find mankind represented by Adam an Eve as symbol for the original sin and the Messiah as Salvatore of mankind. Both triangles ad up to 26, the unique number value of the tetragramathon.

• Sefer Yetzirah 1:7 - Ten Sefirot of Nothingness. Their end is imbedded in their beginning and their beginning in their end, like a flame in an burning coal. For the Master is singular. He has no second. And before One, what do you count?

The explanation of this verse by Rabbi Kaplan makes use of a circle with two anti-poles in order to express that even if the circle would become endlessly big, even to the point that a single piece would assimilate a straight line, both anti-poles would never be able to find each other. The same anti-poles are also found in the hexagram. In chapter thee a hexagram was constructed by means of three circles. On the intersection points we find the first two manifestations of our three-dimensional world. This symbolism shows God in all his manifestations. The uniform God from the Chaos, and as a continuum within the ever growing evolution of the Fibonacci series symbolism.

The secret signs around the hexagram of David will most likely have been connected to one of the secret names of God. By means of permutation of the various letters of the Hebrew alphabet in combination with the above mentioned number values we might get to an interesting new interpretation of this old mystery.