English Qabalah: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Hermetic Qabalah#English Qabalah]] |
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{{Short description|Numerological significances in the English alphabet}} |
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{{about|English Qabalah in general|James Lees' system|English Qaballa}} |
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'''English Qabalah''' (alternatively '''English Cabala(h)''') refers to several different systems<ref name=Nema>{{cite book |author-link=Nema (occultist) |author=Nema |year=1995 |title=Maat Magick: A Guide to Self-Initiation |location=York Beach, Maine |publisher=Weiser |isbn=0-87728-827-5}}</ref>{{Rp|24–25}} of [[mysticism]] related to [[Hermetic Qabalah]] that interpret the letters of the [[Roman script]] or [[English alphabet]] via an assigned set of numerological significances.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hulse |first=David Allen |title=The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages and Magickal Systems of the World |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |year=2000 |isbn=1-56718-429-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rabinovitch |first1=Shelley |last2=Lewis |first2=James |title=The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism |publisher=Citadel Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-8065-2407-3}}</ref>{{Rp|269}} The spelling "[[English Qaballa]]," on the other hand, refers specifically to a Qabalah supported by a system of [[arithmancy]] discovered by [[James Lees (English magician)|James Lees]] in 1976. |
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While some writers make a distinction between a ''qabalah'' and a ''[[gematria]]'', in current usage the term ''qabalah'' may refer to either type of system. Most of the systems developed since the death of [[Aleister Crowley]] (1875-1947) have been created with the intent of gaining a better understanding of the mysteries elaborated in his inspired works, especially those in ''[[Book of the Law|Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law]]''. |
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==Background== |
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{{Main|Arithmancy}} |
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The first system of English gematria was used by the poet [[John Skelton (poet)|John Skelton]] in 1523 in his poem "The Garland of Laurel".<ref>Walker, Julia. M. Medusa's Mirrors: ''Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and the metamorphosis of the female self'', pp. 33–42 University of Delaware Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-87413-625-3}}</ref> |
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The next appearance was a system of gematria using the natural order of the [[Classical Latin alphabet]] developed in 1532 by [[Michael Stifel]], who also proposed a system called the ''trigonal alphabet'', using successive [[triangular number]]s.<ref name=Dudley>Dudley, Underwood. ''Numerology, Or, What Pythagoras Wrought''. Cambridge University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-88385-524-0}}</ref>{{Rp|50}} An analogue of the Greek system of [[isopsephy]] using the Latin alphabet appeared in 1583.<ref name=Dudley/>{{Rp|49}} Other variations appeared in 1683 (simply referred to as the ''1683 alphabet'', this system was used by [[Leo Tolstoy]] in ''[[War and Peace]]'' to identify [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] with the [[Number of the beast|number of the Beast]]) and 1707 (''Alphabetum Cabbalisticum Vulgare''). These and further variations are detailed in Underwood Dudley's ''Numerology, Or, What Pythagoras Wrought''.<ref name=Dudley/>{{Rp|49–51}} |
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===Agrippa code=== |
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[[File:Agrippa cipher.jpg|thumb|alt=Shows a picture of a cipher with the English alphabet, missing the J, U, and W, but with 4 extra letters after the Z which appear as I, V, HI and HV.|The Agrippa Cipher, pg. 143 of De Occulta Philosophia 1533]] |
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The '''Agrippa code''' was used with English as well as Latin. It was defined by [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] in 1532, in his work ''De Occulta Philosopha''.<ref name=Tyson>{{cite book |last=Agrippa von Nettesheim |first=Heinrich Cornelius |editor-last=Tyson |editor-first=Donald |translator=James Freake |year=1993 |title=Three Books of Occult Philosophy |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |pages=Book II, Ch. 22 |isbn=978-0875428321}}</ref> Agrippa based his system on the order of the [[Classical Latin alphabet]] using a ranked valuation as in Hebrew [[gematria]], appending the four additional letters in use at the time after Z, including the still-in-use letters U (600), J (700), and W (900).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Hieroglyphic Monad |first=John |last=Dee |translator=J. W. Hamilton-Jones |publisher=Weiser Books |year=1975 |isbn=1-57863-203-X}}</ref> |
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A B C D E F G H I |
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
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K L M N O P Q R S |
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10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 |
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T V X Y Z U J * W |
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100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 |
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where * represents an obsolete letter.<ref name=Tyson/> |
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==Qabalah vs. gematria== |
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According to Jake Stratton-Kent, a qabalah is specifically related to three factors: a language, a holy text or texts, and mathematical laws at work in these two.<ref name=JSK1988>{{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=May 1988 |title=What is a Qabalah? |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |location=Frome, Somerset, UK |publisher=Kiblah Publishing |volume=VII |number=2 |pages=59–61 |issn=0953-7015}}</ref> |
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[[Gematria]], on the other hand, is a system in which letters are equated to number values. The letters comprising the word or name of person or object are then summed together. The number of this sum is termed the key of that particular word. Words sharing the same key are said to share properties. The letters are often tabulated along with their numerical equivalents.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jake |last=Stratton-Kent |title=The Book of the Law and Its Qaballa |location=Sherborne |publisher=Kiblah Publishing |year=1994 |isbn=9780952312505}}</ref><ref name=Liber187>{{cite book |first=Jake |last=Stratton-Kent |title=The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187 |location=UK |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907881-07-7}}</ref> |
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An example of the simplest serial gematria for English letters would be the following: |
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A=1 B=2 C=3 D=4 E=5 F=6 G=7 H=8 I=9 J=10 K=11 L=12 M=13 |
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N=14 O=15 P=16 Q=17 R=18 S=19 T=20 U=21 V=22 W=23 X=24 Y=25 Z=26 |
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==Notable systems== |
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===Willis F. Whitehead=== |
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The next reference to an English Qabalah found in the literature was made by Willis F. Whitehead in 1899 in his book, ''The Mystic Thesaurus'', in which he describes a system he called "English Cabala."<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitehead|first=Willis F. |title=The Mystic Thesaurus, Or Initiation in the Theoretical and Practical Secrets of Astral Truth, and Occult Art: The Symbol of the Cross |location=Chicago |publisher=Willis F. Whitehead |year=1899}} Original from Harvard University collection digitized November 17, 2005, online at [https://archive.org/details/mysticthesaurus00whitgoog <!-- quote="english cabala". -->]</ref> |
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{{expand section|date=June 2023}} |
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===Aleister Crowley=== |
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{{main|777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley}} |
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In 1904, Aleister Crowley wrote out the text of the foundational document of his world-view, known as ''Liber AL vel Legis'', ''[[The Book of the Law]]''. In this text was the injunction found at verse 2:55; "Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet, thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto" which was understood by Crowley as referring to an English Qabalah yet to be developed or revealed.<ref name=MaPConBotL>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |year=1974 |title=Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law |publisher=93 Publishing |location=Montreal}}</ref> In one of the ''[[Holy Books of Thelema]]'' written by Aleister Crowley in 1907, called ''Liber Trigrammaton, sub figura XXVII -- Being the Book of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin and the Yang'',<ref name=HolyBooks>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |year=1983 |title=The Holy Books of Thelema |location=York Beach, Maine |publisher=Samuel Weiser |isbn=978-0877285793}}</ref> are 27 three-line diagrams known as 'trigrams', which are composed of a solid line for the Yang, a broken line for the Yin, and a point for the Tao. By attributing 26 Roman script letters to the trigrams of this work, Crowley felt that he had fulfilled the injunction to "obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet", as noted in his 'Old Comment' to ''[[The Book of the Law]]''.<ref name=MaPConBotL/> Crowley did not go on to develop a full qabalah from this work.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} |
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===James Lees' English Qaballa (EQ)=== |
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{{main|English Qaballa}} |
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The first report of the system known as [[English Qaballa]] (EQ) was published in 1979 by Ray Sherwin in an editorial in the final issue of his journal, ''The New Equinox''. In his editorial, Sherwin reported that the "order & value of the English Alphabet"<ref name=AL-III-47>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |title=The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |year=2004 |isbn=978-1578633081}} Chapter III, Verse 47.</ref> had been discovered by an English magician, [[James Lees (English magician)|James Lees]], in November 1976.<ref name=TNE>{{cite book |last1=Lees |first=James |editor=Thompson, Cath |title=The New Equinox: The British Journal of Magick |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2018 |isbn=978-1907881770}}</ref> Lees subsequently assumed the role of publisher of ''The New Equinox'' and, starting in 1981, published additional material about the EQ system over the course of five issues of the journal, extending into 1982.<ref name=TNE/> The first software designed to perform textual analysis of ''Liber AL'' and the other ''Holy Books of Thelema'' was written in 1984-5 by Trevor Langford.<ref name=JSK-March1988>{{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=March 1988 |title=The English Qaballa |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |volume=VII |number=1 |pages=17–25 |issn=0953-7015}}</ref> Langford subsequently worked with Jake Stratton-Kent on ''The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema'', in which further original material on EQ was summarized by Stratton-Kent in the March 1988 issue.<ref name=JSK-March1988/> |
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More recently, the system is described in Jake Stratton-Kent's 2011 book, ''The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187''.<ref name=Liber187/> This was followed in 2016 by ''The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer'' by Cath Thompson.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer|publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2016 |isbn=978-1907881688}}</ref> The discovery, exploration, and continuing research and development of the system up to 2010, by James Lees and members of his group in England, are detailed in her 2018 book, ''All This and a Book''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=All This and a Book |year=2018 |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |isbn=978-1-907881-78-7}}</ref> |
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===William Eisen's ''The English Cabalah''=== |
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A system related to the [[Spiritualism|Spiritualist]] [[Agasha Temple of Wisdom]] was described by William Eisen in his two volume ''The English Cabalah'' (1980–82).<ref>{{cite book |last=Eisen |first=William |title=The English Cabalah |volume=1 |location=Marina del Rey, Calif. |publisher=DeVorss & Company |year=1980 |isbn=978-0875163901}}<br/>{{cite book |last=Eisen |first=William |title=The English Cabalah |volume=2 |location=Marina del Rey, Calif. |publisher=DeVorss & Company |year=1982 |isbn=978-0875164595}}</ref> |
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{{expand section|date=June 2023}} |
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===William Gray's ''Concepts of Qabalah''=== |
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[[William G. Gray]] proposes another system in his 1984 book, ''Concepts of Qabalah'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Gray |first=William G. |title=Concepts of Qabalah |series=Sangreal Sodality Series |volume=3 |publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser |year=1984 |isbn=0-87728-561-6}}</ref> more recently republished as ''Qabalistic Concepts''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gray |first=William G. |title=Qabalistic Concepts: Living the Tree |publisher=Weiser Books |year=1997 |isbn=1-57863-000-2}}</ref> This system includes correspondence attributions of the English letters to the positions on the [[Tree of Life]]. |
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{{expand section|date=June 2023}} |
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===R. Leo Gillis' ''The Book of Mutations''=== |
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Another system of English Qabalah known as Trigrammaton Qabalahn (TQ) was proposed by R. Leo Gillis around 1988,{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} and published on his website, ''Trigrammaton.com'', starting in 1998,<ref>{{cite web |last=Gillis |first=R. Leo |title=The Book of Mutations |url=https://runelogix.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/03/interview_r_leo.html |date=March 3, 2006 |website=Trigrammaton |access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref> and subsequently released as an eBook.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gillis |first=R. Leo |title=The Book of Mutations |edition=3rd |year=2014 |isbn=9781312374942}}</ref> This system is based on one of the ''[[Holy Books of Thelema]]'' written by [[Aleister Crowley]] in 1907, called ''Liber Trigrammaton, sub figura XXVII -- Being the Book of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin and the Yang''. ''Liber Trigrammaton'' (aka ''Liber XXVII'') was called by Crowley "the ultimate foundation of the highest theoretical qabalah".<ref name=HolyBooks/> |
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In ''Liber XXVII'' are 27 three-line diagrams known as 'trigrams', which are composed of a solid line representing ''yang'', a broken line representing the ''yin'', and a point representing ''Tao''. Crowley later attributed the 26 letters of the English alphabet to these trigrams, in an attempt to fulfill an injunction found in his earlier work ''Liber AL vel Legis'', ''[[The Book of the Law]]'', verse 2:55 which states: "Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet, thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto." By attributing the English alphabet to the trigrams in his later work, Crowley considered this verse to be fulfilled, as noted in his 'Old Comment' to ''The Book of the Law''.<ref name=MaPConBotL/> |
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TQ is an extension of Crowley's work with Liber Trigrammaton. By considering the numerical value of the 27 trigrams as expressions in [[Ternary numeral system|ternary]] (base 3), and then transferring those values to the letters attributed by Crowley to the trigrams, a system of English gematria is created. Further use is made of the trigrams to create a true qabalah in the sense of the definition provided by Jake Stratton-Kent above.<ref name=JSK1988/> Correspondences are created with some of the major forms of divination such as the ''[[I Ching]]'', [[Tarot]] and [[runes]], as well as [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] and [[Hebrew alphabet]]s, the [[Tree of life (Kabbalah)|Tree of Life]], [[Western astrology|Western]] and [[Vedic astrology]], [[magic square]]s, and the [[Platonic solid]]s. A primary feature of this qabalah is a new understanding of the [[Cube of Space]] and its 26 components of edges, faces, and vertices, which equal the number of letters in the English alphabet.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gillis |first=R. Leo |year=2013 |chapter=Trigrammaton Qabalah |editor1=Kaczynski, Richard |editor2=Thiebes, Joseph |title=Manifest Thy Glory: Proceedings of the Eighth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference |publisher=Ordo Templi Orientis |location=Riverside, CA |pages=73–80 |isbn=978-1-490-36534-3}}</ref> |
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Trigrammaton Qabalah gematria values are as follows: |
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A=5 B=20 C=2 D=23 E=13 F=12 G=11 H=3 I=0 J=7 K=17 L=1 M=21 |
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N=24 O=10 P=4 Q=16 R=14 S=15 T=9 U=25 V=22 W=8 X=6 Y=18 Z=19 |
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===E. Joel Love's "Cipher X"=== |
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{{unreliable sources|section|date=June 2023}} |
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In 1994, E. Joel Love, a student of the ALW cipher and a member of the Hermetic Alchemical Order of the QBLH, proposed another English cipher that he would call "Cipher X". Love possessed a high mathematical aptitude and formal training in cryptography in the U.S Coast Guard.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} A lifelong Thelemite, Love considered the ALW cipher to be incomplete to the task of answering many of the cosmological and deep structure questions proposed by Gillis' system. Both Gillis and Stratton-Kent met with Joel Love in 2004 and were mutually surprised to find that both Love's and Gillis' work contained many striking parallels. |
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Love considered the ALW cipher to be representative of an authentic epistle, and interpreted verses in Liber XXVII to hint at a process of inversion. By taking the obvious base three trigrams system of Liber XXVII, and by comparing them to the cipher key of ALW, these inversions resulted in 'Cipher X' which, technically speaking, is the base three inversion of the ALW Cipher. Love always maintained that Cipher X was a complement to ALW. He was a vocal proponent of comparing the results of many ciphers, a study he called 'cross cipher correlation'. |
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Love would go on to compile over 20 years of notes and research. Love had several students, the first of which was longtime friend and colleague H. Thomas Chaudoin. Chaudoin maintains that he was present during the years that the bulk of this research was 'transmitted' to Love. Chaudoin would go on to found the NOT (New Order of Thelema), using many of Love's innovations as a foundation. Love died in June 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chaudoin |first=Tom |title=Liber Trigrammaton and Cipher X |url=http://thenot.weebly.com/cipher-x-and-liber-27.html |date=April 9, 2004 |website=The New Order of Thelema |access-date=2020-03-02}}</ref> |
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Base 3 inversion of the ALW cipher values results in the following values: |
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A=9 B=20 C=13 D=6 E=17 F=2 G=19 H=12 I=23 J=16 K=1 L=18 M=5 |
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N=22 O=15 P=26 Q=11 R=4 S=21 T=8 U=25 V=10 W=3 X=14 Y=7 Z=24 |
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==Other systems== |
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In 1952, John P. L. Hughes published ''The Hidden Numerical Significance of the English Language, or, Suggestive Gematria'', based on his lecture delivered at Holden Research Circle on July 4, 1952.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=John P.L. |title=The Hidden Numerical Significance of the English Language, or, Suggestive Gematria |publisher=Holden Research Circle |year=1952}} For further information on this edition and subsequent reprints, see [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23263225-the-hidden-numerical-significance-of-the-english-language-or-suggestiv]</ref> More recently, [[Michael Bertiaux]] described a system called ''Angelic Gematria'' in his ''The Voudon Gnostic Workbook'' (1989),<ref>Bertiaux, Michael. ''The Voudon Gnostic Workbook''. Magickal Childe, 1989. {{ISBN|0-939708-12-4}}. Republished as ''The Voudon Gnostic Workbook: Expanded Edition'', p. 82. Weiser, 2007. {{ISBN|1-57863-339-7}}</ref> and David Rankine described a system of English gematria<ref name="Drury, Nevill 2006">Drury, Nevill (2006). ''The Watkins Dictionary of Magic''. Sterling Publishing Company. {{ISBN|1-84293-152-0}}</ref>{{Rp|244}} using [[prime number]]s which he calls ''Prime Qabalah'' in his book ''Becoming Magick'' (2004).<ref>Rankine, David. ''Becoming Magick: New & Revised Magicks for the New Aeon''. Mandrake, 2004. {{ISBN|1-869928-81-4}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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===Citations=== |
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{{Reflist|30em}} |
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===Works cited=== |
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*{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |author-link=Aleister Crowley |year=1974 |title=Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law |publisher=93 Publishing |location=Montreal}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |title=The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |year=2004 |isbn=978-1578633081}} |
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*{{cite book |last1=Lees |first=James |author-link=James Lees (English magician) |editor=Thompson, Cath |title=The New Equinox: The British Journal of Magick |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2018 |isbn=978-1907881770}} |
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*{{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=March 1988 |title=The English Qaballa |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |volume=VII |number=1 |pages=17–25 |issn=0953-7015}} |
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* {{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=May 1988b |title=What is a Qabalah? |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |volume=VII |number=2 |pages=59-61 |issn=0953-7015}} |
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*{{cite book |first=Jake |last=Stratton-Kent |title=The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187 |location=UK |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907881-07-7}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer|publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2016 |isbn=978-1907881688}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=All This and a Book |year=2018 |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |isbn=978-1-907881-78-7}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*{{cite web |last1=Collier |first1=Wren |last2=Keith |first2=Alynne |date=n.d. |title=About NAEQ |website=naeq.io |url=https://www.naeq.io/about/ |access-date=2020-02-19}} |
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* {{cite web |author=Frater D.T. |title=The New Aeon English Qabala: A Brief Introduction |website=QBLH.org |publisher=Hermetic Alchemical Order of the QBLH |year=1996 |url=http://www.qblh.org/naeq/naeq.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216150925/http://www.qblh.org/naeq/naeq.html |archive-date=2004-12-16}} |
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* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=Finding New Symbols |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-907881-51-0}} |
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* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=House 418: The Circle Squared |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-914166-03-7}} |
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==External links== |
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*[https://gematriaresearch.blogspot.com/2021/02/history-of-ciphers-part-1-ciphers-of.html "History of Ciphers" (part 1) - The Ciphers of the Illuminati] - first of article of a series |
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*{{curlie|Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Esoteric_and_Occult/Kabbalah|Kabbalah}} - lists several sites related to English Qabalah |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Ceremonial magic]] |
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[[Category:Hermetic Qabalah]] |
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Latest revision as of 19:20, 21 July 2024
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