Alef-Beit Quick Reference
(Revision as of 06:29, 22 Feb 2007)
Letter |
Number |
Form |
Name
(Correspondences) |
|||||||
Heb |
Pronounced |
Ord |
Abs |
Final |
Red |
ATBSh |
ATBCh |
|||
א |
Aleph (Alef) | 1 |
1 |
1000 |
1 |
22 |
9 |
י above and below, separated and united by ו | oxen, thousand, teaching, master | |
ב |
Beth (Beit) | 2 |
2 |
--- |
2 |
21 |
8 |
three וs connected in a square with an open (left, northern) side | house | |
ג |
Gimel | 3 |
3 |
--- |
3 |
20 |
7 |
ו with a י for a 'foot' | camel, bridge, weaning, benevolence | |
ד |
Daleth (Dalet) | 4 |
4 |
--- |
4 |
19 |
6 |
a right angle, a man bent over, three levels of bitul (nullification of self, being, separateness) | door, poor man, lifting up (elevation) | |
ה |
Heh (Hei) | 5 |
5 |
--- |
5 |
18 |
5 |
ד with an unattached "foot" | Sefirah: Binah, Malkhut; Worlds: Beriah, Asiyah (to be) broken, to receive (seed), to behold (revelation) | |
ו |
Vau (Vav) | 6 |
6 |
--- |
6 |
17 |
4 |
Path: Chesed to Yesod; World: Yetzirah; a pillar, a man standing upright | axis of symmetry, a link | |
ז |
Zayin | 7 |
7 |
--- |
7 |
16 |
3 |
ו with a "head in both directions" (crown) | scepter, sword, support | |
ח |
Cheth (Chet) | 8 |
8 |
--- |
8 |
15 |
2 |
ו on the left, ז on the right, with a bridge connecting them | lifeforce, love, (the act of intentionally going through) a gateway | |
ט |
Teth (Tet) | 9 |
9 |
--- |
9 |
14 |
1 |
Sefirot: Yesod; a vessel with an inverted rim | instincts, senses, worldy powers, sexuality/procreative powers | |
י |
Yod (Yud) | 10 |
10 |
--- |
1 |
13 |
90 |
Sefirot: Chokhmah; World: Atzilut; a formed point (crown) with a pathway (to self-nullification) | (the power of) the (thrusting) hand: beginning and ending; unity and separation, run and return; 32 paths to wisdom | |
ך כ |
Kaph (Kaf) | 11 |
20 |
500 |
2 |
12 |
80 |
a crowned king, kneeling or bowing (final) | (the power of) the palm, to work, to mould nature, to receive blessings | |
ל |
Lamed | 12 |
30 |
--- |
3 |
11 |
70 |
a ו whose head (י) looks downward on a כ | a tower soaring on air; to learn/to teach/to create | |
ם מ |
Mem | 13 |
40 |
600 |
4 |
10 |
60 |
a square with a small opening, a complete square (final) | the character of water: to flow/be contained, to cling, to enable life (the womb) | |
ן נ |
Nun | 14 |
50 |
700 |
5 |
9 |
50 |
a servant: bent to servitude; with an extended ו, unbound (final) | fish, (innate) selflessness, rectification, Moses, Mashiach (messiah) | |
ס |
Samekh (Samech) | 15 |
60 |
--- |
6 |
8 |
40 |
a circle, a wedding band | all things cyclical, the secret of marriage, the proportion of nullification (1:60) | |
ע |
Ayin | 16 |
70 |
--- |
7 |
7 |
30 |
an elongated נ with an enwedged ו or ז; two eyes with optic nerves looking "up" at the samech, and "down" at the pei | ability to see and perceive (wisdom), looking both upward (to receive wisdom) and downward (to act upon wisdom received) | |
ף פ |
Peh (Pei) | 17 |
80 |
800 |
8 |
6 |
20 |
a mouth containing a tooth (י); within, a hidden beit | the power of speech to create, curse, or bless; 32 teeth (י) = 32 paths to wisdom; immanence, the power to connect with the divine (the kiss) | |
ץ צ |
Tzaddi (Tzadik) | 18 |
90 |
900 |
9 |
5 |
10 |
a י enwedged in the upper right of a נ; the י can face either upwards or downwards | a tzadik, the hermit, the lamp; to hunt (for holy sparks lost in chaos) - the 'downwards' tzadik, to draw down Divinity into the world - the 'upwards' tzadik | |
ק |
Qoph (Kuf) | 19 |
100 |
--- |
1 |
4 |
400 |
a ר above with a ז descending on the left | monkey, vanity, to surround/touch, the eye of the needle, the relationship between arrogance and miracles | |
ר |
Resh (Reish) | 20 |
200 |
--- |
2 |
3 |
300 |
the profile of a bowed head | a man bent to the conditions of the world, the mind descending to speak, the superconsciousness bowing to communicate with the consciousness, which in turn bows in recognition of the unconscious, poverty and charity | |
ש |
Shin | 21 |
300 |
3000* |
3 |
2 |
200 |
three וs, each topped with a י, arising from a common base; a flame (the ש is said to assume a four-point form in the world to come) | a year, fire, entropy/constant change, scarlet, exile, sharpness, the fiery sword of knowledge | |
ת |
Tau Tav) | 22 |
400 |
2000* |
4 |
1 |
100 |
a ד joined with a נ, a stamp or seal | imprints on nature (primordial matter, constants), reincarnation (past lives), the sign of Cain, the seal of truth | |
| Heb - Hebrew Ord - Ordinal value Abs - Absolute value Red - Reduced value ATBSh - Atbash xform ATBCh - Atbash xform |
* in the world to come, the shin and tav assume new final forms, then cycle back to the alef to start the cycle over again. |
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