Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
Any Day of the Moon
A Qabalist was explaining to me the mysteries of the Christian Qabalá.
I can't remember whether or not she knew that I speak Hebrew.
So, here's how it works. You start off with YHVH, yod-he-vav-he, “Yahvéh,” the secret name of El, the Canaanite High God.
Into this, you insert the letter Sh, shin, one of the Three Mother Letters (whatever that means).
And voilà: YHShVH, “Yehoshuah”: Jesus.
Pretty nifty, eh?
“But that's not how you spell 'Jesus' in Hebrew,” I objected.
It isn't. “Jesus” in Hebrew is YShV, yod-shin-vav, “Yéshu”. This is short for YShV', yod-shin-vav-'ayin, “Yeshu'á,” itself short for YHShV', yod-he-shin-vav-'ayin,“Yehoshu'á.”
In short, unless phonetic spellings count, there's no “Jesus” in “Yahveh.”
She gave me a crestfallen look. “Well, but still....” She trailed off. Still what?
Then she changed the subject.
Well, I hope that I didn't ruin anything for her; that certainly wasn't my intent. But if I did, well, words are words, after all, and naught but moving air.
Myself, I'm a pagan. Among my gods-of-favor I number a star, a planet, and a meteorological phenomenon.*
Word-gods?
No thanks.
Me, I'll take solid, any day of the Moon.
*The Sun, Earth, and Thunder.
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