A New Oracle of Kabbalah

The Hebrew word for “letter,” — ot — also means “sign” or “wonder” or “miracle.” For thousands of years, Jewish sages have taught that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the Aleph Beit, embody wonderful and miraculous powers.

According to the earliest known book on Jewish mysticism, The Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Creation), written more than fifteen centuries ago, God formed the entire universe through speaking aloud the twenty-two letters. With the vibration of God’s cosmic utterances, out of the nothingness of silence all things spring to life. “God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.”

The letters of the Aleph Beit, as the manifestations of God’s voice, are the energetic and vibrational building blocks of creation. They are analogous to physical elements. Just as, for example, an atom of oxygen gas unites with two atoms of hydrogen gas to form a molecule of water, so does one letter combine with another to create new beings.

Rabbi Marcia Prager writes, “This perception of Hebrew words and letters as the constituent spiritual elements of existence under-girds most Jewish mystical teaching.”¹

The letters are archetypes. Each one expresses a specific primordial power or creative energy. For example, , Beit, is the sign of “house.” , Mem, is the letter of water and the womb. David Abram puts it this way: “Each letter of the Aleph Beit is assumed by the Kabbalists to have its own personality, its own profound magic, its own way of organizing the whole of existence around itself.”²

The thirteenth-century masterpiece of Jewish mysticism, The Zohar, The Book of Splendor, says, “For when the world was created, it was the supernal letters that brought into being all the works of the lower world, literally after their pattern. Hence, whoever has a knowledge of them and is observant of them is beloved both on high and below.”³

Unlike Indo-European languages, in Hebrew, each letter also is a number. The characters do double duty, serving simultaneously as numerals and as sounds.

The Hebrew letters, therefore, represent not just the sound of creation but also the mathematics of creation. We are all numerals in the vast equation of the universe that is at the same time the song, the musical score, of the universe. (The word “score” suggests the mathematical basis of music.) All life is created by the infinite combinations of holy numbers that are also letters of the Aleph Beit.

For centuries, Jewish mystics and scholars have cultivated knowledge and observance of the Aleph Beit, and a vast folklore and mystical tradition arose regarding the letters. In the thirteenth century, Abraham Abulafia developed practices for meditating on the letters that make up God’s numerous holy names. He taught how to permutate and combine these letters to elicit heightened spiritual states.

Abulafia and other Kabbalists created elaborate theories regarding the role of each letter, its numerical force, and its special place in creation and in forming the words of the Torah.

They believed in the power of the Hebrew letters to affect reality in profound ways. For example, some rabbis and students invoked spells in attempts to create golems, human-like creatures made of clay. The word “spell” indicates the magical powers inherent in the combining of letters. One well-known spell, the incantational phrase “abracadabra,” may stem from the Hebrew abra k’adabra, which literally means, “I will create as I speak.”

The power of the letters to manifest as physical objects is reflected in the shared root of the Hebrew words for “word” and “thing,” , dibur, and , davar. Words are things, and things are words made manifest.

In the Torah, the Ten Commandments are not referred to as “Commandments,” but rather Aseret ha’Dibrot, “the Ten Utterances” or “the Ten Sayings.” The Zohar describes how God’s speech created the tablets bearing these Ten Utterances: “When these letters came forth, they were all refined, carved precisely, sparkling, flashing. All of Israel saw the letters flying through space in every direction, engraving themselves on the tablets of stone.”⁴

In the eighteenth century, the movement called Hasidism arose in Eastern Europe. It was led by Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov or Master of the Good Name. There had existed other Baal Shems or Masters of the Name before Israel ben Eliezer. The title alludes to mastery of the ability to combine and permutate the letters of God’s holy name for the purposes of healing and blessing. The Baal Shem Tov taught a joyful, accessible form of mysticism. Rejecting the legalistic approach of traditional rabbinical Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov and his followers emphasized the power of simple, heartfelt prayer. This attitude is reflected in teaching stories regarding the Aleph Beit.

In one of them, a poor Jewish farmer was riding his horse into town to pray at the synagogue for Yom Kippur. But a heavy fog settled on the countryside and he could not find his way. As darkness fell, he was lost in a forest and was going to spend Yom Kippur night there by himself.

This farmer didn’t have a prayer book. And he didn’t know the prayers by heart. Filled with anguish, he cried out, “Oh, God, what can I do? How can I pray to You?” Then he remembered the alphabet he had learned in his childhood. He said, “I know. I will recite the letters of the Aleph Beit and You, Holy One, You know all the words, You can put the letters together to form the right prayers for Yom Kippur.” So, all that night he repeated the letters over and over.

When the Baal Shem Tov heard about this, he said that not only was this humble prayer pleasing to the Holy One, but its power was so great that many people, even those more learned, had their prayers accepted that Yom Kippur because of the sincerity and purity of this simple farmer’s Aleph Beit.

The attitude that each letter of the Aleph Beit is sacred is shown in the way a Torah scroll is created. Every Torah is handwritten. Not a single letter can be missing, erased or smudged, nor may any letter touch another. If so, the whole scroll is considered invalid.

Jiri Langer writes in Nine Gates to the Hasidic Mysteries, “When a book is so badly torn that it cannot be used, the caretaker takes it to the cemetery and buries it. Even the smallest scrap of paper with Hebrew characters printed on it must not be left lying about on the floor, or trodden on; it must be buried. For every Hebrew letter is a name of God.”⁵

For centuries, Jewish mystics, and some Christian ones, too, have turned to these “names of God” for guidance and inspiration. For centuries, people have meditated upon the letters and reflected on their special powers. By trying to become more intimate with the building blocks of creation, these spiritual seekers hoped to become more intimate with the Creator. The Baal Shem Tov taught, “Enter into every letter with all your strength. God dwells in each letter and as you enter it, you become one with God.”⁶

Inspiring the Language: Breath and the Absence of Vowels in Ancient Hebrew

The Hebrew letters represent consonant sounds only. The vowels are filled in by the breath of the reader. In modern Hebrew, vowels are indicated by symbols inserted above, below, or beside the consonants.

Reading ancient Hebrew is thus a profoundly interactive experience. The language comes fully alive only when spoken aloud. David Abram writes, “The Hebrew letters and texts were not sufficient unto themselves; in order to be read, they had to be added to, enspirited by the reader’s breath.”⁷

Not only does the reader inspire the text through his or her breath, the absence of written vowels compels the reader to actively engage with the text to decide which vowels to choose to insert. Abram continues, “There was no single, definitive meaning; the ambiguity entailed by the lack of written vowels ensured that diverse readings, diverse shades of meaning, were always possible.”⁸

Despite — or because of — this ambiguity, ancient Hebrew retains a powerful eloquence. In the introduction to his translation of Genesis, Stephen Mitchell writes, “[Ancient Hebrew’s] dignity comes from its supreme simplicity. It is a language of concision and powerful earthiness, austere in its vocabulary, straightforward in its syntax, spare with its adjectives and adverbs — a language that pulses with the energy of elemental human truths.”⁹

Divination in Judaism: Abomination or Source of Guidance?

Divination has been viewed ambivalently throughout Jewish history. On the one hand, there is the strong injunction in Deuteronomy: “Among you, there shall not be found anyone who passes his son or daughter through fire, who practices stick divination, who divines auspicious times, who divines by omens, who practices witchcraft, who uses incantations, who consults mediums and oracles, or who attempts to communicate with the dead. Anyone involved in these practices is repulsive to God, and it was because of repulsive practices such as these that God your Lord is driving out [these nations] before you. You must [therefore] remain totally faithful to God your Lord.”¹⁰

On the other hand, Jewish people have continuously practiced various forms of divination. In the days of the Temple, the high priest consulted the Urim and Thummim, the oracular “breastplate of judgment.”¹¹ After the fall of the Temple, the Urim and Thummim were lost, but many other divinatory practices remained popular among the common people.

Rabbis from Talmudic times onwards, acknowledging this abiding, ancient, and widespread human tendency, and trying to reconcile it with the decree from Deuteronomy, developed a distinction between “divination” and “signs.” They considered it improper to try to foretell or influence the future through magical means, which they labeled “divination,” but acceptable to attempt to deepen one’s understanding or ask for divine guidance from “signs.” In many cases, this distinction was more semantic than practical. The Encyclopaedia Judaica reports, “The distinction between divination and signs is sometimes so fine as to be almost imperceptible.”¹²

The Hebrew word for “letter” also means “sign” and, for hundreds of years, Jewish mystics have consulted the signs of the Aleph Beit as a means to deepen insight. Abraham Abulafia, for example, wrote in the thirteenth century that “the letters are without question the root of all wisdom and knowledge, and they themselves are the substance of prophecy. In a prophetic vision, they appear as if they were solid bodies, actually speaking to the individual.”¹³

A New Oracle of Kabbalah and Divination

A New Oracle of Kabbalah can serve as an oracle and a means of divination. One definition of “oracle” is “an authoritative or wise expression or answer.” It comes from the Latin word meaning “to speak.” It is appropriate that these letters “speak” to us as they are the written representatives of human speech, and in Jewish thought, they are also the agents by which God’s speech calls all things into being. Listening to the oracle of these letters, therefore, can be an entryway into hearing the word, the song, of Creation.

There are two basic definitions of the word “divination.” The first is: “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, usually by means of augury or by the aid of supernatural powers.” The second meaning of divination is “unusual insight or intuitive perception.” This latter definition is the one intended with respect to A New Oracle of Kabbalah.

The letters, in other words, don’t foretell future events and don’t rely on supernatural powers. They will, however, show considerations to keep in mind as you weigh possible courses of action. Allow the letters to activate your insight and intuitive perception, and they will serve as a kind of divining rod, leading you to currents of thought and life lying below the surface of things. “Look at these holy letters with truth and belief,” Abraham Abulafia wrote seven hundred years ago, “[it] will awaken the heart to thoughts of godly and prophetic images.”¹⁴

A New Oracle of Kabbalah makes some of the power of the Hebrew letters accessible and practical to contemporary people. The book can be a valuable and enjoyable way for modern readers to enter into the profound world of these letters. Knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary. The main requirements are a curious mind, a receptive heart, and a playful, even childlike, spirit.

A New Oracle of Kabbalah represents merely an introduction into the depths of the Hebrew alphabet. Many other books explore the subject much more completely. Please see the bibliography for suggestions for more in-depth study.

The Art of Consulting A New Oracle of Kabbalah

To use the letters as a means of divination, buy or create your own deck of Hebrew letter cards. (See page xi.) Then, formulate your question, choose one or more cards depending on the kind of “spread” you are using, and see the potential paths and lessons to be learned that the letter reveals. As mentioned above, ot, the word for “letter” in Hebrew (which begins with the first letter of the Aleph Beit and ends with the last) also means “sign” or “symbol” or “miracle.”

The Book of Isaiah says, “Ask for a letter [a sign] of the Holy One. Ask it either in the depth below or in the height above.”¹⁵ The intention, or kavanah, you have in asking is crucial. As you uplift or deepen your kavanah, the response of the cards will touch you that much more highly or deeply.

I have noticed that when one consults the Oracle in a frivolous way, without thinking of a heartfelt question beforehand and without approaching the letters respectfully and prayerfully, the results seem less relevant or clear.

The basic way to use the Oracle is to become quiet for a few minutes and enter into a receptive, meditative attitude. Take three slow, deep breaths from the belly. Formulate a question for which you seek the guidance of the Aleph Beit. Avoid “yes” or “no” questions. A good generic question is, “What perspective on this matter can the letters provide?”¹⁶ Pray for inspiration and receptivity.

Once you’ve taken sufficient time to formulate an earnest inquiry, keeping your question in mind, shuffle the cards and spread them face down on a table or in your hand.

In helping people use the Oracle for divination and self-discovery, I have observed that often there is a question beneath the original question. The response of the letters can help uncover that deeper question. Sometimes the response of the Oracle doesn’t seem to be relevant to the initial question. When that happens, see if there is a more fundamental question underlying the original one, and whether the letters that are chosen address that more profound question.

Some good times to consult the Aleph Beit include:

upon first waking up in the morning — to set a theme for the coming day.

after a period of prayer or meditation — to see what additional insights emerge from a place of inner quiet and receptivity.

at sunrise or sunset — to mark the turnings of the day.

at the time of Rosh Chodesh, the new moon — to set a theme for the coming month.

on Shabbos — to focus one’s prayers during this day of rest and renewal.

at Havdalah, the ceremony marking the end of Shabbos and the beginning of the new week — to set a theme for the coming week.

before going to sleep — to welcome the archetypal power of the letters to enter one’s dreams.

before embarking on a journey — to be aware of opportunities for spiritual growth while one is away from home.

Early Kabbalist practitioners reported that after periods of meditating upon the alphabet, the letters came to life and began talking. Others said they saw the letters grow wings and fly from the surface of the page.¹⁷ Even if your experience is less dramatic, perhaps the letters will speak quietly to you.

For those who know Hebrew, the cards can be combined to form words. New insights may be gleaned regarding these words as we see more deeply into the significance of the component letters. The traditional numerical values of each letter are indicated for those with an interest in Gematria, the calculation of the numerical value of Hebrew words and the search for connections with other words or phrases of equal value.

Each chapter begins with a description of the basic meanings associated with that chapter’s letter. It then suggests various ways the energies of the letter might apply to one’s life or inform one’s question. Shadow, or problematic, aspects of the letter are then discussed. Personal comments of the author come next, followed by a chapter summary.

At the end of the summary is a suggested action, a kind of mitzvah for that particular letter. Mitzvah is usually translated as “commandment” or “good deed.” Its root, though, is “connection.” These suggested actions are examples of ways to connect tangibly and practically with the power of each letter. They are certainly not commandments, although in some cases they might inspire good deeds.

Types of Readings and “Spreads”

ONE-CARD READING: SINGLE LETTER, MANY PATHS

The simplest method is to select one card, and discover what sign is revealed to you. Look up the description of that letter in the text and see how the ideas there correspond with or illumine your situation or question. Meditate upon the letter’s associations and also the emotional tone it evokes within you.

Abraham Abulafia advised students to concentrate on the letters “in all their aspects, like a person who is told a parable, or a riddle, or a dream, or as one who ponders a book of wisdom in a subject so profound. . .”¹⁸ Ponder the answer to your question as you would a riddle or a dream.

In your imagination, become the letter. You are not just someone who “chose,” for example, the letter Dalet, which means “door,” you are the door itself, opening up. You are not just a human who happened to pick Gimmel, the symbol of the camel, you are the camel, making your way steadily through a desert. You are not just a person who is reading about Nun, the energy of “fish,” you are the fish itself, swimming through the ever-changing waters of life. Experience the cards in this way and they will speak to you more intimately. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel has written, “The ultimate way is not to have a symbol but to be a symbol, to stand for the divine.”¹⁹

Another way to use the cards is to select one and then meditate upon it, carefully tracing its shape in your mind’s eye and seeing what thoughts, images, feelings, or inspirations come. After doing this, you may choose to refer to the text to see how the ideas there correspond with your own discoveries, or you may simply be content with the fruits of your own meditation.

MULTI-CARD SPREADS

In addition to the single card method of selecting just one card and pondering the layers of interpretation it offers, you can also create “spreads” by choosing more than one card at a time.

Spreads have the potential to provide a fuller, more multidimensional response to your inquiry. They also have the potential to become confusing or overwhelming. I encourage you to experiment with spreads only after you are well familiar with the basic meanings and associations of each letter.

Then, when you are interpreting the results of your spread, you need not read the entire chapter for each letter, but can merely review the chapter summary to get the basic sense of the Oracle’s response, and how the various letters of the spreads relate to each other and respond to your question.

TWO-CARD SPREAD: SACRED MARRIAGE

For this spread, choose one card to represent “masculine,” Yang, direct-action energy. Place it on your right.

Choose a second card to represent “feminine,” Yin, indirect-action energy. Place this card on your left.

The letter of the right hand indicates specific actions that can be helpful in addressing the question you have brought to the spread. What “masculine” qualities would be good for you to internalize and bring into play in the current situation? This letter will help reveal the qualities that lend themselves to direct action.

The letter of the left hand indicates some specific ways that the subtle, receptive power of the feminine’s great abilities of indirect, spirally action can shed light on your question.

Between these two cards, a force field can emerge. This is the “third thing” of the marriage of the masculine and the feminine. As you experience this inner marriage of your male side and your female side as illustrated through the combination of these two letters, perhaps you will receive an inspiration or perspective on your situation that is not wholly revealed by just one side or the other.

It takes the synergy of the two sides to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. What is the new direction revealed to you through this marriage? What new possibilities might be birthed into the world through their combination?

THREE-CARD SPREAD: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Prepare for selecting the cards in the same prayerful and contemplative way you do when selecting a single card.

When you are ready, choose an initial letter to represent elements of the past that are influencing the current situation. These may be habits or circumstances to let go of and release, or to bow down to and thank, or to grieve for. In all cases, we are called to affirm this sign of the past as being the root of the present moment. The letter may also indicate actions that could be helpful in resolving impediments or unknotting entanglements from the past.

Note which letter had been selected, and put that card back in the deck, shuffle the cards again, and choose a second letter to represent the present situation. Or, if you prefer, keep the first letter on the table and choose from the remaining letters.

The second letter drawn gives perspective on the forces at play right now, providing a spiritual snapshot of the current moment. It may also provide hints for actions and attitudes that will help move the situation forward in a positive direction. It gives you your marching orders.

Replace that card in the deck, shuffle the deck, and choose a third letter, or do not replace it and choose from the remaining letters. The third letter is the letter of the future. It indicates the direction the situation is heading, the kind of actions and attitudes that will be called for in the future.

If you choose to replace the cards after each selection and you wind up choosing the same letter for two or even three of these temporal planes, it reinforces the importance of the lessons of that letter. Pay extra close attention. This could indicate a kind of stasis on one hand, and the need to shake things up, or, on the other hand, a unity of past, present, and future that can be celebrated.

FIVE-CARD SPREAD: ANGELS

There is a section of the “Bedtime Shema,” the prayers uttered before going to sleep, that invokes the protection of four angels and the Shechinah, the feminine, in-dwelling aspect of the Divine:

In the name of Ha-shem, the God of Israel,

On my right is Michael, on my left is Gabriel

Before me is Uriel, behind me Raphael

Above me and all around me, Shekinat-El.

For the Angels Spread, prepare to select the cards in the usual, deep, contemplative and prayerful way. Malach, the Hebrew word for “angel,” means “messenger.” What messages do each of these angels have for us?

You can place the selected cards in front of you similar to the other spreads, or, better yet, you can place the cards around your body according to the following directions.

Choose the first card to represent the message of Michael. The name “Michael” means “Who is like God?” or more literally, “Who is like Force?” He is the angel of kindness and expansiveness. Place this card toward your right.

The next letter represents the message of Gabriel, the angel of strength and creating clear borders and boundaries. Gabriel’s name means “Strength of God” or “Strong Force.” Place this card to your left.

The third letter represents the message of Uriel, the angel of light, of vision, inspiration, and of what is dawning. Uriel’s name means “Light of God” or “Light Force.” Place this card directly in front of you, forward of the others.

The fourth letter represents the message of Raphael, the angel of healing. This angel’s name means “Healing of God” or “Healing Force.” Place this card in the center and beneath the others.

The fifth and final letter represents the message of Shechinah, the feminine presence of the Holy, the way that heaven’s energy has come down into your body and is moving in your body and your life right now. Place this card right in the middle of all the others, or hold it overhead or even directly under you.

One way to interpret the Angels Spread is to assume that each letter is the voice of that particular angel or the Shechinah. It is sending you a message, and also singing to you a song of protection. The energies of that letter are communicating to you and watching over you.

The angels might also be showing you areas of your life to cultivate to become more like them. In other words, the letter you select for Michael may point toward ways you can become even more kind and loving within the context of the question or situation you have brought to the Oracle.

The letter for Gabriel might indicate the path for you to take to deepen your expressions of strength and discernment vis-à-vis this situation.

The letter for Uriel could hint at ways of bringing greater vision and enlightenment into your life. This angel leads the way. It represents the sunrise in the east, the dawning of a new day.

The letter for Raphael describes the context of healing, and suggests ways for you to bring healing to the question or matter you are contemplating.

Finally, the letter of the Shechinah indicates fundamental circumstances that are at the very heart of your life and the current situation. You are inundated in the energies of this letter. It is above you, below you, inside you, and all around you. This card is a call to open your heart and take in the spirit and power the letter offers. It will bring transformation.

Have Fun

Whether you are choosing several cards for a spread or just a single card for a basic reading, I encourage you to have fun with these letters. Approach them respectfully, but with a spirit of play, and they will be your friends. May the letters of the Aleph Beit stimulate your mind. May they provide guidance and direction to your actions and speech. May they blaze through your heart like the sound of a shofar. May they help you feel closer to the Great Mystery and to all beings.