Shemhamphorasch

The Shemhamphorasch (a corruption of Hebrew " _he. Shem ha-Mephorash") is an epithet for a 216-letter name of God derived by medieval kabbalists from the book of Exodus, by reading the letters of three verses in a specific order. [ [http://www.kabbalah.com/kabbalah/12.php "72 Names of God,"] at [http://www.kabbalah.com The Kabbalah Centre International] , ©2006 Kabbalah Centre International] The name is composed of 72 groups of three letters, each of these triplets being the name of an angel or intelligence.

In speech and writing the term "Shemhamphorasch" is normally substituted for the actual 72-letter name for brevity, and, as with the epithet "Tetragrammaton", to avoid desecrating the actual name.

Spelling variants include "Shemhamforash", "Shemhamphorae", "Shemhamphorash", "Shemahamphorasch", "Shemhamphoresh", "Shem ha-Mephoresh", "Shem ha-Mephorash", "Shemhamphoresch".

History and Derivation

"Shemhamphorasch" is a corruption of "Shem ha-Mephorash", (Hebrew: "the explicit name", can be also be translated as "interpreted name"). The name itself is derived from Exodus 14:19-21, three verses each composed of 72 letters; by writing these out in boustrophedon form so that the second line is reversed, and grouping the letters in columns of threes (see table below), the names of 72 angels or intelligences or 72 Names of God are formed. [Cornwell, Jim A. (1995), [http://www.mazzaroth.com/Introduction/TheNamesOfGod.htm "The Names of God,"] from "The Alpha and the Omega" - Introduction, at [http://www.mazzaroth.com/ mazzaroth.com] ]

Verses:

: _he. וַיִּסַּע מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלֹהִים הַהֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶם וַיִּסַּע עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן מִפְּנֵיהֶם וַיַּעֲמֹד מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶם׃ :"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:"

: _he. וַיָּבֹא בֵּין ׀ מַחֲנֵה מִצְרַיִם וּבֵין מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיְהִי הֶעָנָן וְהַחֹשֶׁךְ וַיָּאֶר אֶת־הַלָּיְלָה וְלֹא־קָרַב זֶה אֶל־זֶה כָּל־הַלָּיְלָה׃ :"And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them] , but it gave light by night [to these] : so that the one came not near the other all the night."

: _he. וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת־יָדֹו עַל־הַיָּם וַיֹּולֶךְ יְהוָה ׀ אֶת־הַיָּם בְּרוּחַ קָדִים עַזָּה כָּל־הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת־הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה וַיִּבָּקְעוּ הַמָּיִם׃ :"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land] , and the waters were divided."

The arrangement of Hebrew letters (with Roman alphabet transliterations) is as follows:

ee also

*Tetragrammaton
*Gematria

References

External links

* [http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_thoth14.htm About.com Shemhamphorasch]
* [http://www.hermeticgoldendawn.org/Documents/Essays/shemha.html Aaron Leitch's Shem ha-Mephorasch analysis]
* [http://www.tarot.org.il/decans.html Decans at Tarot.org]
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/grim/lks/index.htm "The Lesser Key of Solomon"]
* [http://www.tarot.org.il/Seventy%20Two/ 72 fold name of God at Tarot.org.il]
* [http://www.billheidrick.com/works/mcor.htm Heidrick's Magickal Correspondences]
* [http://www.billheidrick.com/works/tarottbl.htm Heidrick's Tarot]
* [http://www.prs.org/gallery-kabblh.htm PRS Gallery of Kabbalistic Art & Symbols]
* [http://www.occultresource.com/pdfs/shemhamphorash.pdf Detailed Shemhamphorasch]