Monday, January 14, 2013

Expanding Our Knowledge

My brother-in-law practiced the Kabbalah for many years and taught me a little bit about his faith. One of the things I remember distinctly, were the basic alchemical symbols which resonated deeply with me. The simple fact that they represent the four elements of fire, water, earth and air made a lot of sense to me. For example, take note how when these individual triangles are combined, they make  The Seal of Solomon also known as The Star of David in the traditional Jewish religion.


 
Fire
Water

Earth

 
 Air


It is also interesting to note that not only was the six-pointed Jewish Star of David orginally a Pagan symbol known as the Seal of Solomon, but the menorah, which is also associated with the Jewish religion, is often used by many Wiccans (myself included) during esbat rituals. The main reason for this is because of the number "9" which has long been considered a magickal symbol.* The number 9 is the only digit which always comes back to itself. For example, 9 x 9 = 81; this sum broken down is 8 + 1 = 9; 9 x 5 = 45; 4 + 5 = 9, and so forth.





Although my faith is and always has been Wiccan, to me, one of the most beautiful things about Wicca is its' open-mindedness and willingness to learn from others. It is not solely a matter of education; however, it is also a case of appreciating eachothers' differences - whatever our heritage.


 *Reference taken from the book, "The Sabbats" by Edain McCoy
at

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 January, 2013 14:13

    This is very informative, thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Magic Love Crow14 January, 2013 17:25

    Kim, this is very interesting! Thank you for sharing! I never new anything about this! I always learn something from you ;o) Hugs ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Year of the Rat16 January, 2013 00:06

    There is a lot to read here. I'll start with the Green Man, as there was a pub with that name I use to frequent. Blessed be.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous28 January, 2013 09:08

    Those symbols are great and simple enough to remember. To me the Star of David represents our connectivity with the Divine. Wow, and thanks for the insight on the number 9. There is so much interesting about our perception of mathematics.

    ReplyDelete