📜 What is Gematria?
The word Gematria (pronounced: geh-MAT-ria) refers to an ancient system of letter-number assignment rooted in the Hebrew, Greek and Arabic traditions. The principle is simple yet profound: every letter of the alphabet receives a fixed numerical value. By adding up the letters of a word, you obtain the numeric signature of that word.
Words with the same numerical value are considered related in meaning or energy. This is no coincidence in the eyes of the Kabbalists and Hermeticists — it is a window onto the hidden structure of reality. Gematria is one of the three classical methods of Kabbalistic scripture study, alongside Notarikon (acronyms) and Temurah (letter permutation).
For the ancient mystics, language and mathematics were inseparable. Every letter was simultaneously a sound, a symbol and a number. The word was not merely a label for a thing — it was the thing, in encoded form.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
— John 1:1This opening verse of the Gospel of John is not only a theological statement — it is a Hermetic principle. The Word (Logos) carries a numeric signature. Creation takes place through language, and language is number. Gematria is the key that unlocks this connection.
🕎 The Hebrew Alphabet & Gematria
The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters — a number that is no coincidence. There are 22 paths on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, 22 Major Arcana in the Tarot, and 22 amino acids encode all proteins in the human body. Each letter has a name, a pictographic meaning and a numerical value.
The values follow a specific pattern: the first nine letters run from 1 to 9, the next nine from 10 to 90, and the last four from 100 to 400. This threefold system mirrors the three worlds of the Kabbalah: the world of creation, formation and manifestation.
| Letter | Name | Meaning | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Alef | Ox / leader | 1 |
| ב | Bet | House | 2 |
| ג | Gimel | Camel | 3 |
| ד | Dalet | Door | 4 |
| ה | He | Window | 5 |
| ו | Vav | Hook / nail | 6 |
| ז | Zayin | Sword | 7 |
| ח | Chet | Fence | 8 |
| ט | Tet | Serpent | 9 |
| י | Yod | Hand | 10 |
| כ | Kaf | Palm of hand | 20 |
| ל | Lamed | Ox goad | 30 |
| מ | Mem | Water | 40 |
| נ | Nun | Fish | 50 |
| ס | Samech | Support | 60 |
| ע | Ayin | Eye | 70 |
| פ | Pe | Mouth | 80 |
| צ | Tsade | Fishhook | 90 |
| ק | Qof | Back of the head | 100 |
| ר | Resh | Head | 200 |
| ש | Shin | Tooth | 300 |
| ת | Tav | Cross / mark | 400 |
Note that each letter also represents a pictographic symbol. Alef is the ox — the leading principle, the primal force. Bet is the house — the container in which creation takes place. The Torah begins with Bet (ב), not with Alef, because creation starts with a house for existence — a boundlessly subtle mystery that the Kabbalists studied endlessly.
🔢 Famous Gematria Values
Some gematria values have become famous because of their deep theological and mystical significance. Here are the most studied examples from the Hebrew and Greek traditions:
| Word | Letters | Calculation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| YHVH (יהוה) | Yod-He-Vav-He | 10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26 | The Divine Name; connected to the 26 crystallisations of the Tree of Life |
| AHVH (אהוה) | Alef-He-Vav-He | 1 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 17 → 8 | The creative force; "I will be" |
| Iesous (Ιησους) | Greek | = 888 | 8 × 111; symbol of Resurrection and infinity |
| Adam (אדמ) | Alef-Dalet-Mem | 1 + 4 + 40 = 45 | Sum of 1 through 9 = the whole human being |
| Torah (תורה) | Tav-Vav-Resh-He | 400 + 6 + 200 + 5 = 611 | Plus 2 commandments spoken by God = 613 mitzvot |
The number 26 (YHVH) is especially significant. On the Kabbalistic Tree of Life there are exactly 26 combinations of the 10 Sefirot — when you connect each Sefira with every other. The Divine Name is the structure of creation itself, numerically encoded.
Isopsephy
Isopsephy is the Greek equivalent of Gematria. The word comes from isos (equal) and psephos (pebble — the Greeks used pebbles as counting stones). The Greek alphabet follows the same principle: Alpha = 1, Beta = 2, and so on. Thus it was discovered that Iesous (Jesus) has the value 888 — the threefold octave, symbol of resurrection beyond death (which is associated with the number 6).
🔐 Kabbalistic Techniques: Notarikon & Temurah
Besides Gematria, the Kabbalah knows two more classical methods for discovering hidden meanings in sacred texts. Together, these three techniques form the toolkit of the Kabbalist for reading through the veil of the letter.
Notarikon: The Art of the Acronym
Notarikon (from the Latin notarius, shorthand writer) is the technique in which the first or last letters of each word in a sentence together form a new word — or conversely: a single word is read as the initial letters of an entire sentence.
The most famous example: the first word of the Bible, Bereishit (בראשית, "In the beginning"), can be read through Notarikon as: "In the beginning God saw that Israel would accept the Torah." The entire creation story, summarised in a single word.
Temurah: Letter Permutation
Temurah (literally: "exchange") is a system of letter substitutions. The best-known system is Atbash: the first letter of the alphabet is swapped with the last, the second with the second-to-last, and so on. Alef ↔ Tav, Bet ↔ Shin, Gimel ↔ Resh, and so forth.
A fascinating biblical example: in Jeremiah 25:26 a mysterious land called "Sheshach" (ששך) is mentioned. Apply the Atbash system and Sheshach is revealed as... Babel (בבל). The prophet encoded the name of the enemy within the text itself — a secret script that only initiates could read.
Notarikon
Acronyms of sacred words. One word contains an entire sentence. The first letters of a passage form a hidden message — a vertical reading through the horizontal text.
Temurah
Letter permutation through systems such as Atbash, Albam and Atbach. Transforms words into their "mirror image" — revealing the shadow side of the text.
🔗 Further Reading
The themes closely connected to Gematria are explored in depth in other lessons of this module:
The Tree of Life & Sefirot
The Kabbalistic Tree of Life with its 10 Sefirot and 22 paths — the cosmic diagram that connects numbers, letters and gematria. See Lesson 2.9.
Master Numbers & Cycles
Special numbers such as 40, 108, 137 and 666 — cosmic constants that appear in sacred texts and science. See Lesson 2.5.
Numbers in World Traditions
The Arabic Abjad, Egyptian-Hermetic tradition (Thoth, Ogdoad, Ennead) and more. See Lesson 2.11.
Gematria in Practice
- Calculate the gematria value of your name using the Pythagorean system (A=1, B=2, C=3... I=9, J=1, K=2... S=1, T=2... Z=8). Add up all letters and reduce to a single digit.
- Look for words or names that share the same value as your name. What connections do you discover? What layers of meaning open up?
- Apply Notarikon to a word that is meaningful to you. For each letter, think of a word that starts with that letter and write a sentence. What hidden message reveals itself?
📋 Summary: What You Have Learned
Letters are Numbers
Gematria reveals hidden connections between words sharing the same numerical value. The "coincidental" equality of numerical values points to a deeper kinship in meaning and cosmic energy.
Three Kabbalistic Keys
Gematria (numerical value), Notarikon (acronyms) and Temurah (letter permutation) together form the toolkit of the Kabbalist for reading through the veil of the letter.
Isopsephy: Greek Mirror
The Greek equivalent of Gematria demonstrates that the same numerical wisdom was independently discovered in multiple traditions — from YHVH (26) to Iesous (888).
Module 2 of 14