Letter			Name	Spelt	Value	Transliterated	Representing	Also Meaning	Tarot/ Qabalah
Square	Script	Rashi
			Alef	ALPh	1	A, ’ (silent)	ox (head)	thousand, clan, cattle;  to learn, teach, train, tame	0, fool (youth);  AIR
			Bheth, Beth	BYTh	2	Bh (V), B	house	household, stanza, 2000?	1, magician (builder);  Mercury, life & death
			Gimel	GYML	3	G, Gh	camel	3000?	2, high priestess (virgin);  Moon, peace & strife
			Daleth	DLTh	4	D, Dh (hard Th)	door	page of scroll, first half of verse	3, empress (mother);  Venus,  wisdom & folly
			He	HA	5	H	window	lo, behold, this, and	4, emperor (father, sight);  Aries
			Vav	VV	6	V, W	peg, hook, yoke?		5, hierophant (revelation, hearing);  Taurus
			Zayin	ZYN	7	Z	dagger		6, lovers (ego & id);  Gemini
			Cheth	ChYTh	8	Ch (guttural H)	enclosure, fence		7, chariot (victory, speech);  Cancer
			Teth	TYTh	9	T (palatal)	snake, basket, bale, sieve?, ear?		8, strength (digestion);  Leo
			Yod	YVD	10	Y	hand (open)		9, hermit (union, touch);  Virgo
			Khaf, Kaf	KPh	20, 500 (final)	Kh, K	fist (grasping), palm of hand	sole of foot, spoon, cave, vault, curve	10, wheel of fortune (periodicity);  Jupiter, wealth & poverty
			Lamed	LMD	30	L	ox whip	to learn, study, teach, train;  study, learning;  studied, deduced, defined	11, justice (balance);  Libra
			Mem	MM	40, 600 (final)	M	water	seas	12, hanged man (submission);  WATER
			Nun	NVN	50, 700 (final)	N	fish (head), water serpent?	to sprout, grow	13, death (liberation);  Scorpio
			Samekh	SMKh	60	S (emphatic)	tent-post, pillar, foundation	support; to support, lean, ordain	14, temperance (control (anger));  Sagittarius
			’Ayin	OYN	70	O, ’, ’A, Ñ? (silent)	eye	source, spring, ring, hole, sight	15, devil (senses, mirth);  Capricorn
			Phe, Pe	PA	80, 800 (final)	Ph (F), P	mouth (for speech)		16, tower (fallacy);  Mars, grace (beauty) & sin
			Tsadi	TsDY	90, 900 (final)	Ts, Tz, J	fishhook, scythe?, bow?		17, star (experience, thought); Aquarius
			Qof	QVPh	100	Q	back of head	monkey, ape, eye of needle,  hole for axe handle	18, Moon (sleep);  Pisces
			Resh	RYSh	200	R	head (face)	to be poor; poverty	19, Sun (reason);  Sun, fruitfulness & sterility
			Shin, Sin	ShYN	300	Sh, S	teeth, fang?		20, judgement (regeneration);  FIRE
			Thav, Tav	TV	400	Th, T	mark	sign, musical note, postage stamp	21, world (return);  Saturn, dominion & slavery

Notes.

All of these 22 characters are consonants. (There are also 16 vowels, indicated by dots and lines dancing around the consonants.)

The number of consonants is augmented by 5 alternative forms (Bh/B, Kh/K, Ph/P, S/Sh, Th/T), a dot indicating the less aspirate sound, and by 5 final forms (for Kh, M, N, Ph, Ts).

Many of the representations are presumed from those of Old Hebrew, Aramaic, or Phoenician forms, as the Modern Hebrew forms are much more abstract. Many of the original forms themselves derive from Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabets, probably their hieratic forms.

Kabbalistic origin: The spirit of the name (ShAM) gave rise to ALPh as air, out of which came MM as water, out of which came ShYN as fire; these are the 3 mother letters. Then were made the 7 doubles (aspirate/unaspirate) to correspond with the heavenly spheres, and then the 12 simples that correspond to the zodiacal months. [GYML, DLTh, and RYSh were apparently originally doubles. And as ShYN hovers between being a mother and a double, QVPh is both double and simple.]

Note that 22 letters divided by 7 doubles is a close approximation of pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and that 22 plus 7 (plus Q's share of the moon's sphere) is the number of days in a lunar month.

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