The Ineffable Word.

similarity of rites , the same sacred name is said to 3 iai * e been used as a pass-word for the purpose of gaining admission to their mysteries . In the Brahminie mysteries of Hindostaiithe ceremony of initiation was terminated by intrusting the aspirant with the sacredtriliteral naniewhich was Aimthe

, , , three letters of which were symbolic of the creative , preservative , and destructive principles of the Supreme Deity , personified in the three manifestations of Brahma , Sii * a , and Vishnu . This word was forbidden to be pronounced aloud . It was to be the subject of silent meditation to the pious . Hindu .

In the rites of Persia an ineffable name was also communicated to the candidate after his initiation . Mithras , the principal divinity in these rites , who took the place of the Hebrew Jehovah , and represented the sun , hacl this peculiarity in his name , that the numeral value of tlie letters of which it was composed amounted to precisely 365 , the number of days which constitute a

revolution of the earth around the sun , or , as they then supposed , of the sun around the earth . In the mysteries introduced by Pythagoras into Greece , we again find the ineffable name of the Hebrews , obtained doubtless hy the Samian Sage during his visit to Babylon . The symbol adopted by him to express it was , however , somewhat different , being ten points distributed in the form of a triangle , each side containing fom- points , as in the annexed figure .

• The apex of the triangle was consequently a single point , then followed • below tivo others , then three , ancl m # lastly , the base consisted of four . These points were , by the number in • . each rank , intended , according to the Pythagorean systemto denote

-, respec tively the monad or active principle of nature , the dtutd or passive principle , the triad , or world emanating from their union , and the qitarterniad , or intellectual science ; the Avhole number of points amounting to ten , the symbol of perfection . and consummation . This figure was called bPythagorasthe tetraclgs—a word

equivay , lent in signification to the tetragrammaton , and it ivas deemed so sacred that on it the oath of secrecy and fidelity was administered to the aspirants in the Pythagorian rites .

Among , the Scandinavians , as among tlie Jewish Kabbalists , the Supreme God who was made known in their mysteries hacl twelve names , of which the principal and most sacred one was Alfiuler , the Universal Father . - Among the Druids , the sacred name of Gocl was Hit , a name . ivhich , although it is supposed , by Bryant , to have been intended by them for Noahwill be recognised

, as one of the modifications of the Hebrew tetragrammaton . It is , in fact , the masculine pronoun in Hebrew , and may be considered as the symbolization of the male , or generative , principle in nature—a sort . of modification of the system of Phallic worship . This sacred name among the Druidsreminds me of

, what is the latest , and undoubtedl y the most philosophical , speculation on the true meaning , as well as pronounciation , of the-ineffable tetragrammaton . It is from the ingenious mind of the celebrated Lanci , and I have already , in another ivork , given it to the public as I received it from his pupil , ancl my friend , Mr . Gliddon , the

distinguished archaeologist . But the results are too curious to » be ommitted Avhenever the tetragrammaton is discussed . In another article , I have very fully alluded to the prevailing sentiment among the ancients , that the j 'Supreme Deity was bisexual , or hermaphrodite , inchid- '

ing in the essence of his being the male and female principles , the generative and prolific powers of nature . This was the universal doctrine in all the ancient religions , and was very naturally developed in the symbol of the jrfialltts and cteis among the Greeks , and in the corresponding one of tlie Ungam and ijoni among the Orientalists ; from ivhich symbolsthe masonic point

, within a circle is a legitimate derivation . They all taught that God , the Creator , was both male and female . NOAV , tliis theory is undoubtedly imobjeetionoble . on the score of orthodoxy , if we view it in the spiritual sense , in which its first propounders must necessarily have intended it to be presented to the mind * and not

, in the gross , sensual meaning in which it was subsequently received . For , taking the word sex , not in its ordinary and colloquial signification , as denoting the indication of a particular physical organization , but in that purely philosophical one AA'hich alone can be used in such a connection , and which simply signifies the mere

manifestation of a poiver , it is not to be denied that the Supreme Being must possess in himself , and in himself alone , both a generative and a prolific power . Tin ' s idea , AA'hich was so extensively prevalent among all the nationsof antiquity , has also been traced in the tetragrammaton .. or name of Jehovah , with singular ingenuity , by Lanci ,.

and , ivhat is almost equally as interesting , he has , by this discovery , been enabled to demonstrate what was , in all probability , the true pronunciation of the word . In giving the details of this philological discovery , 1 will endeavour , to make it as comprehensible as it can be made to those who are not critically acquainted with the construction of the Hebrew language ; those who are , irill at orme apjireeiate its peculiar character , and will excuse the explanatory details , of course unnecessary to them .

The ineffable name , the tetragrammaton , the shem hamphorash—for it is known by all these appellationsconsists of four letters , god , lieli , van , and heh , forming the word mrr . This word , of course , in accordance with the genius of the Hebrew language , is read , as we would say , backward , or from right to left , beginning Avith god ,. [¦»] and ending with heh \ f \ .

, Of these letters , the first , yocl [>] , is equivalent to the-English i pronounced as e in the word ¦ machine . The second and fourth letter , heh [ n ] , is an aspirate ,, and has here the sound of the English h . Ancl the third letter , rem [ i ] , has the sound of open o .. Nowreading these four letters > or Iri or IIor 0 .

, , , , , and n or II , as the Hebrew requires , from right to 'left ,, we have the word run ' , equivalent in English to IH-OH , which is really as near to theprommciation as ive can well come , notwithstanding it forms neither of the seven ways in which the word is saicl to have been pronounced ,, at different times by the patriarchs .

But , thus pronounced , the word gives its no meaning , for there is no such word in Hebrew as z 7 < o /<; and , as all the Hebrew names were significative of something , it is but fairot conclude that this was not the original pronunciation , and that we miist look for another which will give a meaning to tlie word . NoivLanci proceeds to the

dis-, covery of this true pronunciation , as follows : In the Kabbala , a hidden meaning is often deduced from a word by transposing or reversing its letters , and ' it was in this way that the Kabbalists concealed many of then * mysteris .

Noiv , to reverse a word in English is to read its letters : from ri ght to left , because our normal mode of reading is from ' left lo right . But in Hebrew the contrary rules takes place , for there the normal mode of reading is = from right to left ; and therefore , to reverse the reading , of a word , is to read it from left to ri ght . .