Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

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AL-OM-JAH ALPHABET 49
castle College of the " Societas Rosicruciana I writers, are ranged in the heavens in the form
in Anglia," is written on twelve quarto pages ! of letters, and that it is possible to read
as a preface to the minute-book of the " Com- I there whatsoever of importance is to happen
pany and Fellowship of Freemasons of a i throughout the universe. And the great Eng-
Lodge held at Alnwick," where it appears lish Hermetic philosopher, Robert Fludd, says,
under the heading of " The Masons' Constitu- in his Apology for theBrethren of the Rosy Cross,
tions ." The date of the document is September that there are characters in the heavens
29, 1701, " being the general head meeting formed from the disposition of the stars, just
day." It was first published in1871inHughan's' as geometric lines and ordinary letters are
Masonic Sketches and Reprints (Amer, ed .), from points ; and he adds, that those
and again in 1872 by the same author in his I to whom God has granted the hidden knowl-
Otd Charges of the Brztash Freemasons . In this edge of reading these characters will also know
latter work, Bro. Hughan says of the records of not only whatever is to happen, but all the
this old Lodge that, " ranging from 1703 to secrets of philosophy. The letters thus arranged
in the form of stars are called the An-
1757 they mostly refer to indentures, fines,
and initiations, the Lodge from first to last gels' Alphabet. They have the power and
remaining true to its operative origin . The articulation but not the form of the Hebrew
members were required annually to `appear at letters, and the Kabbalists say that in them
the Parish Church of Alnwicke with their Moses wrote the tables of the law. The astrologers,
and after them the alchemists, made
approns on and common squares as aforesaid
on St . John's Day in Christmas, when a sermon
was provided and preached by some tion into any of the high degree rituals is an
much use of this alphabet ; and its introduc-
clergyman at their appointment.' A. D . evidence of the influence exerted on these degrees
by the Hermetic philosophy . Agrippa in
1708 ." The MS. has since been reproduced
in facsimile by the Newcastle College of Rosicrucians
in 1895 .
pus Egyptiacus, and some other writers, have
his Occult Philosophy, and Kircher in his (Edi-
Al-om-Jah. In the Egyptian mysteries, given copies of this alphabet . It may also be
this is said to have been the name given to found in Johnson's Typographia . But it is in
the aspirant in the highest degree as the secret the mystical books of the Kabbalists that we
name of the Supreme Being . In its component
parts we may recognize the ~{\, AL or EL of Alphabet, Hebrew . Nearly all of the sig-
must look for full instructions on this subject .
the Hebrews, the Auras or triliteral name of
the Indian mysteries, and the T' JAS of the
Syrians.
Aloyau, Societe de 1' . The word Aloyau
is the French name for a sirloin of beef and
hence the title of this society in English would
be The Society of the Sirloin . It was a Masonic
association, which existed in France before
the revolution of 178 , until its members were
dispersed at that time. They professed to be
the possessors of many valuable documents
relating to the Knights Templar and, besides,
to be (ActaLatomorum, i ., 292) their successors .
(See Temple, Order of the.)
Alpha and Omega. The first and last letters
of the Greek language, referred to in the
Royal Master and some of the higher degrees .
They are explained by this passage in Revelations,
ch. xxii ., v . 13 . : " I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last ." Alpha and Omega is, therefore,
one of the appellations of God, equivalent
to the beginning and end of all things, and
so referred to in Isaiah xliv . 6, " I am the first
and I am the last."
Alphabet, Angels' . In the old rituals of
the Fourth or Secret Master's Degree of the
Scottish and some other Rites, we find this
passage : " The seventy-two names, like the
name of the Divinity, are to be taken to the
Kabbalistic Tree and the Angels' Alphabet ."
The Kabbalistic Tree is a name given by the
Kabbalists to the arrangement of the ten Sephiroth
(which see) . The Angels' Alphabet is
called by the Hebrews OITh1 X17, chetab
hamalachim, or the writing of the angels . Gaffarel
says (Curios . Inouis . t ch . xiii ., 2) that the
stars, according to the opinion of the Hebrew
nificant words in the Masonic rituals are of
Hebrew origin, and in writing them in the rituals
the Hebrew letters are frequently used .
For convenience of reference, that alphabet is
here given . The Hebrews, like other ancient
nations, had no figures, and therefore made
use of the letters of their alphabet instead of
numbers, each letter having a particular numerical
value. They are, therefore, affixed in
the following table :
Aleph It A 1
Beth B 2
Gimel ] G 3
Daleth "I D 4
He ri H 5
Vau 1 VorO 6
Zain 7 Z 7
Cheth
ri CH 8
Teth
Yod
Caph
Lamed
t9 T 9
I or Y 10
C or K 20
L 30
Mem 7] M 40
Nun ] N 50
Samech b S 60
Ain
y Guttural 70
Pe
D P 80
Tsaddi Y Tz 90
Koph 7 Q or K 100
Resh I R 200
Shin 10 SH 300
Tau rl T 400
Final Caph 1 C or K 500
Final Mem C M 600
Final Nun i N 700
Final Pe P 800
Final Tsaddi y TZ 900