What is.gematria

Gematria is an ancient mystical system of numbers and letters that have been used throughout history by different cultures and societies. It is believed to have originated in Babylonian and Jewish religious tradition, where words or phrases were assigned numerical values depending on the letter's position in the alphabet. These numerical values then created deeper meaning to associated words or phrases as symbols for hidden knowledge. Gematria has been used for divination, astrology, numerology, magickal rituals, and more.

Traditional gematria is based on the Hebrew alphabet and uses 22 letters with integer values that date back to the times of ancient Hebrew kings. In more modern usages, there are three primary forms of gematria: Jewish Gematria, Greek Isopsephism, and Abjad numerals.

Jewish Gematria is the oldest form of gematria and uses a simple system in which each Hebrew letter is given a number from 1 to 600. This system has mainly been used in Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism as it is believed that hidden messages can be revealed when phrases or names are converted into numbers using this system. The most famous example in Kabbalah of this is the tetragrammaton YHWH which stands for Yahweh or God's name found in Hebrew scriptures and which adds up to 26 if converted into gematria numbers.

Greek Isopsephism is another method used with gematriya and reverses the traditional sequence of assigning number values according to letter order and instead uses a reverse process known as 'isos' (equal) and 'pephem' (name). Here each letter does not necessarily have a specific number but instead every word will be equal in numerical value when added up regardless of what position each letter appears in relative to one another. For example 'Zeus' would be equal to 800 even though Zeus is spelled out with three different letters in Greek because each letter (Ζεὺς) adds up to 800 when added together as a whole: Ζ=7 + Ε=5 + Υ=400 + Σ=388 = 800 .

The third form of Gematriya practiced today is known as Abjad numerals which derive from Arabic texts from before Islam had any influence on Arabic culture. Here each word is assigned an integer based on what letter it starts with rather than adding up combinations of letters like with Isopsephism. For example "Allah" would be equivalent to 8 since 'Aleph' starts with an eight in Abjad numerology - making 'Allah' one single number unit without having two combine two or more into one sum like with Isopsephism or at increments within Hebrew Gematria like Christian symbolist interpretations assign Eucharist parts additional meanings within numeric translation where 1 Corinthians 11:20-2 shows 3 components – bread (X-2), wine (X-3), 5 lighted candles symbolized by 5 hearts – symbolic towards Jesus life passion sacrifice by his grace unto salvation of man etc….

Regardless while all methods produce different results they have all been used throughout history by different cultures as a way to give deeper meaning behind certain words or translate hidden messages that might otherwise not make sense under traditional interpretation alone – especially referencing ancient texts like texts contained within holy bibles between Pagan faiths beside Modern Day State Religions during various forms unto populous political conventional periods timeline accredits too…