Beth

B
Cut out and color your letter Beth a bright, clear, pure yellow. You may, if you so desire,
color the surrounding space the opposite color, violet.

Beth is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In fact, the Hebrew name for their
alphabet (compare with the Greek alpha-beta) is alefbeit (Aleph-Beth). The letter name
Beth means "house". Beth is the first part of the city name, Bethlehem, which means
"house of bread".

The building of houses was an important part of the mystery teachings. These ideas are
still carried on by such groups as the Freemasons. The placement of a house upon the
land so as to ideally utilize the energies of nature is a mystery at the basis of the
Chinese art of Feng Shui. The construction of the foundation and structure of the house
utilizes geometry, engineering and many other applications of science.

Beth is one of the seven “double” letters, six of which had both a percussive and an
aspirated pronunciation in ancient Hebrew. These six are Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph,
Peh and Tav. Only Beth, Kaph and Peh have two distinct pronunciations in modern
Hebrew. Resh is also a double letter, but unlike the other six, it is not written with a
dagesh, a dot in the middle of the letter.

Written with a dagesh, Beth B@ is pronounced percussively as in bet. Beth is

pronounced much like the English word bait. Without the dot, Beth B is pronounced
more aspirated and softly like the v in vet. Pronounce Beth without the dagesh like vait.

To each of the double letters is assigned a pair of opposites. To Beth is assigned the
pair of opposites, Life and Death. The powers of consciousness that Beth represent can
equally produce creation or destruction. They can increase your sense of being alive or

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snuff it out; reducing your life to a mere reflection of your cultural indoctrination with near
to no individuality.

Beth is the 12th path of wisdom. To this path is ascribed the Intelligence of
Transparency. This indicates that what Beth represents is a state of consciousness that
connects with something higher and allows it to pass through and reach something
lower. Beth is like a magnifying lens in the sunlight, focusing the light to an intense,
even burning point. Indeed Beth represents the mental capacity to focus or concentrate.
Beth is also like a transformer, receiving high-tension energies and stepping them down
for use at lower energy levels.

The Jewish mystical teaching is that God created humans so S/He could have a
dwelling place in the "lower reality", the physical plane. Humans are the house of God.
"They shall build me a Temple and I will dwell in them." Note that God does not dwell in
"it" (a physical house or Temple built of wood or stone) but in "them" - in all of us.
Traditional Judaism defines this house as the "people of Israel". We may "expand" this
meaning to include all humanity. The name "Israel" literally means "He shall rule as
God" and this "he" is Adam EDA, generic humanity. (And that means you and me – all
of us.)

This is our destiny. The God within us shall eventually take the reins of personality and
direct it to fulfill God's purpose. Note that this process involves us "building a Temple",
an adytum, a holy place within our physical body. While we seem to ourselves to be
separate beings, our work is to exert ourselves to build and enter into this inner Temple
where all of God is one. In another sense, we build the Temple, invite God to come in,
dwell there, and "run the show".

"...the land of Israel will in the future spread out to all the lands of the earth." We must
be very careful when we interpret such sayings. Those caught up in literal
interpretations may think that this means that the country of Israel will conquer the other
countries of the world. Such interpretations lead to the politics of war. Those who seek
the inner meaning of this saying will see that what is meant is that every individual
human being throughout the world will eventually be a living Temple of God. It does take
"ages", but we all will make it. None shall be left out.

There is a sense in which each letter is the opposite of the preceding and the following
letter. Aleph is the ox, an animal, which lives outdoors. Beth is the house, the structure
that defines the space, which is "indoors". Aleph is an animal. Beth is the place where
humans live. The sound of the first two letters also are opposite in quality. When you
speak the letter Aleph, the sound is nearly silent, like a whispered "ah". The sound of
Beth is percussive like a drum beat.

Beth B is shaped like a boat with a sail. Rabbi Ginsburgh says that it is made up of

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three Vavs V, is nearly square in shape, and is open to the left, which is the North side.
He says that the other three directions are the three positive qualities in every soul:
modesty, mercy and kindness. North is the direction of greatest darkness. It is said that
evil enters from the North but also that “Gold cometh from the North”. Toward the North
we must face our temptations and show courage to overcome them. Great power
comes from the North when we can meet its trials with success; when we can overcome
our evil inclinations. North is the direction of the element of earth. The temptation North
offers is the enjoyment of inertia, sloth and laziness. Unless some painful limitation,
sorrow, or pain goads us, we tend to just sit there content in the darkness.

The ancient form of Beth was an arrowhead. An arrowhead is at the tip of an arrow. The
arrow is aimed toward the chosen target and then propelled thereto where the
arrowhead cuts into the target and thereby affixes it there. The meaning of Beth
includes both focus or aim and cutting (or piercing).

In Astrology, Beth corresponds to the planet Mercury. Mercury is the “swift, winged-
footed messenger of the gods”. Again we have the idea that what Beth represents
stands (or flies) between “the gods” on high and “the mortals” below. Mercury (or
Hermes as the Greeks called him) represents the self-conscious awareness, the
thinking mind. The planet Mercury C is the ruler of the astrological signs of Gemini c
and Virgo f. Gemini rules the body parts of the shoulders, arms, hands and lungs.

Hidden in this astrological attribution of Mercury’s rulership of Gemini are important

secrets of the Great Work. Mercury refers to conscious focus, to mental concentration.
To complete the Great Work, we need to consciously focus upon the lungs (Gemini) and
practice regular smooth deep breathing. In combination with this, we need to
consciously invite the subtle energies (Ruach, spirit) in the air to be absorbed and
concentrated in much greater quantities than normally occur in the blood. This is one
way that we prepare the “Temple of Adonai” (our bodies) for the reception of our angel,
for our Higher Self to enter. This is a vital process in putting the “Lord and King back
upon his throne”. Note that in medicine, the volume of the lungs is referred to as the
“vital capacity”.

The second sphere of the Tree of Life, Chokmah Amkh, Wisdom, the divine Father,
has a correspondence with Beth, which is the number 2. Who is God the Father? One of
His names in Hebrew is Ab, Aleph-Beth BA. We have now been introduced to and
have begun our study of these two letters. Aleph is the number one and Beth is the
number 2. So, Ab is 1 + 2 = 3. This is the "simplest" word with the smallest number sum.
As Hebrew is read from right to left, Ab can be read as "Aleph expressing through Beth".
Aleph is superconsciousness. Beth is self-consciousness. God the Father BA is
superconsciousness expressing through self-awareness.

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Ab is one of the names of God assigned to Chokmah, Wisdom, the second sphere of
the Tree of Life, the sphere of the divine Father. It is in this sphere that the One steps
away, as it were, from Itself in Kether, the Crown, the first sphere; "turns around" and
perceives itself from a separate perspective. From this vantage point, the
undifferentiated "I am" of Kether knows itself for the first time. It experiences the
superconsciousness of divinity of Kether through the "lens" of the divine self-awareness
of Chokmah. In us, when Aleph expresses through Beth, our personal self-
consciousness, then we are "one with the Father".

Kether is sphere 1. Chokmah is sphere 2 of the Tree of Life. The number 1 in Hebrew is
Aleph. 2 is Beth. In ancient pictures of the Tree of Life, the sphere of Kether contains an
Aleph (1) and Chokmah contains a Beth (2). And, as we have learned, Aleph is the path
connecting Kether to Chokmah. Aleph is the "scintillating intelligence". So the divine
Father is the One I am that is all this (Kether) flashing out through the path of Aleph into
the sphere of divine self-awareness (Chokmah). All this and much more is "hidden" in
this simplest of Hebrew words, Ab BA.

So, on the Tree of Life, the pathway of Beth connects Kether, the Crown to Binah,
Understanding, the divine Mother. And since Beth is the number 2, Beth corresponds
also with the second sphere of the Tree of Life, Chokmah. Beth represents self-
consciousness awareness in the individual. Chokmah is the self-consciousness of deity.

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Beth emanates from Kether to Binah, the sphere of the Divine Mother. Binah is the
power that the Hindus call “Maya”, the great deceiver, the creator of illusion. In order to
manifest finite creation, the divine Mother weaves a web of “seeming” separation. Within
this web, it appears as if all things are separate, one from another. Beth is the letter
pathway that stands in between “this and that”; between the indivisible One Self in
Kether and the principle of separation and manifestation in Binah. And Beth is the first
letter of HNIB, Binah.

The One is and remains indivisible. And yet, through the power of Its Binah aspect, It
generates the appearance of separateness and thereby makes the whole manifest
world possible. Such is the magic of the divine Mother principle. Yes, in a cosmic sense,
the whole world we perceive is based upon an illusion. Yet it is within this illusion that
we live, move and have our being – for a long while. We, and all things, are God “putting
on a robe of flesh to come down”.

On the Cube of Space, Beth is the Above face. The conscious mind resides
symbolically above, looking down upon reality. The conscious mind looks at the world
around as if separate, from a perspective. It is the nature of the conscious mind to divide
reality via its perception into subject, object, and interaction between the two. The
conscious mind is the “slayer of the real”, dividing the unity into separate parts and
giving them each names. The conscious mind is like a microscope. It is a wonderful tool
for observing and classifying individual parts. It can focus upon individual details with
great precision.

The conscious mind is also symbolically above because among the personal powers of
consciousness, it is the leader, the director, the boss, the helmsman, the captain. And
though it is the director at the personal level, it is also the transparent channel of the
superconsciousness represented by the previous letter, Aleph A. It’s highest function is

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to be aware of and transmit the light of superconsciousness. Thus it is referred to as
“self-consciousness”. It’s highest office or work is to be conscious of the true self
“above” and to transmit that to the below.

In Genesis, Adam is given the task of naming the animals. That is what the conscious
mind does – observes separate entities and gives them names to classify them. Adam
EDA not only represents all of humanity but also symbolically represents the powers
of the conscious mind.

Qabalah gives us the keys to the mystical interpretation of the Old Testament. Those
who only consider the literal meaning of these scriptures miss the hidden inner
meaning, contact with which vivifies our inner life and lights the inner fire. Let's begin our
study at the beginning (Genesis 1:1).

Creation begins with the letter Beth. The first letter of Genesis is a big Beth. The first
letter of the second word of Genesis is also Beth. Here is Genesis 1:1:

.*RAH XAV ,EIMWH XA ,EIHLA ARB XIWARB

From right to left, Genesis 1:1 is Berashit bara Elohim et ha-Shamaim ve-et ha-Aretz.
In the beginning, God (the Elohim) creates (literally "cuts apart") the Heavens and the
Earth. Beth partakes of this quality of "cutting apart". Creation begins by the act of
dividing the pre-existing unity into separate parts. Creation is the generation of a house
in which "He shall rule as God". In this created world of time and space, it takes time,
eons, for the individual souls to "inherit the Kingdom" and fully bring Heaven down into
Earth.

There is a traditional teaching that states that Beth as the first letter of the Torah
indicates that there are two Torahs; the written and the oral versions.

We have studied the letters Tav and Aleph. Note the word used twice in Genesis 1:1
that consists of these two letters, namely "et", spelled Aleph-Tav XA. Et means "the",
"the very substance of", "out of" and indicates a direct object; the recipient of actions
exerted upon it. Et, Aleph-Tav is the alpha-omega of Hebrew, the highest and the
lowest, the beginning and the end co-joined. The root of Et is the Egyptian "Ut" from
which we derive the word uterus. From the dark mysterious womb of the Ain, the No-
Thing, the whole Tree of Life emerges. All that is, is cut out of the very substance of
God. Grammatically, Et is used before direct objects and when used in this way, it is not
translated at all.

There is so much in this first verse of Genesis, enough to study for years and still
receive continual revelations. Another example: The word for Heaven, Shamaim,

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consists of Shin W, the twenty-first letter which, means "fire" and Maim EIM, the letter

name for Mem M, the 13th letter which means “water”. So creation begins when the

Elohim cut Heaven (fire and water) apart from Earth. And the end X destiny of creation

is inherent in and co-joined with the beginning A. The highest will express perfectly in
the lowest. The united fire and water will express through earth. Where we now perceive
individual, personal existence, God/dess will perfectly manifest.

One more: The letters of Berashith XIWAR B, may be rearranged into two words:
Beth XIB and Rash WAR, “house” and “head”. The Great Work consists of getting
the head (a name for Kether, the first sphere of the Tree of Life) into the house (the
individual self-consciousness, also Malkuth, the tenth sphere of the Tree of Life, the
Kingdom, the physical world).

Another rearrangement of the same six letters yields Beth XIB and Asher RWA,
happy, blessed, prosperous; thus “the house of happiness”. A man without a house is
unhappy. A man who dwells in God’s Temple house is the most prosperous, blessed
and happiest of all. And conversely, God may be said to be most happy when S/He can
live in and freely express through the “transparent” individual – the completed house of
God.

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Correspondences:
Beth B
English Equivalent: B or V
Number: 2
Letter Name: XIB, Beth-Yod-Tav: House (412)
As a prefix (be-, ba- or bi-), Beth is a preposition, which means "in, by, at or with"
Other meanings: 2000 (written as a oversized wide Beth)
Pair of Opposites: Life and Death
Color: Yellow
Musical Note: E
Tarot Key: Key 1, The Magician
Chakra: Crown, the “thousand-petaled lotus”, physical correspondence – the pineal
gland
Astrology: The planet Mercury C, ruler of both Gemini c and Virgo f, also exalted in
Virgo f
32 Paths of Wisdom: Beth is the 12th path
Path of the Tree of Life: Beth connects Kether, the Crown to Binah, Understanding
Sphere of the Tree of Life: As Mercury, Beth is related to Hod, Splendor, the eighth
sphere. As the number 2, Beth is related to Chokmah, the second sphere.
Location on the Cube of Space: The Above face
Intelligence: The Intelligence of Transparency
Mythology: Mercury is the "winged-footed swift messenger of the Gods". Mercury or
Hermes has the office of bringing fire from Heaven to Earth; of bringing messages from
superconscious levels down to and through self-conscious awareness into the garden of
subconsciousness.
Psychology: Self-consciousness, attention, concentration

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