Kabbalistic Gematria

Gematria (גמטריא) is an interpretive method rooted in the Jewish mystical tradition spanning over two thousand years.

Etymology. The word likely derives from the Greek "geometria".

Numerical Values of Hebrew Letters

At its foundation lies the Hebrew alphabet: each of the 22 letters carries a numerical value from 1 to 400:

• aleph = 1
• bet = 2
• ...
• shin = 300
• tav = 400

Remez — the hint. By summing the numerical values of a word's letters, one obtains its numerical equivalent and can compare it with other words or names that share the same sum — this is called "remez" (hint), one of the four levels of Torah interpretation.

Classical Examples

• "chayyim" (life) = 68
• "chen" (grace) = 58

Hebrew — a sacred language. The Kabbalistic tradition regards Hebrew as a sacred language whose letters are the building blocks of creation — endowing numerical correspondences with ontological, not merely hermeneutical, significance.

Connection with the Tree of Sephiroth

Ten emanations. Gematria is inseparable from the Tree of Sephiroth — the diagram of ten sefirot (divine emanations), each linked to specific numbers, planets, and archetypes.

A name as a place in the order. In this context, a person's name or an event's designation carries information about its place in the sephirotic order. Practices have been employed for meditative, devotional, and diagnostic purposes.

Place in Errarium

Family of numerologies. In the Errarium atlas, gematria belongs to the family of numerological systems alongside the Pythagorean (#5), Chaldean (#29), Vedic (#30), and Arabic (#31) traditions.

Not a universal tool. Its distinguishing feature is its rootedness in a specific religious tradition and in a specific sacred text. It is not a universal tool applicable to any name written in any alphabet: its ontology operates within Hebrew and the framework of Jewish theology.