Great Kabbalistic Art — Hartmann Schopper, 1564-1569

What Notaricon is

Notaricon acronymy or shorthand is that by which Kabbalists signify through a shorthand of letters either as many words as there are initial or final letters in a phrase. When the initial letters are used, that species is called Rosce Teiboth original: "heads of words". When the final letters are used, it is called Sephoth Iapha original: "ends of words". But they called it Notaricon as if it were a "sound writing of the sacred," which they bring to light through the abbreviation of things to be noted, yet they wished to hide them and wrote only one letter or syllable to designate a whole word. For this reason, they say the Machabeos Maccabees were so named from the initial letters of that sentence read in Exodus chapter 15 verse 11: Mi Camoca Baelim Iehouah original: "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?", that is: Who is like you among the strong in Name.

Themurah for the Hebrews

Themurah permutation or exchange is the same as a permutation which the Kabbalists form when, keeping the same number of letters, they compose them differently (as Schickard explains) or transpose their order, or exchange them with others through a certain combination of the Alphabet.

In the first way they do this as in Beresas In the beginning, when they divide it into two meaningful words: Bar Son and Erait he saw/created. Just as we divide this name "Tertullianus" into three parts: Ter, tuli, and anus, all of which parts are meaningful this is a Latin wordplay: "thrice-carried-old man".

Our second method is here, and is demonstrated by us in what follows. It declares its origin by laws and order in permuting the marks of words, either by taking the sums of the words or by noting the letters distinctly. It is commonly called Pytagoricus Pythagorean. We do not deny that it can be formed in the Latin language as well as in Italian or another idiom. It is practiced according to a certain likeness of equality by means of corresponding numbers for the letters of the Alphabet considered under certain signs, whether in verse or prose. It is said to give responses for knowing hidden things of the present as well as the past. But before we resolve questions using its various uses according to the diversity of idioms, it is first worthwhile to describe our method of operating, which is the key, in a manner suitable for the Latin idiom. To demonstrate this more easily, I have made the work of the chapters distributed thus, for which we take the beginning as follows.