The symbolism of the alphabet

clearly visible; but as the scribe’s writing becomes more cursive, the horns disappear, and the owl’s head appears bald. Such a fleeting feature could hardly be the basis for a lasting, hereditary transmission of the letter's form.

When we consider that the letter "M" is called Mem in Phoenician, meaning "waters," it seems much more reasonable to view it as a section of a wavy line. This wavy line has been the symbol for water since time immemorial. Viewed this way, the letter remains as clearly symbolic as ever. Similarly, the letter "Y" has been traced back to Cerastes, the horned Egyptian asp. However, it seems unnecessary to look for such a distant resemblance to explain a letter that is an ancient and universal symbol for the "parting of the ways." In this symbol, the broad path branching to the left leads to destruction, while the narrow path to the right leads to life. Pythagoras used this symbol in this way. Likewise, the Chinese—who have no alphabet—have used this same graphic method since ancient times to represent the diverging paths of virtue and vice.

What seems likely for the letters M and Y will probably be found to explain the origins of other letters as well. Among the designs on the robe of the Chinese Emperor Shun (around 2000 B.C.) is a symbol resembling two letter "E"s placed back to back. Additionally, the moon-shaped epsilon (ϵ) was consecrated at Delphi centuries before it was ever included in the Greek alphabet.

The most logical explanation for the shapes of our letters is that they derived from symbols made of basic forms—straight lines, curves, angles, circles, and segments. These are similar to the shapes used as masons' marks, caste marks, signs of the Zodiac, planetary signs, or alchemical symbols. The square shape of the Greek Gamma and the medieval Gebo, the Latin "L," and the triangular Greek Delta (Δ) need no proof of their origin; like the letters T, X, I, and O, they are universal. They appear independently in all times and places as soon as humans begin to express thoughts through symbols.

The Gnostics made frequent use of alphabet letters in their seals and gems, attributing magical power to certain characters. For example, the head of the Chnuphis serpent—representing the Agathodæmon or Good Spirit—is surrounded by seven rays, each ending in one of the Greek vowels. The Hebrew alphabet is also fundamentally symbolic. The specific qualities of its letters can be studied in the well-known translation of the Sepher Yetzirah The Book of Formation, a primary Kabbalistic text by our Supreme Magus Referring to Dr. Wynn Westcott.

Irenaeus An early Church Father, in his writings against the Gnostics, ridiculed those who tried to spread a religion using Alpha, Beta, and numbers. Although the views he attacked were extremely fanciful, we should remember that they are closely related to the hidden wisdom of the Kabbalah; and indeed,