A • B • C • D • E •
F • G • H • I • J • K • L •
N • O • P • Q • R •
S • T • U • V • W • X • Y •
Aleph • Beit • Geemel • Dalet •
Hay • Vahv • Zaiyin • Chait • Tait
Yoad • Kaf • Lahmed • Mame • Nune •
Sahmek • Aiyin • Pay
Tzahday • Qoaf •
Raysh • S(h)een • Tahv
Spellings: vahv yoad vahv, vahv vahv, vahv aleph vahv
In its common meaning, vahv indicates ‘a nail’, something with
a shiny head used as a joining element. The light reflected from
the heads of nails is not dissimilar to the patterns of stars in
the sky, and could be interpreted in a form of divination. Nails
penetrate and unite two or more things, and this aspect of
joining by penetration is decidedly masculine. There is the implication
of work being done, as nails are used in the work of building.
Like the word and in English, vahv functions as a conjunction
in Hebrew grammar. It can also mean but, now, while, also, etc.
As a prefix it connects two words together.
The penetrative and connective property of this letter portray
a ‘ray’ of spiritual connectivity which ‘decends
into’ the material
and incarnate universe, uniting and enlivening all beings. There
is the connotation of a contraction into a ray or penetrating line
of force, and its entrance into new dimensions — perhaps
created by this contraction — to effect an ‘assembling’ —
a unification in the new places. This can be seen as an copulative
or impregnating gesture.
In Genesis I,I vahv is the 22nd
letter of the Torah — the beginning of the sixth word, the first
‘and’ — ‘And
God created the heaven and the earth.’
In this useage, the word (vahv aleph tahv) or ‘and the’ is
interesting because ‘the’ or (aleph tahv) is indicative
of the entirety of the alphabet — implying the alphabet as
at once implicit in and active for creation itself — and vahv as
the connective element joining all the letters into a recombinant
Vahv can also cause an inverstion of tense — for
example from ‘say’ to ‘said’ by
prefixing. This usage denotes a quality of ‘drawing the future
into the past’, a spiritual power acquired by contrition
and adoration of God.
Humanity was emobodied on the sixth day of creation, and the vahv
is a primative image of a man, crowned with a divinely sourced
intelligence. The letter begins with yoad, or God, and descends
to Earth, or ‘the basis’. When two people relate, two unique
relationships with God are unified, resulting in yoad yoad
— a common name of God in Hebrew prayers.
Family: Archetypal: A seed or primieval force from
which the existential and supernal are actualized. Existing outside
of space and time. The first 9 letters.
Position: The sixth letter. The third of the ‘three
fathers’ (yoad hey vavh ) which comprise the Name of God.
The second of the ‘twelve elementals’ or simples.
Primary Significations: Nail or Hook. To act as a joining element.
Secondary Significations: A door handle. That which when grasped,
opens understanding. Work, as in the work of unifying. Connectivity
by penetration. Impregnation through contraction and penetration.
Body: The right kidney.
Archetype / Tribe: Issachar
Path on the Tree of Life:
Traditional: Keter / Binah
Hermetic: Chockma / Chesed
A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M
N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z
Aleph • Beit • Geemel • Dalet • Hay • Vahv • Zaiyin • Chait • Tait
Yoad • Kaf • Lahmed • Mame • Nune • Sahmek • Aiyin • Pay
Tzahday • Qoaf • Raysh • S(h)een • Tahv