St. Augustine, in On Christian Doctrine (II, 24), expresses his desapproval of what he perceives as superstition: "The letter X, which is made in the shape of a cross, means one thing among the Greeks and another among the Latins, not by nature, but by agreement and prearrangement as to its signification; and so, anyone who knows both languages uses this letter in a different sense when writing to a Greek from that in which he uses it when writing to a Latin.
1) "The symbol is a concrete sign evoking by a natural relationship something absent or impossible to perceive" (André Lalande, Technical and Critical Vocabulary of Philosophy).
For example, the printing character V refers to a sound (pronounced "Vi"), a figure (written V, v), and a name (V is called "Vee", in Ramus's time: "Vau").
According to Plutarch, A is linked to the Moon, to the note B, to Monday; E: Mercury, C; H: Venus, D; I: Sun, E; O: Mars, F; Y: Jupiter, G; omega: Saturn, A.
[4] In Dogme et Rituel de Haute Magie (1854, English: "Dogma and Ritual of High Magic"), Éliphas Lévi was the first to establish correspondences between the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the 22 paths to wisdom according to the Kabbalists' Sefer Yezira, and the 22 Tarot cards.
Geofroy Tory (Champ fleuri de la vraie proportion des lettres antiques, 1500) believed that letters, created through divine inspiration, were constructed using straight lines and circles.
[7] Reuchlin defines Kabbalah as "a symbolic theology in which letters and names are not only the signs of things but also the reality of things.”[8] The Kabbalistic combination of letters involves three processes: In Jewish mysticism history, the Sefer Yezira (Sepher Yetsirah, Book of Creation) is a highly enigmatic text, perhaps dating from the 2nd century, written in Babylon.
In thirty-two mysterious paths of Wisdom [the first 10 whole numbers + the 22 letters], Yah, Eternal of Hosts [Yod-VavYod], God of Israel, Living Elohim, Almighty God, High and Extolled, Dwelling in Eternity, Holy Be His Name, engraved and created His world in three Sefarim [books]: in writing, number and word.
Ten Sefirot out of nothing [esprit, Air, Eau, Feu, Haut, Bas, Levant, Ponant, Midi, Nord, twenty-two foundation letters: three mothers [alef, mem, shin], seven doubles [bet, gimel, dalet ; kaf, pe, resh, tav] and twelve simples [hê, vav, etc.].
In the breathing male and female: head and belly and body [...][13]The most famous text challenging letter symbology is the Quran, in its second surah: "Alif, Lam, Meem.
If the nature and proper essence of metals, the influence and power of the heavens and planets, and the meaning and disposition of characters, signs, and letters, harmonize and concur simultaneously with the observation of days, times, and hours, who then, in the name of heaven, would prevent a sign or seal [astrological image] made in this way from possessing its force and faculty of operation?
Christian magicians relied on quotations from the Gospels to justify their beliefs, and to write their texts: "I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God" (Revelation, 1, 8), "Before heaven and earth pass away, not an i [iota, in Greek], not a dot on the i will pass from the Law, until all is fulfilled" (Matthew, 5, 18), "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John, 14, 6): Via, Veritas, Vita, "In my name [Jesus] they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues" (Mark, 16, 17), "God raised him from the dead...
John Dee, famous English mathematician, magician, and author of Monas Hieroglyphica (1564), stated:[17] This alphabetical literature contains great mysteries...
The first mystical letters of the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans, formed by a single God, have been transmitted to mortals (...) in such a way that all the signs representing them are produced by points, straight lines, and perimeters of circumferences, arranged according to a marvelous and very skillful art.Johann Michael Moscherosch (1601–1669) had one of his characters say: "When I wake up in the morning (...), I recite a whole alphabet; all the prayers of the world are included" (Wunderliche und Warhafftige Geschichte Philanders von Sittewald, 1642, p. 701).
To prevent hemorrhaging, the magician proposed this rite:[18] Write these characters on a blank parchment and tie them around the neck of the person losing blood: S.q.r.tz.Os.