Gimel

G
Color your letter Gimel a dark clear blue. You may, if you choose, color the surrounding
space around the letter the opposite color to blue, namely orange.

Gimel is the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So the Hebrew alphabet starts with "A,
B, G..." instead of "A, B, C...” like our English alphabet. Gimel, like Beth, is one of the
seven Hebrew "double" letters, having a hard g sound like in the word "go" and a softer
"g" pronunciation like in "gest". The hard g sound is written with a dagesh (dot) G!.

Look at the shape of the letter, Gimel G. It has a little flag or handle on top going down
to a thin pointy tip. And it has a flat part attached near the point. It's kind of like a ski
pole. Both sand and snow are rather soft, so a pointed walking stick would sink in too far
to be useful. The flat part near the tip keeps it from going in too deeply so it can be used
for leaning on while walking.

Rabbi Ginsburgh says that Gimel is made up of a Vav V like a man standing upright with

a Yod I as a “foot in motion” at the bottom. In traditional Jewish Kabbalah teachings,

the head represents receiving, the body integrating, and the feet represent giving. Gimel
represents giving to those in need, water flowing downhill, energy flowing from a
reservoir of higher potential to an area of lower potential. This we see in God’s giving to
all of life, in the giving of a parent to an infant, in water flowing from higher ground
toward lower, and in all examples of energy in nature moving from greater to lesser –
toward equalizing the potential. Gimel represents the rich man “running” on his Yod foot
to give to the poor man (Daleth D, the next letter).

1
The letter name, Gimel LMG, spelled with the same three letters but different vowel
points spells gimul, “justified payment”, the giving of reward and punishment. Thus
Gimel also represents reward and punishment. These are not seen as good and bad,
but rather as both being necessary and good. A mother gives milk to her infant, but as
the infant grows, she withholds milk to wean the child and help it to be come
independent. The child may misinterpret this as punishment, but it is a necessary and
good part of mothering, absolutely required for the maturation of the infant into an adult.

Gimel represents both the flow downward (the reward) and also the flow back upward
(the punishment). God Him/Herself flows downward into manifestation as all of us. Then
God withdraws like a Mother weaning a child, thereby creating the necessary conditions
for us to evolve and develop independence and individual self-awareness, God’s big
project. The downward impulse vivifies, gives life in greater abundance to us. This
partakes of the nature of Gedulah, lovingkindness (an alternate name for sphere four of
the Tree of Life, Chesed, mercy). The upward impulse arises in us in reaction to the
limitations and consequent suffering that physical manifestation requires – and thereby
gives us the passion to strive for the freedom we feel within ourselves to be our
birthright and destiny. This upward impulse partakes of the nature of Geburah, strength,
the fifth sphere of the Tree of Life. Note that both Gedulah HLVDG and Geburah HRVBG
begin with Gimel.

In Aramaic, the related word Gamala ALMG has the meaning of “a bridge”. A bridge
connects the opposite sides of a ravine (and is shaped like the space between the two
humps of a camel). The bridge here refers to the forces of nature that connect things
together such as gravity, electricity and magnetism. These forces undulate in waves,
again like the shape of the two humps on a camel’s back.

Most all Hebrew words have a three letter root. The root of Gimel is LMG. LMG, has one
meaning as “lovingkindness”. With other vowel points, it is interpreted to mean “a
weaned child”. Rearranging the letters (an old Qabalistic method for finding related
meanings) gives us ELG, which means primordial formless matter. (Note that the letter
Mem M at the end of the word takes its final form E. It’s the same letter, written
differently when it ends a word.) The numerical value of both words is 73, the number of
Chokmah HMKC, the second sphere of the Tree of Life. In the Zohar, the letters of
Chokmah are rearranged into two words, HM CK, “the power of what?” The “what”
refers to this primordial formless matter.

Chokmah is the Yod of Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh HVHI. Adding the Yod of Chokmah to LMG
gives us the alternate spelling of Gimel LMIG. The power of Chokmah is beyond the
mind. Chokmah is cosmic and refers to the energies we receive from the stars,
especially the stars of our zodiac. Chokmah forms the formless primordial matter by

2
impressing and impregnating it with the dynamic power of Yod. Chokmah is the divine
father principle, which with great loving-kindness nurtures and sustains all of existence
with its ceaseless meditation upon us. We are thought into being and held in being by
the ceaseless mediation of Chokmah upon its own nature. It is this loving father
principle that also weans us of dependency and thereby makes us self-sufficient,
individualized aspects of the One.

Every Hebrew letter in the alphabet sequence is in a sense the opposite of both the
preceding and the following letter. The last letter, Beth B, means house. The letter
name Gimel G means "camel". In the ancient world of the Hebrew-speaking nomads,
and still in parts of the world today, the camel was the means of transportation to far-
flung places. The camel is "the ship of the desert". It connects distant places and people
and thereby makes it possible for them to interchange personal contact, goods and
ideas. So Beth is the "stay at home with what you already know" letter and Gimel is the
"get out, travel and get acquainted with what's new" letter.

In order to travel over known paths, you must remember the landscape and the sign-
posts or you will get lost. In the desert, you'd best remember well where the next oasis
is or you may die. Thus the meanings of Gimel include association, connection between
distant points, exchange and memory.

The camel stores water, especially in the large humps on its back. Because of its ability
to store water, the camel can live for a long period of time in the desert without needing
to drink. Like the camel and the oasis it visits, Gimel is associated with the element of
water.

Astrologically, Gimel is associated with the moon. The moon waxes and wanes rather
like the camel goes up and down over sand dunes on it way across the desert. The
moon travels around the earth like the camel travels across the land. Both the moon and
water are associated with the color blue, the color of Gimel.

In astrology, the Moon B rules the sign of Cancer d and is exalted in the sign of

3
Taurus b. Although it is a “luminary”, the Moon has no light of its own. It receives and
reflects the light of the Sun A. Cancer rules the chest – the rib cage and the breasts.
The rib cage symbolizes protection and the breasts symbolize nourishment – both
notable qualities of the sign of Cancer. The basic quality of Cancer is emotional
sensitivity, which waxes and wanes like the Moon. Taurus rules the lower portion of the
head including the ears and the neck. Basic qualities of the sign of Taurus include
enjoyment and persistence. Ruling the ears, the higher quality of Taurus is intuition,
which literally means interior teaching. In the mystery teachings, this is spoken of as
“inner hearing”. This means that the same parts of our brains that receive signals from
our ears are stimulated by the “inner teacher” and we hear an inner voice. However,
each of us has five senses and although these inner perceptions related to each of the
five senses are all referred to as “inner hearing”, they may be received in any of our
sensory channels.

We have to be sensitive (Moon-receptivity ruling Cancer-sensitivity) to receive and be

aware of such subtle inner communication. We receive this higher teaching via the
Moon, which means via our subconscious mind, Gimel G which has the ability to receive

and transmit messages from superconsciousness, Aleph A to our conscious minds,

Beth B.

Be aware also that not all “voices” heard within are from such lofty sources. Much
discrimination is needed before one may discern the difference between the voice of the
Higher Self and the many voices. One hint: The Higher Self never flatters and usually
only teaches via principle, leaving the personal application up to us.

Each of the seven double letters has an associated pair of opposites. To Gimel are
attributed peace and strife. Most of our world's strife is the result of coming into contact
with "others" and miscommunication with them. When we get our communication right,
we come into peace - at least with ourselves.

In the oldest Qabalistic book, the Sepher Yetzirah 4:4 we read:

"Seven Doubles: BGDKPRX (Beth, Gimel, Daleth Kaph, Peh, Resh, Tav)

Up B and Down G
East D and West K
North P and South R

And the Holy Palace precisely in the center X

and it supports them all."

4
So Tav is in the center, Beth is above and Gimel is below. Aleph is the line extending
out from the center toward the above and the below. To visualize this, see the Flash
animation: tabg.swf

In the animation, you will see three colored letters projected toward the above and the
below before the Beth assigned to the above and the Gimel assigned to the below
directions appear. These are the three letters of the most holy name of God, the
Tetragrammaton, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh HVHI. These are illustrated and animated
according to the following passage:

Sepher Yetzirah 1:11 (Kaplan numbers this verse 1:13)

He chose three from among the single letters

And He set them in His great Name (HVHI)
And with them, He sealed the universe in six directions.
He looked above and sealed the height with Yod Heh Vav.
He looked below and sealed the depth with Vav Heh Yod.

***

There are many versions of the Sepher Yetzirah. Each has its own variety of the six
permutations of the three letters, Yod, Heh and Vav - that God used to project/create the
six directions. I use the version Paul Case generated. It is "symmetrical" in that the
opposite sides have the opposite series of the three letters:

Above = Yod Heh Vav

Below = Vav Heh Yod

VHI => B = Above

IHV => G = Below

5
The direction assigned to Gimel is Below. It is the lower face of the Cube of Space.

Psychologically, Gimel represents subconsciousness which is symbolically "under"

(sub) consciousness like the camel is under (subordinate and obedient to) the rider.
Again, we meet the same symbolism of "sub" meaning "under". In his doctorate thesis,
the psychologist, Carl Jung, was the first to identify and describe the “collective
unconscious” mind. His description is quite telling. He teaches that each of us has an
individual subconscious mind that contains our personal memories. He compares the
personal subconscious mind to an inlet or a bay connected to the same ocean of the
collective unconscious that we all share. Our English translation “unconscious” mind is
unfortunate and inaccurate. Jung called it the “Unterbewußtsein”, the “under-
consciousness”. It’s not unconscious, just below and mostly out of our conscious
awareness.

It is our subconscious mind that associates things together, makes connections and
stories impressions (memories). The subconscious mind has a "universal" aspect we
share with the animals, namely controlling all bodily processes such as breathing,
heartbeat, homeostasis, healing, etc. These processes are, for the most part, out of
conscious awareness. There are also subconscious mental processes that the
conscious mind is very aware of and takes part in such as association, connection
between ideas and memory.

The subconscious mind has been compared to the engine room of an ocean liner. It is
vastly powerful and drives the ship forward to its destination. However, the engine
cannot direct the ship. That is the job of the captain, the conscious mind. Thus
symbolically, the conscious mind is above and the subconscious mind is below or
subordinate to the conscious mind.

Many spiritual aspirants make the mistake of surrendering the control of their lives to the

6
direction of the subconscious mind. This is a recipe for disaster and sometimes for
insanity. The powers of the subconscious mind are wonderful, but the “mentation” of the
subconscious mind is deductive. The subconscious mind will accept and elaborate upon
any premise, whether true or false. The subconscious mind is sometimes today
compared with a computer. Like a computer, the subconscious mind accepts whatever
you input into it and elaborates upon that input. And, in the modern vernacular, “garbage
in – garbage out.” In the ideal case, the conscious mind (Beth) is inspired (Aleph) by
some worthy idea and transparently passes that true inspiration to the subconscious
mind.

Gimel on the Tree of Life is the pathway that connects Kether, the Crown, to Tiphareth,
Beauty. If we conceive of the spheres of the Tree coming into existence in the order of
the pathways, we have number 6, Tiphareth, arising even before number 4, Chesed and
5, Geburah. Tiphareth is the son of the divine parents Chokmah and Binah. Amazingly,
the son is somehow born even before the path of the next letter, Daleth, connects the
divine parents… even before Chokmah impregnates Binah. A great mystery is
concealed here. This is the cosmic mystery of the “virgin birth”.

Christians who interpret the Bible literally think that this means that Mary gave birth to
her baby Jesus without having sex with her husband, Joseph. This has led to a whole
religion and to many cultures influence by this religion, which think that therefore sex is
evil or at least lower than the ideal way that God had His child.

Note also that in the Bible, during his baptism by John the Baptist, Jesus received the

7
descending Christ consciousness into his being and thus “became” the Christ. It was at
that point that the Bible reports that God said, “This is my son in whom I am well
pleased.” This “son” consciousness is received into each of us when we are duly
prepared. This is Jesus’ great message – that he was born a human like the rest of us –
and that we can receive and thereby become the Christ just like he did.

Note also that the Christ consciousness comes into us via water (baptism), an attribute
of the path of Gimel. When we come to study the Tarot keys, we shall see that Gimel is
the Hebrew letter associated with the Tarot key, the High Priestess, who is a virgin. She
is the source – that which takes form as all things, but which nevertheless remains ever
pure and undefiled.

The occult water is has qualities like the physical water we know, but is a far more
subtle. It is the quiescent mind-stuff, the passive virgin substance which, like soft wax,
receives the impress of our imagery. The alchemists refer to “our water” as “virgin’s
milk”. It is ever pure, even when temporarily twisted into forms that belie our freedom
and beauty.

What we imagine and expect is formative. It forms this subtle watery substance of Gimel
into matrices that tend to later manifest as the conditions of our lives. The universe is
reflexive. It gives us what we imagine and care about, whether positive or negative. If
we expect the worst, we’ll get it. Thus a great secret of successful living is to
consciously choose what we expect and so manifest the best of which we are capable.

So, in the first three letters of the Hebrew alphabet, we meet superconsciousness
(Aleph A), self-consciousness (Beth B), and subconsciousness (Gimel G). This trinity
exists on the cosmic as well as the personal level. After all, we are "made in God's
image", and therefore have the same "structure".

Note in this light that these three letters are also the numbers of the first three spheres
of the Tree of Life. There we see the superconscious A processes of deity (Kether, the

Crown), the self-conscious B processes of deity (Chokmah - Wisdom) and the

subconscious G processes of deity (Binah - Understanding). These three are the root of
the same three principles in each of us. We have the same “structure” as God.

Gimel is the longest pathway on the Tree of Life, connecting Kether, the Crown with
Tiphareth, Beauty. The paths of Aleph and Beth only descend from Kether. Gimel is the
path of memory, the only pathway back to the light of Oneness, across the abyss from
the personal to the universal. May these studies assist you to remember who you really
are and to live that knowing in all the ways of your life.

8
Correspondences
Gimel G

English equivalent: G G! or Gh G
Number: 2
Letter Name: LMIG - Camel, Bridge (Aramaic), weaning, benevolence

Related words: LIMG - a nursing infant, LMG – kindness

Pair of opposites: Peace and Strife
Tarot Card: the High Priestess
Color: Blue
Note: G#
Astrology: The Moon B, ruler of Cancer d, exalted in Taurus b
Chakra: The moon center located between and above the eyebrows. The physical
correspondence is the pituitary gland.
32 Paths of Wisdom: Gimel is the 13th path
Path on the Tree of Life: Gimel is the longest path, connecting Kether, the Crown, to
Tiphareth, Beauty
Sphere of the Tree of Life: Gimel by number is related to the third sphere, Binah,
Understanding. By planetary association with the Moon, Gimel is related to the ninth
sphere, Yesod, Foundation.
Cube of Space: Gimel is the below, the lower surface of the cube
Intelligence: the Uniting Intelligence
Mythology: Luna, Diana, Isis, Hecate – the moon goddesses
Psychology: Subconsciousness, receptivity, memory