Tree

Permutations of the Name

The early 16th Century magician and astrologer Agrippa (Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim) notes in his De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres (Three Books of Occult Philosophy) a methodpermutations of YHVH of permuting the letters of יהוה to show forth the Powers of the Twelve [Astrological] Signs. It uses twelve of the 24 possible arrangements of those four letters to produce the magical and divine names shown in this illustration.

Beginning with יהוה in Aries, at the head of the year, these permutations follow a set pattern through the signs:

  1. י, Yod, appears first in the first three signs, followed by ה, Heh, in the next three, then ו, Vau, in the next three, and finally second ה in the final three.
  2. Backing up to begin at Pisces, we repeat the pattern beginning with ה in second place in three signs, followed by ו, then second ה, then י.
  3. Backing up again, we begin in Aquarius with ו in third place in three signs, followed by second ה, then י, then ה.
  4. The fourth step writes יהוה three times backward around the Zodiac, beginning in Pisces and ending in Aries.

The astrological signs are each represented by one of the simple letters. These are assigned to the signs in order of the signs and of the Hebrew alphabet, thus establishing the permutation assigned to each letter.

Western occultism further ascribes the four classical elements each to a letter of the Name: י‎ = fire; ה‎ = water; ו‎ = air; and second ה‎ = earth. Thus, these permutations assign an ordering of the elements to each Zodiacal sign:

Ariesfirewaterairearth
Taurusfirewaterearthair
Geminifireairearthwater
Cancerwaterairearthfire
Leowaterairfireearth
Virgowaterearthfireair
Libraairearthfirewater
Scorpioairearthwaterfire
Sagittariusairfirewaterearth
Capricornearthfirewaterair
Aquariusearthfireairwater
Piscesearthwaterairfire

Ascribing the letters to the signs in this way spells the Name many times. As already noted, it appears once in Aries, the first sign of the new astrological year, and three times backward around the Zodiac. It also appears as the first letter in the four cardinal signs: י‎ = Aries, ה‎ = Cancer, ו‎ = Libra, ה‎ = Capricorn; and in the fixed signs: Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus; and in the mutable signs: Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini. The seasons also show the Name: י is spring, ה is summer, ו is fall, and ה is winter.