Hebrew
Letter: TETH
Transcribed as "T"
The Number 9
Meaning: Serpent
The Intelligence of the
Secret of All Spiritual Activities
My secret wisdom is hid in
number,
And in the sign of the Tally
Is concealed the building of
the whole
creation.
Number veileth the power of
the Elohim,
For number is that thick
darkness whereof it is written,
"And Moses drew near unto the
thick darkness
Where God was"; and again,
"Tetragrammaton said that he
would dwell
In the thick darkness."
Ye shall know that this is
Egypt,
And by the wisdom hidden in
that darkness
Did Moses lead Israel forth.
In the darkness which is
Egypt
Is the darkness of number,
Concealing the One in the
cloud of the Many.
Of that darkness the Serpent
is a sign,
That Great Serpent, the royal
snake of Egypt.
This is the serpent of
temptation,
Yet from it cometh forth
redemption.
For the Serpent is the first
appearance of the Anointed One,
And that which casteth Adam
out from the garden of the East,
Even that shall bring him
back once more to Paradise.
Thus in TETH is shown the
secret
Of the going forth and the
return,
For TETH is the serpent
coiled around the Tau.
This is the sign of the Name
of Names,
Which none may utter.
Again, it is the symbol of
the Tree of Divine Perfection,
Encircled by the power of the
letters
Wherewith is formed the whole
creation.
And because the Tally
referreth to counting,
And so to all the works of
number,
By this letter do I show -
First, that all things are
brought forth through number,
And second, that all works of
power accomplished by the wise
Have number for their
foundation.
For the circle of the Tally
Is the coiled fiery power
Which cometh from the sun,
And to rule this, thou must
learn to count.
Count aright,
And thou shalt have oil for
thy lamps,
For the oil for lighting
Containeth the secret of the
letter TETH.
This is the oil which riseth
like a serpent,
The oil which thy father
Jacob
Poured upon the Stone in the
House of Strength.
Verily, he who knoweth the
secret of that Stone,
Knoweth also the secret of
the Serpent,
And in him shall be fulfilled
the saying:
"When Israel was a child,
Then I loved him,
And called my Son out of
Egypt."
And he who knoweth this shall
be a Measurer of Mercy,
And all his works shall be
rooted
In the strength of my Law.
The Book of Tokens, Paul Foster
Case