שתים עשרה פשוטותThe Twelve Simples

shteim esreh peshutotThe letters in Gamatria ↗

Twelve edges of the world, twelve doors of the self.

The twelve single letters ground twelve human faculties and the twelve diagonal edges of space, which spread forever as the world's boundaries. The Gra's text pairs them in threes: he, speech, Aries, Nisan, right foot; vav, thought, Taurus, Iyar, right kidney; zayin, walking, Gemini, Sivan, left foot; het, sight, Cancer, Tammuz, right hand; tet, hearing, Leo, Av, left kidney; yod, action, Virgo, Elul, left hand; lamed, intimacy, Libra, Tishrei, gall; nun, smell, Scorpio, Heshvan, intestines; samekh, sleep, Sagittarius, Kislev, stomach; ayin, anger, Capricorn, Tevet, liver; tzadi, swallowing, Aquarius, Shevat, gizzard; kof, laughter, Pisces, Adar, spleen. They are set like a wall, arrayed like battle.

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