Talmudic writers say that besides the twelve tribal names, those of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were at the top of the Breastplate, and at the end the words, “The tribes of Jeshurun.” Others say that the final words were “The tribes of Israel;” Maimonides says, “The tribes of God.” The reason given for these additions was that it was necessary for the entire alphabet to be employed so that the officiating High Priest could construct words from the letters, names and colours of the stones of the Breastplate, and reply in this way to all questions asked. Some of the Rabbis say that six letters were on each stone, made up of the tribal names, the names Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the words “Tribes of Jeshurun.” Thus the whole of the stones contained 72 letters—the number of Shem Ha Meforash. The number 72 is employed in the mysteries, and is given in “Numbers, their Magic and Meaning” as the number of the Angels and of Mercy. In verses 19-21 of 14th Chapter of Exodus the names of the 72 Angels of the name of God are concealed. It is a martial talismanic number, lightly cloaking the waxing and waning of the Moon.
CHAPTER VII
OLD LEGENDS
“Within that awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries.”
Scott.
THE LEGEND OF THE SHAMIR: THE RING OF SOLOMON: RABBI LOW BEN BEZALEL: AND HIS GOLEM: THE AUTOMATON OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS: DIOCLETIAN AND THE OSTRICH: PRECIOUS STONES AS GIFTS: MAGICAL STONES: METEORITES: PRECIOUS STONES OF THE BUDDHISTS.
It was forbidden to use metal in the engraving of the stones of the Breastplate, neither was it permitted to mark them with pigments or paint. The work was done by the magical Shamir which had the power of eating into the hardest substances at the will of its holder. In the evening light of the first Friday this seventh of the ten marvels of Creation followed closely by the Stylus, the knowledge of writing, and the two tablets of stone destined to bear the commandments of God, was given to mankind. It was no larger than a barley grain, yet its power was intense: iron lying near it was shattered and stones were sliced like the leaves of a book. Moses, after tracing the tribal names with his forefinger on the Breastplate, simply held the Shamir over them and the letters were as by magic cut clearly into the stones without trace of fracture or flaw. The Shamir disappeared with the earth-death of Moses, and was not heard of again until the time of Solomon. When the occasion came to build the temple the priests reminded the King that it was not lawful to fashion the stones for the Holy Building with instruments of iron. “What then shall I do?” enquired the King. To this one of the priests answered: “O, great King, when the world was created the Shamir was created also, and with it Moses was enabled to fashion and engrave the stones of the HOSHEN-HA-MISHPAT.” “But how can I obtain this wonderful Shamir?” asked Solomon. “What is there difficult for thee who knowest the secrets of Heaven and Earth?” replied the priest, at the same time asking Solomon to compel two demons, a male and a female, to come before him. The King, taking this advice, conjured the demons and bade them declare unto him the hiding-place of the Shamir. This they were unable to do, and they begged the Master-Magician to release them and obtain the secret from the Prince of the demons, Ashmadai. Further they told the King that amongst certain mountain ranges Ashmadai had sunk a deep hole which he filled with water and screened with a great stone sealed with his magical seal. In the dawn of each day he raised himself to Heaven where he learned heavenly wisdom, descending in the evening as the light faded to learn the wisdom of earth. Then he would break the seal, drink of the water, rebind the seal and go his way again.
Having dismissed the demons, Solomon sent his disciple Benaiah (the son of Jehoiada) with his own magical chain and ring on both of which was engraved the Divine Name, and some skins full of wine. Benaiah skilfully released the water from the pit of Ashmadai, leaving the wine in its place. As evening was falling the Prince of the Demons returned; the seal being intact, he raised the stone and to his surprise found wine where water had been. Murmuring, “Is it not set down, ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink is noisy; and whosoever indulgeth therein will never be wise’?”, he drank deeply and fell asleep. Then Benaiah, stealing forth from his hiding place, bound him with King Solomon’s chain. Ashmadai awoke and in rage attempted to break the chain; Benaiah called to him: “Desist, for the holy name of God binds you, and you are compelled to come with me to Solomon the King.” Brought before Solomon, Ashmadai asked: “Why have you brought me to you? Is not the whole world big enough for you that you would have me also?” “Of thee I want nothing,” answered the King, “but for the building of the Temple I must have the Shamir.” “Then ask the Prince of the Sea and his servant the Moorfowl,” came the answer. “And what does the Moorfowl with the Shamir?” asked the King. “Splits the barren mountain rocklands in order that the seeds of the trees and plants which he drops into the crevices may mature and render these places beautiful and agreeable to the wants of man; and then he brings it back to the Prince of the Sea who trusts his oath.” Armed with this information a search was made for the moor fowl’s nest, and this when discovered was found to contain the bird’s young. The searchers covered the young birds with glass so that the mother-bird might see but not reach them. The ruse succeeded. The bird flew away and shortly afterwards returned with the Shamir, placing it on the glass which split asunder. At that moment the emissary of King Solomon rushed from his hiding place and took the Shamir from the nest of the frightened bird, which thereupon killed itself because it had broken its oath to the Prince of the Sea.
There is another legend which states that the Shamir was brought from Paradise—where it had rested since the time of Moses—by an eagle, for Moses specially intended that the Shamir should be employed in the building of Solomon’s temple. When the building of the temple was completed Solomon released Ashmadai, having proved his power over him. Solomon thus acquired authority over the world of Demons, and in the “Arabian Nights” the “Story of the Fisherman and the Genii” tells of a demon who was bottled and bound for ages by this Magician King. The Arabs say that King Solomon received instructions from the archangel Gabriel regarding the place where the Shamir was hidden. These and other legends connected with this wonderful Shamir have attracted the scientific philosopher. The traditional belief that it was a worm can be accepted if we connect the Greek SMIRIS, the emery of the ancient glyptic artists, with the Hebrew SHAMIR, for then the worm would be regarded as minute worms or grains so tough as to be capable of abrading and polishing hard substances. The word SHAMIR does not imply the common or garden variety of worm which is expressed in Hebrew by other words. It is traditionally related that the four angels of Earth, Air, Fire and Water came to King Solomon, each giving him a jewel, with the instruction that the jewels be set in a magical ring which would symbolize and define his power over the elements. The Arabians say that the metals used in the construction of the magical ring were brass and iron—metals of Venus and Mars. Solomon summoned the good genii by tracing his command with the brass or Venus portion of the ring, and he compelled the evil genii to attend him with the Mars or iron portion. Astrologically Venus and Mars are the two planetary principles which control the emotions and passions of all the world. It is further assumed that the four jewels of the ring were set on the famous double triangles called the Shield of David and of Solomon, which symbolically represented things of earth in relation to things of Heaven. When Solomon went to bathe, it was his custom to give the ring to Amina, one of his wives, for safe keeping, for it is not permitted to wear the talisman when washing the body. One day Sakhr, a powerful evil spirit, appeared in the form of Solomon and thus obtained from Amina the magical ring. Thereupon Sakhr sat on the throne of Solomon and ruled for forty days and forty nights while the King wandered about, unknown and forlorn. However, the evil spirit could not maintain the form of King Solomon for longer than forty days and forty nights, so he threw the ring into the sea, thinking as he saw it sink that Solomon was deprived forever of his power over the elements. But he had forgotten that water was one of the elements, and the Angel of the Waters caused the ring to be swallowed by a fish, which was later caught by some fishermen who, surprised at its exceptional beauty, carried it to King Solomon. The King, acting on impulse, cut the fish open, and finding the ring, regained his power over the elements once more.
Passing on to the 16th Century of the Christian era we come to one of the great masters of the Quabalah—Rabbi Low Ben Bezalel of Prague. He is spoken of in the ancient capital of Bohemia as the greatest Bal Shem of his time. Many legends concerning him are extant in Bohemia. He made a Golem, an automaton figure to which he gave life by the simple act of placing under the tongue a charm or Kemea which was exactly like the SHEM HAMPHORASCH engraved on King Solomon’s ring. It was the Rabbi’s custom to take the Kemea from under the tongue of the Golem every Friday at sunset. Once he neglected to do this, and the Golem becoming furious and swelling to a gigantic size, rushed to the old synagogue, spreading destruction all around. The hymn welcoming the Bride of the Sabbath had not been sung. The Golem entered the Synagogue, stalked towards the Ark and was about to destroy it when Rabbi Low Ben Bazalel ran to the figure and tore the Kemea from beneath the tongue. The Golem trembled, quivered and fell in atoms to the ground. An automaton similar to that of the Rabbi was made by Albertus and destroyed in terror by his pupil, Thomas Aquinas.