“Word Weaving” in the Hypogeum – Part One
Quatrian Numerology for Modern Weirdos
The so-called “New Aeon English Qabalah” (NAEQ) has become the de facto numerological system for a lot of people involved in #magic(k), #witchcraft, #occultism, and the #paranormal. I'm not going to rehash its development or why it's so popular in current occultism; an excellent summary can be found at https://www.naeq.io/about/.
The basic concept is pretty simple and very universal: take an alphabet, assign each letter a number, add the numbers for a word or phrase, and compare it to other words/phrases with the same value to find correspondences/meanings. Similar systems exist for Hebrew (arguably the most well-known), Greek, Latin, and many other languages.
The thing about these systems is that they depend upon the specific cultures and traditions that used them. In practice, the Hebrew system of gematria, for example, requires a knowledge of Hebrew and the massive lexicon of number values produced within that tradition— they already have a cultural context. Using these systems outside of that context can mean glossing over complications (the NAEQ's relationship with Thelema and Crowley's “Book of the Law,” for instance), or even veering into cultural appropriation of traditions intended to be closed (many— not all, but many— Western appropriations of Hebrew gematria— and even the concept of “Qabalah” within Western occultism— fall into the trap of anti-semitism, a discussion for another time).
Thankfully, a less problematic system for determining the numerical value of words survives in the form of “Word Weaving,” a practice from ancient Quatria*, derived from the mythology and folklore of that extinct civilization (which also gave us the Oracle of the Hypogeum).
According to one understanding of Quatrian myth, our current universe emanated from a series of prior realities via a kind of 'pocket universe' referred to as The Hypogeum. The Entities (spirits/daimons/deities) found in the most well-known Quatrian creation story emerged from the Hypogeum in a particular order, and this order formed the basis for the patterns and processes of existence in the world of the senses.
The Quatrians also placed a large emphasis on music and song, and considered each Entity a “note,” tone, or phoneme, in a great composition of creation. Understanding the tones associated with each Entity allowed Quatrian Musician/Magicians (considered identical) to understand the relationship between seemingly disparate phenomena. Naturally, it followed that a number system would also develop based on these patterns.
The system which eventually rose to prominence was known as “Word Weaving” (“trelin deron”) in Quatrian. This system equates each Quatrian entity with the vocalizations made by human babies as they begin to speak. The vowel sounds, for instance, are usually the first sounds made by infants, so in Word Weaving represent the major Hypogeic Entities from Quatrian lore.
There are 28 sounds associated with the entities, which suggests a lunar/calendrical association. Each sound was also assigned to one of the phalanges of each hand to allow for a system of memorization and communication.
| ORDER OF EMANATION | SYMBOL | PHONEME | NUMBER VALUE |
| 1 | Acho | A | 10 |
| 2 | Anthuor | E | 20 |
| 3 | Barbaro | I | 30 |
| 4 | Maiden | O | 40 |
| 5 | Musician | EE | 50 |
| 6 | Buorth. | OO | 60 |
| 7 | Mystery | U | 70 |
| 8 | Life Force | G | 80 |
| 9 | Light | M | 90 |
| 10 | Shadow | N | 100 |
| 11 | Earth | CH | 1 |
| 12 | Water | SH | 2 |
| 13 | Air | S | 3 |
| 14 | Fire | Z | 4 |
| 15 | Hypogeum | H | 5 |
| 16 | Sky | F | 6 |
| 17 | Mountain | R | 7 |
| 18 | Forest | Y | 8 |
| 19 | Plain | J | 9 |
| 20 | Animalcule | B | 1 |
| 21 | Fungus | P | 2 |
| 22 | Plant | T | 3 |
| 23 | Insect | D | 4 |
| 24 | Animal | K | 5 |
| 25 | Human | L | 6 |
| 26 | Stone Book | W | 7 |
| 27 | Wormwood | V | 8 |
| 28 | Golden Egg | TH | 9 |
There is no 1-to-1 correlation between the Quatrian alphabet and our own, of course, so for the purpose of calculating the values of written words, it's necessary to assign values to letters which are already represented by other sounds. In the next post, we will take a closer look at the Entities and the numbers associated with each, and see how the calculations are made. Stay tuned!