C is For
Cloud and could are two words with shared letters. All letters originated as their own total words, pregnant with meaning. How, then, did cloud and could evolve into two separate words from a shared beginning, like my sister and I from shared parents?
Could you have cloud before the word could or vice versa? You could never have a cloud, but a cloud could move and change.
The letter C, what does it look like to you, and what might you imagine it means?
Historically, all alphabets originated from pictographs, small drawings of what you wanted to say. Over time, the pictures of recognizable things morphed into symbols arising from the critical characteristic of the pictograph but now holding more versatility. The characters could mean multiple things and change nuance based on their relationship and position with other symbols. In this way, the Ox moved from an entire drawing of an Ox to Aleph or Alpha, the letter A, the first letter of the alphabet. The letter A represents strength and energy, a life force. When the A was in its early mutations from the Ox, it initially was the head with horns turned upward, and eventually, it turned entirely upside down with the horns facing down.
Following the A is B, whose first depiction was of the interior of a house. It shifted as drawings of the house included open doors and fire pits until, like the A, it turned itself around and became Beth or Betta, known as B. As the second letter of the alphabet, it became the container of or place to hold the life force that is A.
C, the third letter of the alphabet, interestingly originated as the camel. When I first looked at the letter C, I saw the gesture of a hug and the curve of a pregnant belly but not a camel. Knowing that our third alphabetic letter comes from a camel (originally gimmel in ancient Hebrew1) is an exciting lesson in place-based knowledge and how the geographies and ecologies of a place inform our understanding. C as a camel hump holds a significant meaning. It was initially meant to "carry the primal power beyond the domestic setting" A=primal power B=home C=going beyond. The camel drank water, stored it in its hump, then went into the desert and traveled carrying the water with it.
The relationship between cloud and cloud is forming. Both words express ripe possibility and movement from one thing or place to another.
Lately, I have been learning Tarot reading, which is not dissimilar to learning the alphabet. The Tarot is built similarly to the alphabet in that it is a path of meaning, where cards follow one another, representing a life journey. Each card is filled with imagery that signifies a unique meaning. It is a language that is, in part, crafted by the reader and the illustrator.
I enjoy using the Tarot as a device to be in conversation with God. Tarot could be replaced with a pile of sticks, letters thrown into a hat, or ripples on an ocean. I believe we can each speak with God however we want to, and speak may not be the correct word. Sometimes, I talk with God through the trees or street signs, and it's the same process as reading the Tarot. You simply ask a question and then discover the answer in what you see.
During this week's lesson, our practice prompt was: "Which part of my magic have I forgotten?
It's a tricky question as it asks God to help you see something special about yourself that is not visible to you, illuminating a self-doubt. We used a two-card method for our answer, one card representing the heart (the magic) and one card representing the cross (something that is the challenge to seeing/knowing the magic). I learned that your first intuitive response is key to understanding the message. My first question when I saw my magic was, "Can I have that?" as I began learning about the cross card, I discovered the card represented many things, but in a nutshell, it was self-confidence. Confidence, a feeling of trust and assuredness, confidence is a C word. In the book 'Mysteries of the Alphabet' it is written:
"After primal strength (the aleph) and the place made for it (the beth), this strength must be given the possibility of expressing itself, going out, deploying itself, going beyond itself, opening up to the outside, crossing the expanses of the desert in order to discover new lands, breaking the ties of the family home, the womb, finding one's own way…this important plan may be put into action through the third letter of the alphabet, (the gimmel).
Be like a camel Resourced from a wellspring Confidently carrying and sharing Gifts like rain Be like a cloud
There are some differing but related origin stories related to the letter C. In one of the descriptions of the Hebrew word gimmel it says, “The original name to this letter is most likely gam, the parent root of gimel. This letter is the origin of the Arabic letter Geem and the Greek gamma supporting the theory that the original name for the letter did not include the "L."The word gam means to gather together as a group of animals gathering at the water hole to drink. The pictographic script for the word gam is is the foot representing "walk" and the is "water" (See the letter mem). When combined these letters mean "walk to the water."The letter has the meanings of walk, carry or gather. The sound associated with this letter is a "g" as in "go." Also, the word gimmel means the letter three and also represents kindness.
I also enjoyed reading about gimmel on this page.