Sacred Geometry and Spiritual Symbolism. Donald B. Carroll

       The Tables and Turquoise

      Now consider the possibility that the Tables of the Law could have been carved from turquoise-laden stones from the mountainous region of Serabit el-Khadim in the shape of two triangular tablets. In Judaic tradition, there is a tale that Moses was given the commandments on a sapphire-like stone.

      Jewish folklore records that Moses kept forgetting his lessons, a common experience for anyone going through a mystical experience. However, he was reassured that the Teaching was deeply embedded within the spiritual levels of his nature. At the completion of his celestial training course he was given two tablets made of a strange sapphire-like stone [Author's emphasis] that could be rolled up like a scroll. On to these had been engraved the Ten Commandments in such a way that they could be perceived from both sides. Moreover, between each line were written all the particulars of the precepts. This instrument, written by the Divine finger, was to form the basis of the Bible as we know it.

      …All the foregoing, when seen on the level of the individual, is the experience of the deepest realization. In such a moment what was, what is, and what shall be for oneself is revealed in a profound illumination in which all the apparently unconnected events in life fuse into the recognition that one has been trained to fulfill a certain destiny.¹

      The previous quote: “However, he was reassured that the Teaching was deeply embedded within the spiritual levels of his nature.” with the translation of “luah” as tablet and house of the soul acquires a deeper meaning, meshing the spiritual with the physical.

      The text in the Cayce reading 5276-1 mirrors this comment of Moses’ difficulty and the embedding of such knowledge in his spiritual nature:

      So the entity, as in Moses, finds itself slow in making comprehension; until he had been through those experiences of even being in the presence of the divine, having given to man the outline of the law, and of how man in his relationship to God, in His relationship to his fellow man, in his relationship to himself could say, as must the entity learn, “Say not who will descend from heaven to bring a message, for lo! The whole law is expressed, is manifested, is indicated within one's own consciousness.” For the body is indeed the temple of the living God and He hath promised to meet thee there. Open thy consciousness and let it ever be as, not merely in words but in purposes, of hopes, of desires:…

      The question here is directed to the other italicized quotation from Judaic folklore of a “sapphire-like stone” that the two tablets were made of. Sapphire is as a blue to blue-green gemstone and the root word is sappir from Hebrew meaning a precious stone, hence enters the turquoise and Serabit el-Khadim and the “Golden Calf,”² particularly because there is evidence that the ancient Hebrew word sappir is misconstrued and that it was actually referring to turquoise. This conclusion comes from how turquoise got its name and where it is found. The name comes from a French word Turquie which means stone of Turkey from where Persian trade goods passed on their way to Europe.

      The name turquoise may have come from the word Turquie because of the early belief that the mineral came from that country (the turquoise most likely came from Alimersai Mountain in Persia [now Iran] or the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, two of the world's oldest-known turquoise mining areas.)

      Another possibility could be the name came from the French description of the gemstone pierre turquin, meaning dark blue stone.³ This could have caused the confusion and accounts for the mislabeling of sappir as sapphire rather than turquoise, turquoise being “sapphire-like.” Hebrews and Egyptians in the Middle East would have been much more familiar with turquoise as a gem than sapphire because turquoise is considerably more prevalent in the area. This notion is supported by author Cyril Aldred as he writes about the great value ancient Egyptians had for turquoise, carnelian, and lapis lazuli. He states that turquoise was mined from the Sinai area but that lapis lazuli was not found within the confines of Egypt and needed to be “imported from the Euphrates area whither (sic) it had been traded from Badakhshan in Afghanistan.”⁴

      Evidence for the use of turquoise mounts with information from the book Edgar Cayce Guide to Gemstones, Minerals, Metals, and More by Shelley Kaehr. From her research she believes that the stone spoken of in the Cayce readings as “Lapis Linguis” could very well be turquoise.⁵ The readings go on to describe them as singing or talking stones. What I noted in another reading I find even more fascinating as to the stone's attributes.⁶

      (Q) Of what value is it? (Lapis Linguis)

      (A) Of particular value to those who are interested in things psychic! Read what was in the first effort that was made, as to all those that used the stones as settings to induce the influences from without that would aid an individual in its contact with the higher sources of activity!

      440-2

      There is some discussion over seeming ambiguity in the Cayce readings as to the nature of Lapis Linguis and whether it could be azurite or turquoise. I believe the geologic formation of turquoise holds the answer. Turquoise is considered a secondary mineral that can be formed from deposits in the earth that include azurite and malachite. This being the case, these minerals are closely related and could share the properties described in the Cayce readings.

      The tables of the Ten Commandments were placed in the Ark of the Covenant that was used to communicate with God (the higher sources of activity) by the Hebrews. The mountains of Serabit el-Khadim were filled with turquoise, and with Cayce's reading on turquoise (Lapis Linguis), what better mountain for Moses to go up to communicate with God? This certainly all seems to tantalizingly tie in together.

      Accordingly this reading imbues turquoise with the ability to psychically talk and assist one in getting in touch with “higher sources.” It also certainly compares to the Cayce description of the Tuaoi stone of the Atlanteans. A comparison can be seen in the spelling turquoise. Turquoise is a stone that also is believed to protect one's health and from falls, particularly falls from horses. I find this a curious connection with the fall of humankind from God's grace and the possibility that Moses may have had turquoise tablets to help humankind with its fall. Dr. Kaehr writes in reference to turquoise: “…I believe it connects you with the heavens while healing the physical body here on earth.”⁷ A similar concept to “as above, so below,” bringing heaven to earth, and such is a concept symbolized in the vesica pisces, which will be discussed in Chapter 6.

      A tractate from the Nag Hammadi Library, which is popularly known as the Gnostic gospels and consists of early Christian texts discovered near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945, gives credence to support the concept of turquoise tablets. The tractate entitled, “The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth,” is introduced as describing the beginnings of the divine realm and states that the eighth and ninth spheres can be stages of advanced spiritual development. The excerpt says:

      “My <son> write the language of the book on steles of turquoise, in hieroglyphic characters…that this teaching be carved on stone…This is the oath I will make him swear by heaven and earth and fire and water and seven rulers of substance and the creating spirit in them⁸ [Author's emphasis]

      The last section of the quote is the oath's significance and will become apparent later with its use of the four elements and seven rulers when comparing them to the four hermetic symbols of the ancient elements, which create a six-pointed star and to the seven chakras (spiritual centers of the body) aligned with the spine.

      Further support for the symbolism and use of turquoise