The Genesis Wheel

[Subduction Zone]

People don't use cognitive dissonance, Subdu. People experience cognitive dissonance, which is unpleasant for them and I was concerned for Rev Bob who seems like a nice old chap. That's why I gave him the warning, not because I was trying to insult his intelligence. This isn't my first book to be published and its not my first rodeo. I've seen my work cause cognitive dissonance in others, and I've had people pour a great deal of derision on my head and then come back months or sometimes years later with "I am so so sorry I acted that way. Everything you said was spot on, but at the time I just couldn't accept it." Unlike you, I don't think of discussions on the internet as a kind of sport. I care about the actual content of what we discuss and the people behind these words on a screen. I'm not interested in bagging trophies for my wall, and I don't feel the need to insult people without provocation because I'm not trying to project some sense of inner loathing onto others.

So turn about? Didn't happen except in your own mind.

You used the term "cognitive dissonance". Do I have to explain everything to you?

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

"Using a different number set" still makes it Bible code nonsense.
And yes, I did explain how your test failed. Not understanding something does not mean that it did not happen.

That's ironic from you. And for your next trick you going to insist that black is white because you say it is while you have your eyes closed. I don't know where you get off critizing work you've never seen. There are thousands of papers on academia.edu and by your logic you can debunk all of them without reading a word. That's just insane. You're boring me, and you've won my disregard and disrespect so I consider this conversation at an end.

 

[Subduction Zone]

That's ironic from you. And for your next trick you going to insist that black is white because you say it is while you have your eyes closed. I don't know where you get off critizing work you've never seen. There are thousands of papers on academia.edu and by your logic you can debunk all of them without reading a word. That's just insane. You're boring me, and you've won my disregard and disrespect so I consider this conversation at an end.

Let's not make false accusations. There are no well respected papers on this nonsense. That is why I feel free to label it as such. And I can see that you have been accused of cognitive dissonance in the past. That is why you copied and abused the phrase and are extremely touchy about it.

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

*rolls eyes and puts the guy on ignore*

Bibliography [of The Genesis Wheel]

Benner, J. (n.d.). Ancient Hebrew Research Center. Retrieved from Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Index | AHRC
Bloch-Smith, E. (2002). 'Solomon's Temple: The politics of Ritual Space'. Gittlen (ed.), 83-94.
Dillon, J. (2014). A Short History of the Hebrew Alphabet Gematria. Retrieved from Academia.edu: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET GEMATRIA
Halperin, David J. (1988). The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel's Vision. Coronet Books Inc.
Hurowitz, V. (2012). Proverbs: Introduction and Commentary, Miqra LeYisrael, vols 1-2 (Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Am Ove: Jerusalem: The Magnes Press of the Hebrew University.
Hurowitz, V. A. (2010). ‘Tenth Century BCE to 586 BCE: The House of the Lord (Beyt YHWH)’. Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade.
Kapelrud, A. S. (October 1968). The Number Seven in Ugaritic Texts. Vetus Testamentum, 494-499.
Knohl, I. (n.d.). THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE PRIESTLY CREATION ACCOUNT AND THE RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER EIGHT IN THE BIBLE. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (Draft).
Knohl, I. (2012). Sacred Architecture: The Numerical Dimensions of Biblical Poems. Vetus Testamentum , (62), 189–197.
Levenda, P. (2008). Stairway to Heaven: Chinese Alchemists, Jewish Kabbalists, and the Art of Spiritual Transformation. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Lieberman, S. J. (1987). A Mesopotamian Background for the So-Called Aggadic “Measures” of Biblical Hermeneutics? Hebrew Union College Annual, 58, 157–225.
Mathers, S. L. MacGregor (Samuel Liddell MacGregor)., Knorr von Rosenroth, C. (1907). Kabbala Denudata: the Kabbalah unveiled containing the following books of the Zohar: 1. The book of concealed mystery, 2. The greater holy assembly, 3. The lesser holy assembly. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner.
Miano, D. (2010). Shadow on the Steps: Time Measurement in Ancient Israel. Society of Biblical Lit.
Mazor, L. (2002). 'The correlation between the Garden of Eden and the Temple'. Shnaton, 13: 5-42.
Petrovich, D. (2016). The world's oldest alphabet: Hebrew as the language of the proto-consonantal script.
Reed, A. Y. (2007). Was there science in ancient Judaism? Historical and cross-cultural reflections on "religion" and "science". Studies in Religion, 36, 3-4.
Stager. (1999). 'Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden'. Eretz Israel, 183-94.
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. (2006). Retrieved from ETCSLhomepage
Wenham, G. (1986). 'Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story'. Proceedings of the Ninth World Article on Jewish Studies, Jerusalem 1985, division A: The biblical period, English part: 19-25.

 

[Subduction Zone]

*rolls eyes and puts the guy on ignore*

Bibliography [of The Genesis Wheel]

Benner, J. (n.d.). Ancient Hebrew Research Center. Retrieved from Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Index | AHRC
Bloch-Smith, E. (2002). 'Solomon's Temple: The politics of Ritual Space'. Gittlen (ed.), 83-94.
Dillon, J. (2014). A Short History of the Hebrew Alphabet Gematria. Retrieved from Academia.edu: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET GEMATRIA
Halperin, David J. (1988). The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel's Vision. Coronet Books Inc.
Hurowitz, V. (2012). Proverbs: Introduction and Commentary, Miqra LeYisrael, vols 1-2 (Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Am Ove: Jerusalem: The Magnes Press of the Hebrew University.
Hurowitz, V. A. (2010). ‘Tenth Century BCE to 586 BCE: The House of the Lord (Beyt YHWH)’. Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade.
Kapelrud, A. S. (October 1968). The Number Seven in Ugaritic Texts. Vetus Testamentum, 494-499.
Knohl, I. (n.d.). THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE PRIESTLY CREATION ACCOUNT AND THE RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER EIGHT IN THE BIBLE. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (Draft).
Knohl, I. (2012). Sacred Architecture: The Numerical Dimensions of Biblical Poems. Vetus Testamentum , (62), 189–197.
Levenda, P. (2008). Stairway to Heaven: Chinese Alchemists, Jewish Kabbalists, and the Art of Spiritual Transformation. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Lieberman, S. J. (1987). A Mesopotamian Background for the So-Called Aggadic “Measures” of Biblical Hermeneutics? Hebrew Union College Annual, 58, 157–225.
Mathers, S. L. MacGregor (Samuel Liddell MacGregor)., Knorr von Rosenroth, C. (1907). Kabbala Denudata: the Kabbalah unveiled containing the following books of the Zohar: 1. The book of concealed mystery, 2. The greater holy assembly, 3. The lesser holy assembly. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner.
Miano, D. (2010). Shadow on the Steps: Time Measurement in Ancient Israel. Society of Biblical Lit.
Mazor, L. (2002). 'The correlation between the Garden of Eden and the Temple'. Shnaton, 13: 5-42.
Petrovich, D. (2016). The world's oldest alphabet: Hebrew as the language of the proto-consonantal script.
Reed, A. Y. (2007). Was there science in ancient Judaism? Historical and cross-cultural reflections on "religion" and "science". Studies in Religion, 36, 3-4.
Stager. (1999). 'Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden'. Eretz Israel, 183-94.
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. (2006). Retrieved from ETCSLhomepage
Wenham, G. (1986). 'Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story'. Proceedings of the Ninth World Article on Jewish Studies, Jerusalem 1985, division A: The biblical period, English part: 19-25.

It is always easier to ignore reality when it disagrees with you. If the OP had not made the error of claiming to have evidence there would have been no need for the back and forth here.

 

[Darkforbid]

Let's not make false accusations. There are no well respected papers on this nonsense. That is why I feel free to label it as such. And I can see that you have been accused of cognitive dissonance in the past. That is why you copied and abused the phrase and are extremely touchy about it.

Why It's So Hard for Some People to Admit They Were Wrong



'People who repeatedly exhibit this kind of behavior are, by definition, psychologically fragile. However, that assessment is often difficult for people to accept, because to the outside world, they look as if they’re confidently standing their ground and not backing down, things we associate with strength. But psychological rigidity is not a sign of strength, it is an indication of weakness.'

 

[Subduction Zone]

Why It's So Hard for Some People to Admit They Were Wrong



'People who repeatedly exhibit this kind of behavior are, by definition, psychologically fragile. However, that assessment is often difficult for people to accept, because to the outside world, they look as if they’re confidently standing their ground and not backing down, things we associate with strength. But psychological rigidity is not a sign of strength, it is an indication of weakness.'

Yes, I know. But no need to rub it in. Theists seem to have a very difficult time understanding the concept of evidence, especially those that interpret their holy books too literally. But then you might have the same problem.

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Why It's So Hard for Some People to Admit They Were Wrong

'People who repeatedly exhibit this kind of behavior are, by definition, psychologically fragile. However, that assessment is often difficult for people to accept, because to the outside world, they look as if they’re confidently standing their ground and not backing down, things we associate with strength. But psychological rigidity is not a sign of strength, it is an indication of weakness.'

Yes, this has been quite a striking demonstration of projection on his part. Over on academia.edu there are over 1,200 people who have read my paper and over 220 people who have downloaded it and put it in their library. At least half of them are in positions of tenure with their university and I have many discussions with well respected people in the field who have read me and are wishing me congratulations or debating points of interest in future work. So the idea that I would suffer cognitive dissonance because one rando guy on the internet who hasn't read my work is trolling me is laughable. But he obviously really wants to believe it.

I feel sorry for him, but at the same time I'm frustrated by his lack of self-insight. I see that I can't do anything for him, but he's causing me problems anyway because guys like him really make the space hostile for women. I know that at least 40% of the people using my app and reading my work are women, but when guys like him start aggressively trolling looking for marks to project all their inner self-hatred and insecurity upon, the women leave or just don't arrive. You listen for women's voices in this thread but apart from my own and one brave women who warned me "this is not a good place" right at the start of the thread there's been crickets. And that's sad.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes, this has been quite a striking demonstration of projection on his part. Over on academia.edu there are over 1,200 people who have read my paper and over 220 people who have downloaded it and put it in their library. At least half of them are in positions of tenure with their university and I have many discussions with well respected people in the field who have read me and are wishing me congratulations or debating points of interest in future work. So the idea that I would suffer cognitive dissonance because one rando guy on the internet who hasn't read my work is trolling me is laughable. But he obviously really wants to believe it.

I feel sorry for him, but at the same time I'm frustrated by his lack of self-insight. I see that I can't do anything for him, but he's causing me problems anyway because guys like him really make the space hostile for women. I know that at least 40% of the people using my app and reading my work are women, but when guys like him start aggressively trolling looking for marks to project all their inner self-hatred and insecurity upon, the women leave or just don't arrive. You listen for women's voices in this thread but apart from my own and one brave women who warned me "this is not a good place" right at the start of the thread there's been crickets. And that's sad.

And more personal and false attacks. All I did was to give you a reasonable explanation of what qualifies as evidence. You gave a failed test. You took a false offense to your failure. That is all.

Once again you based your "evidence" on the fact that other failed methods failed. That is not a proper test. But theist tend to be loathe to properly test their ideas. That is one reason that there are so many different conflicting religions out there and why so many religions have the order not to "test God". God tends to fail when properly tested.

Also various articles on Academia.edu tell us that it is not a very reliable source. It is far too easy to get one's papers "published" their and it appears to be no more than an example of the vanity press these days:

https://www.universityherald.com/ar...sons-academia-edu-is-not-reliable-anymore.htm
Dear Scholars, Delete Your Account At Academia.Edu

Forbes rightfully points out that it is not a .edu any longer, it is now a .com:

"It Is Not A "Real" .edu

First and foremost? That web address is more than a little deceptive. As Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Associate Executive Director and Director of Scholarly Communication at the Modern Language Association (MLA) remarked on her blog, "the first thing to note is that, despite its misleading top level domain (which was registered by a subsidiary prior to the 2001 restrictions), Academia.edu is not an educationally-affiliated organization, but a dot-com, which has raised millions in multiple rounds of venture capital funding." Historian Seth Denbo probably said it best when, almost a year and a half ago, he warned scholars that they were providing free data to a for-profit company rather than participating in an open-source, non-profit often associated with .edu domains. "

So instead of personal attacks because your claim of evidence failed why don't you try to generate a working test, one that relies upon the merits of your idea and not on the failure of someone else's idea?

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Why It's So Hard for Some People to Admit They Were Wrong

Great article btw. Thanks.

 

[Darkforbid]

Great article btw. Thanks.

Yes, I like his work. Straight to the point and concise

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes, I like his work. Straight to the point and concise

Yes, but it is ironic that some do not get it, yet post it far too often.

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Its really great that respected and credible authors were already defying the generally prevailing dismissive attitude to the subject even before The Genesis Wheel. These treat gematria as the product of ancient scholarship rather than mysticism.

Professor Victor Hurowitz points out “numerological principles in the organization of the book [of Proverbs]” and demonstrates that Gematria has Mesopotamian precedents[1]. Professor Israel Knohl states “it is not out of the question that this technique was already known in the biblical period and was used specifically in religious contexts”[2], and has hypothesized “the fact that the representation of the numerical values of letters is not demonstrated in mundane use in ancient Israel before the Hellenistic period may point to the possibility that this method was first a sacred secret knowledge that was kept in closed circles.”[3] Professor Stephen J. Lieberman writes “we must admit that it is possible such techniques were employed in biblical texts. The means were available, and if the desire was present, it was certainly possible for hidden messages to be put into the Bible.”

They hadn't found the smoking gun but they could smell a strong whiff of gunpowder in the room.

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Just a quick reminder that free advance review copies of The Genesis Wheel will not be available after 1st August. Until then, you can pick one up here: Advance Review Copy

 

[Darkforbid]

Just a quick reminder that free advance review copies of The Genesis Wheel will not be available after 1st August. Until then, you can pick one up here: Advance Review Copy

Are you going with ebook only?

Off topic, but what was your screenplay about?

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Is this just a literary work or are you going to produce an audio version as well?

Either way best of luck on your endeavors. Being an author is exciting on an individual level no doubt.

I do enjoy unconventional subjects, even if I don't personally abscribe to any of it.

Sorry I didn't reply to this earlier. I'm not planning an audio version as I think all the math would be difficult to listen to and there are a lot of very long math expressions in Genesis 1-2.

Thank you for your best wishes. There are moments of excitement during research, and it is satisfying to solve puzzles set by scribes who lives over 2500 years ago, but otherwise ~ not really. Its hard work and very poorly paid. Still, I feel I have a duty to publish my findings and try and get them some traction. Among other things my work proves that ancient Jews were skilled mathematicians and not the scientific ignoramuses they are painted in some quarters. They even preceded Meton at calculating the Metonic cycle.

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Are you going with ebook only?

Off topic, but what was your screenplay about?

No, it's available in paperbook too.

My screenplay is about the United Kingdom counter-culture experimentation of the late 80's. It's set in Newcastle upon Tyne, and its about some Geordie friends who get busted by the police after one of the families doesn't pay their protection money... at least that's what its about on the surface.

 

[Darkforbid]

No, it's available in paperbook too.

My screenplay is about the United Kingdom counter-culture experimentation of the late 80's. It's set in Newcastle upon Tyne, and its about some Geordie friends who get busted by the police after one of the families doesn't pay their protection money... at least that's what its about on the surface.

Sounds good, plus I loved the 80 even though it was my fashion mistake years,,,

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

I was checking my email this morning and a copy of eskeptic was there with a wonderful podcast by McIntyre and Shermer about the strengths and weaknesses of Karl Popper’s “falsification” criteria for the line of demarcation. It may come as a shock to some people but I was an atheist for many years and I remain a firm supporter of skepticism. Skepticism is useful. Actually it's crucial for anyone to embrace because you need to know the difference between imagination and reality and skepticism allows you to move forward with your research. However you need to know how to do skepticism right. If you're criteria for what is reality or what is beyond reasonable doubt is too narrow then you need to rethink the criteria you're applying to test a theory.

Michael Shermer with Dr. Lee McIntyre — The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience

Now this show is relevant to our recent discussions here on RF. My theory was that Genesis 1-2 was based on an alphabetical framework, and I'd studied the scribal conventions of gematria enough that I could put that to the test. What I found was that every single line of Genesis 1-2 had been constructed with gematria that confirmed the alphabetic framework. I've been making my evidence public and inviting reviews (including skeptical ones), and my book remains available for the next couple of days so that anyone can check my evidence, and come back and point out any flaws, or point out places where they think the evidence is weak and tell me whether they were persuaded of my evidence or not. I find that immensely valuable.

For instance, a chap got in touch with me yesterday to point out that I hadn't explained why the scribes don't usually count the value of verbs in their calculations. I've just stated it as a fact and moved on (it was perfectly obvious to me), when I should have explained that the scribes don't use verbs because many of the verbs are reserved for mathematical notation. He also said "Beth, you've made the claim that gematria in the bible generally is indicated by the "Behold!" (הנה) but you haven't given enough examples to be statistically significant" and I thought ~ holy ****, he's right! I was focusing so much on Genesis 1-2 I missed that. As a result I'm going to include a new chapter on gematria indicators when I update my book. So I find constructive criticism enormously useful and I wouldn't have gotten so far with my research without my colleagues keeping me honest.

Now a guy who doesn't even evaluate the evidence before he starts making empty criticisms, obviously I'm going to give him short-shrift. That's not how skeptics do things. He says I have no data, but my data set is the entirety of Genesis 1-2, and there's no cherry picking there at all. I start at Genesis 1:1 with;

בראשית + אלהים + השמים + הארץ = 700

I'll walk you through this simple calculation:
Because Bra ברא is a verb we remove it or consider its worth as mathematical notation. If you're creating something you're adding to the sum of things so as a mathematical indicator it would be a +.
Because et את and v'et ואת mean addition we replace them with modern math notation which is +.

So we have:
In the beginning (220) + Elohim(86) + The Heavens(98) + The Earth(296) = 700.

What is the significance of this number to Genesis 1-2? Well the book is about the creation of the heavens and the earth in 7 days, and according to Judaic mythology God uses the letters (from the seven palaces) in order to create everything, which is why we find the result of 700 to be significant data.

Now this example only shows one type of mathematical indicator but there are many types; subtraction, multiplication by 2, multiplication by 10, division by 2, division by 10, not (disregard next word), all (all the next words), on (subtract one value for another one) etc. So the scribal conventions are very strict, and they had to be, because mathematical calculations have to be highly structured in order that other people (in this case ancient scribal peers) can read the calculation the scribe was setting down. And this is why people who actually investigate my evidence will come away satisfied that my analysis does exactly what it says on the tin.

You're welcome to check for yourself for the next 2 days, or to pre-order a kindle format for $3.99 but after 1st August the Kindle version will be $7.99 and the price of the paperback is $9.99, because like everyone else I don't work for free.

I hope you enjoy the show from eSkeptic. Have a great day!

 

[Bethsheba Ashe]

Some early reviews from Goodreads have been coming in, that I'd like to share:

"The Genesis Wheel is a book for anyone with even a slight interest in Gematria (ancient alphabets that are also used as number systems and whose encoding into texts are used both esoterically and to provide essential, most often secret or hidden, information) as well as sacred scripture in general, both the Old and New Testament.
The author of this work has clearly done an immense amount of groundwork and research into the particular number systems and specific coding applied by the early writers of the books of the Bible.
This has brought to light a completely new and surprising interpretation of the Bible that adds new levels of understanding, which makes this book a very interesting read. It is well written, highly engaging - and most importantly - thought provoking. The author's enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.
To add to this work, Bethsheba Ashe has developed a fully functioning website that allows input of any text in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and English to be calculated automatically using the new Bible Gematria values that she has discovered were used to encode Gematria into the very fabric of the texts of the Bible's Old and New Testament.
This website also has a wealth of invaluable resources and links to relevant ancient Jewish books and Kabbalistic literature, which you'll struggle to find anywhere else. This is indeed a Great Work! 10/10."
-- CK Krogh

"This is a meticulous work, highly commendable for the quality of the original research that has inspired its unique character, worthy of very serious study."
-- David Llewellyn.