Hex Signs and Ganesh

[Guest guest]

I grew up in Pennsylvania in the 40’s and 50’s. One of my paternal

great-grandfathers was Amish. I also had Amish ancestors on my mother’s side

but by the time I was growing up it had been about 100 years since anyone knew

for sure who they were or what the relationship was. We know of them only via

hearsay and the presence of Amish artifacts in an attic.

I knew of a tiny bit of Amish magic firsthand, and a bit more second hand. It

never occurred to me growing up to doubt the efficacy of hex signs. One of the

most exciting trips of my life was in 1948, when my parents drove me to the

eastern end of the state, where the "real" Amish were, and where their hex

signs were not only to be seen but to be seen in action. These hex signs were

for real. I never forgot them.

Over the years I’ve learned a bit about the esotericism behind them:

For a start draw a vertical line. Intersect it with an "X" such that the

resultant six-armed star forms six equal 60 degree angles. Connect the arms of

the star. You will have drawn a 3-dimensional cube (air, fire, water, earth);

you will also have drawn all 24 of the Nordic runes, all appearing in one

figure.

This figure is the "complete" form of the "H" rune, whose function is precisely

that of a hex sign – to ward off unwonted influences. The same six-armed star

appears in every snowflake we have ever seen, and is the basic structure of the

quartz crystal as well. "Crystal" = holy ice.

Our northern predecessors saw the universe, not as yin and yang, but as ice and

fire, which today we think of as matter and energy, and their hex signs were

and, I think, still are an attempt to express the union of manifestation

(matter, crystal) and energy (fire, light). This thought is preserved is one of

Einstein’s later, unpublished theories to the effect that matter is condensed

light.

When one deals with a hex sign, and the runes, which, I insist, must be treated

with the same respect accorded to the Sanscrit and Hebrew alphabets if their

magic is to be tapped into, we must understand: we have walked upon sacred

ground, we have entered a sacred energy field.

What has this to do with Ganesha? I say, plenty. If Ganesh is the Lord of

Speech, he presides over the runes as well as every other alphabet that might

appear. I am mulling the notion that each rune is an expression of an aspect of

Ganesh.

Hagal would express "Obstacle Queller", and the hex sign, so unrelated at first

glance, might then be viewed as a mandala of Ganesh in his warding off evil

aspect. A yantra, if you will.

Perhaps all this is off the wall. I hope so. I’ve found the deepest truths in my

life when I’ve looked off the wall.

Scott

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