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| Artwork: Granite Gargoyle, by Christopher Rush. I would have used the actual artwork from Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, but some would consider it to be non-tzanua. Those who are in the know will understand why I used the art from Granite Gargoyle. |
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar and the 42-Letter Name of God
On June 18, 2021, Wizards of the Coast released Modern Horizons 2 as an expansion set for the Magic: the Gathering trading card game. Printed in the set was a card representing the female wizard named Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar. On August 28, 2021, content creator Rhystic Studies (PhD) made a video about Magic: the Gathering card names with a focus on Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar. As I watched the video, my mind kept coming back to one thing: the 42-letter name of Hashem.
The Rambam (Moreh ha’Nevuchim 1:62) explains what we mean by a 42-letter name:
Now it is known to everyone capable of mental representation that it is in no way possible for 42 letters to form one word; these were certainly several words, the number of the letters of which amounted to 42 … These words that had numerous letters were called a “name” only because of their being indicative of a single concept … and these words were numerous only in order to make the concept in question understood.
The Rambam cites a passage in the Talmud which details the qualifications for being taught this name:
The name having 42 letters is holy and sanctified and is only transmitted to one who is discreet, has reached the middle of his life, is not prone to anger or to drunkenness, does not arouse criticism by his way of life, and speaks agreeably with people. And he who knows it is heedful thereof, and observes it in purity, is beloved on high and popular below. He is feared by the people, his learning is preserved by him, and he inherits the two worlds: this world and the next. (Talmud Bavli: Kiddushin 71a, Pines translation)
The Rambam then goes on to decry the ways in which these Talmudic teachings were misconstrued:
How very remote is the way in which this [Talmudic] statement is usually understood from the [true] intention of the speaker. For most people think that it deals solely with the pronunciation of the letters, and it is not taken into consideration that these letters have a meaning, so that great things may be merited through them and that for this reason there is needed the moral preparation and the forming of many dispositions that were mentioned … When wicked and ignorant people found these texts, they had an ample basis for lying statements in that they would put together any letters they liked and would say: this is a shem (divine name) that has efficacy and power to operate if it is written down or uttered in a particular way. Thereupon these lies invented by the first wicked and ignorant man were written down, and these writings transmitted to decent, weak-minded, and foolish men who lack the scales and means by which they could know the true from the false. These people accordingly made a secret of these writings, and the latter were found in the belongings left behind them, so that they were thought to be true. To sum it up: “a fool believes everything” (Mishlei 14:15).
Watching the video about Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar gave me a new insight into this Rambam. As a student of Torah who was “raised” in the rationalist school of thought, I am not prone to belief in the occult. When I read about kabbalistic divine names with magical properties, I am not moved – except to feel sorry for those who have fallen into such views.
And yet, I find myself absolutely enamored with the name Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar on purely aural and somatic grounds. By that, I mean that I love hearing it said and the feeling of my mouth saying it. This helped me realize that beneath the magical aura of these so-called divine names is an underlying aesthetic appeal – associated with their appearance, spelling, and pronunciation – which enhances their mystique in an intrinsic way. To my mind, this is another example of how (at least, according to the Rambam) idolatry appeals not only to our minds and imaginations, but to our most basic physicality.
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