f, v

The pair f and v represents the labiodental fricative consonants, unvoiced and voiced respectively, which are twenty-first in the Hebrew alphabet order when counted by the letter Vau (ו) in its capacity as a consonant, but here they appear as the English equivalent for the letter that shifts between these two sounds. In Hebrew, the letter Vau (ו) normally has a consonantal value of v (as in modern Hebrew) or, in older traditions and some transcriptions, w. However, the presence of f in this entry reflects the oft-used English transliteration system for Vau when it carries a daghesh lene, yielding the sound f in certain positions (as in the Hebrew pronunciation of Vau in some Jewish liturgical contexts, where it becomes a labiodental fricative akin to the Greek digamma). The form “f, v” thus captures both the common editorial alternatives for representing the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet in English letters.

Position on the Tree of Life

This entry is placed at step 8 on the Tree of Life, corresponding to the sephirah Hod—which is associated with splendor, intellect, and the formal structures of language and communication. At this level, the sound f or v relates to the vibratory and formative aspects of speech, for Hod governs the logical and analytic frameworks that shape words. The dual consonant pair mirrors Hod's dual nature as the sphere that receives and transmits divine energy through structured expression.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

In the Liber 777 system, step 8 (Hod) is assigned to the planet Mercury (in its mystical aspect) and the intelligence of Mercury. The letters f and v therefore resonate with Mercurial qualities: rapid movement, communication, exchange, and the borderline between sound and silence. The labiodental articulation—using the lower lip against the upper teeth—suggests a clipped, precise contact, much like the swift and sharp wit of Hermes.

Historical context

The assignment of f, v to a single cell in column LI of Liber 777 emerges from the esoteric lexicography of late‑19th‑century Western occultism. Crowley and his predecessors worked from a received tradition that linked Hebrew letters to English equivalents for purposes of gematria, magical correspondences, and the construction of divine names or barbarous words of evocation. In most early Kabbalistic manuscripts, the letter Vau was given the sound v (as in the word Vav itself), but by Victorian times, scholars such as Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers had codified a system where Vau could be represented by “v” and sometimes, when occurring in a position of phonetic doubling, by “f.” This reflects the historical phenomenon known as begadkephat—the spirantization of certain stops in Hebrew, where a letter like Vau took on a fricative pronunciation after vowels, resulting in a sound closer to f in some traditions (e.g., the Ashkenazi Yiddish ‘v’ becoming a voiceless f in certain contexts). The Liber 777 column LI follows the English transliteration standard from the Sepher Yetzirah as adopted by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where the letter Vau is given “V” but also notes the alternative “F” for its variant in certain magical alphabets. Thus, “f, v” records both possibilities, acknowledging the mutable phonetic value of this letter across different recensions of the Hebrew sacred alphabet.

Liber 777 at this scale step therefore presents “f, v” as the English sound‑equivalent for the letter that manifests as either of two labiodental fricatives—a dual nature appropriate for a sphere of intellectual differentiation and magic words.