18 MAGIC WORDS Brahmins claimed to know the mystic Word, whose utterance elevated men to heaven; -- the Buddhists held that the syllable om gave power to enter Nir vana to those who knew its deeper signification; -- in the Kabbala we read of the Name by the combinations of whose letters men have been created from dust; -- in the Talmud we are told of the Ineffable Appellation of forty-two letters, revealed only to those beloved of the Lord; -- nor is it necessary to cite the magical attributes which Islamic fancy lends to the name of Allah, engraved upon emralds, or upon seals, or written upon . . . million[s of] charms . . ."8 Origins: Om is a Hindu mantra, signifying the totality of the universe. "Yogi practitioners maintain that reciting . . . mantra can grant chanters all kinds of magical abilities. As a result, mantra formulas are found throughout the Far East, in the religions of Hinduism, Tibetan Lamaism, and Buddhism." 9 Figure 31. The mystic symbol om consists of three curves, one semicircle, and one dot. This diagram encapsulates Nitin Kumar's explication in "Om: An Inquiry Into Its Aesthetics, Mysticism, and Philosophy," ExoticIndia.com (2001). 8 Lafcadio Hearn, "Decadence as an Art," quoted in Reading Emptiness by Jefferson Humphries (1999) 9 Haha Lung, Black Science (2001)