the Vulcan salute

[AlecWest]

Just a little trivia. Most people know by now that Spock's "salute" (see below) was supposed to have originated from a Jewish hand blessing:



However, according to Jewish Themes in Star Trek by Yonassan Gershom, the symbol used by Spock is not the real Jewish hand blessing:

The actual blessing is done with both arms held horizontally in front, at shoulder level, with hands touching, to form the Hebrew letter "shin." This stands for the Hebrew word for "Shaddai", meaning "Almighty [God]." Nimoy modified this gesture into one hand held upright, making it more like a salute. So, technically, the Vulcan greeting is not the same thing as the ceremonial Jewish blessing.

While I suspect Nimoy got it from his Hebrew roots, the one-handed symbol he came up with may have come from an earlier source. Dennis Wheatley was both a horror novelist and a sort-of expert on matters of the occult. When his novel, "The Devil Rides Out," was made into a film by Hammer in 1968, he supervised and recommended certain symbols be used in the opening credits (like the one pictured below). Many of these symbols predate Hebrew symbols. This may have been one of them:



Does anyone know where and when the occult symbol above originated? Are the letter-like symbols on the hand Hebrew - or something older? Just curious.

[reboot]

Nimoy could never get his hand to do the salute properly. Before every shot showing it, he would put his hands behind his back, manually separate his fingers with the other hand, then raise it.

[AlecWest]

Nimoy could never get his hand to do the salute properly. Before every shot showing it, he would put his hands behind his back, manually separate his fingers with the other hand, then raise it.

I always wondered about that. He "seemed" to do it so effortlessly ... and I remember Shatner trying to do it with only limited success.

Trivia note. Didn't know this before but Star Trek TOS was not the first place Nimoy & Shatner played opposite each other. It occurred 2 years earlier in an episode of THE MAN FROM UNCLE. Nimoy played a THRUSH agent and Shatner a new UNCLE trainee ("The Project Strigas Affair").

[Abbadon]

Hi,

Several Talismans described in magic books contain Hebrew' Symbols, some Egiptians.

These symbols, as you call them, are mentioned in "Grimoires" and treaties written by those who practiced Magic, sometimes these magicians were only writing what their summoned demons dictated to them.

According to legend, King Solomon was given a ring with the name of god written on it and had the power to summon and control demons, using this ability, he forced these demons to give him their knowledge.

Sumerian mythology had a great deal of influence on this kind of topics.

[adam]

Nimoy could never get his hand to do the salute properly. Before every shot showing it, he would put his hands behind his back, manually separate his fingers with the other hand, then raise it.

I guess Aleve really does work then.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1205595682858287284&pl=true

[AlecWest]

Several Talismans described in magic books contain Hebrew' Symbols, some Egiptians.

These symbols, as you call them, are mentioned in "Grimoires" and treaties written by those who practiced Magic, sometimes these magicians were only writing what their summoned demons dictated to them.

According to legend, King Solomon was given a ring with the name of god written on it and had the power to summon and control demons, using this ability, he forced these demons to give him their knowledge.

Sumerian mythology had a great deal of influence on this kind of topics.

Enochian symbolism, too ... for those willing to suspend disbelief (grin). While the Enochian dialect wasn't revealed until the 16th Century, it's supposed to be the language of the Angels (even fallen Angels like Satan). And, it's reasonable to assume that Angels were around before Hebrews.

While Nimoy is a "reformed" Jew, he not long ago released a book of photographs ("Shekhina") that makes reference to the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The hand symbol used in the film might be Kabbalist - which, I suppose, could put one foot in the religious realm and one foot in the occult realm. And while Spock's salute is not traditional Jewish, it could be in that same realm.