Skull & bones
The symbol of a skull & crossbones was allegedly used by pirates, and is also used by the infamous “Skull and Bones” secret society at Yale university. All these insitutions are heavily spook-infested (see Miles’ guest paper on “Jewish” pirates), so the symbol is very likely a pun. Perhaps it’s a pun of קרקף גרם qrqp-grm, one way for saying “skull & bones”, with קרקף קרם qrqp-qrm for “hidden leader”.
In many languages, words that mean “head” & “skull” also mean “leader”, as in English. It’s therefore irrelevant what word the spooks had in mind for this symbol to mean “skull”. We can take any of those to mean “head”, and by derivation “leader”.
The Semitic word for “bone” is גרם grm, which puns with קרם qrm for “cover”. This would make the skull & bones symbol one of many hidden leader puns.
The skull & bones symbol appears on a Freemason tracing board inscribed in Hebrew. Puns in other languages are still possible though.
The “Skull and Bones” society is also called “Order 322”. The Hebrew numerals for 322 spell out the word שכב škb for “lying down”. It’s a euphemism for “lying down to die”, but also for “lying down with each other”. The latter is probably the intended spook meaning here, given how much their culture revolves around a very specific idea of “fraternity”.
שכב škb is also near-homonymous with שגב šgb for “cover” & “veil”. I don’t know whether the spooks derive that through the homonymity or a different arrangement of the numbers, but frankly I don’t care.
(Note: The most common way in modern Hebrew of saying “skull & bones” is גולגולת ועצמות gwlgwlt wˁṣmwt, using the roots גלגל עצם glgl-ˁṣm, which would pun with “changed power”, perhaps also a way to say disguised. But the same word also means “revealed power”, and revealing isn’t what secret societies seem to be about.)
| Number | Hebrew numeral |
|---|---|
| 300 | ש Šin |
| 20 | כ Kaph |
| 2 | ב Beit |
| 322 = 300 + 20 + 2 | שכב škb = lying down = dying, intercourse |
| Number | Hebrew numeral |
|---|---|
| 300 | ש Šin |
| 20 | כ Kaph |
| 2 | ב Beit |
| 3 | ג Gimel |
| 300 + 3 + 2 | שגב šgb = cover, veil |
| 322 = 300 + 20 + 2 | שכב škb ≈ שגב šgb = cover, veil |
Hebrew, Aramaic škb = lying down, sex, death; šgb = veil
שכב škb : to lie down; to lie down to sleep, to sleep; to lie down to die, to die; to lie with, have intercourse; to sleep with; to be raped — Aramaic (CAL)
שכב škb : to incline; to lie down, lie, sleep; to cause to lie down; to let lie with, to allow sodomy; to be lain with; to be the subject of sodomy — Hebrew (Jastrow)
שכב škb : to lie down; to die; to lie with; to be lain with, be ravished — Hebrew (Jastrow)
משכב mškb : lying down, lying; sexual intercourse; grave — Hebrew (Klein)
שגב šgb : veil; hidden — Aramaic (CAL)