Zairja
A zairja was a device used by medieval Arab astrologers to calculate ideas by mechanical means. It used the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet to signify 28 categories of philosophic thought [citation needed]. By combining number values associated with the letters and categories, new paths of insight and thought were created.
It is thought that Catalan-Majorcan mystic, Ramon Llull (1234-1315) in his travels and studies of Arab culture, became familiar with the zairja, and used it as a prototype for his invention of the Ars Magna (The Great Art).
Sources
- Ramon Llull and Ars Magna
- Mind as Mosaic, The Robot in the Machine, Bruce H. Hinrichs, pp. 196–197
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