Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism

Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism [from Hebrew tsaba host, army, celestial hosts]

A name given by the Shemitic peoples to those who worship the spiritual beings in the universe; and because the celestial bodies were the most evident manifestations of some classes of these spiritual beings, this religion naturally became confused with the worship of the celestial bodies themselves as the dwellings or mansions of the regents above, in, and behind the visible orbs. Hence the Sabeans were called astrolaters or star-worshipers; but it was not the physical bodies of the celestial orbs which were worshiped, but the spiritual entities, powers, or spirits which ensouled these orbs. This was one of the very archaic religions of the human race, found all over the globe in various forms; and in its origins Sabianism was undoubtedly an outpouring of occult teaching from the archaic Mysteries.

The word Sabean itself has come down to us mainly through Greek and Latin writers, but so thoroughly imbued were the ancient Hebrews with this idea of the celestial hosts or cosmic spirits that the Bible is full of references where the context even wrongly endows the celestial hosts with the properties of the Most High God, and it has been so understood by Christian theologians; forgetting, however, that manifested deities, however high, are but the manifestations of the infinite and ineffable Mystery or parabrahman, from which all the celestial hosts flow or emanate. Thus not only ancient and modern Judaism, but Christianity itself, is filled with the thought of the ancient Sabeans.

Sabeanism was unquestionably the main religious belief of the ancient Chaldeans and Assyrians, but likewise the very foundation stone of practically all the great religions of all the great peoples of the past. Upon the authority of the Jewish scholar Maimonides, scholars have considered the Sabeans as an ancient race whose principal religion was that of star-worship and closely affiliated with the Babylonians and Syrians. But the Sabeans were not a race, but those who followed and practiced the divine astrological astrolatry of the hoariest antiquity. Mohammed in the Koran mentions a sect between the Jews and Christians called Sabi una -- to whom certain privileges were granted; older Moslem theologians were agreed that the Sabeans possessed manuscripts which they regarded in the light of a revelation, and the Mandeans came under the same protection granted to the Sabeans; hence the Mandeans also came to be regarded as Sabeans. Another sect of polytheists, the Harranians (830 AD), also affiliated with the Sabeans and shielded themselves under the same privileges; they were a remnant of a Mesopotamian cult, and star-worship had a prominent place in their system.

Certain Arabian writers termed the Sabean language the science of astronomy, but what we now call astronomy was but a minor portion of ancient astrolatry; they also state that Seth or Set was the founder of Sabeanism, and that the pyramids were regarded as the place of sepulture of Seth or Agathodaimon. We see here confusion, reductions of general principles to details, and anthropomorphizations of cosmic principles. Hermes is in many senses the same as Seth, and the pyramids were consecrated to the regents of the stars, rather than to the orbs (SD 2:362).

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For articles related to Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism , see: Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism , Occultism, Occultism Dictionary, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul.

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Definition of  Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism is extracted from the home page of The Theosophical Society, International Headquarters, Pasadena, California. A Society founded in 1875 in an effort to promote the expressed awareness of the Oneness of Life.

"The Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary is presented to the public as a work in progress. The manuscript, produced originally in the 1930s and '40s, is currently being revised and expanded by the Editorial Committee. Theosophical University Press is presenting this working version online because, even in its present unfinished form, we feel that the contents will be of value to students of theosophical literature, particularly of the works of H. P. Blavatsky. "

Please visit http://www.theosociety.org for more information.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BCW - H. P. Blavatsky: Collected Writings, BG - Bhagavad-Gita, BP - Bhagavata Purana, cf - confer, ChU - Chandogya Upanishad , Dial, Dialogues - The Dialogues of G. de Purucker, ed. A. L. Conger, Echoes - Echoes from the Orient, by William Q. Judge (comp. Dara Eklund), Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism ,  ET - The Esoteric Tradition, by G. de Purucker, FSO - Fountain-Source of Occultism, by G. de Purucker, Fund - Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy, by G. de Purucker, IU - Isis Unveiled, by H. P. Blavatsky, MB - Mahabharata , MIE - Man in Evolution, by G. de Purucker, Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism , ML - The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, ed. A. Trevor Barker, OG - Occult Glossary, by G. de Purucker, Rev - Revelations, RV - Rig Veda , SD - The Secret Doctrine, by H. P. Blavatsky, SOPh - Studies in Occult Philosophy, by G. de Purucker, TBL - Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge (Secret Doctrine Commentary), by H. P. Blavatsky, TG - Theosophical Glossary, by H. P. Blavatsky, Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism , Theos - The Theosophist (magazine), VP - Vishnu Purana , VS - The Voice of the Silence, by H. P. Blavatsky, WG - Working Glossary, by William Q. Judge, ZA - Zend-Avesta

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