An angel is an ethereal being found in many religions, whose duties are to assist and serve God or the gods. Angel - Etymology. The English word originated from Latin, angelus, which is itself derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, ángelos, meaning "messenger" (double gamma "γγ" is pronounced "ng" in Greek). The closest Hebrew word for angel is מלאך, mal'ach Hebrew word #4397 in Strong's, also meaning "messenger". "Angel" is also used in the English Version of the Bible for the ...

Including:

• Angel - Etymology
• Angel - Angels in the Tanakh
• Angel - Appearance of angels
• Angel - Purpose
• Angel - Jewish views
• Angel - Maimonides and rationalism
• Angel - Christian views
• Angel - Islamic views
• Angel - Latter-Day Saint views
• Angel - Other religions
• Angel - Hinduism
• Angel - Thelema
• Angel - Angels as a development step of the soul
• Angel - Named angels and archangels
• Angel - Bibliography

Read more here: » Angel: Encyclopedia - Angel

See also:

Angel, Angel - Etymology, Angel - Angels in the Tanakh, Angel - Appearance of angels, Angel - Purpose, Angel - Jewish views, Angel - Maimonides and rationalism, Angel - Christian views, Angel - Islamic views, Angel - Latter-Day Saint views, Angel - Other religions, Angel - Hinduism, Angel - Thelema, Angel - Angels as a development step of the soul, Angel - Named angels and archangels, Angel - Bibliography

Read more here: » Angel: Encyclopedia II - Angel - Latter-Day Saint views

The Biblical name for angel, מלאך ('malakh"), obtained the further signification of "angel" only through the addition of God's name, as "angel of the Lord," or "angel of God" (Zech. xii. 8). Other appellations are "Sons of God", (Genesis vi. 4; Job, i. 6 [R. V. v. 1]) and "the Holy Ones" (Psalms lxxxix. 6, 8). According to Jewish interpretation, 'Elohim is almost entirely reserved for the one true God; but at times 'Elohim (powers), bnē 'Elohim, bnē Elim (sons of gods)(i.e. members of the class of div ...

See also:

Angel, Angel - Etymology, Angel - Angels in the Tanakh, Angel - Appearance of angels, Angel - Purpose, Angel - Jewish views, Angel - Maimonides and rationalism, Angel - Christian views, Angel - Islamic views, Angel - Latter-Day Saint views, Angel - Other religions, Angel - Hinduism, Angel - Thelema, Angel - Angels as a development step of the soul, Angel - Named angels and archangels, Angel - Bibliography

Read more here: » Angel: Encyclopedia II - Angel - Angels in the Tanakh

The English word "spirit" comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath. In religion and spirituality, the respiration of the human being has for obvious reasons been strongly linked with the very occurrence of life. A similar significance has been attributed to human blood. Spirit has thus evolved to denote that which separates a living body from a corpse, but can be used metaphorically (she performed the piece with spirit or she put up a spirited defence) where ...

Including:

• Spirit - Etymology

Read more here: » Spirit: Encyclopedia - Spirit

Deva (देव in Devanagari script, pronounced as "dévə") is the Sanskrit word for "god, deity". It can be variously interpreted as a spirit, demi-god, angel, deity or any supernatural being of high excellence. In Hindu mythology, the devas are opposed to the demonic Asuras. Deva Hinduism - Etymology. The word is from PIE *deiwos, originally an adjective meaning "celestial" or "shining", a PIE (not synchronic Sanskrit) vrddhi derivative from a root *diw "to shine", especially ...

Including:

• Deva Hinduism - Etymology
• Deva Hinduism - Vedic religion
• Deva Hinduism - Classical Hinduism

Read more here: » Deva Hinduism: Encyclopedia - Deva Hinduism

A fairy is a spirit (supernatural being) found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many cultures. They are generally humanoid in form, though of a higher, spiritual nature and so possessed of preternatural abilities, along with such mystical qualities as otherworldly beauty and grace, an ethereal glow, wings, or the like. They are also regarded as aloof, ephemeral, mercurial, and whimsical, among other qualities that place them outside of a human scope and have a tendency to make them associated or confused with other mythologi ...

Including:

• Fairy - Etymology
• Fairy - Nature
• Fairy - Fairies in literature
• Fairy - Fairies in visual arts
• Fairy - Fairies in modern popular culture
• Fairy - In Debates

Read more here: » Fairy: Encyclopedia - Fairy

In Irish mythology, Queen Achtland married one of the "Tuatha Dé Danann" (too'-ah deh dah'nan) who were the children of the Goddess Danu. Their name is often mistranslated simply into "giants", which gives reference to their stature, as well as their lineage, resembling the Nephilim, "fallen angels", of Christian lore. Another name for the "children" is the "Sidhe" (shee) which is often translated as "fairy" and conferred increasingly diminutive statur ...

Including:

• Achtland - Etymology

Read more here: » Achtland: Encyclopedia - Achtland

Religion (see etymology below) —sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine; and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. In its broadest sense some have defined it as the sum total of answers given to explain humankind's relationship with the universe. In the course of the development of religion, it has taken ...

Including:

• Religion - Etymology
• Religion - Religion and science
• Religion - Philosophy and metaphysics
• Religion - Esotericism and mysticism
• Religion - Spirituality
• Religion - Myth
• Religion - Approaches to the study of individual religions
• Religion - Methods of studying religion subjectively in relation to one's own beliefs
• Religion - Methods of studying religion objectively in a scientific and religiously neutral fashion
• Religion - Development of religion
• Religion - Religion today
• Religion - Approaches to relating to the beliefs of others
• Religion - Exclusivism
• Religion - Inclusivism
• Religion - Pluralism
• Religion - Syncretism
• Religion - Universalism
• Religion - Systemization
• Religion - Religion and other approaches to forming beliefs about the nature of the universe
• Religion - Related philosophical stances
• Religion - Compare with

Read more here: » Religion: Encyclopedia - Religion

According to The Alphabet of Ben-Sira, the lilin or lilim (singular lili) are the daughters of Lilith and Asmodai, engendered while Lilith was still Adam's wife. They are demons, with their function being similar to that of a succubus. While men feared them for this reason, mothers feared the attack of the lilin because they were also said to kidnap children, as Lilith herself did. Upon deserting Adam and turning against God, Lilith was warned that one hundred of her demonic children would die daily if she did not return to God. She refused, and so ...

Including:

• Lilin - Lilin in popular culture

Read more here: » Lilin: Encyclopedia - Lilin

Brownie points are a hypothetical currency, which can be accrued by doing good deeds on or off the net or earning favor in the eyes of another, often one's superior. Brownie points - Origins. The Oxford English Dictionary conjectures that this expression could also have derived from US military slang for sycophants, "brownnosers", while mentioning the less-likely but popular etymology that derives it from the awards system of the Brownies Girl Guides/Girl Scouts. "Brownie" itself in the sense of "bro ...

Including:

• Brownie points - Origins

Read more here: » Brownie points: Encyclopedia - Brownie points

Samael is an important figure in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer, and destroyer. Legends mentioning Satan refer equally to him, such that Samael is often taken to be the true or angelic name of the Devil, as opposed to the epithet, Lucifer (light-bearer), which is based on a misapprehension of a verse against the King of Babylon, or his functional title, Satan (Adversary). However, Samael cannot always be simply identified with Satan, because some translations of the Book of Enoch ...

Including:

• Samael - Samael in other traditions
• Samael - Fictional Samaels

Read more here: » Samael: Encyclopedia - Samael

Mephistopheles (also Mephisto, Mephistophilus, Mephist and Mephistophilis as referred to in the original text) is a name given to one of the chief demons of Christian mythology that figure in European literary traditions. The name is frequently used as an alternative form of Satan or the Devil. Because the name Mephistopheles evolved during the Renaissance, Mephistopheles makes no appearance in the Bible. However, according to certain extra-biblical texts relating to Christian mysticism, and a number ...

Including:

• Mephistopheles - Mephistopheles in popular culture

Read more here: » Mephistopheles: Encyclopedia - Mephistopheles

Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed to harm male children. In Isaiah 34:14, Lilith is a kind of night-demon or animal, translated as onokentauros; in the Septuagint, as lamia; "witch" by Hieronymus of Cardia; and as screech owl in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Talmud and Midrash, Lilith appears as a night demon. The idea of Lilith as the first wife of Adam arose in the Middle Ages. Lilith - Etymology. Hebrew לילית lilith, Akkadian līlītuIncluding:

• Lilith - Etymology
• Lilith - Akkadian mythology
• Lilith - Kiskil-lilla
• Lilith - The Burney relief
• Lilith - Babylonian Lilitu
• Lilith - Lilith in the Bible
• Lilith - Christian Bible
• Lilith - Jewish tradition
• Lilith - Dead Sea scrolls
• Lilith - Talmud
• Lilith - Kabbala
• Lilith - Lilith as Adam's first wife
• Lilith - Modern magic
• Lilith - Lilith in popular culture

Read more here: » Lilith: Encyclopedia - Lilith

A seraph (Hebrew שרף, SRF; in the plural seraphim, שרפים, SRFYM) is one of a class of celestial beings mentioned once in the Old Testament (Tanakh), in Isaiah. Later Jewish imagery perceived them as having human form, and in that way they passed into the ranks of Christian angels. Seraph - Seraphim in Isaiah. Isaiah (6:1-3) records the prophet's vision of the Seraphim: "... I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His tra ...

Including:

• Seraph - Seraphim in Isaiah
• Seraph - Seraphim in the Book of Revelation
• Seraph - Seraphim in Christian theology
• Seraph - Names attributed to this angelic order

Read more here: » Seraph: Encyclopedia - Seraph

Bethel is a Semitic word that aquired various meanings Bethel - Semitic root. A Semitic (Phoenician?) word meaning 'sacred stone/pillar" was the etymological root of the Greek Baetylus For traditions of other such stones named Bethel and a god named Bethel see also Bethel (god). Bethel - Hebrew. In this Semitic language of the Jewish people, bethel means "House of El") Bethel - Bible. B ...

Including:

• Bethel - Semitic root
• Bethel - Hebrew
• Bethel - Bible
• Bethel - Geographical names
• Bethel - United States
• Bethel - Canada
• Bethel - South Africa
• Bethel - Sources and References

Read more here: » Bethel: Encyclopedia - Bethel

The words fae and faerie came to English from French and, ultimately, Latin. An interesting correlation is the word "fey," which may be derived ultimately from the same Latin root and is now returning to mean the same as "fae." The Latin root fata, meaning fate in the sense of one of the Parcae, is an indication that fays have abilities associated with knowledge (foresight) and manipulation (luck, blessing, cursing) of fate, both of whic ...

See also:

Fairy, Fairy - Etymology, Fairy - Nature, Fairy - Fairies in literature, Fairy - Fairies in visual arts, Fairy - Fairies in modern popular culture, Fairy - In Debates

Read more here: » Fairy: Encyclopedia II - Fairy - Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary conjectures that this expression could also have derived from US military slang for sycophants, "brownnosers", while mentioning the less-likely but popular etymology that derives it from the awards system of the Brownies Girl Guides/Girl Scouts. "Brownie" itself in the sense of "brown-noser" was in use in the 1940s. The OED reports its first appearance in print as 1963, though the origins of the phrase predate this. Its frequent appearance in newspapers in the 1950s date back to the earliest known usage in 1951, where a man in the Los Angeles Times speaks of earning favor ...

See also:

Brownie points, Brownie points - Origins

Read more here: » Brownie points: Encyclopedia II - Brownie points - Origins

Pneumatology The study of gases; the study of beings intermediate between God or other divinity and man, including in the lower ranges angels, daimones, etc., and still lower possibly even demons and ghosts, etc.; the Christian theological doctrine of the Holy Ghost. G. de Purucker uses the term etymologically for the science of the pneuma or spirit, just as psychology is strictly speaking the science of the psyche.

The psyche is the lower intermediate nature of man, kama-manas; pneuma pertains to the higher duad, atma-buddhi. Modern psychology and psychoanalysis unfortunately deal mainly with the activities of the lower quaternary of the septenary being that is man, and ignores the activities or even the existence of anything else higher.

(See also: Pneumatology, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

A Hebrew tradition exists in which an amulet is inscribed with the names of three angels and placed around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the lilin until their circumcision. This practice lends weight to the argument that Lilith had existed in earlier Hebrew mythology and is not the creation of later medieval authors. There is also a Hebrew tradition to wait a while before a boy's hair is cut so as to attempt to trick Lilith into thinking the child is a girl so that the boy's life may be spared. ...

See also:

Lilith, Lilith - Etymology, Lilith - Akkadian mythology, Lilith - Kiskil-lilla, Lilith - The Burney relief, Lilith - Babylonian Lilitu, Lilith - Lilith in the Bible, Lilith - Christian Bible, Lilith - Jewish tradition, Lilith - Dead Sea scrolls, Lilith - Talmud, Lilith - Kabbala, Lilith - Lilith as Adam's first wife, Lilith - Modern magic, Lilith - Lilith in popular culture

Read more here: » Lilith: Encyclopedia II - Lilith - Jewish tradition

Deathrock - Etymology of Deathrock. The origin of the term Deathrock can be traced back to the 1950s when it was used to describe a genre of Rock and Roll called "death rock and roll" or "death rock". In these songs, teenagers sang about the tragic deaths of their boyfriends or girlfriends in accidents, from suicides and illnesses, etc. The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack" is arguably the best known example, but other well known songs from this era would include Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel" and Ray Peterson's "Te ...

See also:

Deathrock, Deathrock - Origins of Deathrock, Deathrock - Etymology of Deathrock, Deathrock - Earliest Influences on Deathrock, Deathrock - The Emergence of Deathrock in the United States, Deathrock - A Parallel Development in the UK: The Batcave in London, Deathrock - The Merger and Formation of Gothic Rock, Deathrock - Modern Death Rock, Deathrock - Death Rock Revival, Deathrock - Modern Deathrock Scene, Deathrock - Deathrock Temperament, Deathrock - Deathrock Synonyms, Deathrock - Deathrock or Horror Punk?, Deathrock - Influential Deathrock Artists, Deathrock - What Deathrock Is Not, Deathrock - Lists of Deathrock Bands, Deathrock - Related Genres, Deathrock - Subcultural Fashion, Deathrock - Web Zines, Deathrock - Articles, Deathrock - Deathrock Festivals, Deathrock - Club Nights

Read more here: » Deathrock: Encyclopedia II - Deathrock - Origins of Deathrock