Creation Dictionary

Arvaksrotas (Sanskrit) (from arvak downwards + srotas stream)

Those beings in which the current or stream of nutriment tends downwards. The creation of man, the seventh creation of Brahma in the Vishnu-Purana. These seven creations, which "did not occur on this globe, wherever else they may have taken place" (SD 2:162), refer to different stages of evolution in the earlier periods of a globe-manvantara, as well as of a chain-manvantara.

See also TIRYAKSROTAS

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

TARO (TAROT)

(See AZOTH.) The Great Wheel or "Book of Thoth." The letters form a magic square, thus:

ORAT

ROTA

ATOR

TARO

Which possibly means, "Ator (darkness) speaks through the wheel of Tartarus." (See TARTARY.)

In the psychedelic days of 1970, the more daring experimenters used to remove The Tower, the Nine and Ten of Swords, the Reaper and other disagreeable cards from the deck. Then they would pass out (not necessarily at random) the remainder, one by one, to those whom they met during the course of a few days. Whichever card you received was yours to keep because it was your fortune. Any left-over cards at the end of the "experiment" were the Reader's fortune.

Since we keep forgetting even the very survival lessons and pragmatics we've learned through bitter misfortune and ordeal, once we memorize the arcana, its 22 terse encapsulizations of perennial wisdom will serve as permanent and ready memory-joggers for all occasions thereafter.

Madame Blavatsky points out that anyone can visit the British Museum and read the signs of the tarot easily enough in the ancient Babylonian Cylinders, the Chaldean antediluvian rhombs, referred to by De Mirville as the "rotating globes of Hecate." The cards that fortune-tellers shuffle today are far, far removed from their origins and most of the meanings ascribed to them are but modern fairy tales...

Meanwhile, we are beset by a maze of false trails. According to Idries Shah, the 14th Century Italian word, Tarocchi, derives from Arabic turuq, i.e., the (4) "PATHS" (corresponding to the 4 suits) and the Tarot is therefore of Sufic rather than Judaic origins. The Judaic elements are therefore, according to him, superimposed Since, however, in known history, both the Qabalah and the Tarot arose simultaneously within the Italian-Jewish community in the 13-14th Century, its Jewish significance cannot be discounted. The Hebrew connection is clear from the number of the trumps alone (22), which is the number of letters in the alphabet -- each of which, in Qabalah, is a facet of Briah, or "Creation." Moreover, the most distinguished scholars insist it is far older than two millennia, hence the supposition of its Egyptian origin as The Book of Thoth, which we can also support by various etymological clues.

In any case, although Orthodox Jews tend to downplay any connection, the trumps are now fairly well associated with the 22 pathways between the sephiroth of the Qabalah as the Ze'ir Anpin (lit. "microcosm"), i.e., the letters of the alphabet, with Malkuth, form the "language" of Qabalah. As time has passed, the Tarot has become more and more mystical. In the Middle Ages, the suits merely stood for the Military (Swords), the Clergy (Cups), the Intellectuals (Wands) and the Merchants (Coins).

There are, in all, 32 paths, just as the brain, divided into three parts, spreads through the body in 32 pairs of nerves. The sephiroth themselves comprise the first ten "paths" and the remaining 22 are the links of the Atus (major trumps) themselves, the Fool being pathway 11, the Magician pathway 12, The High Priestess pathway 13, etc. The paths, as we've seen, are the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, which are the building blocks of Creation.

(See also: TARO, Tarot , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Twofold Man Used of the period in human history when human beings were androgynous. This in one sense was the representative on earth of the cosmic 'Adam Qadmon which becomes the Microprosopus (small face) as distinguished from the cosmos itself, called in the Qabbalah Macroprosopus (great face).

The twofold man, whether cosmic or terrestrial, belongs to the secondary creation, the creation of darkness or matter, or the vast intricacies of cosmic differentiations, as distinguished from the primary creation, the first emanations from cosmic spirit imbodying entities of spiritual and intellectual power, and hence often called the creation of light, which in its latter stage became that of the self-evolved gods or 'elohim.

(See also: Twofold Man , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

maya: (Sanskrit) "Consisting of; made of," as in manomaya, "made of mind."

From the verb root ma, "to measure, to limit, give form." The principle of appearance or manifestation of God's power or "mirific energy," "that which measures." The substance emanated from Siva through which the world of form is manifested. Hence all creation is also termed maya. It is the cosmic creative force, the principle of manifestation, ever in the process of creation, preservation and dissolution.

See: loka, mind (universal), mirific.

The Upanishads underscore maya's captivating nature, which blinds souls to the transcendent Truth. In Shankara's Vedantic interpretation, maya is taken as pure illusion or unreality. In Saivism it is one of the three bonds (pasha) that limit the soul and thereby facilitate its evolution. For Saivites and most other nondualists, it is understood not as illusion but as relative reality, in contrast to the unchanging Absolute Reality.

In the Saiva Siddhanta system, there are three main divisions of maya, the pure, the pure-impure and the impure realms. Pure or shuddha maya consists of the first five tattvas - Siva tattva, Shakti tattva, Sadasiva tattva, Ishvara tattva and Shuddhavidya tattva. The pure-impure realm consists of the next seven tattvas. The impure realm consists of the maya tattva and all of its evolutes - from the kala tattva to prithivi, the element earth. Thus, in relation to the physical universe, maya is the principle of ever-changing matter. In Vaishnavism, maya is one of the nine Shaktis of Vishnu.

See: loka, mind (universal), mirific, tattva, world.

(See also: Maya , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

microcosm-macrocosm: "Little world" or "miniature universe" as compared with "great world." Microcosm refers to the internal source of something larger or more external (macrocosm).

In Hindu cosmology, the outer world is a macrocosm of the inner world, which is its microcosm and is mystically larger and more complex than the physical universe and functions at a higher rate of vibration and even a different rate of time.

The microcosm precedes the macrocosm. Thus, the guiding principle of the Bhuloka comes from the Antarloka and Sivaloka. Consciousness precedes physical form. In the tantric tradition, the body of man is viewed as a microcosm of the entire divine creation. "Microcosm-macrocosm" is embodied in the terms pinda and anda.

See: apex of creation, pinda, quantum, tattva, tantra.

(See also: Microcosm-macrocosm , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Night In ancient cosmogonies night is placed before day because these cosmogonies begin with the secondary cosmic creation; and the light which was then created was contrasted with what seemed, relatively, the eternal darkness of primary creation. For manifested light proceeds from absolute light, which by contrast has to be called darkness.

In a Hindu scheme, the first body of Brahma is called his body of night, and from it proceeded the three highest groups of pitris, the asuras or sons of wisdom; while the four lower classes of pitris proceeded from the body of twilight.

Night also refers to pralaya as in the Day and Night of Brahma. Night thus signifies that which precedes the opening, coming, and fulfillment of manifestation, called the day. These days and nights pertain directly to the coming into being of a universe, of which in boundless space the number is infinite. Thus, when a universe is in pralaya, it can be said to be in its night or time of sleep, yet surrounded by the illimitable kosmos itself infilled with universes in all phases of evolutionary growth.

(See also: Night , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Brahma

The first finite living being in the material creation. He was born from the lotus growing from the navel of Garbhodaka-shayi Vishnu. At the beginning of creation, and again at the start of each day of his life, Brahma engineers the appearance of all the species and the planets on which they reside. He is the first teacher of the Vedas and the final material authority to whom the demigods resort when belabored by their opponents.

(See also: Brahma , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Pratyayasarga (Sanskrit) [from pratyaya understanding, discriminative comprehension, equivalent to buddhi + sarga that which is produced or brought forth, creation]

Used especially in Sankhya philosophy for the evolutionary formation or development from buddhi, commonly rendered as intellectual creation, equivalent to the eighth (or fifth) evolutional stage in development or creation in the Vishnu-Purana, called anugraha.

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

Brahma (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root brih to expand, grow, fructify)

The first god of the Hindu Trimurti or triad, consisting of Brahma, the emanator, evolver, and creator; Vishnu, the sustainer or preserver; and Siva, the regenerator or destroyer. Brahma is the vivifying expansive force of nature in its eternally periodic manvantaras. He stands for the spiritual evolving or developing energy-consciousness of a solar system which is also called the Egg of Brahma (brahmanda). Brahma is called the creator or Logos, but in the theosophic philosophy creator is simply an abstract term or idea, like army. In Burnouf's words:

"Having evolved himself from the soul of the world, once separated from the first cause, he evaporates with, and emanates all nature out of himself. He does not stand above it, but is mixed up with it; Brahma and the universe form one Being, each particle of which is in its essence Brahma himself, who proceeded out of himself" (q SD 1:380n). The Vishnu-Purana explains that created beings "although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet being affected by the good or evil acts of former existences, are never exempted from their consequences. And when Brahma produces the world anew, they are the progeny of his will . . ." (q SD 1:456n).

Brahman is both masculine and neuter, and therefore has two meanings. In the masculine (Brahma) it is the evolving energy of the cosmic egg, as distinguished from the neuter (Brahman). Brahma is the vehicle or sheath of Brahman. The Vishnu-Purana says that Brahma in its totality has essentially the aspect of prakriti, both evolved and unevolved (mulaprakriti), and also the aspects of spirit and of time. "Brahma, as 'the germ of unknown Darkness,' is the material from which all evolves and develops 'as the web from the spider, as foam from the water,' etc. This is only graphic and true, if Brahma the 'Creator' is, as a term, derived from the root brih, to increase or expand. Brahma 'expands' and becomes the Universe woven out of his own substance" (SD 1:83). Again,

"Here we find, as in all genuine philosophical systems, even the 'Egg' or the Circle (or Zero), boundless Infinity, referred to as It, and Brahma, the first unit only, referred to as the male god, i.e., the fructifying Principle. It is  or 10 (ten) the Decade. On the plane of the Septenary or our World only, it is called Brahma. On that of the Unified Decade in the realm of Reality, this male Brahma is an illusion" (SD 1:333).

According to the Aitareya-Brahmana, Brahma as Prajapati (lord of beings) manifests himself first of all as twelve bodies or attributes, which are represented by the twelve gods, symbolizing 1) fire; 2) the sun; 3) soma, which gives omniscience; 4) all living beings; 5) vayu, or ether; 6) death, or breath of destruction -- Siva; 7) earth; 8) heaven; 9) Agni, the immaterial fire; 10) Aditya, the immaterial and invisible sun; 11) mind; and 12) the great infinite cycle, "which is not to be stopped." Brahma in one of his phases therefore is the visible universe, every atom of which is essentially himself.

Brahma "symbolizes personally the collective creators of the World and Men -- the universe with all its numberless productions of things movable and (seemingly) immovable. He is collectively the Prajapatis, the Lords of Being; and the four bodies typify the four classes of creative powers or Dhyan Chohans . . ." (SD 2:60), these four bodies being ratri (night) associated with the creation of the asuras; ahan (day) associated with the gods; sandhya (evening twilight) associated with the pitris; and jyotsna (dawn or light) associated with the creation of men.

In the beginning Brahma was Purusha (spirit) and also prakriti (matter). It is later that he separated himself into two halves -- Brahma-Vach (female) and Brahma-Viraj (male). The term Brahma is not found in the Vedas. Blavatsky correlates Adam-Qadmon, Brahma, and Mars as symbols for primitive or initial generative and creative powers typifying water and earth; also all three are associated with the color red (cf SD 2:43, 124-5).

See also BRAHMA'S DAY

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

Shakti: (Sanskrit) "Power, energy," from the root shak, "to be able."

The active power or manifest energy of Siva that pervades all of existence. Its most refined aspect is Parashakti, or Satchidananda, the pure consciousness and primal substratum of all form.

This pristine, divine energy unfolds as ic�ha shakti (the power of desire, will, love), kriya shakti (the power of action) and jnana shakti (the power of wisdom, knowing), represented as the three prongs of Siva's trishula, or trident. From these arise the five powers of revealment, concealment, dissolution, preservation and creation.

In Saiva Siddhanta, Siva is All, and His divine energy, Shakti, is inseparable from Him. This unity is symbolized in the image of Ardhanarishvara, "half-female God." In popular, village Hinduism, the unity of Siva and Shakti is replaced with the concept of Siva and Shakti as separate entities. Shakti is represented as female, and Siva as male. In Hindu temples, art and mythology, they are everywhere seen as the divine couple. This depiction has its source in the folk-narrative sections of the Puranas, where it is given elaborate expression. Shakti is personified in many forms as the consorts of the Gods. For example, the Goddesses Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati are the respective mythological consorts of Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Philosophically, however, the caution is always made that God and God's energy are One, and the metaphor of the inseparable divine couple serves only to illustrate this Oneness.

Within the Shakta religion, the worship of the Goddess is paramount, in Her many fierce and benign forms. Shakti is the Divine Mother of manifest creation, visualized as a female form, and Siva is specifically the Unmanifest Absolute. The fierce or black (asita) forms of the Goddess include Kali, Durga, Chandi, Chamundi, Bhadrakali and Bhairavi. The benign or white (sita) forms include Uma, Gauri, Ambika, Parvati, Maheshvari, Lalita and Annapurna. As Rajarajeshvari ("divine queen of kings"). She is the presiding Deity of the Sri Chakra yantra. She is also worshiped as the ten Mahavidyas, manifestations of the highest knowledge - Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshvari, Chinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Bagata, Matangi and Kamala. While some Shaktas view these as individual beings, most revere them as manifestations of the singular Devi. There are also numerous minor Goddess forms, in the category of gramadevata ("village Deity"). These include Pitari, "snake-catcher" (usually represented by a simple stone), and Mariyamman, "smallpox Goddess."

In the yoga mysticism of all traditions, divine energy, shakti, is experienced within the human body in three aspects:

1)    the feminine force, ida shakti,

2)    the masculine force, pingala shakti, and

3)    the pure androgynous force, kundalini shakti, that flows through the sushumna nadi.

Shakti is most easily experienced by devotees as the sublime, bliss-inspiring energy that emanates from a holy person or sanctified Hindu temple.

See: Amman, Ardhanarishvara, Goddess, Parashakti, Shaktism.

(See also: Shakti , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

EVOLUTION

For the past hundred years or more a war has been going on in academic circles between the theory of evolution and the belief in Creation. Darwinian evolution, however, must not be applied to history. Nor must we think of Creation as anything less than ongoing at all times, including the present moment.

Every plant, every animal, even matter itself is conscious, not merely sentient. Consciousness, however, assumes many modalities, each having the same goal, which is self-transcendance. The difference between an elephant and a fly is not that the one is more conscious or transcending than the other, but that the fly's attention is focused and fixed, whereas the elephant's is generalized and reprogrammable for adapting to new circumstances. Everything is creatively evolving upward in an infinite spiral. All Being necessarily undergoes many transitions and existence must encompass all experience.

Ultra-Darwinist theories no longer see biological evolution as "survival of the fittest" nor as random happenstance. Alien cells tend, if given time, to merge cooperatively with their host. Variations of species are not preceded by steps, but by quantum "leaps" (punctuations) that suggest recognition of environmental exigencies and co-evolutionary trends. There is also macro-evolution. The entire world is approaching its own evolutionary acme (Moksha). When the Bodhi-culmination transpires, Nirvana will become available to all.

(See also: EVOLUTION , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Apsu (Babylonian) Abzu (Sumerian) Also Ab Soo. The primordial deep; the waters of space in the Babylonian epic of creation Enuma Elish (when on high).

From Apsu and Tiamat were born all the gods, man being fashioned from the clay of Apsu in a Sumerian version, and from the blood of Kingu, son and second consort of Tiamat, in Enuma Elish. The deep is the abode of Ea (wisdom) who saves humanity from destruction by Apsu, Apsu being transformed into still or stagnant subterranean waters.

The Babylonian hero-creator is Marduk, whose prowess against the monstrous forces of Tiamat (matter) caused the gods to endow him with the power to overcome them and to complete the creation of heaven and earth.

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

Stanzas of Dzyan Archaic verses of philosophical and cosmogonical content drawn from the Book of Dzyan, which form the basis of The Secret Doctrine. They present the esoteric teachings in regard to cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis, and are the ancient heritage of humanity as preserved by the brotherhood of mahatmas.

Every race and nation has drawn from this source through the medium of its initiated or inspired teachers and saviors. Only portions of the original verses are given in The Secret Doctrine, and Blavatsky's presentation there represents the first time that they have been set down in a modern European language; her endeavor always was to represent the meaning rather than to give a merely literal rendering of the words: "it must be left to the intuition and the higher faculties of the reader to grasp, as far as he can, the meaning of the allegorical phrases used. Indeed it must be remembered that all these Stanzas appeal to the inner faculties rather than to the ordinary comprehension of the physical brain" (SD 1:21).

Especially is this the case when the Stanzas refer to events and conditions of cosmic or human life of which mankind today has virtually lost all memory, except for the scattered fragments of archaic writings which have reached us out of the darkness of prehistory. Only deep meditation and contemplation upon the mystical symbols used will awaken the faculty to comprehend them:

"The history of cosmic evolution, as traced in the Stanzas, is, so to say, the abstract algebraical formula of that Evolution. . . . .

"The Stanzas, therefore, give an abstract formula which can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to all evolution: to that of our tiny earth, to that of the chain of planets of which that earth forms one, to the solar Universe to which that chain belongs, and so on, in an ascending scale, till the mind reels and is exhausted in the effort.

"The seven Stanzas given in this volume represent the seven terms of this abstract formula. They refer to, and describe the seven great stages of the evolutionary process, which are spoken of in the Puranas as the 'Seven Creations,' and in the Bible as the 'Days' of Creation" (SD 1:20-1).

These archaic stanzas are written preeminently in symbolic language, with the intention of giving, perhaps, a sevenfold meaning; "as there are seven keys of interpretation to every symbol and allegory, that which may not fit a meaning, say from the psychological or astronomical aspect, will be found quite correct from the physical or metaphysical" (SD 2:22n).

See also BOOK OF DZYAN

(See also: Stanzas of Dzyan , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Bel (Greek, Latin) Ba`al (Chaldean) (from Semitic ba`al chief, lord)

Lord, chief; one of the supreme gods of the Chaldeo- or Assyro-Babylonian pantheon: the second of the triad composed of Anu, Bel, and Ea. Assyriologists have assumed that Bel was simply the title of a deity, which they have designated as En-lil (the mighty lord). In the division of the universe into heaven, earth, and water, Bel was considered as the lord of the land, and his temple at Nippur was called E-kur (the mountain house), just as Ea's was the watery house.

There have been many Bels, which may be one of the reasons that in The Secret Doctrine Bel is made equivalent to the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury. As Bel or Ba`al means Lord, the title becomes applicable to any of the important celestial bodies.

According to one account, the creation of the world and especially of mankind is ascribed to Bel. He is also called father of the gods; and his consort, Belit, is called mother of the gods. His eldest son in Sin, god of the Moon. Bel also brings about the deluge which destroys humanity, showing his dual aspect of evolver and destroyer.

Bel has been associated with the Phoenician Baal, the supreme god of the Canaanites, conceived also as the protective power of generation and fertility, connected with the moon. His female counterpart, Ashtoreth (Astarte, Ishtar) was considered as the receptive goddess, also a lunar divinity. In later times the rites connected with these deities became degraded into licentious orgies; sacrifices were made, apparently even human sacrifices, but at one time Ba`al was worshiped as a sun god.

His various names in the Old and New Testaments demonstrate the various aspects in which he was regarded. Thus in Exodus he was named Ba`al-Tsephon, the god of the crypt. He was likewise named Seth or Sheth, signifying a pillar (phallus); and it was owing to these associations that he was considered a hid god, similar to Ammon of Egypt. Among the Ammonites, a people of East Palestine, he was known as Moloch (the king); at Tyre he was called Melcarth. The worship of Ba`al was introduced into Israel under Ahab, his wife being a Phoenician princess.

"Typhon, called Set, who was a great god in Egypt during the early dynasties, is an aspect of Baal and Ammon as also of Siva, Jehovah and other gods. Baal is the all-devouring Sun, in one sense, the fiery Moloch" (TG 47). As to the leaping of the prophets of Ba`al, mentioned in the Bible (1 Kings 18:26), Blavatsky writes: "It was simply a characteristic of the Sabean worship, for it denoted the motion of the planets round the sun. That the dance was a Bacchic frenzy is apparent. Sistra were used on the occasion" (IU 2:45).

Bel is also the name for the sun with the Gauls.

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

OZ

A full statement of Thelemic law. See Crowley's Liber 77 (77 being the number of Oz). It is a Semitic root for "strength." Liber Oz was printed originally in 1942 and deals with Thelemic politics. During the creation, monsters from Unive rse B were irresponsibly unleashed, referred to in the Bible as Nefilim, "Giants" (literally, "fallen ones"). Says K. Grant, "The generic name for them is Oza, [of numerical value] 78, [the value] of Aiwass and of the influence from Kether (Mezla). The Oz is the entity that casts its monstrous and ape-like shadow over The Magician in Crowley's design of the Tarot Pack (Atu II, ascribed to Mercury and hence the Ape of Thoth)." All manifestation is illusion, including the words of creation, and the Dog-Headed Ape mocks even the languages of the Gods. Personal revelations indicate that Oz is the "home of the Beast-Doom" (Typhon as shown on the Tenth Enigma of the Book of T), i.e., the lowest circle of Hell, Hades.

(See also: OZ , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

uthpatthi:

uthpatthi. Creation or cause of creation.

(See also: uthpatthi , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

The ten Sepheroth

(emanations)

• Kether. Crown - Top of Head
• Hochma. . wisdom -Right Brain
• Binah. . Understanding - Left of Brain
• Hesed. . March - Right Arm
• Pechad. . Strength- Left Arm
• Tefereth. . Beauty-Heart
• Nezah. . Victory-Right of Pelvis
• Hod. . Glory-Left of Pelvis
• Yesod. . Foundation-Genitals
•  

The sephiroth form the central image of Kabbalistic meditation, the Sephirothic Tree of Life, which describes the path of descent from the divine to the material realm, and the path of ascent to the highest level of spirituality.

Each sephirath is a level of attainment in knowledge, corresponding to energy centers in the body, and is also divided into four interlocking sections or 'Worlds', which constitute the cosmos:

• emanation (Atziluth),
• creation (Briah),
• formation (Yetzirah), and
• action or making (Assiyah).

Through contemplation and meditation, similar to Eastern yogic disciplines, the Kabbalist ascends the tree of life.

The sephirot also comprise the sacred, unknowable, and unspeakable personal name of God: YHVH (Yahweh), the Tetragrammaton. So sacred is the Tetragrammaton that other names, such as Elohim and Jehovah, are substituted in its place in scripture.

A more systematic presentation of the basic doctrine is contained in Moses Cordovero's Pardes rimmonim (Garden of Pomegranates, 1548). Kabbalah was a major influence in the development of Hasidism and still has adherents among Hasidic Jews.

The Kabbalah, with its amulets, incantations, demonology, seals, and letter and number mysticism, had a profound influence on Western magical tradition. The Tetragrammaton especially was held in great awe for its power over all things in the universe, including demons.

(See also: The ten Sepheroth , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Self-born Parentless, in Sanskrit aupapaduka or aja -- terms used of the head of a hierarchy, such as the Logos, corresponding to the Son, the second person of the Christian Trinity. From another aspect, it is the cosmic dragon in the highest of its septenary meanings.

All gods and beings born through and from will, whether of deity or adept, are said to be self-born, e.g., the pitris, who issued from Brahma's body of twilight; or Daksha, a self-born power who sprang from his father's body. Each cosmic monad is svayambhuva (the self-become or self-born) and in its turn becomes a center of force from within which emerges a planetary chain.

The first root-race is called self-born, for the individuals of this race were the astral shadows of their progenitors, and their method of reproduction was by fission. Seven self-born primordial gods emanated from the triadic One. The self-born were the primary creation of seven creations, otherwise emanations of self-born gods, or 'elohim, as the Hebrews call them.

Theosophic philosophy postulates four methods of reproduction (chatur-yoni) in the manifested realms which run from the divine through many intermediate degrees to the physical: 1) the highest or self-born (aupapaduka), such as the inner birth at will of gods and bodhisattvas; 2) birth from the seeds of life of various kinds on the different planes, whether they be monads or physical seminal germs; 3) egg-born (andaja), such as reptiles and birds; and finally 4) womb-born (yonija), such as man and other mammalia. These four modes of birth are not given here in the order of their importance or spirituality, for human beings, who are womb-born, at a later stage through initiation and inner development finally attain the aupapaduka birth again.

(See also: Self-born , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Gods: Mahadevas, "great beings of light."

In Dancing with Siva, the plural form of God refers to extremely advanced beings existing in their self-effulgent soul bodies in the causal plane.

The meaning of Gods is best seen in the phrase, "God and the Gods," referring to the Supreme God- Siva- and the Mahadevas who are His creation.

See: Mahadeva.

(See also: Gods , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Personal God The personal anthropomorphic extra-cosmic God of theology is a purely human creation -- for personality is a limitation utterly inconsistent with the nature of the boundless and eternal. This theological God is merely a reflection of man. The infinite source of all cannot be defined, since every possible attribute which we might assign to it is a human mental creation. We are forced to speak of God as impersonal, but must beware lest in doing so we reduce the conception to an empty abstraction.

God may denote a divine being, a being who was once in our present human stage but has evolved beyond it, having transcended the limit of personality but without losing individuality. Or God may be applied to a being who has emanated from the divine source but is on the downward arc of evolution, not having yet become man; or again it may be a projection of the human mind, like the personal God of theology, but in this case it is a human mental creation -- therefore containing human limitations because the human mind is finite -- and therefore inadmissible.

The early Christians believed that the pagan gods were impersonated by evil demons or were actually merely daemonia. It is hard to believe that Jehovah, Jupiter, the Christian God, Brahma, and the like are nothing more than merely abstract ideas, for they actually are human ways of expressing some of the active and distinctly concrete powers or potencies in the solar system.

The notion of a personal God implies arbitrary will, caprice, anger, susceptibility to propitiation, and many other human weaknesses; and the attempt to reconcile these wholly human projections of thought with the idea of abstract infinitude results in contradiction and absurdity.

It is clear enough that the universe is filled full with powers and potencies, of which all animate beings known to man, and man himself, are but minor examples; and hence polytheism when properly understood as the necessary and inevitable deduction of spiritual pantheism is seen to be true. The mistake of most polytheists in the past has been to endow these gods, divinities, or spiritual potencies with attributes all too human, instead of considering them as they ought to be considered as the formative forces of the universe, possessing consciousness and will.

See also GOD; GOD(S)

(See also: Personal God , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

instrumental cause: Sahakari karana. Cosmologically, the means of implementing creation.

See: cause.

(See also: Instrumental cause , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)