Mountain

• For a young woman to dream of crossing a mountain in company with her cousin and dead brother, who was smiling, denotes she will have a distinctive change in her life for the better, but there are warnings against allurements and deceitfulness of friends. If she becomes exhausted and refuses to go further, she will be slightly disappointed in not gaining quite so exalted a position as was hoped for by her.
• If you ascend a mountain in your dreams, and the way is pleasant and verdant, you will rise swiftly to wealth and prominence. If the mountain is rugged, and you fail to reach the top, you may expect reverses in your life, and should strive to overcome all weakness in your nature. To awaken when you are at a dangerous point in ascending, denotes that you will find affairs taking a flattering turn when they appear gloomy.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Mountain , Meaning of Dreams about Mountain , Dream Interpretation Mountain )

Trapped : Dream Interpretation Dictionary - Being lost or trapped

Being lost or trapped

In these highly common dreams, you're lost and feeling desperate. You may be buried alive or locked in a cage. Or you dream of not being able to move; you're powerless to scream or breathe.

These dreams may occur when you feel confusion or conflict about how to act in waking life.

The images are influenced by biological roots and experience. Feeling trapped or paralyzed also mirrors what occurs to the large muscles of the body during normal REM sleep, when they're paralyzed to prevent the body from acting out the dreams.

Such dreams could reflect frustrations in waking life, such as feeling trapped in a relationship or a dead-end job.

You may open a door in your home to find a new room or find something new in the neighborhood. These dreams occur usually when you feel an aspect of your life if opening up.

(See also: Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation Trapped , Dream Dictionary Trapped )

A Dream Dictionary including dreams about:

Accuse, Aches, Acid, Acorn , Acquaintance, Acquit , Acrobat, Actor and Actress , Adam and Eve, Adamant, Adder , Addition, Adieu, Admire, Admonish, Adopted, Adulation , Adultery, Advancement, Adventurer, Adversary, Adversity, Advertisement

For more dream interpretation, see: Dream Dictionary

For more about dreams, see: Dreams.

Klippoth (Hebrew, Jewish). Shells: used in the Kabbalah in several senses;

(1) evil spirits, demons;

(2) the shells of dead human beings, not the physical body, but the remnant of the personality after the spirit has departed;

(3) the Elementaries of some authors.

(See also: Klippoth , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Chai

(Chinese, "fast") In Taoism, rites of fasting, repentance, or purification. The term refers to rites on behalf of the living and the dead, including exorcism, protection from illness, securing houses, and recitations for salvation. Unlike related folk rites involving animal sacrifice and alcohol, the Taoist rite stresses the offering of petitions and confessing of sins.

(See also: Chai , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Ptah, or Pthah (Egypt, Egyptian). The son of Kneph in the Egyptian Pantheon. He is the Principle of Light and Life through which "creation" or rather evolution took place. The Egyptian logos and creator, the Demiurgos.

A very old deity, as, according to Herodotus, he had a temple erected to him by Menes, the first king of Egypt. He is "giver of life" and the self-born, and the father of Apis, the sacred bull, conceived through a ray from the Sun. Ptah is thus the prototype of Osiris, a later deity. Herodotus makes him the father of the Kabiri, the mystery-gods; and the Targum of Jerusalem says: "Egyptians called the wisdom of the First Intellect Ptah"; hence he is Mahat the "divine wisdom"; though from another aspect he is Swabhavat, the self-created substance, as a prayer addressed to him in the Ritual of the Dead says, after calling Ptah "father of fathers and of all gods, generator of all men produced from his substance": "Thou art without father, being. engendered by thy own will; thou art without mother, being born by the renewal of thine own substance from whom proceeds substance".

(See also: Ptah, Pthah , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

AURA THERAPY

Every substance in the universe, both living and dead tissue, emits energy and has therefore a radiation pattern. This radiation, termed 'aura', thus forms distinctly different force fields in the case of each item, in the same manner as a fingerprint. The individual auras are in contact with a universal field of spiritual energy from which they draw their power.

Artists and mystics have from ancient times seen and portrayed this effect all over the world. Aura therapists say that although we are usually not aware of it consciously, auras, rather the effect of interacting auras, determine our first responses to people and situations. Developed and understood properly, it is a quicker and more sensitive gauge than more rational faculties. The unease or elation that one feels immediately on meeting another person is thus caused by the auras being in harmony or without it.

The auras of plants, animals and minerals are said to communicate and interact with one another as part of a single living system. Each person's aura is thought to be made up of the radiation from all the cells and chemicals within the body and their interaction. The visible aura, which is much in evidence in all religious texts, is said to be an oval extending from a few centimeters to a meter around the body, sometimes more at the head. The light being composed of seven coloured rays, each associated with particular organs of the body and conveying a distinct message. The variations in shape, colour & strength a reflection of each individual's uniqueness.

Therapists believe that personality and emotions too can be interpreted from auras. One with soft, fringed edges for instance is likely to indicate a person too susceptible to the influence of others. Firm but fluid boundaries would indicate openness but not vulnerability. And a hard, distinct outline belonging to one who is defensive and insecure. Similarly, lots of red within the aura would indicate anger while a predominance of blue would stand for idealism.

Treatment comes in the form of adding extra colours to improve a dull or depleted aura or using complimentary colours to offset to help balance one that is too strong. The therapists only acting as conduits for transferring the universal spiritual energy into the auras of patients, by touching the latter's auras or by using visualisation to transmit energy. However, active patient in the entire process is extremely crucial which involves their becoming more self-aware of their spiritual nature.

(See also: AURA THERAPY , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Warrant

• To dream that a warrant is being served on you, denotes that you will engage in some important work which will give you great uneasiness as to its standing and profits.
• To see a warrant served on some one else, there will be danger of your actions bringing you into fatal quarrels or misunderstandings. You are likely to be justly indignant with the wantonness of some friend.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Warrant , Meaning of Dreams about Warrant , Dream Interpretation Warrant )

A Dictionary of Spiritual Terms. From Acupuncture to Zoroaster.

Please note that all words in grey, like "yoga", "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Water

Water is central to the human story. Whether it is the deep, fresh lake, the river that brings life, or the ocean that must claim her dead, water is both friend and enemy at once. When dreams contain this powerful image in any of its forms, understanding the role of the water is essential.

Water is a strong symbol in dreams because so often it is the exclamation point of the feelings in the dream. If other objects in a dream are relaxing, a bubbling brook through a meadow is more relaxing. If some symbols generate feelings of fear or anxiety, the tumultuous ocean creates the most anxiety. Water has symbolic, archetypal meaning in that it either provides life, or harbours mystery and danger. This is a reflection of our human experiences with water.

In early human history, the hunter-gatherers quickly learned that water was the central ingredient of life. (We die of thirst much more quickly than we starve.) More importantly, knowing where the water was meant knowing where the food was.

However, as commerce expanded, water became a necessary evil that harboured unknown dangers. Water travel was dangerous and uncertain as sea creatures, storms and rough seas claimed numerous voyagers. Polluted water affected livestock and spread disease.

On the positive side, water is often a symbol of new life, refreshment and vigour.

Water in manageable amounts or controlled settings almost always conveys this sentiment to the dreamer. Controlled water is the key.

If a dream contains a lake, is the entire shoreline visible and likely attainable? If a river or creek is dreamed of, is it within its banks and apparently traversable by usual means? These are all examples of controlled water.

Water presented in this way is often indicative of renewal. For example, while travelling and growing weary, the dreamer suddenly happens upon a creek.

Refreshment for the journey is close at hand. Perhaps a dreamer is out on a boat, moving over the water gently. One should anticipate a season of respite or sabbatical in life, or perhaps you should create an opportunity for this.

Uncontrolled water will often create a sense of unease for a dreamer. Raging rivers, rapids and lakes without borders often reflect being out of control of one's circumstances. Still deep water, while sometimes refreshing, may also create unease. This is because of the murkiness or uncertainty of what lies below the surface.

One exception to the generalities listed above is water taps. In a dream, it is important to recognise if the dreamer or another is controlling the tap and whether this is done to effect the comfort or discomfort of the dreamer. If the dreamer is controlling the tap ineffectively, the assumption may be made that the dreamer feels out of control or unable to master what should be apparently simple circumstances (or, what's worse, perhaps there is no water to be had). If another controls the tap, one may conclude that the dreamer feels his circumstances, for good or ill, are dependent on the whim of another. This whim may reflect either greater discomfort or comfort, whether it is an unpredictable boss, lover, or other significant relationship.

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Water , Meaning of Dreams about Water , Dream Interpretation Water )

Resurrection

In Christian theology, Being raised from the dead. It specifically refers to that future time when we shall all receive new bodies when Jesus returns at the end of time, when the last trumpet is blown New Age: teaching: The Greek word which is translated 'resurrection' in the King James translation of the Bible, means literally 'rising up'. In most usages, it would be better translated 'ascension'. It is not the raising of the body from the grave, but rather the raising of the consciousness to a higher, spiritual level. (see Ascension)

(See also: Resurrection , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Thorah (Hebrew, Jewish). "Law", written down from the transposition of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Of the "hidden Thorah" it is said that before At-tee-k-ah (the "Ancient of all the Ancients ") had arranged Itself into limbs (or members) preparing Itself to manifest, It willed to create a Thorah; the latter upon being produced addressed It in these words: "

It, that wishes to arrange and to appoint other things, should first of all, arrange Itself in Its proper Forms". In other words, Thorah, the Law, snubbed its Creator from the moment of its birth, according to the above, which is an interpolation of some later Talmudist.

As it grew and developed, the mystic Law of the primitive Kabbalist was transformed and made by the Rabbins to supersede in its dead letter every metaphysical conception; and thus the Rabbinical and Talmudistic Law makes Ain Soph and every divine Principle subservient to itself, and turns its back upon the true esoteric interpretations.

(See also: Thorah , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Sarcophagus (Ancient Greek). A stone tomb, a receptacle for the dead; sarc = flesh, and phagein = to eat. Lapis assius, the stone of which the sarcophagi were made, is found in Lycia, and has the property of consuming the bodies in a very few weeks.

In Egypt sarcophagi were made of various other stones, of black basalt, red granite, alabaster and other materials, as they served only as outward receptacles for the wooden coffins containing the mummies.

The epitaphs on some of them are as remarkable as they are highly ethical, and no Christian could wish for anything better. One epitaph, dating thousands of years before the year one of our modern era, reads: - " I have given water to him who was thirsty, and clothing to him who was naked. I have done harm to no man." Another: "I have done actions desired by men and those which are commanded by the gods". The beauty of some of these tombs may be judged by the alabaster sarcophagus of Oimenephthah I., at Sir John Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn. "It was cut out of a single block of fine alabaster stone, and is 9 ft. 4 in.. long, by 22 to 24 in. in width, and 27 to 32 in. in height. . . . Engraved dots, etc., outside were once filled with blue copper to represent the heavens.

To attempt a description of the wonderful figures inside and out is beyond the scope of this work. Much of our knowledge of the mythology of the people is derived from this precious monument, with its hundreds of figures to illustrate the last judgment, and the life beyond the grave. Gods, men, serpents, symbolical animals and plants are there most beautifully carved." (Funeral Rites of the Egyptians.)

(See also: Sarcophagus , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Vultures

• To dream of vultures, signifies that some scheming person is bent on injuring you, and will not succeed unless you see the vulture wounded, or dead.
• For a woman to dream of a vulture, signifies that she will be overwhelmed with slander and gossip.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Vultures , Meaning of Dreams about Vultures , Dream Interpretation Vultures )

Lamb [108]

• To dream of lambs frolicing{sic} in green pastures, betokens chaste friendships and joys. Bounteous and profitable crops to the farmers, and increase of possessions for others.
• To see a dead lamb, signifies sadness and desolation.
• Blood showing on the white fleece of a lamb, denotes that innocent ones will suffer from betrayal through the wrong doing of others.
• A lost lamb, denotes that wayward people will be under your influence, and you should be careful of your conduct.
• To see lamb skins, denotes comfort and pleasure usurped from others.
• To slaughter a lamb for domestic uses, prosperity will be gained through the sacrifice of pleasure and contentment.
• To eat lamb chops, denotes illness, and much anxiety over the welfare of children.
• To see lambs taking nourishment from their mothers, denotes happiness through pleasant and intelligent home companions, and many lovable and beautiful children.
• To dream that dogs, or wolves devour lambs, innocent people will suffer at the hands of insinuating and designing villains.
• To hear the bleating of lambs, your generosity will be appealed to.
• To see them in a winter storm, or rain, denotes disappointment in expected enjoyment and betterment of fortune.
• To own lambs in your dreams, signifies that your environments will be pleasant and profitable.
• If you carry lambs in your arms, you will be encumbered with happy cares upon which you will lavish a wealth of devotion, and no expense will be regretted in responding to appeals from the objects of your affection.
• To shear lambs, shows that you will be cold and mercenary. You will be honest, but inhumane.
• For a woman to dream that she is peeling the skin from a lamb, and while doing so, she discovers that it is her child, denotes that she will cause others sorrow which will also rebound to her grief and loss.
• "Fair prototype of innocence, Sleep upon thy emerald bed, No coming evil vents A shade above thy head.''
• [108] See also: Meaning of Dreams about Sheep.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Lamb , Meaning of Dreams about Lamb , Dream Interpretation Lamb )

Sanskrit [from Sanskrit sanskrita or samskrita]

The ancient sacred language of the Aryans, originally the sacred or secret language of the initiates of the fifth root-race. The Sanskrit language possesses voluminous and valuable works in prose and in verse, some of which, like the Vedas, date back, in the opinion of certain scholars, to the years 30,000 BC or even far beyond. Almost every phase of philosophic thought, expressed and studied in the West, is represented in one form or another in ancient Hindu literature. Besides this, these old Sanskrit writings are replete with recondite subjects dealing with the wondrous potentialities of the human spirit and mind, the building and destruction of worlds and universes, etc.

The Sanskrit language, derives from one of the earliest of the Aryan tongues, a lineal descendant of an Atlantean progenitor.

"In ancient times in India, and in the homeland of the Aryans before they reached India by way of Central Asia, this very early Aryan speech was used not only by the Aryan populace, but in the sanctuaries of the Temples was taken in hand and developed or composed or builded to be a far finer vehicle for expressing abstract religious and philosophic conceptions and thoughts. This tongue thus composed or developed by initiates of the Aryan stock, because of this formative work upon it was finally given the name Sanskrita, signifying an original natural language which had become perfected by initiates for the purpose of expressing far more subtle and profound distinctions than ordinary people would ever find needful. So great was the admiration in which the Sanskrit language thus perfected was held, that it was commonly said of it that it was the work of the Gods, because it had thus become capable of expressing godlike thoughts: profound spiritual subtleties and philosophical distinctions. Thus it was that Sanskrit is really the mystery-language of the initiates of the Aryan race; as the Senzar of very similar history was the mystery-language of the later Atlanteans; and is still used as the noblest mystery-language by the Mahatmas.

"Sanskrit was not known as a spoken tongue to the Atlanteans in their prime, but in the degenerate or later times of Atlantis, when the earliest Aryans already had appeared on the scene of history, this early Aryan speech above alluded to, was already in existence; and the Aryan initiates were then in the course of perfecting it as their temple-language or mystery-tongue . . . Thus Sanskrit was not spoken among the Atlanteans, nor can it therefore be called an Atlantean language; although its verbal roots of course go back to earliest Atlantean times, but only its verbal roots" -- G. de Purucker

"The Vedas, Brahmanism, and along with these, Sanskrit, were importations into what we now regard as India. They were never indigenous to its soil. There was a time when the ancient nations of the West included under the generic name of India many of the countries of Asia now classified under other names. There was an Upper, a Lower, and a Western India, even during the comparatively late period of Alexander; and Persia (Iran) is called Western India in some ancient classics. The countries now named Tibet, Mongolia, and Great Tartary were considered by them as forming part of India. When we say, therefore, that India has civilized the world, and was the Alma Mater of the civilizations, arts, and sciences of all other nations (Babylonia, and perhaps even Egypt, included) we mean archaic, pre-historic India, India of the time when the great Gobi was a sea, and the lost 'Atlantis' formed part of an unbroken continent which began at the Himalayas and ran down over Southern India, Ceylon, and Java, to far-away Tasmania" (Five Years of Theosophy 179).

Blavatsky states that Sanskrit has never been known nor spoken in its true systematized form except by the initiated Brahmins. This form of Sanskrit was called -- as well as by other names -- Vach, the mystic speech, which resides in the sounds of the mantra. "The chanting of a Mantra is not a prayer, but rather a magical sentence in which the law of Occult causation connects itself with, and depends on, the will and acts of its singer. It is a succession of Sanskrit sounds, and when its strings of words and sentences is pronounced according to the magical formulae in the Atharva Veda, but understood by the few, some Mantras produce an instantaneous and very wonderful effect" (BCW 14:428n). This Vach, or the mystic self of Sanskrit, was the sacerdotal speech of the initiated Brahmins and was studied by initiates from all over the world.

"It is admitted that, however inferior to the classical Sanskrit of Panini, the language of the oldest portions of Rig Veda, notwithstanding the antiquity of its grammatical forms, is the same as that of the latest texts. Every one sees -- cannot fail to

See and to know -- that for a language so old and so perfect as the Sanskrit to have survived alone, among all languages, it must have had its cycles of perfection and its cycles of degeneration. And, if one had any intuition, he might have seen that what they call a 'dead language' being an anomaly, a useless thing in Nature, it would not have survived, even as a 'dead' tongue, had it not its special purpose in the reign of immutable cyclic laws; and that Sanskrit, which came to be nearly lost to the world, is now slowly spreading in Europe, and will one day have the extension it had thousands upon thousands of years back -- that of a universal language. The same as to the Greek and the Latin: there will be a time when the Greek of Aeschylus (and more perfect still in its future form) will be spoken by all in Southern Europe, while Sanskrit will be resting in its periodical pralaya; and the Attic will be followed later by the Latin of Virgil. Something ought to have whispered to us that there was also a time -- before the original Aryan settlers among the Dravidian and other aborigines, admitted within the fold of Brahmanical initiation, marred the purity of the sacred Sanskrita Bhasha -- when Sanskrit was spoken in all its unalloyed subsequent purity, and therefore must have had more than once its rise and fall. The reason for it is simply this: classical Sanskrit was only restored, if in some things perfected, by Panin. Panini, Katyayana, or Patanjali did not create it; it has existed throughout cycles, and will pass through other cycles still" (Five Years of Theosophy 419-20).

See also DEVANAGARI

(See also: Sanskrit , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Absolute (from Latin ab away + solvere to loosen, dissolve)

Freed, released, absolved; parallel to the Sanskrit moksha, mukti (set free, released), also to the Buddhist nirvana (blown out), all three terms signifying one who has obtained freedom from the cycle of material existence.

Absolute, in European philosophy, is used somewhat loosely for the unconditional or boundless infinitude. On the other hand, Sir W. Hamilton (Disc 13n) considers the Absolute as "diametrically opposed to, . . . contradictory of, the Infinite," which is correct from the standpoint of both etymology and abstract philosophy. Blavatsky uses the term both ways: sometimes equating it with infinity, at other times with the first cause or one divine substance-principle.

Strictly speaking, absolute is a relative term. It is the philosophic One or cosmic originant, but not the mystic zero or infinitude. An absolute or a cosmic freed one is not That (infinity), for infinity has no attributes: it is neither absolute nor nonabsolute, conscious nor unconscious, because all attributes and qualities belong to manifested and therefore noninfinite beings and things (cf FSO 89-90). The boundless or infinite, in which exist innumerable absolutes, includes the cognizer, the cognized, and the cognition, and is both matter and spirit, subject and object; all egos and non-egos are included within it.

From the zero emanate an infinite number of cosmic Ones or monads. Every absolute is not only the hierarch of its own hierarchy, the One from which all subsequent differentiations emanate, but is also a cosmic jivanmukta, a released monad freed from the pull of the lower planes. Every monad at the threshold of paranirvana reassumes its primeval essence and becomes at one with the absolute of its own hierarchy once more. The absolute is thus the goal of evolution as well as the source, the highest divinity or Silent Watcher of the hierarchy of compassion, which forms the light side of a universe or cosmic hierarchy.

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

CLIMAX - an optimum condition of diversity and stability whether in a forest, culture or ecosystem where half of the energy flows in the system does not come from annual growth but from recycling of dead growth. (NAD)

(See also: CLIMAX , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

A Theosophical definition of Bhuta (Bhutas) :

Bhuta (Bhutas)

(Sanskrit) The past participle of the verb-root bhu, meaning "to be," or "to become"; hence bhutas literally means "has beens"  - entities that have lived and passed on. The bhutas are "shells" from which all that is spiritual and intellectual has fled: all that was the real entity has fled from this shell, and naught is left but a decaying astral corpse. The bhutas are the spooks, ghosts, simulacra, reliquiae, of dead men; in other words, the astral dregs and remnants of human beings. They are the "shades" of the ancients, the pale and ghostly phantoms living in the astral world, or the astral copies of the men that were; and the distinction between the bhuta and the kama-rupa is very slight.

Bereft of all that pertains to the real entity, the genuine man, the bhuta is as much a corpse in the astral realms as is the decaying physical body left behind at physical death; and consequently, astral or psychical intercourse of any kind with these shells is productive only of evil. The bhutas, although belonging in the astral world, are magnetically attracted to physical localities similar in type to the remnants of impulses still inhering in them. The bhuta of a drunkard is attracted to wine cellars and taverns; the bhuta of one who has lived a lewd life is attracted to localities sympathetic to it; the thin and tenuous bhuta of a good man is similarly attracted to less obnoxious and evil places. All over the ancient world and throughout most of even the modern world these eidola or "images" of dead men have been feared and dreaded, and relations of any kind with them have been consistently and universally avoided. (See also Eidolon)

See also: Bhuta (Bhutas) , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

TIR NA NOG (TEER-nah-nohk) - “Land of the Forever Young” This is the Irish Land of the Dead or as it is usually called, the Otherworld. Tir-na-nog is presided over by the crone and her cauldron to which all life returns to await rebirth. (CMM)

(See also: TIR NA NOG , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

CERBERUS

Twin of Orthrus, who is symbol of Set. The tri-cephalic dog with the dragon's-tail guarding the gate of Hades, who permits entry but prevents exit, is probably derived from pre-Hellenic Ker + bero (pherontes), meaning simply "head-bearing", for originally he had a hundred heads and not merely three. His three heads stand in parallel to and midway between the three rivers leading to Hades (Phlegeston, Styx and Lethe, which divide the dead from the living) and the three judges within Tartarus Rhadamanthus, Minos and Aeacus who judge men's souls. He is the Greek equivalent of the jackal-headed Egyptian God Anubis (or the wolf-headed deity of Abydos, Wepwawet, "Opener of the Ways"). Proof of this can be seen in the fact that whereas Cerberus is the offspring of Typhaon (the terrible stormcloud or cyclone, and the last of the titans) and the serpent-woman, Echidna, Anubis is the son of Osiris and Nephthys (sister of Isis), who assisted in the putting back together of the parts of Osiris and his resurrection. As Gods descend from one people to another, they usually degenerate into monsters. We see this readily in the transformation of pagan deities into Xtian demons. Anubis is god of the three processes of death, resurrection and reintegration, who leads the soul to the underworld under his protection, but Cerberus is merely a monster who guards the pathway. Mention should also be made of the three ultraexistential "beyond" Gods: Ain Soph, Tao and Abraxas.

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

Pratyeka Buddha (Sanskrit) [from prati towards, for + eka one]

Each one for himself; exalted and in one sense holy beings who crave spiritual enlightenment for themselves alone. They "are those Bodhisattvas who strive after and often reach the Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives. Caring nothing for the woes of mankind or to help it, but only for this own bliss, they enter Nirvana and -- disappear from the sight and the hearts of men. In Northern Buddhism a 'Pratyeka Buddha' is a synonym of spiritual Selfishness"; "He, who becomes Pratyeka-Buddha, makes his obeisance but to his Self" (VS 86, 43).

They achieve nirvana automatically as it were, and leave the world in its misery behind. Though exalted, nevertheless they do not rank with the unutterable sublimity, wisdom, and pity of the Buddhas of Compassion.

"The Pratyeka Buddha is a degree which belongs exclusively to the Yogacharya school, yet it is only one of high intellectual development with no true spirituality. It is the dead-letter of the Yoga laws, in which intellect and comprehension play the greatest part, added to the strict carrying out of the rules of the inner development. It is one of the three paths to Nirvana, and the lowest, in which a Yogi -- 'without teacher and without saving others' -- by the mere force of will and technical observances, attains to a kind of nominal Buddhaship individually; doing no good to anyone, but working selfishly for his own salvation and himself alone.

The Pratyekas are respected outwardly but are despised inwardly by those of keen or spiritual appreciation. A Pratyeka is generally compared to a 'Khadga' or solitary rhinoceros and called Ekashringa Rishi, a selfish solitary Rishi (or saint)" (TG 261).

(See also: Pratyeka Buddha , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)