Dream Dictionary Called

Fetahil, Ptahil (Gnostic) With the Nazarene Gnostics, the builder of the material worlds. In the Codex Nazaraeus, Abatur, the Father, opens a gate and walks to the dark water (chaos) and looks down into it. The darkness reflects the image, whereupon a son appears or is emanated, the Logos or Demiurge, Fetahil. Because Fetahil is thus produced in order to bring forth the worlds of manifestation, the Codex describes him as being immersed in the abyss of primordial stuff or matter (chaos), soliloquizing on his inability alone to produce it.

Whereupon Spiritus (the Gnostic "Mother") appears and unites with Karabtanos, cosmic kama involved in primordial matter, thus bringing forth seven stellars. These are, however, seven imperfect figures "which represent also the seven capital sins, the progeny of an astral soul separated from its divine source (spirit) and matter, the blind demon of concupiscence. Seeing this, Fetahil extends his hand towards the abyss of matter, and says: -- 'Let the Earth exist, just as the abode of the powers has exited.' Dipping his hand in the chaos, which he condenses, he creates our planet" (SD 1:195).

The first Gnostic trinity, equivalent to the Christian Father-Mother-Son is composed of Ferho, Chaos, and Fetahil -- this first triad is concealed or nonmanifest -- a pure abstraction to us (IU 2:227).

In the Codex Nazaraeus Fetahil is also presented as one of the creative powers who were commanded to form man, and who tried to obey but failed because he was too pure; whereupon other and lower powers -- Iukabar Zivo -- had to be called to complete the work. In the hierarchical structure of the universe, all so-called creative powers of too high a rank are unable because of their spiritual purity and lofty state to form the lower planes until the intermediate ranges, in the gradually descending ladder of life, have been evolved or emanated into manifestation.

(See also: Fetahil, Ptahil , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dawn Frequently denotes the beginning of a new cycle, of greater or less extent. Venus-Lucifer is called the luminous son of morning or of manvantaric dawn; and the builders are the luminous sons of manvantaric dawn.

In Greek mythology Apollo (the sun) has two daughters, Hilaira and Phoebe (evening twilight and dawn); Eos is the dawn, as is Aurora in Latin. In Hindu mythology, the wife of Surya (the sun) is Ushas (dawn), and she is also his mother. In the Vishnu-Purana, Brahma, for purposes of world formation, assumes four bodies -- dawn, night, day, and evening twilight.

Man is said to come from the body of dawn, for dawn signifies light, the intelligence of the intellect of the universe often called mahat, the ultimate progenitor, and indeed the final cosmic goal, of the Hierarchy of Light of which the human hierarchy is a small portion.

See also SANDHI

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

Lebanon (Hebrew) A mountain range in Syria and Palestine of two principal chains, Lebanon or Libanus on the west and Antilibanus on the east. In this region dwell the brotherhood of the Druzes and likewise the Nabatheans.

Lebanon is most often associated with its cedars; however, the phrase cedars of Lebanon also meant initiants who "were called the 'trees of Righteousness,' and the cedars of Lebanon, as also were come kings of Israel" (SD 2:494). In India too adepts of the right- and left-hand path were often called trees. It depended upon the tree which was selected as being beneficent or maleficent as, for instance, the upas tree of the left-hand, or the bodhi tree of the right-hand.

While the range of mountains in Syria and Palestine is called Lebanon (white), nevertheless there is a direct ancient mystical reference here to the moon or lunar influence; as a meaning of this range as envisaged by the ancient inhabitants would be the lunar range of mountains, points directly to esoteric observances connected with the moon and its malignant and unwholesome influences.

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

Aleister Crowley: Born Edward Alexander Crowley, he was a remarkable poet, writer, mountain climber, and occultist. His strong positions on magick (his spelling) including the use of sexuality in magick have made him highly controversial. He “received” (what today might be called “channelled”) a short text, The Book of the Law, in 1904, and modified the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s magical system to fit this revelation. It also became a religious system. Followers of this system all called Thelemites.

Also See: Crowley, Edward Alexander Crowley

(See also: Aleister Crowley , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

Incubus (Latin). Something more real and dangerous than the ordinary meaning given to the word, viz., that of "nightmare ". An Incubus is the male Elemental, and Succuba the female, and these are undeniably the spooks of medieval demonology, called forth from the invisible regions by human passion and lust. They are now called "Spirit brides" and "Spirit husbands" among some benighted Spiritists and spiritual mediums. But these poetical names do not prevent them in the least being that which they are - Ghools, Vampires and soulless Elementals; formless centres of Life, devoid of sense; in short, subjective protoplasms when left alone, but called into a definite being and form by the creative and diseased imagination of certain mortals. They were known under every clime as in every age, and the Hindus can tell more than one terrible tale of the dramas enacted in the life of young students and mystics by the Pisachas, their name in India.

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

Seven Sacred Planets The ancients spoke of seven planets which they named the seven sacred planets, and they were serialized as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Moon.

The Sun and Moon are, however, used as substitutes for two secret planets, one near the sun and one over the moon, these secret planets being invisible to us at present. That near the Sun, an intra-mercurial planet, has been called Vulcan and was supposed to have been discovered in 1859, when a black spot was seen in transit across the solar disk; but since that time the discovery has not been verified by astronomers.

The teaching regarding it is that it became invisible to our physical senses at about the midpoint of the third root-race; but as we have now reached again, on the upward arc, the plane corresponding to the same degree of development, in a relatively short cyclic period it should begin again to show itself.

The planet for which the Moon stands as a substitute, sometimes called the Planet of Death, is near the Moon and also invisible to our physical senses. It has a retrograde motion and is slowly dying.

Each of these seven planets is, like our earth, a chain of globes, sevenfold or twelvefold in composition, having six superior globes of finer, more ethereal matter above the physical globe. Only those globes which are on the same cosmic plane of nature are physically visible to each other. For instance, we can see only the fourth-plane planetary globes of each of the other planetary or sidereal chains because we are on the fourth cosmic plane.

These seven planets are called sacred because every one of the globes of the earth chain is under the dominant guidance, and is actually largely formed by, one of these planets, assisted in each case by the other six. Further, every root-race of every one of the globes during each round is under the protection and guidance of one of the seven sacred planets.

But the main reason for calling them sacred is that our universal solar system is composed of seven planes of being, or worlds, over which are the seven primordial logoi. These are subdivided into seven minor logoi or powers, forming sevenfold groups or minor solar systems, and our solar system is one such group. In our solar system, our sacred planets are the respective houses, each house containing the seven forces of one of the seven chief rays of the solar logos: one such chief ray being our particular logos.

(See also: Seven Sacred Planets , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Darkness In theosophical philosophy light is not regarded as self-existent, but as primordially the spiritual effect of a spiritual cause, the emanation from something grander and more radical beyond it.

This unknown divine substratum, the original superspiritual intelligence-substance of the universe, is sometimes called darkness; likewise, it is spoken of as absolute light. Thus absolute light and absolute darkness are the same, so that manifested light sprang from unmanifested light or darkness.

Philosophically, non-ego -- which is freedom from the limitations of egoity and manifested particularities -- voidness, and darkness are a three-in-one, darkness being Father-Mother and light, their Son. Night or darkness preceded day and light in cosmogony, as is recognized in Genesis, where darkness broods over the face of the deep. The creation of light, or the emanation of light from darkness, is the first step in cosmic manifestation. Light thus is truly called original substance or spiritual matter; darkness, purest spirit. Synonymous with this darkness are 'eyn soph, the Boundless, the bridgeless abyss, the unmanifest, the ever-invisible robes of the eternal parent.

Light and darkness on manifested planes constitute a duality, correlative and interdependent, neither conceivable without the other. But what is darkness to our physical senses may be light to our inner senses.

Darkness is also used to denote the shadow side of things, and hence in popular speech evil as opposed to good, ignorance to knowledge.

See also DAWN; LIGHT; USHAS

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

The analysis of dreams and their cause by psychoanalysts are defective. They maintain that the cause of dream creation lies in the suppressed desires of the dreamer. Can they create dreams as they like by suppressing desires? No, they cannot do that. They say that desires stimulate or help the dream creation. But they do not know what supplies the material out of which they are made and what turns the desires into actual expression, enabling the dreamer see his own suppressed desires materialised and appearing to him as real.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams: Introduction to Philosophy of Dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda

Diakka. Called by Occultists and Theosophists "spooks" and "shells", i.e., phantoms from Kama Loka. A word invented by the great American Seer, Andrew Jackson Davis, to denote what he considers untrustworthy "Spirits".

In his own words: "A Diakka (from the Summerland) is one who takes insane delight in playing parts, in juggling tricks, in personating opposite characters; to whom prayer and profane utterances are of equi-value; surcharged with a passion for lyrical narrations; . . . morally deficient, he is without the active feelings of justice, philanthropy, or tender affection.

He knows nothing of what men call the sentiment of gratitude; the ends of hate and love are the same to him; his motto is often fearful and terrible to others - SELF is the whole of private living, and exalted annihilation the end of all private life. Only yesterday, one said to a lady medium, signing himself Swedenborg, this: ‘Whatsoever is, has been, will be, or may be, that I AM.; and private life is but the aggregative phantasms of thinking throb- lets, rushing in their rising onward to the central heart of eternal death’

(The Diakka and their Victims; "an explanation of the False and Repulsive in Spiritualism.") These "Diakka" are then simply the communicating and materializing so-called "Spirits" of Mediums and Spiritualists.

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

Heaven and Hell In Christian theology, the abodes of Deity and the celestial hierarchy on the one hand, and of Satan and his fallen angels on the other hand; the final goal of those who are saved and of those who are damned. The origin of the doctrine is founded in the ancient Mystery teachings concerning the human afterdeath experiences and the corresponding experiences passed through by the candidate for initiation.

Hell may be likened to kama-loka and also avichi, though neither is eternal. Kama-loka is better represented, however, by purgatory. Heaven is a reflection of devachan, blended also with ideas of nirvanic states. Thus heaven and hell should both be used in the plural, as is commonly the case in their non-Christian equivalents: Elysium, nirvana, Paradise, Valhalla, Olympus, and many other names for heaven; and Tartarus, Gehenna, She'ol, Niflheim, etc., for hell.

Heaven and hell may denote states of consciousness experienced in daily life on earth. A rough division of cosmic spheres makes heaven the highest, hell or Tartarus the lowest, with the earth beneath heaven, and the underworld beneath it and preceding Tartarus. The crystalline spheres of medieval astronomy are called heavens surrounding the earth concentrically. Far from being adjudicated by a deity to happiness or torment, after death a person goes to that region to which he is attracted by the affinities which he has set up during his life.

Thus theosophy teaches the existence of almost endless and widely varying spheres or regions, all inhabited by peregrinating entities; and of these regions the higher can be dubbed the heavens and the lowest the hells, and the intermediate can be called the regions of experiences and purgation. All spheres possessing sufficient materialized substance to be called imbodied spheres are hells by contrast with the ethereal and spiritual globes of the heavens. Therefore in a sense and on a smaller scale, the lower globes of a planetary chain may be called hells, and the higher globes of the chain, by contrast, heavens.

All evolving entities go to both the heavens and the hells of our solar system in accordance with their evolutionary necessities, and for the purpose of purgation through the suffering of material experience; but in all cases such peregrinating egos are attracted at the different times of their long evolutionary schooling to those spheres by sympathy or psychomagnetic pull. The immense justice of this idea, from which the heavens and hells of the different religions have come, is readily apparent.

See also LOKAS

(See also: Heaven and Hell , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Brahman (Sanskrit) (from brih to expand)

Sometimes Brahma or Brahm. The one reality, "the impersonal, supreme and uncognizable Principle of the Universe from the essence of which all emanates, and into which all returns, which is incorporeal, immaterial, unborn, eternal, beginningless and endless. It is all-pervading, animating the highest god as well as the smallest mineral atom" (TG 62). It involves both essential consciousness and substance, and is the spiritual background of the kosmos, the Cause of all Causes, what is commonly called the Unmanifest Logos: "Brahma, the Noumenon, never rests, as IT never changes and ever IS, though IT cannot be said to be anywhere" (SD 1:374). As the fundamental cosmic fountain of consciousness and spiritual substance, Brahman is the fundamental or cosmic self which, in the case of an individual being, becomes the kshetrajna, the spiritual sun within the individual. Thus the essential self of every being or entity from cosmos to physical atom is this Brahman itself, which is the cause of the familiar saying "tat tvam asi" (you are that).

Through and from Brahman derive the various cosmic Brahmas, the expansion of the One into the many. Brahman does not put forth evolution itself nor create, but exhibits various aspects of itself by means of emanative evolution. The Hindu Puranas say that Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are the primordial energies of Brahman, the divine neuter. There is a clear distinction between the impersonal, supreme, all-pervading, immanent, beginningless, and endless cosmic principle, whose essence is consciousness-life-substance, and the various Brahmas; for these latter are the periodic manifestations of the highest energies flowing forth at the beginning of each manvantara from the neuter Brahman, and into which these various Brahmas are ingathered again when the cosmic cycle reaches its close and pralaya ensues.

Philosophically, as the supreme cosmic principle of any universe, Brahman is enclosed within its veil or sakti, called pradhana; just as Brahma is similarly infolded within its inseparable sakti called prakriti, and on a still vaster plane mulaprakriti enfolds parabrahman. We have thus: parabrahman-mulaprakriti, Brahman-pradhana, and Brahma- or Purusha-prakriti.

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

Space Usually the universe as perceived by our physical senses. It is disputed whether space exists apart from objects or is a property of objects, and also whether it is objective or subjective. Such difficulties arise from our attempt to abstract extension from the reality of which it is an aspect, just as we attempt to abstract matter and energy. The physical basis of our universe appears under these three aspects, and the attempt to conceive each of the three as separate existences and to construct the universe out of them is to court contradiction and to proceed in the inverse order.

In most arguments about the nature of space, space is unconsciously assumed at the outset of the inquiry, so that the reasoning becomes viciously circular. Is space the ultimate residue left after we have removed everything conceivable? In that case how can we define it in terms of anything which is supposed to be derived from it? We must either leave it undefined, as a primary postulate, or else define it in terms of something which lies beyond the physical plane altogether.

Again, the question whether the dimensions belong to space or to material objects arises from a false separation between these two, so that we speak of objects being in space, just as we speak of life as being in matter. We think of space as an absence of matter, as we think of darkness as an absence of light, and silence as absence of sound; and having thus created vacuums we proceed to fill them. In the view of occultism it would be nearer the truth to say that light is the absence of darkness, sound the absence of silence, and matter a form of the presence of space; and this is true in the sense that those things which appear to us most real are derived from those which seem to us most unreal, because not immediately physically perceivable. In theosophy, space is the infinite, eternal background of Being, Being itself, the ever-lasting substratum of, as well as the presence of, the universe; its apparent vacuity is due only to its lack of physical qualities to which our senses respond, and also to its perfect unity and uniformity. Space is living, incomprehensibly conscious, and hence a divinity; it is the only real world, while our manifested world born from and in it is a mayavi (illusory) one.

Theosophy, regarding the physical universe as merely one of many planes of kosmos, applies the term space to a much larger range. Yet it has the same characteristic meaning in all its applications: it figures, for instance, as one aspect of the trinity of space, energy, matter which is equivalent to the primordial unity. The fundamental hypostases are all derivative from ever-enduring, frontierless space, and Be-ness is symbolized by space, which no mind can either exclude nor conceive, and motion. In this conception are combined abstract space, motion, and duration.

Space is symbolized by the circle; a central point denotes spiritual monadic activity arising within abstract space. It is equivalent to akasa or aether, water or the waters; Chaos as the spatial deeps. Sometimes space in its manifestation is represented as a serpent with seven heads or as the great sea or deep. Occasionally called aupapaduka (parentless), because it is primary and the source of all, it is spoken of both as mulaprakriti and as parabrahman. In its manifested aspect it is bright space, son of dark space, the former being the ray dropped into cosmic depths. Parent space is the eternal ever-present cause of all -- the incomprehensible divinity, whose invisible robes are the mystic root of all matter and of the universe. Space is called Mother before its cosmic activity, and Father-Mother at the first stage of reawakening of manifestation.

In this connection a very clear distinction is drawn between abstract space, the limitless, frontierless, beginningless, and endless encompasser, container of all the various manifested spaces, which as individuals appear from and in its fathomless womb; and these latter spaces which are its offspring and which are collectively and individually the spatial ranges comprised within the boundaries of any manifested universe, such as a galaxy or solar system. Thus, we have the boundless spatial All or abstract space, and the innumerable universe or limited spaces arising within it. The former is absolute infinity and eternity; the later are the innumerable, relative spaces or universe scattered over the fields of the Boundless, called the spawn of the Great Mother.

Physical space is said to have six directions, the four cardinal points plus the zenith and nadir; or eight directions given by the axes joining the opposite corners of a cube. The six and the eight combine in the cube and octahedron. Nothing in the definition of geometrical space excludes the possibility of other spatial constructions, coexistent with our space and interblended with it and with each other. This helps in understanding such matters as chains of globes -- which, when we attempt to represent them by drawn diagrams, seem so confusing and contradictory -- and the manner in which other planes of consciousness and of objectivity may be related to the physical.

(See also: Space , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Mage, or Magian. From Mag or Maha. The word is the root of the word magician. The Maha-atma (the great Soul or Spirit) in India had its priests in the pre-Vedic times.

The Magians were priests of the fire-god; we find them among the Assyrians and Babylonians, as well as among the Persian fire-worshippers. The three Magi, also denominated kings, that are said to have made gifts of gold, incense and myrrh to the infant Jesus, were fire-worshippers like the rest, and astrologers ; for they saw his star.

The high priest of the Parsis, at Surat, is called Mobed. Others derived the name from Megh; Meh-ab signifying some thing grand and noble. Zoroaster’s disciples were called Meghestom, according to Kleuker.

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

sutra: (Sanskrit) "Thread."

An aphoristic verse; the literary style consisting of such maxims. From 500 bce, this style was widely adopted by Indian philosophical systems and eventually employed in works on law, grammar, medicine, poetry, crafts, etc. Each sutra is often accompanied by a commentary called bhashya and sometimes subcommentary called tika, vyakhyana or tippani.

Through the media of short, concise, easily memorized sutras, vast amounts of knowledge were preserved. Reciting relevant sutra texts from memory is a daily sadhana in various Hindu arts and sciences.

Sutra also names the wife's wedding pendant (mangala sutra).

See: bhashya, wedding pendant.

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

vasana: (Sanskrit) "Subconscious inclination." From vas, "living, remaining." The subliminal inclinations and habit patterns which, as driving forces, color and motivate one's attitudes and future actions. Vasanas are the conglomerate results of subconscious impressions (samskaras) created through experience. Samskaras, experiential impressions, combine in the subconscious to form vasanas, which thereafter contribute to mental fluctuations, called vritti. The most complex and emotionally charged vasanas are found in the dimension of mind called the subsubconscious, or vasana chitta.

See: samskara, mind (five states), vasana daha tantra, vritti.

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

Adonai (Hebrew, Jewish). The same as Adonis. Commonly translated "Lord". Astronomically - the Sun. When a Hebrew in reading came to the name IHVH, which is called Jehovah, he paused and substituted the word "Adonai", (Adni); but when written with the points of Alhim, he called it "Elohim".

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

Halloween: October 31. Also called Samhain by the Wiccan and Pagan communities. This holiday is widely celebrated by people of all faiths with costume parties and trick-or-treating. But this night also marks the Wiccan new year. In the wheel of the year, Samhain is the night when the God dies and leaves the Goddess alone until Yule, when he is born again. Halloween/Samhain is a time when the doors between the worlds are said to open, stirring up much ghostly and otherworldly activity.

(See also: Halloween , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

ACCUPUNCTURE:

·      The modern name is derived from the Latin words Acus (needle) and Punctura (penetration). It is, however, an ancient Chinese art of healing that sticks needles into a patient's skin or even muscles to correct imbalances in the `yin' & `yang' of the body.

·      Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, one of the oldest medical texts in the world, comprises a special section called `Magic Gate', which is devoted to this therapeutic style.

·      Although modern acupuncture charts more than 2000 points in the body - located along invisible energy called `meridians', 12 channels in each half of the body and 2 major channels (Ren & Du) along the middle line - traditionally there were only 365.

·      The western explanation for this is that a needle inserted at specific acupuncture points of the body releases certain chemical substances, that activate neuro-transmitters, which then pass on nerve impulses to the brain to obtain the desired effects. Must be performed by trained practitioners only.

The fundamental difference between these two systems being:

ACUPUNCTURE

·      A form of surgery where needles are penetrated into specific points of your body.

·      To cure chronic aches and pain.

ACUPRESSURE

·      A form of physiotherapy that indulges in massage and stimulation of precise points of the body.

• To ease all kinds of aches and pains and provide relief from tension, exhaustion and disease.

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

Pisachas pisacas (Sanskrit) Shades, fading remnants or shells of human beings in kama-loka, which become elementaries, or malevolent astral beings, in the cases of people who live a consistently evil life while in incarnation. In southern Indian folklore the pisachas are ghosts, demons, larvae, and vampires -- generally female -- who haunt men. In the Puranas, they are goblins or demons created by Brahma.

In archaic Hindu literature, the pisachas are connected with the daityas, danavas, etc. Here they are no longer mere astral shells, but represent evolving beings of the earlier races of man: "The Demons, so called in the Puranas, are very extraordinary devils when judged from the standpoint of European and orthodox views about these creatures, since all of them -- Danavas, Daityas, Pisachas, and the Rakshasas -- are represented as extremely pious, following the precepts of the Vedas, some of them even being great Yogis.

But they oppose the clergy and Ritualism, sacrifices and forms -- just what the full-blown Yogins do to this day in India -- and are no less respected for it, though they are allowed to follow neither caste nor ritual; hence all those Puranic giants and Titans are called Devils" (SD 1:415).

(See also: Pisachas, pisacas , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Quindecimviri (Latin) [from quindecim fifteen + viri men]

The priests in ancient Rome who had charge of the Sibylline Books. Originally two in number and called duoviri, they later became ten (decemviri), and Sulla increased them to fifteen, Julius Caesar to sixteen, and some of the emperors in later times made further additions. Thus, as being members of a commission or board, or what the Romans called a Collegium, they were State functionaries with definite duties as well as powers.

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

Thumoeides (Greek) [from thymos passional soul + eidos form]

The name given by Plato to a division of the psychomental nature, the animal or passional soul, kama-manas, in contrast with a still lower division of kama-manas which he called epithumetikon (appetitive, or that which has appetite for). Above both these, which together comprise what other Greek philosophers called the psyche, is the nous, the seat of inspiration, intuition, the highest intellection, and similar noble attributes or faculties, corresponding to the buddhi-manas or atma-buddhi-manas.

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

Zipporah tsipporah (Hebrew) A circling, revolving, hence song or singing as a circling of sound; in the Bible, one of the seven daughters of Jethro, the Midianite priest, given in marriage to Moses after the latter had assisted her at the well (Ex 2). In one interpretation, "Jethro is called the 'father-in-law' of Moses; not because Moses was really married to one of his seven daughters. Moses was an Initiate, if he ever existed, and as such an ascetic, a nazar, and could never be married. It is an allegory like everything else. Zipporah (the shining) is one of the personified Occult Sciences given by Revel-Jethro, the Midian priest Initiator, to Moses, his Egyptian pupil. The 'well' by which Moses sat down in his fight from the Pharaoh symbolizes the 'well of Knowledge' " (SD 2:466n).

Zipporah is similar to the City Sippara -- situated on the Euphrates River north of Babylon -- where the casting of the infant Sargon occurred, which is practically identical with the story of Moses, only said to have happened about 1100 years earlier. Blavatsky concludes that Ezra applied this story to that of the prophet Moses when he compiled his history in Exodus.

(See also: Zipporah, tsipporah , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)