Ra (Egypt, Egyptian). The divine Universal Soul in its manifested aspect - the ever-burning light; also the personified Sun.

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

Cynocephalus (from Latin canus dog + cephalus head)

The dog-headed ape (Simia hamadryas) which in Egyptian mythology was called Amemet (eater of the dead) whose master was Thoth or Tehuti. In the Judgment scene in The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Amemet is represented as seated by Thoth, ready to inform his master when the pointer marks the middle of the beam on the balance, when the heart is being weighed in the scales. After Thoth makes his announcement to the gods concerning the result of the weighing of the heart, the company of the gods decree that Amemet shall not be permitted to prevail over the successful candidate.

"There was a notable difference between the ape-headed gods and the 'Cynocephalus' . . . , a dog-headed baboon from upper Egypt. The latter, whose sacred city was Hermopolis, was sacred to the lunar deities and Thoth-Hermes, hence an emblem of secret wisdom -- as was Hanuman, the monkey god of India, and later, the elephant-headed Ganesha. The mission of the Cynocephalus was to show the way for the Dead to the Seat of Judgment and Osiris, whereas the ape-gods were all phallic" (TG 92).

"The dog-headed ape was a glyph to symbolise the sun and moon, in turn, though the Cynocephalus is more a Hermetic than a religious symbol. For it is the hieroglyph of Mercury, the planet, as of the Mercury of the Alchemical philosophers, 'as,' say the Alchemists, 'Mercury has to be ever near Isis, as her minister, as without Mercury neither Isis nor Osiris can accomplish anything in the great work.' Cynocephalus, whenever represented with the Caduceus, the Crescent, or the Lotus, is a glyph of the 'philosophical' Mercury; but when seen with a reed, or a roll of parchment, he stands for Hermes, the secretary and adviser of Isis, as Hanuman filled the same office with Rama" (SD 1:388).

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

Isis (Greek) Ast (Egyptian) Chief goddess of the Egyptian popular pantheon, daughter of Seb and Nut. Generally portrayed bearing the papyrus scepter and the ankh, wearing the vulture headdress with the uraeus on her forehead from which rose a pair of horns (either cow's or ram's) encircling the solar disk: the horns represented mystic nature and the moon (SD 2:31). Her attributes pertain to the Great Mother, the personification of concrete nature, giving birth to and nourishing all things, portrayed by ancient artists as the mother suckling her babe.

The mythological aspect stresses the dutiful mother and faithful wife. Her sorrow upon the death of her husband, Osiris, as well as her wanderings in search of his body, are very similar to those of the Greek nature goddess Demeter searching for her daughter Persephone. To Isis is also attributed the knowledge of the potency of mantras, with which she revivifies her poisoned son, Horus.

Osiris, Isis, and Horus form the Egyptian triad of Father-Mother-Son. Isis is credited with the characteristics of most of the other goddesses of the pantheon, but her chief attribute of producer and giver of life is manifested even in the underworld, where her help sustains the deceased. The symbol of Isis in the heavens was the star Sirius.

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

Alchemy: The word alchemy is an Arabic term comprised of the article "al" and the noun "khemi.” The later word relates to "Khem" the Coptic name of Egypt. Alchemy thus means, "that which pertains to Egypt.” Thus the words alchemy and chemistry are a reminder of the scientific legacy of Egypt.

Another possible origin of the word is the Greek "cheo" which means "I pour" or "I cast"—a word often used in reference to the ancient Greek metalworkers who used many alchemical formulae. Together, alchemy and astrology are two of the oldest sciences known to humanity. The specialized fields of herbalism, mineralogy, natural science, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine all evolved from the mother science known as alchemy.

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

Copts (from Arab from Greek Aigyptioi)

The early native Christians of Egypt and their successors of the Monophysite sect, and now racially the closest representatives of the population of ancient Egypt. The Coptic language is a mixture of ancient Egyptian with Semitic and Greek borrowings; in the inscriptions the older demotic characters were replaced by a Greek alphabet with supplementary letters from the Demotic. The Pistis Sophia was originally discovered as a Coptic manuscript.

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

Nile-God (Egypt, Egyptian). Represented by a wooden image of the river god receiving honours in gratitude for the bounties its waters afford the country.

There was a "celestial" Nile, called in the Ritual Nen-naou or "primordial waters"; and a terrestrial Nile, worshipped at Nilopolis and Hapimoo. The latter was represented as an androgynous being with a beard and breasts, and a fat blue face ; green limbs and reddish body. At the approach of the yearly inundation, the image was carried from one place to another in solemn procession.

(See also: Nile-God , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Khons, or Chonso. (Egypt, Egyptian) The Son of Maut and Ammon, the personification of morning. He is the Theban Harpocrates, according to some. Like Horus he crushes under his foot a crocodile, emblem of night and darkness or Seb (Sebek) who is Typhon.

But in the inscriptions, he is addressed as "the Healer of diseases and banisher of all evil". He is also the "god of the hunt", and Sir Gardner Wilkinson would see in him the Egyptian Hercules, probably because the Romans had a god named Consus who presided over horse races and was therefore called "the concealer of secrets". But the latter is a later variant on the Egyptian Khons, who is more probably an aspect of Horus, as he wears a hawk’s head, carries the whip and crook of Osiris the tat and the crux ansata.

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

SOTHIS

The Star of the Tarot. Greek for Sirius, the Dog Star, the Egyptian Soped. Sothis, bearing a star in her crown, is the Nilotic goddess of inundation. Her Egyptian title was "Ruler of the Stars." At Elephantine she was known as Hathor and elsewhere as Satis, another aspect of Isis. Sothis is also called "The Star of Set and is represented by the Silver Star of the Great White Brotherhood.

Colin Wilson says that an "Egyptian treatise attributed to Hermes Trismegistus" asserts that Hermes landed on earth to teach mankind civilization and then returned to the stars. Sirius continues, however, Grant tells us, through the focus of the Andromeda connection, via Soror Andahadna and others, to "equilibrate" groups like the O.T.O. (transmitting through beings such as Lam, Aossic-Aiwass, etc.) and to bombard the "Interior Planes" with Maatian Age emanations.

In the Maatian system, according to Grant's theory, everything is conscious, with galaxies being super-evolved complexes of consciousness. Sirius (like all stars) not only has "Sirians" in bodies like ours, but also has star consciousness, just as Earth has a planetary consciousness. Each galaxy is responsible for assigned "solar" systems and there are many cosmic streams with termini scattered through the continuum of the space-time warp, from interstellar to interplanetary to intermolecular. The Sol-Sirius link is just one of these termini. Other binodal power lines are Isis (a not yet discovered planet) and the Andromeda galaxy, Uranus-Algol and Jupiter-Betelgeuse. Our own Milky Way connects star systems at more than Andromedan distances. The termini act as giant transformers or power-relay systems, focussing the galactic emanations like laser beams. One such ray is relayed to Sirius, "the Sun beyond the sun," which thereupon bibranches for a number of subsequent star-systems, including Sol, which decodes the "message" and serves as its own laser focus for the planets.

Man in reacting to all the cosmic influences unconsciously and unsystematically erupts with energy of his own. Human energy, like the energy of other races in the Comity of Stars (see COMITY OF STARS) being sent along their respective links, arrives at Andromeda through the Isidian connection. Andromeda is our primary broadcaster, Sothis is the amplifier and cpu, Sol the receiver and decoder. Through the Sothian circuit we receive back some of what we have emitted, as direction and information. Thus, K.G. tells us, we obtain the words to define the Age of Maat. R.A. Wilson mentions some of the Sirian manifestations in his book, The Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati. The only flaw is his demonstration of the active intervention of Sothis in the affairs of planet earth is the omission of the fact that Sothis (Sirius) is the Star of Set and that Shaitan-Aiwass (commonly known as Satan) is its inhabiting spirit. That Gurdjieff was also receiving inspiration from the Star of Set is not surprising in view of the nature of his work, which was, in many ways, similar to Crowley's. Also, Wilson fails to detect the presence of the invisible twin of this influence and its astral level manifestations. Said influence has resulted in the so-called "New Age" (or Maatian consciousness). In mythology, Andromeda was sacrificed to the Fish Goat (esoterically understood to refer to the Aeon of Maat).

An unfortunate few (such as Whitley Streiber has shown in his diary, Communion) now suffer pseudo-nightmares on a regular basis. These dream shapes, terrible though they be, collectively serve to concentrate and steady the door-frames enabling magicians at will to enter the Tunnels of Set and pass over into the unknown "Universe B." The portals leading into the Space Battlefield (Armageddon on the Astral Plane) are located between Shaitan's eleven-pyloned Towers. We can also understand the Sothian current as a variation on the Ophidian Current (Great Old Ones).

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

Cross. Mariette Bey has shown its antiquity in Egypt by proving that in all the primitive sepulchres "the plan of the chamber has the form of a cross". It is the symbol of the Brotherhood of races and men; and was laid on the breast of the corpses in Egypt, as it is now placed on the corpses of deceased Christians, and, in its Swastica form (croix cramponnée) on the hearts of the Buddhist adepts and Buddhas. (See "Calvary Cross".)

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

Apis (Greek) Hap (Egyptian) The sacred bull of Memphis into which Osiris was thought to incarnate. Classical Greek authors all mention the veneration with which the Egyptians regarded the bull, Manetho stating that it was under Ka-kau (2nd dynasty) that Apis was appointed a god.

The Egyptians believed that after the death of a sacred animal, on reaching 28 years (the age Osiris was killed by Typhon), the soul of Apis joined Osiris, forming the dual god Asar-Hapi (Osiris-Apis), which the Greeks in the Ptolemaic period renamed Serapis. "As in the exoteric interpretation of the Egyptian rites the soul of every defunct person -- from the Hierophant down to the sacred bull Apis -- became an Osiris, was Osirified . . ." (SD 1:135).

Generally speaking the bull was the symbol for terrestrial and physical generation, linking it with the moon -- as indeed was Apis; although the bull is also connected with the sun, as in the case with Mnevis, the sacred bull of Heliopolis. In any event, "it was not the Bull that was worshipped but the Osiridian symbol; just as Christians kneel now before the Lamb, the symbol of Jesus Christ, in their churches" (TG 26).

See also BULL, SERAPIS

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

Noot (Egypt, Egyptian). The heavenly abyss in the Ritual or the Book of the Dead. It is infinite space personified in the Vedas by Aditi, the goddess who, like Noon (q.v.) is the "mother of all the gods".

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

Frog One of the oldest symbols in Egypt, for although associated particularly with the frog goddess Heqet, the four primeval gods of Egypt -- Heh, Kek, Nau, and Amen -- were each depicted with a frog's head, the reference here being to the cosmic waters of space, out of which all things arose in the beginnings. Frog gods and goddesses were associated with the beginning or formation of the world, the symbol of the frog itself being that of resurrection and hence of renewed birth.

"There must have been some very profound and sacred meaning attached to this symbol, since, notwithstanding the risk of being charged with a disgusting form of zoolatry, the early Egyptian Christians adopted it in their Churches. A frog or toad enshrined in a lotus flower, or simply without the latter emblem, was the form chosen for the Church lamps, on which were engraved the words 'I am the resurrection" . . . These frog goddesses are also found on all the mummies" (SD 1:386).

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

Pschent (Egypt, Egyptian). A symbol in the form of a double crown, meaning the presence of Deity in death as in life, on earth as in heaven. This Pschent is only worn by certain gods.

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

Tuat (Egyptian) Also Tiau, Tiaou. The region of the underworld or of the dead, though it was not situated under the earth, or answer to the popular conception of the Christian hell, even though the Tuat is often described as a place of retribution. One of the post-mortem states described in The Egyptian Book of the Dead as being situated in the region of the moon.

In popular mythology the Tuat was separated from the world by a range of mountains and consisted of a great valley, shut in by mountains, through which ran a river (the counterpart of the Nile, reminding one of the Jordan of the Jews and Christians), the banks of which were the abode of evil spirits and monstrous beasts. As the sun passed through the Tuat great numbers of souls were described as making their way to the boat of the sun, and those that succeeded in clinging to the boat were able to come forth into new life as the sun rose from the eastern end of the valley to usher in another day. Tuat was also depicted as the region where the soul went during night, returning to join the living on earth during the day.

Originally it was described as the abode of the night-sun, through which the sun god Ra passed during the night, only to arise renewed in the morning. "What is the Tiaou? The frequent allusion to it in the 'Book of the Dead' contains a mystery. Tiaou is the path of the Night Sun, the inferior hemisphere, or the infernal region of the Egyptians, placed by them on the concealed side of the moon. The human being, in their exotericism, came out from the moon (a triple mystery -- astronomical, physiological, and psychical at once); he crossed the whole cycle of existence and then returned to his birth-place before issuing from it again. Thus the defunct is shown arriving in the West, receiving his judgment before Osiris, resurrecting as the god Horus, and circling round the sidereal heavens, which is an allegorical assimilation to Ra, the Sun; then having crossed the Noot (the celestial abyss), returning once more to Tiaou: an assimilation to Osiris, who, as the God of life and reproduction, inhabits the moon" (SD 1:227-8).

The Tuat was divided into twelve regions, called fields (sekhet), corresponding to the number of hours of the night; or again it was described as being composed of seven circles (arrets), each under the guardianship of a watcher. The realm of Osiris is represented as Sekhet-Aarru or -Aanre (the fields of Aanroo), which was divided into 15 Aats (houses), having 21 Pylons. One of the regions of the Tuat was known as Amenti (Egyptian Amentet, "the hidden place"]

, a term often applied to the whole region of the dead.

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

Taht Esmun (Egypt, Egyptian). The Egyptian Adam; the first human ancestor.

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

Image. Occultism permits no other image than that of the living image of divine man (the symbol of Humanity) on earth. The Kabbala teaches that this divine Image, the copy of the sublime and holy upper Image (the Elohim) has now changed into another similitude, owing to the development of men’s sinful nature. It is only the upper divine Image (the Ego) which is the same; the lower (personality) has changed, and man, now fearing the wild beasts, has grown to bear on his face the similitude of many of them. (Zohar I. fol. 71a.) In the early period of Egypt there were no images; but later, as Lenormand says, "In the sanctuaries of Egypt they divided the properties of nature and consequently of Divinity (the Elohim, or the Egos), into seven abstract qualities, characterised each by an emblem, which are matter, cohesion, fluxion, coagulation, accumulation, station and division ". These were all attributes symbolized in various images.

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

Iamblichus (Ancient Greek). A great Theurgist, mystic, and writer of the third and fourth centuries, a Neo-Platonist and philosopher, born at Chalcis in Cœle-Syria. Correct biographies of him have never existed because of the hatred of the Christians; but that which has been gathered of his life in isolated fragments from works by impartial pagan and independent writers shows how excellent and holy was his moral character, and how great his learning. He may be called the founder of theurgic magic among the Neo-Platonists and the reviver of the practical mysteries outside of temple or fane.

His school was at first distinct from that of Plotinus and Porphyry, who were strongly against ceremonial magic and practical theurgy as dangerous, though later he convinced Porphyry of its. advisability on some occasions, and both master and pupil firmly believed in theurgy and magic, of which the former is principally the highest and most efficient mode of communication with one’s Higher Ego, through the medium of one’s astral body. Theurgic is benevolent magic, and it becomes goetic, or dark and evil, only when it is used for necromancy or selfish purposes; but such dark magic has never been practised by any theurgist or philosopher, whose name has descended to us unspotted by any evil deed.

So much was Porphyry (who became the teacher of Iamblichus in Neo-Platonic philosophy) convinced of this, that though he himself never practised theurgy, yet he gave instructions for the acquirement of this sacred science. Thus he says in one of his writings, "Whosoever is acquainted with the nature of divinely luminous appearances fasmata ( knows also on what account it is requisite to abstain from all birds (and animal food) and especially for him who hastens to be liberated from terrestrial concerns and to be established with the celestial gods". (See Select Works by T. Taylor, p. 159.) Moreover, the same Porphyry mentions in his Life of Plotinus a priest of Egypt, who, "at the request of a certain friend of Plotinus, exhibited to him, in the temple of Isis at Rome, the familiar daimon of that philosopher ". In other words, he produced the theurgic invocation (see "Theurgist") by which Egyptian Hierophant or Indian Mahatma, of old, could clothe their own or any other person’s astral double with the appearance of its Higher EGO, or what Bulwer Lytton terms the " Luminous Self", the Augoeides, and confabulate with It.

This it is which Iamblichus and many others, including the medieval Rosicrucans, meant by union with Deity. Iamblichus wrote many books but only a few of his works are extant, such as his "Egyptian Mysteries" and a treatise "On Demons", in which he speaks very severely against any intercourse with them. He was a biographer of Pythagoras and deeply versed in the system of the latter, and was also learned in the Chaldean Mysteries. He taught that the One, or universal MONAD, was the principle of all unity as well as diversity, or of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity; that the Duad, or two (" Principles"), was the intellect, or that which we call Buddhi-Manas; three, was the Soul (the lower Manas), etc. etc. There is much of the theosophical in his teachings, and his works on the various kinds of demons (Elementals) are a well of esoteric knowledge for the student. His austerities, purity of life and earnestness were great. Iamblichus is credited with having been once levitated ten cubits high from the ground, as are some of the modern Yogis, and even great mediums.

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

Tabernacle Used mainly to describe the portable sanctuary instituted during the wandering of the Israelites. The references in the Jewish history before Deuteronomy are different from later writings in the Old Testament which mention a very elaborate edifice containing a courtyard, outer and inner chambers, with sacrificial and atoning rituals, albeit erected so that it could readily be taken down and transferred to another place. The sanctuary referred to in the Priestly Code, however, is the sanctuary of the ark (in Hebrew mishkan ha`eduth, "the tabernacle of revelation"), i.e., the receptacle in which lay the ark of testimony, the chest in which it is alleged that the stones containing the inscriptions of the decalog were placed.

The real meaning of the tabernacle can be traced to Egypt:

"In the Egyptian temples, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, an immense curtain separated the tabernacle from the place for the congregation. The Jews had the same. In both, the curtain was drawn over five pillars (the Pentacle) symbolising our five senses and five Root-races esoterically, while the four colours of the curtain represented the four cardinal points and the four terrestrial elements. The whole was an allegorical symbol. It is through the four high Rulers over the four points and Elements that our five senses may became cognisant of the hidden truths of Nature; and not at all, as Clemens would have it, that it is the elements per se that furnished the Pagans with divine Knowledge or the knowledge of God. . . . . For what was the meaning of the square tabernacle raised by Moses in the wilderness, if it had not the same cosmical significance? 'Thou shalt make an hanging . . . of blue, purple, and scarlet' and 'five pillars of shittim wood for the hanging . . . four brazen rings in the four corners thereof . . . boards of fine wood for the four sides, North, South, West, and East . . . of the Tabernacle . . . with Cherubims of cunning work." (Exodus, Ch. xxvi, xxvii.) The Tabernacle and the square courtyard, Cherubim and all, were precisely the same as those in the Egyptian temples. The square form of the Tabernacle meant just the same thing as it still means, to this day, in the exoteric worship of the Chinese and Tibetans -- the four cardinal points signifying that which the four sides of the pyramids, obelisks, and other such square erections mean. Josephus takes care to explain the whole thing. He declares that the Tabernacle pillars are the same as those raised at Tyre to the four Elements, which were placed on pedestals whose four angles faced the four cardinal points: adding that 'the angles of the pedestals had equally the four figures of the Zodiac' on them, which represented the same orientation (Antiquites I, VIII, ch. xxii).

"The idea may be traced in the Zoroastrian caves, in the rock-cut temples of India, as in all the sacred square buildings of antiquity that have survived to this day" (SD 2:125-6).

The sacred chest or receptacle -- in which was supposed to reside either a god's presence or mystically holy or sacred emblems connected therewith -- is also virtually universal throughout the world.

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

Hermes Trismegistus (Ancient Greek). The "thrice great Hermes", the Egyptian. The mythical personage after whom the Hermetic philosophy was named. In Egypt the God Thoth or Thot. A generic name of many ancient Greek writers on philosophy and Alchemy.

Hermes Trismegistus is the name of Hermes or Thoth in his human aspect, as a god he is far more than this. As Hermes-Thoth-Aah, he is Thoth, the moon, i.e., his symbol is the bright side of the moon, supposed to contain the essence of creative Wisdom, "the elixir of Hermes ". As such he is associated with the Cynocephalus, the dog-headed monkey, for the same reason as was Anubis, one of the aspects of Thoth. (See " Hermanubis".)

The same idea underlies the form of the Hindu God of Wisdom, the elephant-headed Ganesa, or Ganpat, the son of Parvati and Siva. (See "Ganesa".) When he has the head of an ibis, he is the sacred scribe of the gods; but even then he wears the crown atef and the lunar disk. He is the most mysterious of gods. As a serpent, Hermes Thoth is the divine creative ‘Wisdom. The Church Fathers speak at length of Thoth-Hermes. (See "Hermetic".)

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

Kan (Egyptian) "Diodorus says that Kan was one of the titles of the Egyptian Apollo in his aspect of Sun God" (Caves & Jungles 612). Blavatsky compares Kan with krishan-Kanya called Nilanath (blue god).

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

Ra (Egyptian) In the dynastic period, the deity of the sun, regarded as the maker of all visible things, of heaven and all its gods, and of the Underworld (Tuat) and its denizens. More generally, Ra was the cosmic formative activity of the universal soul or Logos, and therefore in one sense of the anima mundi in its highest parts. Hence another facet of its meaning is the everlasting light which dwells forever in the cosmic darkness which is -- itself.

The worship of the sun was of very ancient origin in Egypt. Like Horus, Ra was depicted in a hawk-headed form known as Amen-Ra (Heru-khuti). The principal seat of the worship of Ra was at An or Heliopolis. The original deity of this city was Tem, but when the priests of Ra became more powerful during the 5th dynasty, they combined the two deities into one as Ra-Tem.

In later dynastic times, although the priests of Ra were the most powerful in Egypt, the common people clung to their ideas of Osiris so tenaciously that eventually the priests placed Osiris as the deity of the sun -- and this movement may have been initiated from within the sacerdotal sanctuary itself, because the attributes of Osiris and of Ra were alike, Osiris being a more limited entity than the abstract Ra of cosmic space.

(See also: Ra , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Labarum (Latin) Labaron (Greek) The standard carried by armies under the Christian Roman emperors, consisting of a pike from whose crossbar hung a silken banner bearing a crown of gold which enclosed the monogram made of the two first Greek letters of Christos.

The banner was a modification of the original Roman banner, and the monogram was an ancient symbol used in the Mysteries, for instance in Egypt, where it was an emblem of Osiris and Horus ages before the Christian emperors. It is one form of the cross and circle, borrowed by the Christians and adapted to suit their purposes.

This symbol can be traced "from our modern cathedrals down to the Temple of Solomon, to the Egyptian Karnac, 1600 BC. The Thebans find it in the oldest Coptic records of symbols preserved on tablets of stone and recognize it, varying its multitudinous forms with every epoch, every people, creed or worship. It is a Rosicrucian symbol, one of the most ancient and the most mysterious.

As the Egyptian Crux ansata, or that travelled from India, where it was considered as belonging to the Indian symbolism of the most early ages, its lines and curves could be suited to answer the purpose of many symbols in every age and fitted for every worship" (Some Unpublished Letters of Blavatsky 153-5).

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