Roots

• To dream of seeing roots of plants or trees, denotes misfortune, as both business and health will go into decline.
• To use them as medicine, warns you of approaching illness or sorrow.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

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

Coat of Arms Dream Symbols:

(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)

Related pages: Dream Symbols, Dream Interpretation, Dream Symbol Coat of Arms, Dream Dictionary Coat of Arms, Meaning of dreams about Coat of Arms, Dream Interpretation Coat of Arms, Dream Analysis Coat of Arms, Dreaming of Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms, Roots, True identity

Pain

Physical

Pain in dreams is an interesting phenomenon. Sometimes, a peculiar sleeping position becomes the trigger event for a painful dream. It's the body's way of saying, "Hey stupid, roll over." However, the ability of the brain to produce physical stimuli that match the dream event is an amazing thing. It makes dreams that are emotionally realistic even more real.

Often, the pain sensation is related to a particular facet of body awareness or relationship disparity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in dreams of injury, infection, and amputation where physical sensations accompany visual images. Try to recall where the pain was centered, and relate that body part to aspects of your life that are applicable.

Was the pain caused by you, another person, or an object? Was it caused purposefully, or by accident?

 Was the pain acute or merely a nuisance?

Psychological

In dreams, we are often faced with dilemmas that create a lot of anxiety for the dreamer. Some of the things we do not know directly in our self-awareness are unknown because the trauma of unmediated awareness would be devastating. If dreams cause psychological pain, it should be treated much the same way as physical pain.

Does it hurt enough to get help, or just a little bit when precipitated by peculiar actions?

How often does it occur, and is it staying the same or getting worse?

Does it interfere with daily routines because the lingering pain is so troubling?

Do you feel you have enough knowledge and resources to treat the pain yourself, or does it feel as if the pain has deep roots in your life?

Depending on how you answer these questions, you may wish to seek professional help dealing with the psychological pain of dream events.

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

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

Trees [230]

• To dream of trees in new foliage, foretells a happy consummation of hopes and desires. Dead trees signal sorrow and loss.
• To climb a tree is a sign of swift elevation and preferment.
• To cut one down, or pull it up by the roots, denotes that you will waste your energies and wealth foolishly.
• To see green tress newly felled, portends unhappiness coming unexpectedly upon scenes of enjoyment, or prosperity.

[230] See also: Meaning of Dreams about Forest.     Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller   (See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Trees, Meaning of Dreams about Trees, Dream Interpretation Trees)

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)

This is a sitemap for Dream Dictionary - R . Click on a link and you will find multiple dream interpretations and the meaning behind this particular dream.

Dream Dictionary - R

rabbit, rabbits, raccoon, race, racing, rack, racket, radish, raffle, raft, rage, railing, railroad, rain, rainbow, raisins, rake, ram, ramble, ramrod, ransom, rape, rapids, raspberries, raspberry, rat, rats, rats, rattan cane, rattle, rat-trap, raven, ravine, razor, reading, reapers, rebirth, reborn, reception, red, reed, refrigerator, register, reindeer, relationships, religion, religious icon, rent, reprieve, reptile, rescue, rescued, resentment, resign, restaurant, resurrection, resuscitate, revelation, revenge, revival, revolver, rheumatism, rhinestones, rhinoceros, rhubarb, rib, ribbon, rice, riches, riddles, ride, riding school, right, ring, ringworms, riot, rising, rival, river, road, road fork, roast, robber, robbery, rocket, rocking-chair, rocks, rockslide, rogue, rogue's gallery, roller coaster, roman candle, roof, roof corner, rooks, rooms without exits, rooster, roots, ropes, rosary, rosebush, rosemary, roses, rosette, rouge, roundabout, rowboat, royalty, rubbish, rubbish, ruby, rudder, ruins, rum, run, running, running, rupture, rust, rye, rye bread,

More about dreams here:

Dream Dictionary
Dream Dictionary - A, Dream Dictionary - B, Dream Dictionary - C,
Dream Dictionary - D, Dream Dictionary - E , Dream Dictionary - F,
Dream Dictionary - G, Dream Dictionary - H, Dream Dictionary - I,
Dream Dictionary - J, Dream Dictionary - K, Dream Dictionary - L,
Dream Dictionary - M, Dream Dictionary - N, Dream Dictionary - O,
Dream Dictionary - P, Dream Dictionary - Q, Dream Dictionary - R,
Dream Dictionary - S, Dream Dictionary - T, Dream Dictionary - U,
Dream Dictionary - V, Dream Dictionary - W, Dream Dictionary - X,
Dream Dictionary - Y, Dream Dictionary - Z

Also see these pages:

Hinduism Dictionary , Buddhism Dictionary, Spiritual Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary , Parapsychology Dictionary, Paganism Dictionary,  Mysticism Dictionary , Theosophy Dictionary , Alternative Health Dictionary

Read more here: » Dreams Sitemap I - R

Teeth : Dream Interpretation Dictionary - Teeth

Teeth

One must, of course, correlate the action and other details of the dream, but as a general guide: false teeth signify unexpected help out of a difficult situation; broken or unusually worn-down teeth are a sign of the deterioration of an important relationship; aching teeth portend family quarrels; a dream of having teeth filled promises good news; having teeth pulled forecasts favorable business or investment opportunities; loose teeth are a warning of untrustworthy friends; if they fell out or you spit them out, it is a sign of a season of financial reverses; decayed teeth mean health problems--see your doctor; even and/or very white and beautiful teeth forecast happiness and prosperity; very long teeth predict legal action; one tooth longer than the others portends sad news; buckteeth augur unexpected travel; bridgework is a suggestion that you should be more meticulous in meeting your obligations; a dream featuring the roots of your teeth is a warning against lending money or gambling; to dream of having a nerve removed predicts a season of good luck; brushing your teeth indicates the clearance of obstacles which have been holding you back, unless one or more bristles get stuck between your teeth, in which case you will still overcome the obstacles but only after continued patient effort; picking your teeth is a warning of false friends in your close circle.

Source: Dreaming@Swoon

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

Chased : Dream Interpretation Dictionary - Being chased or attacked

Being chased or attacked

More than 80 percent of people dream they're being pursued or attacked, although who or what is attacking or doing the pursing varies from place to place. These dreams are a natural response to life stress, Garfield says.

The origin of this dream dates back to an era when humans fought off beasts or other tribal members to survive. The "monsters" of today more often are emotional beasts, she says -- fear, anxiety, anger, hatred and envy.

These dreams also have early biological roots. They're driven by our genes to mate and produce children and include the sex dreams. Both men and women, it's been documented in research, experience sexual arousal during REM sleep. These dreams can supply the desired missing elements in an unsatisfying marriage, or heighten during an intense love affair.

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

Dream Dictionary Index with links to 10.000 dream interpretations from many different sources.

Please note that all words in grey are hyperlinked to an archive with articles related to that word, including dream interpretations.

For more dream interpretation, see: Meaning of Dreams or Dream Dictionary

For articles about dreams, see: Dreams

Read more here: » Dream Interpretation Index: Dream Interpretation Index including links to 10.000 dream interpretations

AROMATHERAPY: uses essential oils from flowers, trees, roots, herbs, berries and fruits, to treat emotional disorders such as stress and anxiety as well as a wide range of other ailments and to promote physical, mental and emotional wellness. Oils are either massaged into the skin in diluted form, inhaled, placed in baths, or applied on and around the body.

Aromatherapy is often used in conjunction with massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, herbology, chiropractic and other wholistic healing.

What is aromatherapy?

It is the controlled use of natural essential oils in the process of physical and emotional healing. You may have discovered that in some ways, you've been experiencing aromatherapy most of your life without even knowing it.

We have all experienced memory recall triggered by a particular scent; perhaps the scent of a favorite flower, or the perfume your grandmother used to wear, or an aunt's linen closet. The event can produce positive or negative memories. Certain scents may trigger negative thoughts of a person or place in your past. Whatever the case, the importance of scent in our lives is quite profound and in some ways, unique to each of us. Aromatherapy is a way to enjoy a controlled use of natural oils to enrich and benefit your life.

What are essential oils?

Whole, pure essential oils come from nature; they are the "essence" of plants. They are droplets of water-like fluid contained in the leaves, stems, bark, flowers, roots and/or fruits of different plants, and give the plant its unique scent. Essential oils are volatile, whereas they easily transfer from a liquid to a gaseous state at room temperature or higher. The amount of essential oil found in most plants is 1 to 2%, but can contain amounts from 0.01 to 10%. They can change in composition and location with a particular plant. For example, orange trees produce neroli oil in their blossoms, orange oil in their citrus, and petitgrain oil in their leaves. Essential oils are also very concentrated and extremely potent, and sometimes 75 to 100 times more concentrated than say, the herb it is present in. This is all the more reason to use these oils with thorough knowledge of their potency.

How are essential oils extracted?

There are two common procedures for extracting true essential oils:

1. Steam distillation
2. Expression

 The process of steam distillation has 5 steps:

1. Steam plant material
2. Collect steam carrying aromatic molecules
3. Cool in cold-water bath
4. Produce floral water and essential oil
5. Separate essential oil, then bottle

This process is also the most popular for obtaining the essential oils from plants. The steam is forced into a vat containing the plant material, which ruptures the oil glands and releases the oil. The volatile oils are cooled, separated from the water content, and bottled. It may take hundreds or thousands of pounds of plant material to distill a single pound of the essential oil. Bulgarian Rose oil requires about 4,000 pounds of hand-picked flower petals to make 1 pound of oil, obviously making this one expensive oil!

The second method, extraction, has 4 major steps:

1. Have citrus peels
2. Machine press
3. Obtain essential oils and fruit waxes
4. Separate oils, then bottle

This method is primarily used in the perfume and food industries, and does not produce a 100% pure essential oil. Solvents are used in the process to pull out the soluable molecules; therefore making them incomplete oils. Resins, concretes, absolutes, and pomades result from this method.

How are essential oils taken in?

Essential oils are absorbed into the body two ways; through the skin and through nasal inhalation. Our sense of smell, controlled by the olfactory system, is some 10,000 times greater than any other sense. The olfactory system is directly linked to the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotional state, memory, and certain regulatory function.

Essential oils also penetrate the skin, or the integumentary system. Because essential oils have a low molecular weight and are organic in nature, they are absorbed through the pores and hair follicles of the skin, and unlike synthetic chemicals, they do not accumulate in the body. Absorption can take place anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours, and take from 3 to 6 hours to be metabolized in a healthy body. Excessive fat or toughened skin may slow down the rate of absorption; whereas heat, water, exercise, or broken skin may speed it up.

How are essential oils used?

Aromatherapy is used to self-heal and soothe common, everyday health challenges. It is by no means a replacement for the opinion of a licensed physician, and should always be used with respect.

As with all things derived from nature, some essential oils are considered hazardous, and under certain circumstances, should be avoided. Some are phototoxic, neurotoxic, or carcinogenic, and safety precautions should always be considered when working with and administering any essential oil.

Here are common-sense safety points to note:

1. Avoid essential oils deemed as hazardous
2. Keep all essential oils out of the reach of children.
3. Remember essentail oils are very potent.
4. Do not take orally.
5. Follow dilution guidelines carefully. Never use an oil without first diluting.
6. Use 1% or less dilution during pregnancy.
7. Be aware of others with sensitivities or allergies.
8. Do not use on or near the eyes.
9. Do a skin patch test if prone to sensitivities.
10. Use extra care on broken or damaged skin.
11. Avoid phototoxic essential oils if history of skin cancer.
12. Keep them away from light and heat sources.
13. Use only therapeutic genuine and authentic essential oils.

(See also: Aromatherapy, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

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)

How can dreams be used for healing? Many of the people I interviewed were women who had suffered breast cancer. Their stories were as varied and individual as the dreamers themselves and ranged from little bears helping with house cleaning to dramatic stories of physical and spiritual loss and rebirth played out in dreaming and in waking.
When we finally feel confident in exploring the elements of dream diagnosis, the next step is to explore the elements of healing in our dreams. Diagnosis is presented not to frighten us, but to allow us to begin a journey of healing.

This article is adapted from SHE WHO DREAMS By Wanda Easter Burch.

Read more here: » Healing dreams: What is Healing dreams?

Yggdrasil (Scandinavian, Icelandic) [from ygr fierce, awesome, brooding + drasill steed, gallows]

The Norse Tree of Life, on which Odin, Allfather of the universe, is mounted or hanged during a period of manifestation. From the tree drops the honeydew which feeds all creatures. The squirrel Ratatosk (intelligence) runs up and down its trunk, while on its topmost bough perches an eagle with a hawk seated between its eyes.

The tree has three roots watered by three wells. One is in Asgard, home of the gods, where it is watered by the three norns: the past (Urd, origin), the present (Verdandi, becoming), and the future which is created by them -- owing (Skuld, debt). A second root penetrates the world of matter, where it is watered from the well of the giant Mimer whose waters are experience of life. Odin gave one eye as forfeit in order to receive a draft of that well, while Mimer has the use of Odin's eye which is sunk in the bottom of the well. The third root is watered by Hvergelmir, source of all the rivers of lives (kingdoms of nature) which rises in Niflheim, the world of mists (nebulae) where worlds are born.

Yggdrasil is not immortal. Its lifetime is coeval with the hierarchy the tree is used to represent. Its leaves are constantly being eaten by four stags, its bark is nibbled by two goats, and its roots are gnawed by the serpent Nidhogg which, in due course, will topple the "noble ash tree." During the first half of its life, the tree is named Mjotvidr (measure increasing); during the latter half Mjotudr (measure diminishing). When in due course the tree dies, its indwelling consciousnesses (Life and Lifthrasir), the human race, will be secreted in the "memory hoard of the sun" until their next emergence into a new existence.

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

Banyan (Banian) The Indian fig tree (Ficus bengalensis of the Urticaceae), a shade tree remarkable for the enormous area that a single tree often covers, since roots are developed from the branches, which descend to the ground and take root. Inasmuch as each descending root in time becomes a tree trunk with branches of its own, which in their turn send roots to the ground, the gradual spread of the tree is theoretically indefinite and can reach more than a hundred yards in diameter. It was named tree of the merchants, as it was customary in olden times to hold markets under the shelter of these trees, called bar in Hindi, vata (covering) in Sanskrit.

In theosophy, used to express the peak of human evolutionary attainment on the earth-chain, the ever-living-human-Banyan or Wondrous Being (SD 1:207). Members of the hierarchy of Compassion under the Wondrous Being are referred to as tendrils descending from the heights to the lower planes of earth, these themselves aspiring to become like their spiritual superior.

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

Through the play of the mind in dreams and deliriums nearness appears as a great distance and a great distance appears as proximity. Through the force of the mind a great cycle of time appears as a moment and a moment appears as a great cycle. The unreal world appears as real whereas it is in reality a long dream arisen in our mind. This world is nothing but a long dream. The mind sports and creates an illusion. Through the play of the mind the dream-world appears as real. The following story will illustrate this fact.

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 XI: The Unreality of Imagination

A Theosophical definition of Asvattha :

Asvattha

(Sanskrit) The mystical tree of knowledge, the mystical tree of kosmical life and being, represented as growing in a reversed position: the branches extending downwards and the roots upwards. The branches typify the visible kosmical universe, the roots the invisible world of spirit.

The universe among the ancients of many nations was portrayed or figurated under the symbol of a tree, of which the roots sprang from the divine heart of things, and the trunk and the branches and the branchlets and the leaves were the various planes and worlds and spheres of the kosmos. The fruit of this kosmic tree contained the seeds of future "trees," being the entities which had attained through evolution the end of their evolutionary journey, such as men and the gods  - themselves universes in the small, and destined in the future to become kosmic entities when the cycling wheel of time shall have turned through long aeons on its majestic round. In fact, every living thing, and so-called inanimate things also, are trees of life, with their roots above in the spiritual realms, with their trunks passing through the intermediate spheres, and their branches manifesting in the physical realms.

See also: Asvattha , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Tree A variant of the cross or tau, to be considered in connection with the serpent which is wound round it. The two together symbolize the world tree with the spiritual, intellectual, psychic, and psychological aggregate of forces encircling the world tree and working in and through it -- these forces often grouped in the Orient under the name of kundalini. In minor significance, the two together symbolize the life-waves, or any life-wave, passing through the planes, spirit circling through matter, fohat working in the kosmos. Thus the tree symbol stands for the universe, and correspondentially for man, in whom the monadic ray kindles activity on the several planes; while the physiological key of interpretation applies to the analogies in the human body with its various structures through which play the pranic currents.

The tree, by its form, represents evolution, for it begins with a root and spreads out into branches and twigs; only as applied to the kosmos the root is conceived to be on high and the branches to extend downwards. Thus there is the Asvattha tree of India or bodhi tree, the Norse Yggdrasil, the tree Ababel in the Koran, the Sephirothal Tree which is 'Adam Qadmon. In the Garden of Eden it is stated that there were two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which signifies the two knowledges. It is said in Gnosticism that Ennoia (divine thought) and Ophis (serpent), as a unity, are the Logos; as separated they are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, the former spiritual, the latter manasic. Adam eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge which means in one important allegory of human evolution that mankind after the separation of the sexes became endowed with manas, or that when humanity began to be endowed with dual manas, the rays then separated into the opposite sexes; and lest he should partake of the Tree of Life and become immortal, in the then imperfect state of evolution, he is turned out of Eden.

 It is stated that buddhi becomes transformed into the tree whose fruit is emancipation and which finally destroys the roots of the Asvattha, which here is the symbol of the mayavi life. This latter tree is also the emblem of secret and sacred knowledge, guarded by serpents or dragons; it may also refer to a sacred scripture. Dragons guarded the tree with the golden apples of the Hesperides; the trees of Meru were guarded by a serpent; Juno, on her wedding with Jupiter, gave him a tree with golden fruit, as Eve gave the fruit to Adam. Blavatsky says of Eve: "She it was who first led man to the Tree of Knowledge and made known to him Good and Evil; and if she had been left in peace to do quietly that which she wished to do, she would have conducted him to the Tree of Life and would thus have rendered him immortal" (La Revue Theosophique 2:10).

See also ASVATTHA, YGGDRASIL

Both adepts and sorcerers were called trees. Tree worship in decadent times degenerated into a variety of phallicism.

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

Sex As applied to the organism as a whole, the differentiation of the reproductive function and the character of being male and female.

Organisms reproduce their kind in various ways: fission, gemmation, parthenogenesis, hermaphrodite reproduction, and sexual reproduction. In the course of evolution, organisms pass from one method to another; the passage from the hermaphrodite method to the one in which the sexes are in separate individuals took place in the animals in the third root-race of this round on this globe, and shortly afterwards in humanity (SD 2:184), the latter then being in the fifth subrace of the third root-race.

The process of separation did not occur suddenly, but slowly. This is often called the Fall, and is so in one sense, since it is a descent from spirit toward matter, and was an initiation of the beasts. "THEY (the animals) BEGAN TO BREED. The TWOFOLD MAN (then) SEPARATED ALSO. HE (man) SAID: "LET US AS THEY: LET US UNITE AND MAKE CREATURES.' THEY DID" (ibid.). But from another viewpoint, it was simply a following of the natural course of unfolding progress in evolution. The separation is symbolized by a circle with a vertical diameter.

The hermaphroditic state is repeated in the developing embryo where the organs of both sexes arise from the same germinal layer of cells, and the differentiation does not occur until near the middle of the viable period of fetal life. Today, the orderly unfolding of embryonic cells into a human form is due to following the invisible model which, in keeping with the imbodying ego's karma, is directed by creative spiritual entities and forces.

"Before man could become male and female physically, his prototype, the creating Elohim, had to arrange his Form on this sexual plane astrally. That is to say, the atoms and the organic forces, descending into the plane of the given differentiation, had to be marshaled in the order intended by Nature, so as to be ever carrying out, in an immaculate way, that law which the Kabala calls the balance, through which everything that exists does so as male and female in its final perfection, in this present stage of materiality. Chochmah, Wisdom, the Male Sephiroth, had to diffuse itself in, and through, Binah, intelligent Nature, or Understanding" (SD 2:84). After the separation, the third eye began to disappear, and death as we now understand it was not known until then.

Thus the primeval polarity of all things differentiated on the material plane -- including sexual humanity -- was of immaculate origin and purpose. This sublime ancient teaching has been degraded generally in theological interpretations of cosmic sex symbols in crude physiological terms, such as the substitution of a Jehovistic god of generation for an ineffable, unknown deity.

The originating causes of sex are not rooted in the higher principles or elements of the human composite constitution. It is the effect of former thought-deposits, of emotional and mental tendencies and biases given way to in preceding lives on earth. "The predominating and it may perhaps truly be said that the main cause of sex-change in incarnation is strong attraction to the opposite sex during the few -- or in rare cases it may be a fairly large number -- preceding lives on earth. This attraction, which is the instrumental cause of the tendencies and biases spoken of, arising out of thought and emotional energy, feminizes the life-atoms, or masculinizes them, as the individual case may be, and the natural consequence is incarnation in a body of the sex to which attraction leads" (ET 666). Thus a reincarnating ego may have several incarnations in bodies of one sex, and then incarnate in bodies of the opposite sex for a number of times in succeeding incarnations. How many times, therefore, a reincarnating ego may imbody in a male or a female body is not subject to any arbitrary rule but depends solely upon the karmic impulse laid aside in the treasury of psychomental experiences.

Though the distinction of sex is biologically regarded as a profound and nearly universal attribute of organized beings, yet knowledge of composite human nature shows that it does not reach into the roots of the human constitution. Its causes go no deeper than the lower part of the human ego or soul, the psychophysiological nature. It is an evolutionary condition or cycle of the reincarnating ego's development in this present stage of materiality. Therefore, it is a transitory event in its bipolar earthly experience. As sex has been nature's plan for the race for some 18 million years, it will continue to be the natural plan for some ages to come. Some ages hence, sex differentiation will have given way to the activities of impersonal, spiritual creative energies.

(See also: Sex, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

mula (muula): Literally, "root". The fundamental conditions in the mind that determine the moral quality - skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala) - of one's intentional actions (see kamma). The three unskillful roots are lobha (greed), dosa (aversion), and moha (delusion); the skillful roots are their opposites. See kilesa (defilements).

 (See also: Mula, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Polygenesis Used in biology and anthropology, meaning arising from many germs or roots; opposed to monogenesis, arising from a single germ or root, although the two theories can be complementary.

The human race is distinctly polygenetic inasmuch as it was born from seven different psychomaterial foci on seven different centers of the earth; and mankind did not spring from an actual single couple.

Yet it is equally true that mankind is one in origin, all its creators being spiritual beings, working on us and upon lower beings of a psychomaterial nature (SD 2:249, 610). Regarding the evolution of races, differentiation has existed for long ages; yet go far enough towards the origin, and polygenesis merges into a fundamental spiritual unity.

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