Thirteen Today, popularly considered unlucky, and a great number of superstitions have come to be associated with it; in the numerical scale of 12, 13 begins a new duodecad. In popular Occidental belief, 13 seems regarded as being one too many, 12 being a complete number; and reference is made in Christian story to the 13 present at the "Last Supper," one being the alleged traitor Judas. However, there is no ancient basis for this negative view.

In the Qabbalah 13 is used in several passages, e.g., in cosmogenesis, "Thirteen depend on thirteen (forms) of the most worthy Dignity" (Siphra' Di-tseni`utha' 1:16), "refers to the thirteen periods personified by the thirteen Manus, with Swayambhuva the fourteenth (13, instead of 14, being an additional veil): those fourteen Manus who reign within the term of a Mahayuga, a 'Day' of Brahma. These (thirteen-fourteen) of the objective Universe depend on the thirteen (fourteen) paradigmatic, ideal forms" (SD 1:375); the fourteenth is supplied by the synthesis under the inflow of the coordinating and stimulating spirit. In the same way a group of six is counted as a septenate.

Again, of Macroprosopus, "Thirteen curls of hair exist on the one side and on the other of the skull" (v. 80), signifying "six on one and six on the other, the thirteenth being also the fourteenth, as it is male-female, 'and through them commenceth the division of the hair' (the division of things, Mankind and Races)" (SD 2:625).

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

Chakra cakra (Sanskrit) Wheel; cycle; the horizon, as being circular or of a wheel-form; likewise certain pranic centers of the body.

"These physiological chakras, which are actually connected with the pranic circulations and ganglia of the Auric Egg, and therefore function in the physical body through the intermediary of the linga-sarira, or astral model-body, are located in different parts of the physical frame, reaching from the parts about the top of the skull to the parts about the pubis. . . . were this mystical knowledge broadcast, it would be sadly misused, leading not only in many cases to death or insanity, but to the violation of every moral instinct. Alone the high initiates, who as a matter of act have risen above the need of employing physiological chakras, can use them at will, and for holy purposes -- which in fact is something that they rarely, if indeed they ever do" (OG 26-7).

In exoteric works six chakras are named. De Purucker lists seven:

1)    muladhara, the parts about the pubis, ruled by Saturn;

2)    svadhisthana, the umbilical region, ruled by Mars;

3)    manipura, the pit of the stomach or epigastrium, ruled by Jupiter;

4)    anahata, the root of the nose, ruled by Venus;

5)    visuddha, the hollow between the frontal sinuses, ruled by Mercury;

6)    ajnakhya, the fontenelle or union of the coronal and sagittal sutures, ruled by the Moon; and

7)    sahasrara, the pineal gland in the skull, ruled by the Sun.

"The human body as a microcosm may be looked upon as containing every power or attribute or energy in the solar system. . . . all the seven (or twelve) logoic forces that originally emanate from the sun, and pass in and through the various sacred planets, are transmitted to us as human beings and directly to the physical body. Thus each one of these solar logoic forces has its corresponding focus or organ in the human body, and these are the chakras" (FSO 459).

(See also: Chakra, cakra , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Third Eye Possessed by early humans and, up to the physicalization of the third root-race, it was the only seeing organ in most living species. At the beginning of that root-race, the organ which has developed into the eye was beneath a semitransparent covering or membrane, like some of the blind vertebrata today.

In early humanity, the third eye was the organ of spiritual vision, as it was that of objective vision in the animals (SD 2:299), as indeed it still remains, and it appears as the pineal gland inside the skull of modern mankind. In the course of physical evolution, with corresponding loss of spiritual vision, the cyclopean eye was gradually replaced by the physical vision of the two front eyes. The original eye has since then continued to function -- although unrecognized by the vast majority of people -- as the organ of intuitive discernment. As this recession was not complete before the close of the fourth root-race, there were late subraces of Lemurians and of early Atlanteans who were still in some degree at least physically three-eyed (SD 2:302).

Hindu mystics speak of this inner organ as the eye of Siva, the Tri-lochana (three-eyed). In Tibet the same functional organ was called the eye of Dangma, and references to it may be found under various names scattered throughout the world's literatures.

See also PINEAL GLAND

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

YOG SOTHOTH

In the mythos of The Necronomicon, this is the most repellant of all the semi-entities which haunt the infamous 11th Pathway. Grant describes his color as a gangrenous shade of green. He has no upper skull at all, merely a bloated and foetid mess that is his maggot-festering, naked brain. A madly gazing, giant's "Cyclops" eye beringed by octopoidal palpi stares out of a face slimy and writhing with entrails over shark teeth below. His gross, warty body rises tyrannosaurus-like out of the primordial muck.

His nauseating undulation suggesting a monotonous and blasphemous coitus, he is in fact the "Aeon" or "Yuga," i.e., the monstrous, forbidden union of Set and Thoth. Further sexual intercourse between Choronzon and Set forms a doorway between our world and the Hell of the Demons. H. P. Lovecraft refers to him as "the noxious Yog-Sothoth who froths as primal slime in nuclear chaos beyond the nethermost outposts of space and time!" The "soul-eater," Yog-Sut-Thoth, Kenneth Grant believes, is the Ibis of the Yesodic lunar Abyss, the sentinel of the between-worlds Doorway, the very portal itself, in fact, and the link between the Firmaments, above and below. Yog-Sut-Thoth (333) and Choronzon (333), moreover, are summoned by the same voice, for they are reciprocal aspects of one another. Locked together, in sodomy, the two form The Beast, 666. The "Beast" is really an historical occurrence, rather than a mere entity. It is a counter-swirl in the Ether, following in the wake of positive creation, that allows atavistic manifestations by default.

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

Phrenology:

The reading of character and mental ability from the shape of a person's skull.

(See also: Phrenology , Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

phrenology (head-reading): Study of human skulls with the aim of learning personality traits and mental capacity.

Phrenologic considerations include the shape of the skull, the size and location of protrusions thereon, and hair growth. Drs. F.J. Gall (1756-1828) and J.G. Spurzheim, coauthors of The Physiognomical System, were notable pioneers in the field.

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

A Christian theological definition of Calvary according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

"

Calvary

See also: Calvary , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

AIDS (GENETIC WAR)

Since some believe that the virus is man-made, specifically designed to attack the most important alternative to procreation (male homosexuality), we cannot see it as responding to psychic suggestions to change its habits. If it were a naturally occurring life-form, it would be automatically part of the evolutionary stream and quite attuned, even ready for "mental" implementation of punctuated morphogenesis. We are beginning to see that this is indeed a "war" and learning at the same time that war at every level derives from a basic misunderstanding of human social interaction and hardly occurs at all within the biosphere itself

Evolution is neither a battle for the survival of the fittest, nor is it the chaotic result of random mutations. We now know that the origin of species proceeds in cooperation with and as part of the conscious continuum of all life. Evolution, when the time is right, moves by quantum leaps to sudden new stages, as if by common consent. It's only through human interference that some single, bizarre weed winds up choking everything else out. In the highly unnatural case of the HIV virus, what we are seeing is a device specifically designed to pollute all the streams of life at once (generation, nurture and maintenance). It is a quite human-like biological tyrant bent on specific genocide

In studying Sheldrake's "punctuated evolution" we suddenly understand why our intuition has already told us that the HIV virus was man-made (or engineered). As a naturally-occurring genetic leap, HIV is too fantastic to consider. Even if abrupt evolutionary leaps were the rule, not the exception, and even if evolution itself is part of the omni-conscious sphere of synchronous reality-alternation, it's still too giant a biodic jump for a virus suddenly to decide to take up residence within the human DNA factory merely in order to bypass that annoying (to it!) "somatic individuation" phase. Viruses don't become that sophisticated that quickly. It's the equivalent of the next generation of the human race suddenly to be born with fully-functioning wings sprouting out of everyone's shoulder blades.

The theory, or course, amongst bio-metaphysicians, is that the body is merely a highly practical mechanism for the housing and passing on of the genetic code. One of the body's more clever defenses is the brain, designed to repair itself, built to last at least twice as long as any other organ and encased in a hard, nearly impregnable shell (the skull). But the cerebrum isn't just a defender of the body. It has, so to speak, a mind of its own and its own goals preempt the instincts. What's more, cerebral goals conflict with the goals of the genes. AIDS and the whole contemporary world of the 90's - with its pollution, rain forest depletions, baby boom, etc. - constitute the casualties of a genetic war directed specifically against the cortex, occurring on a deeply subnatural level of the global collective unconscious

As there are mental and spiritual planes, so there are various material planes. The "common consent" of the whole earth consciousness has been shattered in our time and the result is an insane interplanary (sic) war between the goals of the DNA and the goals of the human brain. Ideally, these goals should coincide, as with planned eugenics. Instead, we have mindless acquiescence to the genetic urge to procreate at any cost - regardless of the hideous consequences of overpopulation. Genetic consciousness knows only bodily success. It has no way of perceiving the larger context which is visible to the cortex: pollution, famine, despair, etc.

(See also: AIDS, GENETIC WAR , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Brahmarandhra (Sanskrit) (from Brahman cosmic spirit + randhra opening, fissure, cavity)

Brahman's crevice; a mystical suture or opening in the crown of the head, through which a person leaves his body at death. Connected with the heart by means of the sushumna-nadi, a psychovital channel in the spinal column. "A mystic term having its significance only in mysticism" (TG 63). Anatomically the fontanel is a soft, pulsating, unossified area in the skull of an infant, which hardens as the child develops.

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

Craniosacral Therapy

The craniosacral therapist focuses on releasing restrictions of the Cranial sutures and the underlying membranes through gentle hands-on contact with the bones of the skull. Carniosacral Therapy is gaining acceptance by health professionals worldwide as a successful treatment modality to improve overall body functioning. And treat a range of conditions, from headaches and ear infections, to stroke, Spinal Cord Injury, and Cerebral Palsy. It has been especially successful in treating newborns and infants for common conditions such as earaches, sinus congestion, vomiting, irritability, and hyperactivity.

(See also: Craniosacral Therapy , Alternative Health, Healing, Body Mind and Soul)

ANTI-CHRISTIAN STRATEGIES

"My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing years," said Abraham Lincoln, a century and a half ago. "What are the fruits of Christianity? Bigotry, superstition and persecution," said President James Madison some two centuries ago. "For seventeen hundred years the Christian sect has done nothing but harm" said Voltaire 230 years ago. Quotations of this sort by the wisest of thinkers and leaders, extending as they do back through the millennia, should serve as a skull and crossbones over the door of the church.

Xtianity, obviously, is the worst of all worlds (with the possible exception of Islam). On the one hand, it exhorts its believers to live vicariously, to reach for nothing, inasmuch as Christ has done all the work of redemption for them. In this way it thoroughly discourages individualism, especially in its most creative aspects. On the other hand, it pledges salvation to the dregs of mankind - the lowest ranks of morality - to the mindless and the vicious. Thus it espouses egoism at the cheapest level.

Arrogant Xtians are fond of saying, "You can't have it both ways." By that they mean that you can't accept the interconnectedness of everything and at the same time believe in the separation of the individual. But Xtianity, founded as it is on the veneration of stupidity, has always confused paradox with inconsistency.

The wise man leans neither on belief nor on non-belief. The whole issue of God/Not-God is unnecessarily dichotomous, as is our analysis of morality/immorality. The Either-Or world is dangerous. Indeed, it is so dangerous that even to proceed in a line midway between this Scylla and Charybdis is to hem oneself in by unwanted limitations. "God" is a word that has yet to be defined and even the certainty of divine singularity vs. plurality is debatable. It is a common conceit that monotheism is a step is a step forward from polytheism and one which some serious metaphysicians are finally beginning to question. The initiate may declare that there is but one "God", but he means that in a quite different sense from the common notion of exclusivity.

Monotheism (see MONOLATRY) always leads to monolithism. We are one another only be differing from one another. It is uniqueness that makes us divine. It is quite possible to deny the existence of "God" without elevating man (in his present condition) to apotheosis. There is, for example, the teaching of Pantheism, in which all plants, animals and, in fact, matter itself, are all equally God. This is also one God.

Anti-christians are admittedly defensive about "Salvation through Christ". First of all, non-Christians insist, there can be no salvation without one's own immolation - not the crucifiction of some 2000 year old personage of legend. Secondly, Christ is a type of supraconsciousness already potential, but undeveloped, in all men and women. It must not be confused with the self-pitying figures depicted in stained glass windows. The Christ level of consciousness is, in fact, certainly not available to the average, plastic-coated, postmodern illiterate, whose vision scarcely extends beyond that of an insect and whose tenacity is no firmer than a worm's pull. Therefore, to make salvation available to all men on a believe-as-you-go basis is idiotic. And finally, the Galilean mode is only one of many modes of consciousness - most of which are a lot more interesting. (See 666.)

(See also: ANTI-CHRISTIAN STRATEGIES , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

kapala:

Human skull.

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

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY: a manual procedure for remedying distortions in the structure and function of the craniosacral mechanism - the brain and spinal cord, the bones of the skull, the sacrum, and interconnected membranes. It is used to treat chronic pain, migraine headaches, TMJ, and a range of other conditions.

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

phrenology

The science of divining the skull and head so as to tell one's individuality and personality

(See also: Phrenology , Body Mind and Soul)

Kapal:

skull or cerebrum

(See also: Kapal ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

kapala:

kapala - the skull

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

A Theosophical definition of Om - Aum :

Om - Aum

A word considered very holy in the Brahmanical literature.

It is a syllable of invocation, as well as of benediction and of affirmation, and its general usage (as elucidated in the literature treating of it, which is rather voluminous, for this word Om has attained almost divine reverence on the part of vast numbers of Hindus) is that it should never be uttered aloud, or in the presence of an outsider, a foreigner, or a non-initiate, and it should be uttered in the silence of one's mind, in peace of heart, and in the intimacy of one's "inner closet."

There is strong reason to believe, however, that this syllable of invocation was uttered, and uttered aloud in a monotone, by the disciples in the presence of their teacher. This word is always placed at the beginning of any scripture or prayer that is considered of unusual sanctity.

It is said that by prolonging the uttering of this word, both of the o and the m, with the mouth closed, the sound re-echoes in and arouses vibration in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be pure, the different nervous centers of the body for good.

The Brahmanas say that it is an unholy thing to utter this word in any place which is unholy. It is sometimes written Aum.

See also: Om - Aum , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Clinical Kinesiology: Offshoot of applied kinesiology developed largely by Alan Beardall, an American chiropractor who died in 1988.

One of its principles is that points on the skull (cranial diagnostic points) represent different areas of the body and thus facilitate finding areas of dysfunction. Another is that points along the Central meridian represent therapeutic entryways.

(See also: Clinical Kinesiology , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Craniosacral therapy:

gentle manipulation of the brain, spinal cord, bones of the skull, sacrum and interconnected membranes--to correct misalignments and distortions in the structure and function of the craniosacral mechanism that surrounds the central nervous system.

(See also: Craniosacral therapy , Alternative Medicine, Body Mind and Soul)

CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY: Developed by Dr William Sutherland in the 1930’s, as an extension of the ancient Chinese Tuina and Osteopathic techniques. The process appears to rely on the practitioner’s healing energies directed into the head and neck. Practitioners claim to feel a slight movement in the bones of the skull which sceptics claim is not possible.

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

Ymir

The primeval being of Scandinavian mythology, father of all the giants. He was nourished by the four milky streams, which flowed from the cow Audhumla. The sons of Bor - Odin, Vili and Ve - slew Ymir and all the frost giants were drowned in his blood, which formed the world's lakes and seas. His bones and flesh became the mountains and the land, and his skull became the vault of heaven. A race of dwarfs grew within his carcass.

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