Eye of Siva The third eye; physically the pineal gland, which when awakened into activity becomes the organ of the inner spiritual vision of a seer.

The pineal gland was in former ages an active physical exterior organ before the present-day two eyes were developed, and was then the faculty both of physical vision and of interior illumination. As the ages passed, this third eye or pineal gland receded within the skull, finally being covered by hardened bone and the scalp. This eye may be described as the organ on this plane of spiritual intuition, through which direct and certain knowledge is obtainable at any time at the will of the seer.

"The 'eye of Siva' did not become entirely atrophied before the close of the Fourth Race. When spirituality and all the divine powers and attributes of the deva-man of the Third had been made the hand-maidens of the newly-awakened physiological and psychic passions of the physical man, instead of the reverse, the eye lost its powers" (SD 2:302).

(See also: Eye of Siva , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Om (Sanskrit) Also Aum. In Brahmanical literature, a syllable of invocation, considered very holy: "Om is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim" (Mandukya Upanishad 2:2).

It is placed at the beginning of scriptures considered of unusual sanctity. "Prolonging the uttering of this word, both of the O and the M, with the mouth closed, it reechoes in and arouses vibration in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be pure, the different nervous centers of the body for great good" (Fund 28). The virtue or spiritual and magical properties attributed to this word, however, arise out of the purity and devotion of the one uttering it.

(See also: Om , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Neanderthal

A species of Palaeolithic man inhabiting Europe during the Mousterian period. It was named for the Neander Valley in Germany, near DŸsseldorf, where in 1856 one of the earliest skulls was found. They occupied parts of Europe and the Middle East from 100,000 years ago until about 35,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they disappeared from the fossil record.

The most significant feature of Neanderthal anatomy, as with all others hominids, is the skull. Specimens vary, but typical features include a wide, vaulted cranium, heavy 'beetle brow' ridges above the eyes, a big jaw, and large teeth. Neanderthals may have looked faintly apelike, but their brain capacity was as large as, and in some cases larger than, that of modern human beings. As a whole, Neanderthals seem to have been tough and stocky individuals. Many believe that the Neanderthal is the ancenter of Sasquatch.

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

Beijve (Sameh) The bright sun god of the nomadic people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola peninsula of Russia who call themselves Sameh (people of the sun). Beijve is the son of the divine Jubmel, and the Milky Way is the shining trail left by his skis when he hastened to obey the god's summons.

With Beijve's advice and help, Jubmel caused a bridge to be created between the upper divine worlds "where the light begins" and the lower "dark and silent worlds"; on the upper end of the span he fashioned the earth from his little reindeer doe. Her bones became earth's armature, her flesh its ground, her blood vessels became its rivers, and her hairs the forests. The little reindeer's skull protects the earth from the intense light of the sun, and her two eyes are the morning and the evening star. But her heart he hid deep within the earth where the lonely mountaineer may sometimes, in the quiet summer night, hear it beating.

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

Uchnicha, also Buddhochnicha (Sanskrit). Explained as "a protuberance on Buddha’s cranium, forming a hair-tuft ". This curious description is given by the Orientalists, varied by another which states that Uchnicha was "originally a conical or flame-shaped hair tuft on the crown of a Buddha, in later ages represented as a fleshy excrescence on the skull itself ". This ought to read quite the reverse; for esoteric philosophy would say: Originally an orb with the third eye in it, which degenerated later in the human race into a fleshy protuberance, to disappear gradually, leaving in its place but an occasional flame- coloured aura, perceived only through clairvoyance, and when the exuberance of spiritual energy causes the (now concealed) "third eye to radiate its superfluous magnetic power. At this period of our racial development, it is of course the "Buddhas" or Initiates alone who enjoy in full the faculty of the "third eye" , as it is more or less atrophied in everyone else.

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

QLIPHOTH/QLIPPOTH

Lit. "shells" (singular: qliphah). Shades of the dead whose names appear in the books of Dyzan or Thoth, or the Book of the Law (AL). They may contain formulae of magical powers. RAW calls them "souls of those who died insane... the tulpas of Tibet... avatars of Coyote, the American Indian prankster-god." RAW also identifies them with the Celtic "little people" or faeries. Some of the twenty-two qliphotic entities of the Black Tarot, as envisioned by Grant, are defined herein under separate entries, although strictly speaking, the qlippoth are the names of the guardians of the tunnels, not the tunnels themselves. To understand the qliphothic atus fully and to do them justice can be more deleterious to the artist or researcher than one might suspect. Conceivably, such complete understanding could result in the destruction of the ego without restoration in the Oversoul and therefore lead to actual madness. Dealing with the Qliphoth is the psychic equivalent of working with toxic wastes, dangerous animals or high voltage wires.

To invoke any force is to invoke automatically its opposite as well. In the more conventional sense, qliphoth are negative cosmic energies equating with the ten positive Sephiroth (e.g., Lilith is the evil counterpart of Malkuth). All positive aspects of divinity have their "excremental" sides, or demons: Beelzebub, Satanas, etc. The difference between metamorphosis and excretion is thinner than you might guess.

From the universal lexicon:

          scall         English                 scab

          chale         Cupeno                  husk, shell

          skalli        Icelandic               a peeled head

          geled         Hebrew                  skin

          kulit         Malay                   skin

          skull         English                 the "shell" of the brain

          azal          Basque                  peeling

          soale         Hausa                   to peel off

          scale, shell  English

          scalp< shell a Dutch M. schelpe Qabalah the of ?demons? or refuse? ?peelings, Qlipphoth discard husk, Hebrew qliphah husk peel; skin; to Malay kupas sheath English Middle>

In the waning years of Alchemy, occultists were fond of saying that the Philosopher's Stone was "that which all men despise" -- and this in turn led the puffers to experiment with various types of excrement in order to see if that substance, perchance, could possibly yield the Secret of the Ages, since nothing so far had succeeded in doing so. And of course all such experiments accomplished was to mark the nadir of human folly.

What is this word "excrement", after all? It's from Latin, excernere, "to separate." It is a separation, a peeling away, as when we peel away a scab or a blister, making it no longer a part of ourselves. German scheiden/schieden (divide, separate, divorce) is simply another form of the word Scheisse (Fr. chier, Engl. shit) or its Greek equivalent schizo, "to split."

Latin cutis (skin), we should notice, first of all, is a cognate of Greek skatos (dung). Like the snake, what we throw away begins with the "skin" -- a word which probably represents a form of one of the universal roots. Compare Peruvian kina (the bark, or tree peeling, whence we get quinine) and Malay sisek (fish scales). Perhaps even the Austrian Kakadu word, k…ngir meaning "skin" is distantly related. At any rate, k…ngir is almost certainly the origin of "kangaroo," particularly since the Australian Warramunga word, nguru, meant "foreskin." These two are clearly connected and the marsupial associations are plain enough.

The puffers didn't understand that excrement isn't exactly what all men despise. Or to be more precise, what matters isn't so much what is discarded and thrown away, but the value we place on the kept, as opposed to the trash. That faulty decision itself is where the problem lies. In fact, the Finnish proverb: Kulta kultainen v„lkkya roskatta, "gold glitters in what is thrown away", is a sentiment well understood by shamans, witches and other marginal people, who are drawn to the rubbish heaps and middens, much as the money-vultures circle the stock market.

What all men despise is "that out there," that is to say, the world. And they try incessantly to dissociate themselves from it. Yet, obviously, if we really were one with the world, then we'd have in hand "the universal solvent," we'd have immortality because the world is immortal. In the world's all-powerful Nature is the very secret of turning lead into gold. Instead man tries desperately to throw out everything that is not self.

Part of the problem is that the verb "to be" has two meanings (as in Spanish): one is an expression of permanent identity or equivalence to something else and the other an expression of a changing, on-going process. When we accept the error that we are not gods, we cease all self-examination, self-disciplines and self-improvement. We define god as an embodiment of "pefection" (or completion) instead of as the avenue of evolution and becoming. Only idols are perfect. Not even Odin ever thought of himself as perfect: he had to make many sacrifices in order to gain wisdom. Ditto Osiris, who was so far from being "together" that he was chopped up into little pieces. Granted, Jehovah is perfect, or thinks He is, but He is also a difficult God to respect, for that same reason. When you say we are not gods, you mean we are not idols. But an idol is precisely what modern man has made of himself. He worships himself, even though gods never worship themselves. Obviously, they don't have to. Only man worships himself, though not really as a god or potential god. He worships himself just as he is: as a fatted, golden pig wearing Gucci shoes.

The reason people push gods "outside" is the same reason they shove everything else outside, separating everything and calling it evil because it is unwanted. Anything which is not self, including the planet earth, is felt to be of no real value. In fact, matter is simply unwanted "dirt." Most of the self is thrown away, at least that part of the self which demands the most work or struggle. All that may remain is the momentary gratification of physical need: food, drink, sex, rest, entertainment. To put a god into that strait-jacket, even a minor one, is to disrupt the routine, to interfere with the direct line of ice cream to mouth. Besides, the puffing up of an imaginary personal ego is a thousand times easier than the expression of difficult, real Divinity. Standing far enough away from the world empowers objectivity to serve as the perfect defense of the ego. Here ego cannot be challenged and "Science" and "Reason" become the last refuges of Subjective Solipsism.

In the Qabalah this peeling away of the self, this separation or "excrement" is called a Qlipha (pl. qlipphoth). The qliphoth are the negative personifications. All the expressions of Divinity have their "qlipphoth": Samael, Beelzebub, Satanas, etc., as we've said. And, in truth, these are what people actually bow down to: these idols that are made up out of excrement. Divinity that lies outside of self is not divinity.

In contemporary Occidental man's desperate struggle to separate himself we would do well to remember Alan Watts' comparison of the self to an onion. You can peel and peel until there is nothing left.

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

Kapalini:

Kapalini: skull

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

Kapala:

Kapala. Human skull.

(See also: Kapala , Tantra, Tantra Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

MEMENTO VIVERE

Zarathustra's gospel according to Nietzsche. As the skull on the 19th Century poet's desk was a reminder that one day we shall die, so today we need a reminder to live. Jung: "Life is a preparation for the ultimate goal of death."

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

Golgotha (from Greek of Hebrew gulgoleth, Chald gulgalta skull; in Greek cranion; Latin calvaria, whence Calvary.)

The site of Jesus' alleged physical crucifixion; often used metaphorically to signify crucifixion or trial.

(See also: Golden Thread, Golden Cord , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Cranio-Sacral Therapy

is a manual therapy which addresses distortions in the structures of the spine, skull, sacrum and associated connective tissue. It is most often employed by physical therapists and chiropractors to treat pain, stress, and limitations of movement.

Cranoisacral Therapy combines ancient healing arts with traditional cranial osteopathy. You lie on a massage table in your own clothes; you feel the warm, healing energy from the therapist's hands as you let go of long-standing tension in your neck, shoulders, arms, torso, legs, feet, and the delicate areas of your face, cranium and spine.

(See also: Cranio-Sacral Therapy , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

CranioSacral Therapy: By gently manipulating the bones of the skull, practitioners seek to enhance the functioning of the CranioSacral system, a fluid circulatory system that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord. Practitioners of the Upledger method follow the teachings of Dr. John Upledger, based on his practice and research at the Michigan State University.

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

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, noninvasive method of evaluating and enhancing the function of a physiological body arrangement called the craniosacral system. Developed by John E. Upledger, D.O., O.M.M., this manual therapy enhances the body’s natural healing processes and has proven effective in treating a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.

The craniosacral system consists of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. It extends from the bones of the skull, face, and mouth - which make up the cranium - down to the sacrum or tailbone. Since this system influences the development and function of the brain and spinal cord, any imbalance or dysfunction in the craniosacral system could cause sensory, motor, or neurological disabilities. These problems may include chronic pain, eye difficulties, scoliosis, motor-coordination impairments, learning disabilities, and other dysfunctions of the central nervous system.

Craniosacral therapy encourages the body’s natural healing mechanisms to improve the functioning of the central nervous system, dissipate the negative effects of stress, and enhance health and resistance to disease.

The craniosacral therapy practitioner uses a light touch to assist the natural movement of fluid within the craniosacral system. Therapists generally use only 5 grams of pressure, roughly the weight of a nickel, to test for restrictions in various parts of the craniosacral system. It’s often possible for the evaluation alone to remove the restriction and allow the system to correct itself.

(See also: CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY , Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Hochmah (Hebrew) Also transliterated as Chochmah, Hhokhmah, Chokmah, etc. Wisdom; the second Sephirah, regarded in the Qabbalah as the first emanation from the first Sephirah, Kether. Wisdom is considered as a masculine active potency, and is therefore called 'Ab, the Father, to whom Binah, the Mother and third of the Sephiroth, is united.

It is the head of one of the three pillars in the Sephirothal Tree, called the Column of Benignity, Mercy, or Grace, placed on the right side. Its Divine Name is Yah (a substitute for the mystery-name Iao), whereas the Divine Name for the third Sephirah is the so-called four-lettered name or Tetragrammaton IHVH -- Jehovah. Among the angelic hosts it is represented by the 'ophanim, the wheels of Ezekiel's vision. In its human application, Hochmah is represented as infilling the skull and brain, and less accurately as corresponding to the right shoulder.

"Wisdom generates all things. By means of the 32 paths, Wisdom is spread throughout the universe, it gives to everything form and measure" (Zohar iii, 290a).

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

Craniosacral Therapy: Manipulates bones in the skull, neck and tailbone to bring in balance the cranial rhythmic impulse (CRI). CRI affects connective tissue throughout the body. It can treat a range of conditions from earache to spinal cord injury and can also improve the body’s overall function.

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

Kapalabhati is an exercise for the purification of skull and lungs. Though this is one of the Shat-Karmas (six purificatory exercises), yet it is a variety of Pranayama exercises.

Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Kapalabhati: Kapalabhati and Kundalini Yoga

In YOGA Tradition, Karma has a much deeper meaning, which, to a certain extent only, is related to the western idea of Destiny or Fate. In this vision, Karma is the accumulation of our past actions. These past actions (triggering actions) are causes which determine other actions (triggered reactions) in exact accordance with the charge of the corresponding past actions.

Read more here: » Karma Yoga: Karma, The Law of Action followed by Reaction

In the 60s, a communal riot shook a certain town. I was surprised, for it was a new settlement grown around a huge industry. The population was largely labourers and officials from all over India. There was no tradition of animosity between communities; they were united by a common existential necessity.

One winter evening, on a visit to the town, I asked my friends, "Where did so many violent people come from, all of a sudden?"

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Individual Will No Match for Mad Mobs

Cosmic Consciousness was coined by the Canadian psychologist Richard M. Bucke, in his book “Cosmic Consciousness” 1902. He describes Cosmic Consciousness as a transpersonal mode of consciousness, an awareness of the universal mind and one's unity with it. Cosmic Consciousness prime characteristic is an awareness of the life and order in the universe.

An individual who at attains the state of Cosmic Consciousness is often described as 'Enlightened' and such a person is also said to have a sense of immortality, not of attaining it but of already having it. Burke saw this state of consciousness as the next stage in human evolution, very much as spiritualists have always seen it.

Read more here: » Cosmic Consciousness: What is Cosmic Consciousness?

Breath, sound and meditation are the main resources of kundalini yoga. For example, a school of Kundalini yoga is probably best recognised for its frequent use of 'Breath of Fire' and the mantra 'Sat Nam'. Breath of Fire is a breathing exercise where you inhale and exhale rapidly through the nose without pausing, and pump the navel point while using the abdomen as a bellows. Sat Nam means 'truth is my identity' and, as a chant, is used to stop mind chatter by creating a rhythm that produces higher consciousness.

Read more here: » Yoga: Kundalini Yoga - Techniques and Pitfalls

 Many individuals whose Kundalini has been unexpectedly unleashed DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, and the prevailing social ignorance about this multidimensional transformative process makes it hard to find medical or alternative health practitioners or spiritual advisors who recognize the symptoms, particularly when they are strongly physical. Many people know that the risen Kundalini flings open gates to all sorts of mystical, paranormal and magical vistas, but few realize it can also dramatically impact the body.

Read more here: » Kundalini: Kundalini Signs and Symptoms

Part II of III of Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is the eighty-sixth among the 108 Upanishads. It forms part of the Krishna Yajurveda. It deals with an exposition of Hatha and Lambika Yogas. It concludes with an account of the non-qualified Brahman. The Non-dual Brahman is the quest of all seekers.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Kundalini Yoga: Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, Part II