Ideic Finger. An iron finger strongly magnetized and used in the temples for healing purposes. It produced wonders in that direction, and therefore was said to possess magical powers.

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

Lightworkers everywhere are feeling confused and disconnected. In these times we are moving rapidly from one vibrational level to the next. The Group says that we humans do not take the steady escalator in our quest to move to higher vibrations. Rather, we can't wait to jump on the express elevator shooting up hundreds of floors in seconds. Then we try to figure out why we can't walk when the doors of the elevator open. To us it feels as if we are temporarily disconnected and have lost our way. Something is happening here that needs to be addressed and the Group wanted me to drop what I was doing and put this out now. They want to talk about integration of Spirit of Planet Earth.

Read more here: » Indigo Children: Ana and the Bird - Integration of Spirit

Apollonius of Tyana (Ancient Greek). A wonderful philosopher born in Cappadocia about the beginning of the first century; an ardent Pythagorean, who studied the Phœnician sciences under Euthydemus; and Pythagorean philosophy and other studies under Euxenus of Heraclea.

According to the tenets of this school he remained a vegetarian the whole of his long life, fed only on fruit and herbs, drank no wine, wore vestments made only of plant-fibres, walked barefooted, and let his hair grow to its full length, as all the Initiates before and after him.

He was initiated by the priests of the temple of Esculapius (Asciepios) at Egae, and learnt many of the "miracles" for healing the sick wrought by the god of medicine. Having prepared himself for a higher initiation by a silence of five years, and by travel, visiting Antioch, Ephesus, Pamphylia and other parts, he journeyed via Babylon to India, all his intimate disciples having abandoned him, as they feared to go to the "land of enchantments".

A casual disciple, Damis, however, whom he met on his way, accompanied him in his travels. At Babylon he was initiated by the Chaldees and Magi, according to Damis, whose narrative was copied by one named Philostratus a hundred years later. After his return from India, he showed himself a true Initiate, in that the pestilences and earthquakes, deaths of kings and other events, which he prophesied duly happened. At Lesbos, the priests of Orpheus, being jealous of him, refused to initiate him into their peculiar mysteries, though they did so several years later.

He preached to the people of Athens and other cities the purest and noblest ethics, and the phenomena he produced were as wonderful as they were numerous and well attested. "How is it", enquires Justin Martyr in dismay - " how is it that the talismans (telesmata) of Apollonius have power, for they prevent, as we see, the fury of the waves and the violence of the winds, and the attacks of the wild beasts; and whilst our Lord’s miracles are preserved by tradition alone, those of Apollonius are most numerous and actually manifested in present facts?"

. (Quaest, XXIV.). But an answer is easily found to this in the fact that after crossing the Hindu Kush, Apollonius had been directed by a king to the abode of the Sages, whose abode it may be to this day, by whom he was taught unsurpassed knowledge. His dialogues with the Corinthian Menippus indeed give us the esoteric catechism and disclose (when understood) many an important mystery of nature. Apollonius was the friend, correspondent and guest of kings and queens, and no marvellous or "magic" powers are better attested than his. At the end of his long and wonderful life he opened an esoteric school at Ephesus, and died aged almost one hundred years.

(See also: Apollonius of Tyana , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

LEGERDEMAIN

Sleight-of-hand. It is said of Mohammed that he put seed in his ears in order make it look as if the birds were whispering messages to him. True or not, for some reason, that weighs more heavily on the minds of some than the power of the Koran to affect the behavior of millions over a span of centuries. HPB was often caught out trying to create some magical effect to prove that she had mystical powers over the material world. (Since matter is the manifestation of spirit, what could be more reasonable?). On more than one occasion she was seen to attach strings to make letters and documents drop from above at critical moments. She constantly deplored the fact that she was trapped in a physical body (obese, crippled) that she could not control. Yet, through her role as amanuensis for the hidden masters of metaphysical wisdom, she managed to transcend the temporal, physical world, after all.

It seems to be a rule that the more advanced into magical understanding that the initiate proceeds, the more he is obliged to recognize his own physical limitations. Crowley, for all his miracles, never really overcame his addictions to morphine and cocaine. Gurdjieff was more successful in being able to control his body and to transfer energy and healing powers from himself to others because he abandoned the occult early on for "objective magic", his own brand of highly pragmatic community yoga. But to acquire even the slightest control over basic physiological functions takes several years of serious yogic practice. And to effect the most minor of changes in the nature of human society takes all of one's efforts over a long course of time.

The all too common notion that "magic" is a synonym for "easy" is deplorable. People seem to be impressed more by speed of accomplishment and minimization of human labor than by the things themselves. Rather than being awestruck by the beauty of the palace, we are impressed instead by the djinni's instantaneous teleportation of it. Magic in the 20th Century has become a minor attribute of technology. Jet flight, television and micro-wave cooking at the touch of a button - these are magic for the multitudes, the limits of hoi polloi imagination. Yet there is more wonder in a horse than in an automobile. A good meal that takes hours to prepare is a lot more "magical" than a fast-food sushi-burger.

A student of the Academy of M/magic(k)al Arts recently asked, "How can you tell when what appears to be magic is really a trick?" I suppose most people will always confuse prestidigitation with thaumaturgy. Although stage magic never has any but a trivial, useless result, "real magic" is a significant act that alters reality for the better. Never forget that we dwell in a world of illusion - what the East calls maya - indeed the roots of magic and maya (mag-, may-) are the same. Reality is nothing more than a consensus, an agreement of the crowd, that thus and thus is so. If your eyes were closed you'd be unable to tell the difference between a peacock feather tickling your nose and a fly lighting upon it. The true magus doesn't do "tricks" because the world itself is already a piece of legerdemain. Instead, he is bent on embuing the world with a new meaning, with transforming the basic foundation of the hell that we inhabit.

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

Albatross Large sea bird, found chiefly in the southern oceans and northern Pacific, which has extraordinary powers of flight. It is said to have magical properties, such as bringing continued bad weather if it hovers around a ship or bad luck if killed. (SD 1:362)

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

Sword: Less useful, but still necessary for high magic or theurgy which involves chaotic spirits, is the sword. This is similar in its functioning to the wand, but whereas the wand has a neutral nature, the sword is overtly offensive, projecting power to dominate and hurt. It is supposed to be made by the Magus, but I hazard to say that not one in a thousand occultists who possesses the magic sword has actually fashioned the blade by hand. It is considered acceptable to procure a short sword, or long knife, and after thoroughly purifying it, consecrate it by anointing and prayer to its magical purpose. I use an old British army bayonet myself, which is shaped as a sword, hilt and all, and find it effective—perhaps especially so due to its military associations.

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

Gothic Witchcraft:

A postulated cult of devil worshipers invented by the medieval Church, used as the excuse for raping, torturing and killing scores of thousands of women, children and men. The cult was said to consist of people who worshiped the Christian Devil in exchange for magical powers then used to benefit themselves and harm others. Also called “Diabolic Witchcraft” and “Satanic Witchcraft.” I coined this term many years ago, before the rise of the “Goth” subculture of the 1980s.

(See also: Gothic Witchcraft , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Spell:

Written or spoken words believed to have magical power.

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

KHABS AM PEKHT

Depending upon the Egyptian translation you favor, it can mean either "Cultivate Inner Strength" or "Light in Extension." the phrase is a teaching imperative. As the light descends it spreads out, as in a pyramid, therefore to teach is to extend illumination on any given level. As the base extends, so the apex necessarily rises. Compare to the corruption, "Konx Om Pax." Khabs is the star in Khu, or magical power.

(See also: KHABS AM PEKHT , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

The ten Sepheroth

(emanations)

• Kether. Crown - Top of Head
• Hochma. . wisdom -Right Brain
• Binah. . Understanding - Left of Brain
• Hesed. . March - Right Arm
• Pechad. . Strength- Left Arm
• Tefereth. . Beauty-Heart
• Nezah. . Victory-Right of Pelvis
• Hod. . Glory-Left of Pelvis
• Yesod. . Foundation-Genitals
•  

The sephiroth form the central image of Kabbalistic meditation, the Sephirothic Tree of Life, which describes the path of descent from the divine to the material realm, and the path of ascent to the highest level of spirituality.

Each sephirath is a level of attainment in knowledge, corresponding to energy centers in the body, and is also divided into four interlocking sections or 'Worlds', which constitute the cosmos:

• emanation (Atziluth),
• creation (Briah),
• formation (Yetzirah), and
• action or making (Assiyah).

Through contemplation and meditation, similar to Eastern yogic disciplines, the Kabbalist ascends the tree of life.

The sephirot also comprise the sacred, unknowable, and unspeakable personal name of God: YHVH (Yahweh), the Tetragrammaton. So sacred is the Tetragrammaton that other names, such as Elohim and Jehovah, are substituted in its place in scripture.

A more systematic presentation of the basic doctrine is contained in Moses Cordovero's Pardes rimmonim (Garden of Pomegranates, 1548). Kabbalah was a major influence in the development of Hasidism and still has adherents among Hasidic Jews.

The Kabbalah, with its amulets, incantations, demonology, seals, and letter and number mysticism, had a profound influence on Western magical tradition. The Tetragrammaton especially was held in great awe for its power over all things in the universe, including demons.

(See also: The ten Sepheroth , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Sama-veda:

Sama-veda (Saama-vedha). Collection of Vedic hymns appropriate for singing as liturgies.Sambara (Shambara). Leader of the demons who possessed great magical powers; killed by Dasaratha.

(See also: Sama-veda , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

BLACK MAGIC

Sorcery or Goetia. Eliphas Lévi said it was but the shadow of white magic and that, in greater wisdom, we can see that the light and the dark are the same thing. On the simplest level, White Magic is the work of the conscious mind, with Black Magic the work of the unconscious. Or, as Jung put it, white magic serves the self and black magic the ego. For Alice Bailey, on more complicated levels, white magic deals with the soul, the positive electrical energies, transmutation through radiation and the self-induced development of the Central Self. Black magic deals with the outer form, negative electrical energy, reduction of the human sphere.

But in popular belief black magic frankly isnt just simply intended to harm others more than that, its the worship and glorification of the negative. Said Crowley in a 1933 newspaper article quoted by Grant (The Magical Revival): "To practice black magic you have to violate every principle of science, decency and intelligence. You must be obsessed with an insane idea of the importance of the petty object or your wretched and selfish desires ... I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practise it."

Historians insist that the idea of black magic derives originally from a word in the Arabian version of magic, from a confusion of fehm, black, with fehm, understanding or wisdom. In general, the idea of black or forbidden magic simply arose as a designation for the unofficial or unorthodox. In our predominantly masculine culture, black magic is that which relates to the feminine principle.

HPB designates the symbols of black magic to be the Moon and the inverted pentagram as opposed to white magics sun symbol and point-uppermost star. Black magic, she tells us, is concerned with form and matter, whereas white magic seeks the life and spirit within the form. Black magic uses the astral light to deceive, to seduce and to serve the purposes of involution, whereas white magic uses the same light to instruct others and to aid evolution. For HPB, black magic, furthermore, sought to degrade sex, whereas white magic sought to transmute it to higher creative thought.

Remember that magic is a completely different path from religion or science. Its sometimes called the Middle Pillar. It matters little where you choose to begin. The vodounist, for instance, who thinks he'll just drop in for a lesson in where to stick the pins into the doll will soon discover that sorcery is clumsy and ineffective according to its distance from higher principles of responsibility and inter-relationship with all consciousness, both higher and lower. The person who is merely curious will soon discover that he has a genuine thirst for understanding and his curiosity will blossom into a consuming passion for enlightenment. Consider the life of Tibetan yogi Milarepa, who started out as an evil black magician only to become, eventually, a great saint!

Since the proper goal of magic is to deliver the world from its infernal condition, there is a tendency to view any magic but one's own as black or evil. However, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as black magic. All paths are sacred. The initiate does not distinguish between self and other. Rather than calling white the magic of charity and black the magic of self, we would do better to think of all magic as that which seeks wisdom and designate as leading to evil, sorcery, only that which acts in ignorance. By that definition, most contemporary religion is black magic.

The dark path, Vama Marg or left-hand path, is merely one side of the caduceus, in contrast to the other, and as light is brought into darkness, it ceases to be dark. The phrase, Lux in tenebris, can refer to the light being brought to the darkness, or to the darkness itself acting as light. Like the scientist, the true magician does not shrink from exploring all avenues of the manifest and the unmanifest. Some magicians say that we are actually unable to choose anything but white magic (or enlightenment), since in order for any magical operation to work, one has to refine one's understanding and purify one's vision. In practice, however, the followers of Satanism supposedly align themselves to the development of the individual ego for the sake of personal power. In order to strengthen the ego, detachment is learned through controversial rites. One of the preoccupations of magic is to enlist gods, spirits, elementals, etc. to do one's bidding and to release their power to the practitioner. But the black magician seeks unlimited power, not to borrow, but to appropriate for himself not in order to better the world or himself, but to satisfy his personal greed and to establish his ambitious tyranny. Moreover, real magicians know better than to wallow in close-minded ignorance and self-perpetuating superstition. They certainly arent going to go to all the trouble of throwing out Jesus just so that he can sneak in through the back door wearing the cloak of Satanism.

Serious magicians consider true Satanism (mere Devil Worship, that is) to be shallow and ultimately self-defeating. Power and freedom accrue in direct proportion to the shedding of the ego, not to its inflation. Initiates see Satanism as a pathetic rebellion that merely exalts the other side of the coin of Xtianity. In any case, Satanism is more in the nature of a religion than a magical system, since it is based upon belief and worship. Seeing that Xtianity tars all variance from itself with the same brush, it has become necessary to discourage the childish triflers by labeling dark that which is most holy.

Finally, for the last word on the subject, here is a graffito copied from a San Francisco sidewalk, circa 1987: White witchcraft which fools condemn. Turns to black and crushes them.

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

FORGOTTEN ONES

The Great Old Ones, the Maatians, of the Lovecraftian system, sleeping restlessly "outside" in the Ophidian current, Universe B, or the sunken city of R'lyeh. They await the unholy hour when they can seize rulership of the earth. The names of some of them are She, No, Nexhagus, Loroo, Nagrikshamish. There is also Hastur, "Him who is not to be named, who shall come again from the dark star which is near Aldebaran in the Hyades. " There is Shub-Niggarath, a "horrible travesty on a fertility god or goddess". And there is Yig, the terrible snake-god, Atlach-Nacha of the spider shape, Gnoph-Hek the hairy thing otherwise known as Rhan-Tegoth, Caugnar Faugn theVampire feeder, the Hell hounds of Tindalos which "prowl the angles of time" and the monstrous Yog-Sothoth, whose iridescent globes conceal the primal horror beneath.

Out of the fearsome abysses of the unconscious and its primitive pulsations rise these dark Gods. They are related to the elements and their media, "supramundane faculties", liberating them from the restrictions of time/space. Indeed, they existed before Space itself. They created the Chaos from which they created themselves, by their own bootstraps. Far, far from the Tree, they slumber amniotically in the watery abyss.

"The Ancient Ones who remained on earth were imprisoned forever, exiled from the star-kingdom of Betelgeuse, under the 5-pointed star (see ARRA) which was the seal of the Elder Gods, " says HPL. The "Elder Gods" are beneficent, unlike the Great Old Ones.

Insofar as it even knows of their existence, Xtianity must obviously consider the Forgotten Ones "Satanic". But we made the mistake of deliberately ignoring them, says Grant and others, which now allowed them to flourish quietly, unchecked until they are now vast and menacing to all of life. Worship by multitudes of "inferior stock and physiological mutation" has fortified them grotesquely. Any barricades betwen mankind and the "paralysing horror they represent" are imaginary or crumbling. The Forgotten Ones have cut gigantic archways through which the GOO and their extraterrestrial allies can march on their own or can be summoned. Continue to repress them, we may, but they will eventually burst free and take over our minds. They can shower us with magical powers, so tell us the black brothers, but the higher we reach for the light, the farther down into the darkness our foundations will sink.

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

STRENGTH

Tarot Trump number 8 (in Crowley's system, 11). This is probably the least understood of all the Atus. Our average mind, unable to appreciate the mystery of ordinary movement, conceives of M/magic(k) as the ability to move solid objects through the air without physical assistance. And yet we betray our own unconscious perception by the fact that we are invariably far less impressed at seeing a feather suspended in the air, than a piano. Is physical strength the equivalent of strength of will?

Strength, however, whether muscular or mental, is the foundation of true M/magic(k), for it is the magic of everyday life. When philosophy fails, when cleverness fails, when riches fail, when everything fails and one is stripped of all one's powers -- there yet remains the "coiled serpent" of being (Teth), source of all energy. The miracle of daily movement, work and pleasure is based upon our physical health and confidence. It is this connection to the "magic of everyday life," that drew Crowley to the decision to renumber "Strength" as 11, the well-known number of sorcery. Moreover, since he believed that the source of all strength lay in the sex drive, he renamed it Lust!

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

Naga (Sanskrit). Literally "Serpent". The name in the Indian Pantheon of the Serpent or Dragon Spirits, and of the inhabitants of Patala, hell. But as Patala means the antipodes, and was the name given to America by the ancients, who knew and visited that continent before Europe had ever heard of it, the term is probably akin to the Mexican Nagals the (now) sorcerers and medicine men.

The Nagas are the Burmese Nats, serpent-gods, or "dragon demons". In Esotericism, however, and as already stated, this is a nick-name for the "wise men" or adepts in China and Tibet, the "Dragons." are regarded as the titulary deities of the world, and of various spots on the earth, and the word is explained as meaning adepts, yogis, and narjols. The term has simply reference to their great knowledge and wisdom. This is also proven in the ancient Sutras and Buddha’s biographies.

The Naga is ever a wise man, endowed with extraordinary magic powers, in South and Central America as in India, in Chaldea as also in ancient Egypt. In China the "worship" of the Nagas was widespread, and it has become still more pronounced since Nagarjuna (the "great Naga", the "great adept" literally), the fourteenth Buddhist patriarch, visited China.

The "Nagas" are regarded by the Celestials as "the tutelary Spirits or gods of the five regions or the four points of the compass and the centre, as the guardians of the five lakes and four oceans" (Eitel). This, traced to its origin and translated esoterically, means that the five continents and their five root-races had always been under the guardianship of "terrestrial deities", i.e., Wise Adepts. The tradition that Nagas washed Gautama Buddha at his birth, protected him and guarded the relics of his body when dead, points again to the Nagas being only wise men, Arhats, and no monsters or Dragons. This is also corroborated by the innumerable stories of the conversion of Nagas to Buddhism.

The Naga of a lake in a forest near Rajagriha and many other "Dragons" were thus converted by Buddha to the good Law.

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

Prachetasas (Sanskrit). See Secret Doctrine, II., 176 et seq. Daksha is the son of the Prachetasas, the ten sons of Prachinavahis. Men endowed with magic powers in the Puranas who, while practising religious austerities, remained immersed at the bottom of the sea for 10,000 years.

The name also of Daksha, called Prachetasa.

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

Babel babah (Hebrew) The inner meaning of the Tower of Babel, by which it was hoped that divinity might be reached or attained, is a house of initiation, a gate, portal, opening, or entrance to the divine.

The physical tower was both the building set aside to house and protect the initiation chambers, together with the ceremonies that take place in them, and an architectural emblem to signify a raising up towards heaven.

The tower may have either a divine or evil significance, either haughty pride and self-sufficiency or spiritual aspiration. Similar is the lightning-struck tower of the Tarot cards, and the Arabian Nights story of the man who built a palace completely except only for a roc's egg to hang in the dome, and when the egg is thus hung, the whole palace collapses. The work of the black magician, building from below upwards, is impermanent and, when it strikes the sky, is blasted. If such a tower and system be followed by adepts of the left-hand path for ultimate and foredestined confusion, it is one thing; but if the tower and its inner mysteries be in the charge of adepts of the right-hand path, it is another. The concentration of the narrator in the Bible concerning the Tower of Babel seems to have been entirely upon its aspect of left-hand magic.

The later Atlanteans were noted for their magic powers, wickedness, and defiance of the gods, and this tradition is preserved in many legends, such as the Biblical Tower of Babel, which derived from still older Chaldean scriptures. The legendary stories of wicked antediluvian giants warring against heaven are common in every mythology. The defeat of the giants, in some at least of these legends, results in the confusion of tongues -- the break-up and dispersal of a great racial division of mankind.

(See also: Babel, babah , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Talisman

A talisman is a cut figure or engraving, such as on a coin, that has magical powers to avert evil or bring about good.

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

Cone of Power:

Term for the focusing of a group’s magical energies, visualized as a cone of psychic power based upon a ritual circle containing the participants (who are usually Neopagan or Feminist Witches). There is some confusion among various groups as to what exactly should be done with the energies at the moment of “firing.”

(See also: Cone of Power , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Talapoin (Siam.). A Buddhist monk and ascetic in Siam; some of these ascetics are credited with great magic powers.

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

Abracadabra: A traditional word of power, used by Western magicians from classical times to the present. Written in the falling way, it was used in talismans to cure fevers and asthma:

ABRACADABRA

ABRACADABR

ABRACADAB

ABRACADA

ABRACAD

ABRACA

ABRAC

ABRA

ABR

AB

A

In recent times, Abracadabra has mostly been used by stage magicians. English mage Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) altered the spelling to make it fit his new magical religion of Thelema, and in this new form the word has been much used in the Thelemite community; see Abrahadabra.

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

Color From darkness comes white light; from white light comes color. These correspond to the unmanifest Logos, the manifest Logos, and the seven rays, and this cosmogonical scheme is repeated throughout the universe.

White light is in the physical world resolvable into a spectrum or band of colors, and color is defined as a quality of visual perception depending on the wavelength of light. But according to theosophy we could see no color at all unless we had it in our mind from the first, and thus recognized the color outside because of its identity with what is within us.

Still less could we resolve the continuous band into seven colors, as even infants can do. The physical stimuli merely evokes what is already in us, the latter recognizing what is objective outside us, causing a phenomenon of cognition to pass along the plane of the physical senses. This becomes more evident when we remember that color sense is relative, depending largely on contrast. Colors are light or sight in its septenary aspect; and color, sight, and light are used almost interchangeably in speaking of the evolution of the senses and their corresponding planes of prakriti.

Colors and sounds have great potency in practical magic, as cosmic powers can be evoked by an understanding use of the proper colors and sounds. The seven colors correspond with other septenates, such as the notes of the musical octave, the sacred planets, and the seven primary elements. It is the universal septenate viewed from a visual aspect as manifested light.

Colors are one of the manifold manifestations of cosmic vitality, a septenary unity -- or a denary or duodenary unity, according to the manner of enumeration -- these cosmic forces are interchangeable, their incomprehensible aggregate being cosmic life; therefore, any form of this cosmic life has not only its particular keynote of sound, but likewise its particular keynote of color, etc.

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