Will The ensouling creative essence of abstract, eternal motion throughout the kosmos. As an eternal principle it is neither spirit nor substance but everlasting ideation. In its abstract sense, it is a hierarchy of intelligent forces emanating from the aggregate of the hosts of beings, visible and invisible, which are nature itself.

The so-called laws of nature are the action and interaction of the combined consciousnesses and wills which pervade the kosmos. The will pours forth in floods of light and life from the primal Logos. These floods, following the pathways of universal circulation, come to us from the central heart of the solar system -- insofar as our solar universe is concerned. They thus descend, plane by plane and cycle by cycle, into the depths of matter, from which finally they arise again towards their primal source.

 In this progressive descent and ascent, will is made to manifest in keeping with each plane or state of consciousness which it enters. There is, therefore, the one fundamental kosmic will-ideation, breaking into innumerable streams of willing entities during periods of manifestation, and thus it operates in myriad ways, in every round of the endless ladder of life.

Divine or universal thought and will come into manifestation through the collective hosts of spiritual beings, the dhyani-chohans, who are the vehicles through which the unmanifested appears. "They are the Intelligent Forces that give to and enact in Nature her 'laws,' while themselves acting according to laws imposed upon them in a similar manner by still higher Powers; but they are not 'the personifications' of the powers of Nature, as erroneously thought" (SD 1:38). The natural law which preserves the balanced motion of planetary rotation was explained by Herschel's saying "that there is a will needed to impart a circular motion and another will to restrain it" (SD 1:503).

In the composite human being -- the microcosm -- there are the divine, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, animal, astral, and even physical wills. The old maxim "behind will stands desire" accounts for the paradoxical influence of this colorless force which is used to energize both good and evil motives. Thus, as it operates through the intermediate human nature, the individual consciously and unconsciously gives it a right or wrong direction, according to his use of free will in choosing his course of conduct. The divine will is expressed in the sublime, impersonal desires of lofty celestial deities; while at the opposite pole, selfish, sensual, animal desires too often direct the action of the human will. The origin of good and evil lies respectively in the harmony and the conflict of wills in the kosmos.

The special physical organ of the human will is the pituitary gland. The brain and body show the different action of the conscious, positive, volitional will and of the negative, automatic, vegetative will. The latter energizes the mysteries of organic functions carried on by various conscious or semiconscious elemental entities who themselves act instinctively under the intelligent, harmonious laws of nature for the body's welfare.

Will power is a mighty, colorless force or energy which can be set in motion by one who has the power and knowledge to do so. In India, in combination with abstract desire, it is mentioned as one of six primary powers (ichchhasakti) by which the adept accomplishes many of his wonders. "The ancients held that any idea will manifest itself externally, if one's attention (and Will) is deeply concentrated upon it; similarly, an intense volition will be followed by the desired result . . . For creation is but the result of will acting on phenomenal matter, the calling forth out of the primordial divine Light and eternal Life "(SD 2:173). The occult power of will explains many scientific problems of animate and inanimate matter. In human beings, it may consciously and unconsciously act upon other human wills and upon that of beasts; likewise, it may act upon physical and astral substance to produce various phenomena such as levitation, fire-walking, birthmarks, etc. "Paracelsus teaches that 'determined will is the beginning of all magical operations. It is because men do not perfectly imagine and believe the result, that the (occult) arts are so uncertain, while they might be perfectly certain' " (TG 370).

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Midheaven: The Midheaven is the first point in the chart to be calculated. The Midheaven is the part of the zodiac that is the highest (most elevated) visible point in the sky at the time you are born. If you ask the question, “How long has it been since zero degrees of Aries was at the Midheaven?” the answer tells you what degree of the zodiac is there in terms of time. If the Sun is at zero degrees of Aries, the Sun will be at the Midheaven at noon. Noon in this case is based on Local Time. Standard and daylight time can affect the zero Aries Sun’s position, placing it to one side or the other of the Midheaven point.

The Midheaven reflects what you know – or can know – about yourself. It represents ego-consciousness. Infants have little or no boundary between Self and Other. As children grow and learn, they come to understand themselves as separate beings, and they learn to depend on their own intelligence, emotions and skills. In short they learn about themselves as they learn about the world. The Midheaven reflects this self awareness.

Psychologically healthy adults have a clear sense of Self, distinguished from Other. They know what their core motivations are, and they know what skills they have to achieve their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual goals. The sign the Midheaven occupies indicates the nature of self-understanding, and provides the springboard from which you can dive into the process of gaining ego consciousness – understanding of what moves you on a deep personal level.

The Midheaven offers a way to understand yourself better, and is key to developing a flexible ego. We all know people who seem brittle and inflexible. We sense that they might “break” if they are pushed too hard in certain areas. Flexibility means developing an ego structure that can withstand the onslaught of life experiences and adapt or adjust to them. Astrology points out one path toward the development of broad-based ego skills, and it describes both the limitations of your ego and the positive potential of self awareness.

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Jah-Veh YHVH (Hebrew) One transliteration of Jehovah, referring specifically to Genesis 4:26:

"then men began to call themselves Jehovah," i.e., they knew themselves to be then males and females.

(See also: Jah-Veh, YHVH , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

MEDITATION - n. or adj.

1. art and science of contemplation and concentration spanning Paleolithic hunting rituals. Neolithic mysteries and historic religious traditions East and West, especially Zen, Yoga, Sufism and Coptic, Carmelite, Trappist and Quaker Christianity.

2. contemplation reflection, intuition, doing nothing; in duration from a movement to a kalpa, through most frequently for periods of 10 minutes to several hours or days; performed anytime, anywhere or in any position or activity, through often setting on the Earth, floor, a chair, rock or pennacle standing straight or holding a posture, walling, dancing, jogging, making love; sometimes accompanied by chanting silently or aloud alone or with a group; focusing on the breath, the chakras, the mind, parts of the body, light, sound, God, a tutelary deity, symbols, archetypes, a candle or another internal, external or transcendental object.

3. practice leading to cosmic consciousness, enlightenment truth-consciousness-bless, developing body consciousness, rooting in the here and now perfecting harmony and balance with the Earth.

5. discipline of mind awareness and control of thoughts, emotions and states of consciousness.

6. return to the source or emptiness to erase delusions, refresh ourselves day to day and begin a new. (Michio Kushi).

7. exercise or practice of just being experiencing ourselves at whatever we are, without any extra thing added. (Gary Snyder)

8. going into the mind to see wisdom for yourself-over and over again until it becomes the mind you live in. (Gary Snyder)

9. space to work or fears, hopes, neurotic games, self-deception. (Trungpa)

10. self-analysis, self-cultivation, self-enlightenment.

11. thought-form building, bring down to the concrete levels of the mental plane abstract ideas and intuitions and shattering of forms, establishing of a direct channel between the nomad and the purified personality and between the seven centers in the human etheric vehicle; freedom to work on any path (Bailey)

12. the Tao of cats n. mediator, meditativeness, adj. meditative. v. meditate (from meditari, Latin). (NAD)

(See also: MEDITATION , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Daemon or Demon (from Greek daimon, Latin daemon)

A god, angel, or celestial power or spirit, of varying degrees of ethereality, and ranging from the supreme deity of the hierarchy, through the greater gods, down to mere genii and lemures. Originally the term applied to deity in general, but later it usually was referred to beings intermediate between the gods and mankind, representing the powers and functions of gods.

The Greeks and Romans sometimes used the term for the human divine egos. Philsophers such as Plato divided the daemons into three classes, "the first two are invisible; their bodies are pure ether and fire (Planetary Spirits); the Daimons of the third class are clothed with vapoury bodies; they are usually invisible, but sometimes, making themselves concrete, become visible for a few seconds. These are the earthly spirits, or our astral souls" (BCW 6:187).

The daemon of Socrates stood for his higher and spiritual self, and parallels in this sense the Christian idea of the Guardian Angel. Hesiod designated them as spirits of the golden age appointed to watch over and guard mankind. We often find two daemones accompanying the individual, one prompting to good, the other to evil; while again it may be the same genius, whose influence is defined as at one time good, at another evil.

As with so many cosmic powers and their symbols, these other gods have been relegated in Judaism and Christianity to the position of evil powers hostile to mankind, to be fled from instead of revered, or ruled as obedient helpers when inferior to the human status. The whole idea of the Adversary or Devil is enshrined in the word daemones. But fallen angels, represented as rebels against God, were merely performing their natural duty in evolution by forming the lower worlds.

As personification of evil, the word can only be truthfully applied to those beings that man himself, by his evil thoughts and passions, has generated to hover in the lowest strata of the astral light or haunt kama-loka. However, the ancient Greeks and Romans themselves drew a sharp distinction between the daemones of more ethereal type, truly spiritual beings, and the lower earth-haunting daemones who were distinctly denizens of the lower astral and physical realms, and which the ancients dreaded -- with reason -- far more than modern Christians have ever done.

See also AGATHODAEMON; KAKODAEMON

(See also: Daemon, Demon , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Third Round During the third cycling of the monadic hosts or life-waves around the globes of a planetary chain, the same general trend is pursued as in the second round, but with the added development of a third factor in the evolutionary pilgrimage. Globe D of the earth-chain had not yet attained its present coarse consistency, for the third element-principle (water) was in process of evolutionary development; thus the globe was characteristically of a watery nature.

At that period even the more evolved monads of the lunar chain, representing and leading the human kingdom, had but reached the state of "presentments of men," having huge ape-like forms; yet they were not apes in any sense of the word, for what we know now as monkeys and apes were of far later development as partial offsprings from the human stock, which took place during the present fourth round. These third round men were "no fit rupa for the Brothers of the Fifth" (SD 2:57) -- referring to the fifth class of monads or manasaputras.

At the end of the third round, there were forerunning monads who were already human in nature and characteristic, and who were leading the way towards the true humanity of the fourth round, and therefore were the guides of the less progressed human monads when it became the latter's turn to incarnate during the fourth round. These advance-guard monads are sometimes termed the Sons of Yoga. As intellectual and moral responsibility appears in the evolving human monads only when mind enters the picture -- which occurred for the majority of the human monads only during the third root-race of the fourth round -- during the third round few monads had reached the stage of true intellectual and moral responsibility; and during the second round even these forerunners were themselves unfolding the powers and responsibilities of mind and of choice.

During the third round: "He had now a perfectly concrete or compacted body; at first the form of a giant ape, and more intelligent (or rather cunning) than spiritual. For in the downward arc he has now reached the point where his primordial spirituality is eclipsed or over-shadowed by nascent mentality. In the last half of this third round his gigantic stature decreases, his body improves in texture . . . and he becomes a more rational being -- through still more an ape than a Deva man" (ML 87-8) -- that is, manas (mind) was not yet functioning. Thus while the third-round forerunners may be considered truly human, the great bulk of the human kingdom was still but in the elemental stages of intellectual and moral responsibility. Mind was only just beginning to show itself, and hence the humans were rather cunning than intellectual, instinctual rather than spiritual.

Another phase of evolution of the life-waves during the third round was the great outflow of differing animal forms which took place, due to the immense pressure of the inner urge of the various life-centers to express themselves in their respective phases of evolutionary unfolding. However, what we now call the mammalian stocks were a much later development, for these appeared during the fourth round; though there were forerunners even of the mammalia during the last part of the third round. Furthermore, all of these various stocks or groups of evolving beings originated in astral types thrown off by third round man. The present "amphibia, birds, reptiles, fishes, etc., are the resultants of the Third Round, astral fossil forms stored up in the auric envelope of the Earth and projected into physical objectivity subsequent to the deposition of the first Laurentian rocks" (SD 2:684) when this took place during the fourth round.

(See also: Third Round , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Seraphim (Hebrew) [from the verbal root saraph to burn]

Plural of saraph. Fiery, burning, venomous, poisonous. The word came to have the significance of serpents, referring to those beings described in Isaiah 6:2 as possessing six wings, guarding the divine throne, and endowed with a voice with which they praise the deity; "they are the symbols of Jehovah, and of all the other Demiurgi who produce out of themselves six sons or likenesses -- Seven with their Creator" (SD 2:387n). In later Jewish writings they are associated with the Cherubim and 'Ophannim (wheels) of Ezekiel.

They parallel the Hindu nagas -- semi-divine beings of serpent character. "The Seraphim are the fiery Serpents of Heaven which we find in a passage describing Mount Meru as: 'the exalted mass of glory, the venerable haunt of gods and heavenly choristers . . . . not to be reached by sinful men . . . . because guarded by Serpents.' They are called the Avengers, and the 'Winged Wheels' " (SD 1:126) -- avengers in the sense of being the agents of karma. They are the Flames, a class of dhyani-chohans who dried the "turbid dark waters" with which the earth was covered in an early stage of its development (SD 2:16).

In the Qabbalistic hierarchy of angels, the Seraphim correspond to the fifth Sephirah, Geburah. In the ancient Syrian system they are equivalent to the sphere of the nebulae and comets. The celestial hierarchy adopted by Dionysius the pseudo-Aeropagite ranks them first.

In the hierarchy of emanations proceeding from the cosmic monad, the Seraphim precede the cherubim in emanational order, because in the hierarchical scheme the Seraphim stand for the formative or creative fires, the spiritual archetypes, whereas the cherubim are the builders of forms and hence are of the rupa class themselves. Thus the Seraphim belong to the arupa class which works through and in the Cherubim or rupa class. Thus the Seraphim, whose color is the spiritual red or spiritual fire, precede both in time and in hierarchical dignity the Cherubim whose color is blue -- the idea being that before manifestation of both mind and of forms can take place there must be in the cosmic monad the awakening of divine desire, signified as fiery or flamy color, spiritual red. As the Veda has it: "desire first arose in It."

(See also: Seraphim , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism:

A general term for a variety of movements both organized and (usually) nonorganized, started since 1960 c.e. or so (though they had literary roots going back to the mid-1800’s), as attempts to recreate, revive or continue what their founders thought were the best aspects of the Paleopagan ways of their ancestors (or predecessors), blended with modern humanistic, pluralist and inclusionary ideals, while consciously striving to eliminate as much as possible of the traditional Western monotheism, dualism, and puritanism.

The core Neopagan beliefs include a multiplicity of deities of all genders, a perception of those deities as both immanent and transcendent, a commitment to environmental awareness, and a willingness to perform magical as well as spiritual rituals to help both ourselves and others.

Examples of Neopaganism would include the Church of All Worlds, most heterodox Wiccan traditions, Druidism as practiced by Ár nDraíocht Féin and the Henge of Keltria, some Norse Paganism, and some modern forms of Buddhism whose members refer to themselves as “Buddheo-Pagans.” Neopagan belief systems are not racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of Neopagans living and worshiping their deities today. As “Neo-Paganism,” this term was popularized in the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oberon Zell, a founder of the Church of All Worlds.

(See also: Neopaganism, Neo-Paganism , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism [from Hebrew tsaba host, army, celestial hosts]

A name given by the Shemitic peoples to those who worship the spiritual beings in the universe; and because the celestial bodies were the most evident manifestations of some classes of these spiritual beings, this religion naturally became confused with the worship of the celestial bodies themselves as the dwellings or mansions of the regents above, in, and behind the visible orbs. Hence the Sabeans were called astrolaters or star-worshipers; but it was not the physical bodies of the celestial orbs which were worshiped, but the spiritual entities, powers, or spirits which ensouled these orbs. This was one of the very archaic religions of the human race, found all over the globe in various forms; and in its origins Sabianism was undoubtedly an outpouring of occult teaching from the archaic Mysteries.

The word Sabean itself has come down to us mainly through Greek and Latin writers, but so thoroughly imbued were the ancient Hebrews with this idea of the celestial hosts or cosmic spirits that the Bible is full of references where the context even wrongly endows the celestial hosts with the properties of the Most High God, and it has been so understood by Christian theologians; forgetting, however, that manifested deities, however high, are but the manifestations of the infinite and ineffable Mystery or parabrahman, from which all the celestial hosts flow or emanate. Thus not only ancient and modern Judaism, but Christianity itself, is filled with the thought of the ancient Sabeans.

Sabeanism was unquestionably the main religious belief of the ancient Chaldeans and Assyrians, but likewise the very foundation stone of practically all the great religions of all the great peoples of the past. Upon the authority of the Jewish scholar Maimonides, scholars have considered the Sabeans as an ancient race whose principal religion was that of star-worship and closely affiliated with the Babylonians and Syrians. But the Sabeans were not a race, but those who followed and practiced the divine astrological astrolatry of the hoariest antiquity. Mohammed in the Koran mentions a sect between the Jews and Christians called Sabi una -- to whom certain privileges were granted; older Moslem theologians were agreed that the Sabeans possessed manuscripts which they regarded in the light of a revelation, and the Mandeans came under the same protection granted to the Sabeans; hence the Mandeans also came to be regarded as Sabeans. Another sect of polytheists, the Harranians (830 AD), also affiliated with the Sabeans and shielded themselves under the same privileges; they were a remnant of a Mesopotamian cult, and star-worship had a prominent place in their system.

Certain Arabian writers termed the Sabean language the science of astronomy, but what we now call astronomy was but a minor portion of ancient astrolatry; they also state that Seth or Set was the founder of Sabeanism, and that the pyramids were regarded as the place of sepulture of Seth or Agathodaimon. We see here confusion, reductions of general principles to details, and anthropomorphizations of cosmic principles. Hermes is in many senses the same as Seth, and the pyramids were consecrated to the regents of the stars, rather than to the orbs (SD 2:362).

(See also: Sabean, Sabaean, Sabian, Sabianism , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

A Theosophical definition of Planetary Spirit (Planetary Spirits) :

Planetary Spirit (Planetary Spirits)

Every celestial body in space, of whatever kind or type, is under the overseeing and directing influence of a hierarchy of spiritual and quasi-spiritual and astral beings, who in their aggregate are generalized under the name of celestial spirits. These celestial spirits exist therefore in various stages or degrees of evolution; but the term planetary spirits is usually restricted to the highest class of these beings when referring to a planet.

In every case, and whatever the celestial body may be, such a hierarchy of ethereal beings, when the most advanced in evolution of them are considered, in long past cycles of kosmic evolution had evolved through a stage of development corresponding to the humanity of earth. Every planetary spirit therefore, wherever existent, in those far past aeons of kosmic time was a man or a being equivalent to what we humans on earth call man.

The planetary spirits of earth, for instance, are intimately linked with the origin and destiny of our present humanity, for not only are they our predecessors along the evolutionary path, but certain classes of them are actually the spiritual guides and instructors of mankind. We humans, in far distant aeons of the future, on a planetary chain which will be the child or grandchild of the present earth-chain, will be the planetary spirits of that future planetary chain. It is obvious that as H. P. Blavatsky says: "Our Earth, being as yet only in its Fourth Round, is far too young to have produced high Planetary Spirits"; but when the seventh round of this earth planetary chain shall have reached its end, our present humanity will then have become dhyanchohans of various grades, planetary spirits of one group or class, with necessary evolutionary differences as among themselves.

The planetary spirits watch over, guide, and lead the hosts of evolving entities inferior to themselves during the various rounds of a planetary chain. Finally, every celestial globe, whether sun or planet or other celestial body, has as the summit or acme of its spiritual hierarchy a supreme celestial spirit who is the hierarch of its own hierarchy. It should not be forgotten that the humanity of today forms a component element or stage or degree in the hierarchy of this (our) planetary chain.

See also: Planetary Spirit (Planetary Spirits) , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

A Theosophical definition of Psychic Powers :

Psychic Powers

The lowest powers of the intermediate or soul-nature in the human being, and we are exercising and using them all the time  - yes, and we cannot even control them properly! Men's emotional thoughts are vagrant, wandering, uncertain, lacking precision, without positive direction, and feebly governed.

The average man cannot even keep his emotions and thoughts in the grip of his self-conscious will. His weakest passions lead him astray. It is this part of his nature whence flow his "psychic powers." It is man's work to transmute them and to turn them to employment which is good and useful and holy. Indeed, the average man cannot control the ordinary psycho-astral-physical powers that he commonly uses; and when, forsooth, people talk about cultivating occult powers, by which they mean merely psychic powers, it simply shows that through ignorance they know not to what they refer. Their minds are clouded as regards the actual facts.

Those who talk so glibly of cultivating occult powers are just the people who cannot be trusted as real guides, for before they themselves can crawl in these mysterious regions of life, they seem to desire to teach other people how to run and to leap. What most people really mean, apparently, when they speak of cultivating occult powers is "I want to get power over other people." Such individuals are totally unfit to wield occult powers of any kind, for the motive is in most cases purely selfish, and their minds are beclouded and darkened with ignorance.

The so-called psychic powers have the same relation to genuine spiritual powers that baby-talk has to the discourse of a wise philosopher. Before occult powers of any kind can be cultivated safely, man must learn the first lesson of the mystic knowledge, which is to control himself; and all powers that later he gains must be laid on the altar of impersonal service  - on the altar of service to mankind.

Psychic powers will come to men as a natural development of their inner faculties, as evolution performs its wonderful work in future ages. New senses, and new organs corresponding to these new senses, both interior and exterior, will come into active functioning in the distant future. But it is perilous both to sanity and to health to attempt to force the development of these prematurely, and unless the training and discipline be done under the watchful and compassionate eye of a genuine occult teacher who knows what he is about.

The world even today contains hundreds of thousands of "sensitives" who are the first feeble forerunners of what future evolution will make common in the human race; but these sensitives are usually in a very unfortunate and trying situation, for they themselves misunderstand what is in them, and they are misunderstood by their fellows. (See also Occultism)

See also: Psychic Powers , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

A Theosophical definition of Karanopadhi :

Karanopadhi

(Sanskrit) A compound meaning the "causal instrument" or "instrumental cause" in the long series of reimbodiments to which human and other reimbodying entities are subject.

Upadhi, the second element of this compound, is often translated as "vehicle"; but while this definition is accurate enough for popular purposes, it fails to set forth the essential meaning of the word which is rather "disguise," or certain natural properties or constitutional characteristics supposed to be the disguises or clothings or masks in and through which the spiritual monad of man works, bringing about the repetitive manifestations upon earth of certain functions and powers of this monad, and, indeed, upon the other globes of the planetary chain; and, furthermore, intimately connected with the peregrinations of the monad through the various spheres and realms of the solar kosmos.

In one sense of the word, therefore, karanopadhi is almost interchangeable with the thoughts set forth under the term maya, or the illusory disguises through which spirit works, or rather through which spiritual monadic entities work and manifest themselves.

Karanopadhi, as briefly explained under the term "causal body," is dual in meaning. The first and more easily understood meaning of this term shows that the cause bringing about reimbodiment is avidya, nescience rather than ignorance; because when a reimbodying entity through repeated reimbodiments in the spheres of matter has freed itself from the entangling chains of the latter, and has risen into self-conscious recognition of its own divine powers, it thereby shakes off the chains or disguises of maya and becomes what is called a jivanmukta. It is only imperfect souls, or rather monadic souls, speaking in a general way, which are obliged by nature's cyclic operations and laws to undergo the repetitive reimbodiments on earth and elsewhere in order that the lessons of self-conquest and mastery over all the planes of nature may be achieved. As the entity advances in wisdom and knowledge, and in the acquiring of self-conscious sympathy for all that is, in other words, as it grows more and more like unto its divine-spiritual counterpart, the less is it subject to avidya. It is, in a sense, the seeds of kama-manas left in the fabric or being of the reincarnating entity, which act as the karana or reproducing cause, or instrumental  cause, of such entity's reincarnations on earth.

The higher karanopadhi, however, although in operation similar to the lower karanopadhi, or karana-sarira just described, nevertheless belongs to the spiritual-intellectual part of man's constitution, and is the reproductive energy inherent in the spiritual monad bringing about its re-emergence after the solar pralaya into the new activities and new series of imbodiments which open with the dawn of the solar manvantara following upon the solar pralaya just ended. This latter karanopadhi or karana-sarira, therefore, is directly related to the element-principle in man's constitution called buddhi  - a veil, as it were, drawn over the face or around the being of the monadic essence, much as prakriti surrounds Purusha, or pradhana surrounds Brahman, or mulaprakriti surrounds and is the veil or disguise or sakti of parabrahman. Hence, in the case of man, this karanopadhi or causal disguise or vehicle corresponds in a general way to the buddhi-manas, or spiritual soul, in which the spiritual monad works and manifests itself.

It should be said in passing that the doctrine concerning the functions and operations of buddhi in the human constitution is extremely recondite, because in buddhi lie the causal impulses or urges bringing about the building of the constitution of man, and which, when the latter is completed, and when forming man as a septenary entity, express themselves as the various strata or qualities of the auric egg.

Finally, the karana-sarira, the karanopadhi or causal body, is the vehicular instrumental form or instrumental body-form, produced by the working of what is perhaps the most mysterious principle or element, mystically speaking, in the constitution not only of man, but of the universe  - the very mysterious spiritual bija.

The karanopadhi, the karana-sarira or causal body, is explained with minor differences of meaning in various works of Hindu philosophy; but all such works must be studied with the light thrown upon them by the great wisdom-teaching of the archaic ages, esoteric theosophy. The student otherwise runs every risk of being led astray.

I might add that the sushupti state or condition, which is that of deep dreamless sleep, involving entire insensibility of the human consciousness to all exterior impressions, is a phase of consciousness through which the adept must pass, although consciously pass in his case, before reaching the highest state of samadhi, which is the turiya state. According to the Vedanta philosophy, the turiya (meaning "fourth") is the fourth state of consciousness into which the full adept can self-consciously enter and wherein he becomes one with the kosmic Brahman. The Vedantists likewise speak of the anandamaya-kosa, which they describe as being the innermost disguise or frame or vehicle surrounding the atmic consciousness. Thus we see that the anandamaya-kosa and the karana-sarira, or karanopadhi, and the buddhi in conjunction with the manasic ego, are virtually identical.

The author has been at some pains to set forth and briefly to develop the various phases of occult and esoteric theosophical thought given in this article, because of the many and various misunderstandings and misconceptions concerning the nature, characteristics, and functions of the karana-sarira or causal body.

See also: Karanopadhi , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Chrestes, Chrestos, Chrestians chrestos (Greek) Applied by the Greeks as a title of respect equivalent to "the worthy." Chrestes meant an interpreter of oracles. In the language of the Mysteries, a chrestos was a candidate or neophyte, and a christos (anointed) was an initiate.

Christ is a mystical expression for the human inner god, while chrest is the good but as yet unregenerated nature; using here the language of the Mysteries, Christ may be likened to Dionysos, Osiris, or Krishna, who will deliver the suffering Chrest, mankind or Prometheus, in its trial. It is Christos that incarnates in Chrestos.

These usages were taken over by the Gnostic schools out of which Christianity largely sprang, and there is abundant evidence to be found among the early Christian writers and the Gnostics themselves that the adherents originally called themselves Chrestians.

(See also: Chrestes, Chrestos, Chrestians, chrestos , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Sons of Light Rays of the manifest or Third Logos, the noumena or spiritual originants of all phenomena more directly connected with the light side of nature, the almost innumerable hierarchies of light.

Issuing forth, they manifest themselves in respective hierarchies and in serial order on all the planes of cosmic matter, and are thus said allegorically to clothe themselves in the fabric of darkness. Darkness may signify the original Absolute Light which to all human cognizance seems darkness, or the various fields of cosmic substance or matter in which the luminous spiritual entities function and act, which by contrast with the light of the spiritual beings seems to be dark or obscure.

Astronomically sons of light may refer to the luminous celestial bodies -- nebulae, comets, suns, and even to the regents of planets -- the spiritual beings in and originally producing the various bodies in the universe.

(See also: Sons of Light , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Free Will The inherent power or capacity of choice, divine in its origin, which every being in the kosmos exercises in some degree as, consciously or unself-consciously, it evolves forth its essential self. Every thing and being has its own essential characteristic or svabhava and, the universal urge being towards self-expression and self-consciousness, of necessity each has its relative share of inherent free will with which to work out its destiny. Since evolution is a coming forth of the involved monadic essence, the unfolding of inner capacities and attributes, it cannot be produced, however stimulated, by something outside of itself. The one divine will is the force behind evolution on all planes of manifestation throughout the kosmos. Hence, each entity, as a unit of the divine All, has its portion of free choice and power to bring forth what is within itself.

Free will is manifesting, however feebly, in vegetative or automatic action in the whirling electrons of the atom; also in characteristic actions of matter, such as cohesion, polarity, and electricity; in the varied growths of vegetation; in the range of animal activities; in the evolving human being, and in the perfected humans called gods; and so forth up the scales of being. It acts in the urge which brings the monad to cast off its former garments in the minerals in order to assume new ones in the vegetable kingdom, from which again, after casting off these latter, it progresses to the animal kingdom; and from this again, the monad rejects beast forms and assumes the human shape where it gains in range and momentum because now acting self-consciously in greater or less degree.

The karma which brings to a person conditions which he does not choose or wish for in his present life, is yet consistent with his free will because he is the result of all his previous actions, now expressing themselves in results. These reactions of causes which he set in motion in this or in former lives, being the result which was inherent in his previous choices, is a self-imposed destiny; but it is not fatalism, because he is now free to decide again how he will meet the results of what he previously had chosen for himself. Karma is mathematically exact, both physically and metaphysically, but it is so constantly involved with new elements of choice and of proportion that its effects of necessity are measured on a sliding scale of being, so to say.

There is an automatic phase of free will in the purposeful instinct which marks the various activities of even minute and lowly forms of life. The unself-conscious beasts are protected, and therefore guided, by the wills of celestial beings who make the so-called laws of nature, yet even the beasts instinctively choose to run true to their own inner types or svabhava. They unconsciously will to be themselves and to copy no other. They have free will exactly in proportion to their consciousness, just as any person has it in the higher degrees of his intelligence and more active intuition.

Thus human beings have the power to work out their evolution, for the kingdom of heaven is taken by strength. The gods have gone ahead on the pathway towards omniscience -- so far as our universe is concerned -- by their own individual efforts consciously to act with an ever-enlarging measure of harmony with the one divine will. Thus the volume or power of free will is in strict proportion with the degree in which the entity has brought forth the central spark of divine willing fire which animates all that is. Nevertheless no single being or entity has completely unfettered and perfectly irresponsible free will, because of its relative imperfection and because of its inescapable subordination to greater wills, each such entity ever evolving from its stage of imperfection as it ascends along the scales of being: those on the higher rungs of the hierarchical ladder consciously willing in ever-enlarging degree to follow the greater divine will which holds all in its keeping.

(See also: Free Will , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Di-nur (Hebrew) In the Qabbalah, part of a famous phrase which fully written is Nehar di-nur (the river or stream which is light or fire).

"When the man comes near his time to go away from this world, . . . when the herald calls out (the decree), at once, a flame comes forth from the North side and goes in and ignites the river Dinur, (i.e., the river of fire, comp. Dan. vii, 10) and spreads itself out to four sides of the world and burns the souls of the guilty, and that flames goes forth and comes down on the world, etc."

"And the Neshamoth souls, when they ascend, cleanse themselves in that river D'e-noor (Di-nur)

and do not burn, they only cleanse themselves . . ." (Zohar i 218b; ii, 211b -- from Myer's Qabbala pp.405, 394)

(See also: Di-nur , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Missing Link On the theory that man has been produced by evolution from the anthropoid apes, a type which shall be intermediate between the anthropoid and man. A misleading term, implying that a chain of graduated types between animals and men has been completely established except for the lack of a single link or type which, when found, will make the chain complete.

The existence of such a nearly complete chain has always been largely suppositious. The Darwinian theory requires that man evolved by successive stages of continually greater refinement, from an unknown beast ancestor, then from a primitive savage and almost bestial type, up to the man of today. The numerous degrees of human refinement found living today or evidenced by their remains, do not represent a progressive, unbroken serial time scale of evolution, but merely a complicated assortment of types which in all times known to science appear to have existed contemporaneously with each other. Moreover the so-called primitive types are now recessive, and have been so for ages, being themselves to us the remote descendants of far earlier races, once civilized, but now represented merely by these degenerate remnants.

The existing anthropoid apes, however, are truly the closest of the animals or semi-animals to the human stock, actually having originated from a miscegenation by very early, quasi-mindless humans (actually undeveloped savages of those far distant times) with what then were fairly evolved simian types. Thus the present-day anthropoids are a somewhat, if slightly, advanced stock over their earlier forefathers who were the original anthropoids produced by the "sin" of unevolved and savage Atlantean tribes with simians. Precisely because the anthropoids have some human ancestry they will attract to incarnation in the future human egos as yet in a low state of unfolded spiritual and intellectual powers and capacities, and who will thus, as the cycles roll on, finally evolve into a low type of thinking and sensitive human being.

In theosophy evolution is unfolding or emanational development from within outwards of the incarnating monads; and the bodies in which these monads incarnate are the least important part of the matter. The bodies slowly follow, in improving sensitivity and relatively continuous perfection of the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord, the unfolding impulses from within, which thus guide these bodies to greater degrees of perfection. As the egos or monads unfold from themselves the latent powers of spirit and mind, as well as of the psychological nature, the bodies feel the inner and compelling urges and impulses, and very slowly through the ages conform to become vehicles fitted to express the inner fires.

(See also: Missing Link , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Spiritual Remedies

It is an unquestionable truth of life that the most precious possession that you have is your very own spiritual self. As we tend to move away from that intrinsic part of ourselves the body gets trapped by negative energies, which are the root cause of ailments. Spiritual therapies channelise your energies back on the right track, by venturing deep within yourself.

As God's children, all individuals have a part of divinity in themselves. By invoking the strength of that divinity through the control over ones thoughts, one can shape ones life very strongly. It is therefore important that one should attempt to root out all negative thoughts from the mind and concentrate on only the positive ones.

The negative thought patterns which cause ailments are anger, criticism, resentment and guilt. It is utterly impossible to maintain a healthy body under such distressed condition. For instance, criticism indulged in over long periods will often lead to disease as arthritis. Anger turns into things that boil and burn and in the long run infect the body and it also leads to heart ailments. Resentment eats into your system and ultimately leads to tumour and cancer. Guilt always seeks punishment and leads to all sorts of pain.

Next to hate, worry is just about the worst form of self-destructive mental activity. Hatred is the most severely damaging mental activity. It poisons the body and the mind and its effects are almost permanent. Similarly if you have no will to live, you are unlikely to have a long life. On the other hand, if you intend to live with a positive mind, you will definitely live a long and healthy life. Thus a person who exercises, meditates and thinks positively, is telling his body that he wants to stay healthy throughout his life.

Think of the experiences in life that you wish to be fulfilled. And you will find your thought patterns taking real shapes. This phenomenon is called metaphysical causation. This describes the power in the words and thoughts to create experiences. And explains the connection between thoughts and your physical self. Thus a stiff neck could easily be indicative of inflexibility in a person to listen to the other side of an argument.

So if need be, be willing to change your words and thoughts and watch your life change right before you. The way to control your life is to control your choice of words and thoughts. Since no one can delve into the depths of your, but you. Although easier said than done, this can be achieved better by practicing the arts of relaxation and concentration. For which one can in turn take the help of music and mantras.

(See also: Spiritual Remedies , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Avaivartyas (Sanskrit) (from a not + vi-vrit to turn around, revolve)

Those who will never return; in Mahayana Buddhism those who have passed beyond a certain grade of evolution, freeing them from the need of returning to reimbodiments in lower spheres. The kumaras, strictly speaking, are avaivartya entities because although they inflamed and awoke our latent intellectual faculties on earth during this round, they themselves did not imbody, for they have no need of this, having passed beyond any lessons that they could themselves learn from earth-life. Hence they are those "who will never return" as imbodying egos.

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Mazdean (Persian) [from Mazda bestower of intellect or knowledge]

Also Mazdeism. Applied to the ancient religion of the Iranians and to the scriptures of the Zoroastrians, who are represented today by the Parsis. The earliest followers of the Zoroastrianism, however, in their records called themselves Airyavo danghavo (Aryan races). Nowadays the Parsis call themselves Mazdiasnians, or Mazda-Yasna, which means worship of intellect, referring to all those who believe in the supremacy of light over darkness. From the time of the renovation of Zoroastrianism during the Sassanid period, this term has been used concurrently in the same sense as Zoroastrianism.

(See also: Mazdean , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

ECLECTIC WICCA: Although this isn't exactly an "official" tradition there are many Wiccans that call themselves Eclectic, in fact most solitary Wiccans consider themselves eclectic. What this means is that they have combined elements from several different traditions into one they feel comfortable with. Many of the newer traditions started out as Eclectic.

(See also: ECLECTIC WICCA , Pagan Organisations, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary, Wicca,)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary

Peratae (Latin) Peratai (Greek) One of the Gnostic bodies or associations, the Naaseni or Ophites, the "Serpent Gnostics," so called because of the mystical prominence of the serpent symbol in their rites and observances.

This Gnostic body is said by scholars to have been founded by Euphrates, who possessed wide astrological knowledge, and because of the teachings which his school followed were they named Peratai -- wanderers, i.e., on this earth of trial and tribulation; or "those of the other side," signifying individuals who regarded themselves as merely wanderers or pilgrims in regions far from their native home, the spirit.

Among other ideas, they held that the celestial bodies in a person's horoscope are the instruments of destiny or karma, which because of causes engendered in other lives bring the individuals to birth on this earth under the destined yoke marked in the celestial spaces by the sun, moon, and planets; and in order to protect themselves from the malignant influence of the genii of the planets they wore serpent sigils or talismans.

C. W. King states that the Ophites were the descendants of the Bacchic Mystae, basing this on the fact that coins of the period bear the Bacchic serpent, which is represented as raising himself out of the sacred coffer, while the reverse side of the coin shows two serpents entwined around torches (Gnostics and Their Remains 225).

(See also: Peratae, Peratai , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Elves Dictionary