Theosophia (Ancient Greek). Wisdom-religion, or "Divine Wisdom". The substratum and basis of all the world-religions and philosophies, taught and practised by a few elect ever since man became a thinking being. In its practical bearing, Theosophy is purely divine ethics; the definitions in dictionaries are pure nonsense, based on religious prejudice and ignorance of the true spirit of the early Rosicrucians and medieval philosophers who called themselves Theosophists.

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

Theophilanthropism (Ancient Greek). Love to God and man, or rather, in the philosophical sense, love of God through love of Humanity. Certain persons who during the first revolution in France sought to replace Christianity by pure philanthropy and reason, called themselves theophilanthropists.

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

Moon The earth's relatively little satellite is but a partial representative of the aggregate of occult influences or powers, of polar character, known among the ancients combinedly as Lunus-Luna, and its effect upon the earth includes much that is baneful as well as much that has been necessary in evolutionary development; but the moon is only a withered, decaying unit of a whole lunar planetary chain. The statement that sun and moon have existed through aeonic time periods, refers not to our decaying physical satellite which is but the dead body of now departed vital, spiritual, and intellectual essences, but to these essences themselves.

The moon that we see is the kama-rupa of one of the lunar chain's seven or twelve globes, each one having its own kama-rupa, since the entire chain of globes is dead. The material of our kama-rupic moon, however, is on the same prakritic plane as that on which our senses operate, so that it is visible and appears to be the original physical body of the moon. Besides transmitting to us certain influences from the sun, the moon also absorbs from and sends back influences to the earth. Hence its effects upon gestation, physiological and mental cycles, the growth of vegetation, the periodic habits of many animals, and various other natural phenomena.

In theogonies, the moon is associated with the manifestation of the so-called feminine principle in universal nature on our cosmic plane, with especial relation to our earth; hence the moon is a minor form of the Great Mother, known by many names in various theogonies, and when applied to the moon in Mediterranean thought often called by the names Diana, Juna, Isis, and the like. Moon is spoken of as a triple deity, Diana-Hecate-Luna -- Luna in occult corporeal influences as a dead planet, Diana in connection with its solar relations, and as Hecate manifesting occult lunar influences in the Underworld -- these again often named Diva triformis, tergemina, triceps. Some cultures, such as the Hindu and Scandinavian, portray the lunar deity as masculine. All lunar deities have a twofold aspect, supernal and infernal, spiritual and material; and the astronomical moon has its light and dark phases, while the lunar crescent has its horns, which may point up or down, making the symbols of the dragon's head and tail, which stand for the north and south nodes of the lunar orbit.

The moon is the giver of one form of life, as well as of lower forms of mind, to our earth and its inhabitants; while the sun is the giver of life in general to the planetary system, as well as of the higher forms or aspects of mind. Remembering the extremely occult character of both moon and sun, when they are spoken of as givers this in no sense implies that they give to those who have it not, but rather give in the sense of being transmitters, nurses of, and producers of what already exists in those to whom the gifts are thus given. Thus a father or mother may be said to be the giver of life to the children, although the children themselves are in and from themselves a vital fountain: giving here means transmitting, fostering, producing, but not creating and donating.

The sun, moon, and cross in some ancient mystical thought form a symbolic triad, closely connected with the other triads of spirit, soul, and body or of Father-Mother-Son. Lunar worship is often compared unfavorably with solar worship as referring to the material side of nature. Jehovah, for instance, is disparagingly spoken of as a lunar god. Terms such as lunar magic or the lunar path refer to other extremely important natural facts, connected with the moon in its lower occult aspect as the orb of night, of death as well as of lunar life, etc.; further, these terms are always mentioned in connection with psychic rather than spiritual powers.

See also LUNAR CHAIN

(See also: Moon , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Uller (Scandianvian Norse). The god of archery, who "journeys over the silvery ice-ways on skates". He is the patron of the chase during that period when the Sun passes over the constellation of Sagittarius; and lives in the " Home of the Light-Elves" which is in the Sun and outside of Asgard.

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

Ivaldi, Ivalde (Icelandic, Scandinavian) (from i in, into + valdi power, wielder)

Wielder of power, or entering into power; in the Norse Edda, a dwarf (a not-yet-human consciousness) and also a giant, meaning a period of material life.

Ivaldi seemingly represents the previous lifetime of our planetary consciousness which was imbodied in the moon when it was living before the earth was formed. His is the home of the dark elves, said to be situated beneath Midgard (the earth). His children are Nanna (the lunar soul), and Idun (the terrestrial soul), while Hjuke and Bil are the children whose shadows are seen on the face of the full moon and who live on in the nursery rhyme of Jack and Jill. Additional descendants of Ivaldi are the dwarfs Brock and Sindri, representing respectively the mineral and vegetable kingdoms now on earth.

(See also: Ivaldi, Ivalde , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Bona-Oma, or Bona Dea. A Roman goddess, the patroness of female Initiates and Occultists. Called also Fauna after her father Faunus. She was worshipped as a prophetic and chaste divinity, and her cult was confined solely to women, men not being allowed to even pronounce her name.

She revealed her oracles only to women, and the ceremonies of her Sanctuary (a grotto in the Aventine) were conducted by the Vestals, every 1st of May. Her aversion to men was so great that no male person was permitted to approach the house of the consuls where her festival was sometimes held, and even the portraits and the busts of men were carried out for the time from the building.

Clodius, who once profaned such a sacred festival by entering the house of Caesar where it was held, in a female disguise, brought grief upon himself. Flowers and foliage decorated her temple and women made libations from a vessel (mellarium) full of milk. It is not true that the mellarium contained wine, as asserted by some writers, who being men thus tried to revenge themselves.

(See also: Bona-Oma, Bona Dea , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Ases (Scandianvian Norse). The creators of the Dwarfs and Elves, the Elementals below men, in the Norse lays. They are the progeny of Odin; the same as the Esir.

(See also: Ases , 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,)

Thothori Nyan Tsan (Tibet, Tibetan) A King of Tibet in the fourth century. It is narrated that during his reign he was visited by five mysterious strangers, who revealed to him how he might use for his country’s welfare four precious things which had fallen down from heaven, in 331 A.D., in a golden casket and "the use of which no one knew".

These were

(1) hands folded as the Buddhist ascetics fold them;

(2) a be-jewelled Shorten (a Stupa built over a receptacle for relics);

(3) a gem inscribed with the " Aum mani padme hum" ; and ( the Zamotog, a religious work on ethics, a part of the Kanjur.

A voice from heaven then told the King that after a certain number of generations everyone would learn how precious these four things were. The number of generations stated carried the world to the seventh century, when Buddhism became the accepted religion of Tibet. Making an allowance for legendary licence, the four things fallen from heaven, the voice, and the five mysterious strangers, may be easily seen to have been historical facts. They were without any doubt five Arhats or Bhikshus from India, on their proselytising tour. Many were the Indian. sages who, persecuted in India for their new faith, betook themselves to Tibet and China.

(See also: Thothori Nyan Tsan , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Materializations. In Spiritualism the word signifies the objective appearance of the so-called "Spirits" of the dead, who reclothe themselves occasionally in matter; i.e., they form for themselves out of the materials at hand, which are found in the atmosphere and the emanations of those present, a temporary body hearing the human likeness of the defunct as he appeared, when alive. Theosophists accept the phenomenon of "materialization"; but they reject the theory that it is produced by " Spirits", i.e., the immortal principles of the disembodied persons. Theosophists hold that when the phenomenon is genuine - and it is a fact of rarer occurrence than is generally believed - it is produced by the larve, the eidola or Kamalokic "ghosts" of dead personalities. (See "Kamadhatu", "Kamaloka" and "Kamarupa".)

As Kamaloka is on the earth plane and differs from its degree of materiality only in the degree of its plane of consciousness, for which reason it is concealed from our normal sight, the occasional apparition of such shells is as natural as that of electric balls and other atmospheric phenomena. Electricity as a fluid, or atomic matter (for Theosophists hold with Maxwell that it is atomic), though invisible, is ever present in the air, and manifests under various shapes, but only when certain conditions are there to "materialize" the fluid, when it passes from its own on to our plane and makes itself objective. Similarly with the eidola of the dead. They are present, around us, but being on another plane do not see us any more than we see them.

But whenever the strong desires of living men and the conditions furnished by the abnormal constitutions of mediums are combined together, these eidola are drawn - nay, pulled down from their plane on to ours and made objective. This is Necromancy ; it does no good to the dead, and great harm to the living, in addition to the fact that it interferes with a law of nature. The occasional materialization of the "astral bodies" or doubles of living persons is quite another matter.

These "astrals" are often mistaken for the apparitions of the dead, since, chameleon-like, our own "Elementaries", along with those of the disembodied and cosmic Elementals, will often assume the appearance of those images which are strongest in our thoughts. In short, at the so-called "materialization" seances it is those present and the medium, who create the peculiar likeness of the apparitions. Independent "apparitions" belong to another kind of psychic phenomena. Materializations are also called "form-manifestations" and "portrait statues". To call them materialized spirits is inadmissible, for they are not spirits but animated portrait-statues, indeed.

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

Ethrobacy (Ancient Greek). Lit., walking on, or being lifted into the air with no visible agent at work; "levitation". It may be conscious or unconscious; in the one case it is magic, in the other either disease or a power which requires a few words of elucidation.

We know that the earth is a magnetic body; in fact, as some scientists have found, and as Paracelsus affirmed some 300 years ago, it is one vast magnet. It is charged with one form of electricity - let us call it positive - which it evolves continuously by spontaneous action, in its interior or centre of motion. Human bodies, in common with all other forms of matter, are charged with the opposite form of electricity, the negative.

That is to say, organic or inorganic bodies, if left to themselves will constantly and involuntarily charge themselves with and evolve the form of electricity opposite to that of the earth itself. Now, what is weight? Simply the attraction of the earth. "Without the attraction of the earth you would have no weight", says Professor Stewart; "and if you had an earth twice as heavy as this, you would have double the attraction".

How then, can we get rid of this attraction? According to the electrical law above stated, there is an attraction between our planet and the organisms upon it, which keeps them upon the surface of the globe. But the law of gravitation has been counteracted in many instances, by levitation of persons and inanimate objects. How account for this?

 The condition of our physical systems, say theurgic philosophers, is largely dependent upon the action of our will. If well- regulated, it can produce "miracles"; among others a change of this electrical polarity from negative to positive; the man’s relations with the earth-magnet would then become repellent, and "gravity"for him would have ceased to exist. It would then be as natural for him to rush into the air until the repellent force had exhausted itself, as, before, it had been for him to remain upon the ground.

The altitude of his levitation would be measured by his ability, greater or less, to charge his body with positive electricity. This control over the physical forces once obtained, alteration of his levity or gravity would be as easy as breathing. (See Isis Unveiled, Vol. I., page xxiii.)

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

GNOMES

As of this writing I have not yet begun preparation for the other initiations, so I know only the earth intelligences: the gnomes, those peculiar dwarfs, known to Paracelsus, who dwell in the earth and are the guardians of its treasures. They have rather a "Gypsy" nature and gather festively at times in lovely hidden valleys covered with wildflowers and secret, sunlit meadows midway between the dreaming planes and the Malkuthian sphere, which is the Enigma of "The World." Children often dream of the "good people" or seem to remember them from the dim, nostalgic past of their infancy. Their friendship guarantess you will never want and with the gnomes in attendance, physical objects no longer break down when you use them or get in the way when you no longer need them. If you want the gnomes to protect you, they will provide a very strong physical defense system -- good locks and keys, thick walls, secrecy, etc. Confrontation and violence, however, are not their fortes.

Forunately, the gnomes are easily accessible, as they spring up continually from the earth around us. They are as eager to "use" us as we are to "use" them. The reason is that somehow the gnomes complement us and we help one another reciprocally by earthing and releasing opposing 'volutions (our e-volution, their in-volution) -- or rather, our entropy is grounded in the elementals while negentropy from them is anodically charged in spirit for us. The result in us is matter released in the form of creation, accumulation of wealth, whereas from us they learn how to collect energy into stasis or density.

In simpler terms, they are engaged in a downward spiral of involution toward ultimate crystallization. We, on the other hand, are engaged in the upward, evolutionary struggle towards total liberation of the spirit from its prison of flesh. Both we and the earth elementals occupy contrasting realms of reality normally inaccessible to one another. So the gnomes seek to unload on us the burden of their physical powers and material riches, as we seek to transcend the appetites of the flesh. In the mysterious exchange between our different levels of being the gnomes acquire from us the concretizations they need in order to shed abstraction and draw more deeply inward to their infinitely dense centers. We, on the other hand, discover a new respect within ourselves for the physical universe and a subtler understanding of how it operates. This enables us to work creatively with forms until we can free ourselves and break out of matter altogether. By learning how to stand on the earth firmly, trusting and depending upon its support, we can make successful launchings into "outer space".

The simplest rituals will attract earth elementals. They appreciate kindness and will meet generosity with redoubled generosity of their own. But you must avoid coarseness, grouchiness or impatience of any kind. Gnomes dislike these traits intensely. And any hint of laziness or greed acts as a repellant and the complementing is aborted.

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

TARO (TAROT)

(See AZOTH.) The Great Wheel or "Book of Thoth." The letters form a magic square, thus:

ORAT

ROTA

ATOR

TARO

Which possibly means, "Ator (darkness) speaks through the wheel of Tartarus." (See TARTARY.)

In the psychedelic days of 1970, the more daring experimenters used to remove The Tower, the Nine and Ten of Swords, the Reaper and other disagreeable cards from the deck. Then they would pass out (not necessarily at random) the remainder, one by one, to those whom they met during the course of a few days. Whichever card you received was yours to keep because it was your fortune. Any left-over cards at the end of the "experiment" were the Reader's fortune.

Since we keep forgetting even the very survival lessons and pragmatics we've learned through bitter misfortune and ordeal, once we memorize the arcana, its 22 terse encapsulizations of perennial wisdom will serve as permanent and ready memory-joggers for all occasions thereafter.

Madame Blavatsky points out that anyone can visit the British Museum and read the signs of the tarot easily enough in the ancient Babylonian Cylinders, the Chaldean antediluvian rhombs, referred to by De Mirville as the "rotating globes of Hecate." The cards that fortune-tellers shuffle today are far, far removed from their origins and most of the meanings ascribed to them are but modern fairy tales...

Meanwhile, we are beset by a maze of false trails. According to Idries Shah, the 14th Century Italian word, Tarocchi, derives from Arabic turuq, i.e., the (4) "PATHS" (corresponding to the 4 suits) and the Tarot is therefore of Sufic rather than Judaic origins. The Judaic elements are therefore, according to him, superimposed Since, however, in known history, both the Qabalah and the Tarot arose simultaneously within the Italian-Jewish community in the 13-14th Century, its Jewish significance cannot be discounted. The Hebrew connection is clear from the number of the trumps alone (22), which is the number of letters in the alphabet -- each of which, in Qabalah, is a facet of Briah, or "Creation." Moreover, the most distinguished scholars insist it is far older than two millennia, hence the supposition of its Egyptian origin as The Book of Thoth, which we can also support by various etymological clues.

In any case, although Orthodox Jews tend to downplay any connection, the trumps are now fairly well associated with the 22 pathways between the sephiroth of the Qabalah as the Ze'ir Anpin (lit. "microcosm"), i.e., the letters of the alphabet, with Malkuth, form the "language" of Qabalah. As time has passed, the Tarot has become more and more mystical. In the Middle Ages, the suits merely stood for the Military (Swords), the Clergy (Cups), the Intellectuals (Wands) and the Merchants (Coins).

There are, in all, 32 paths, just as the brain, divided into three parts, spreads through the body in 32 pairs of nerves. The sephiroth themselves comprise the first ten "paths" and the remaining 22 are the links of the Atus (major trumps) themselves, the Fool being pathway 11, the Magician pathway 12, The High Priestess pathway 13, etc. The paths, as we've seen, are the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, which are the building blocks of Creation.

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

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)

Vayu (Sanskrit) Air; one of the five cosmic elements. Personified, the god and sovereign of the air and the king of the gandharvas. Agni, Vayu, and Surya formed the primeval Vedic Trimurti: " 'Agni (fire) whose place is on earth; Vayu (air, or one of the forms of Indra), whose place is in the air; and Surya (the sun) whose place is in the air' [celestial spaces]. (Nirukta.)

In esoteric interpretation, these three cosmic principles, correspond with the three human principles, Kama, Kama-Manas and Manas, the sun of the intellect" (TG 361). These three deities in this connection are three manifestations of cosmic fohat, guided and directed by cosmic mahat.

In later mythology Vayu is the father of Hanuman, the monkey-king who aids Rama in the Ramayana. The allegory of Hanuman becoming the son of Vayu by Anjuna (an ape-like monster) refers to the first glimmering of mind coming into the highest apes through the miscegenation of unevolved late third root-race and early fourth root-race humans with certain simians, themselves the descendants of a previous and parallel origin during an earlier time of the third root-race.

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

Saturn The sixth planet from the sun in our solar system, the last of the seven sacred planets of the ancients. In theosophy the regent or rector of Saturn exercises its own characteristic influence especially on our earth, globe D, and closely combines in this respect with the influence emanating from the moon; its influences was likewise especially felt over the fourth root-race. In astrology, its zodiacal houses are Aquarius and Capricorn; its day of the week is Saturday.

Family-races also are born under the especial influence or partial regency of Saturn -- as for instance the Jews; but though Saturn in astrology is called the great malefic this is a one-sided view; and indeed astrologers themselves realize that there are influences which Saturn showers from itself, as does every planet, which are of distinctly spiritual and beneficent character.

With the Jews, the tribal deity Jehovah represents the racial divinity or Saturn, and hence it is that the Jews considered Jehovah as their own god, for he is in fact the dominating planetary influence on their race. The mystical type-figure for Saturn in the lands of the Near East was the ass, that patient, faithful animal, as greatly beloved as a companion of man in the Near East even today as the dog is in many parts of the West. One is reminded of the conqueror of Jerusalem who, entering the Holy of Holies in the temple of Jerusalem, stated that all he saw was a golden ass -- nor was there either irony or sarcasm intended, for the ancients recognized all these matters as being allegorical and mystical. One is likewise reminded of the statement made in the New Testament that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass and the foal of an ass.

The planet Saturn in one sense is spiritually farther advanced than is the earth, although in quite different sense it is younger in its present embodiment.

Saturnus [possibly from Latin sero to sow] was one of the oldest Italic deities -- among other things patron of agriculture -- who became assimilated with the Greek Chronos or Kronos. Like Kronos he dethrones his father Uranus and is himself dethroned by Jupiter (Zeus); his mutilation of his father indicates that eternal time becomes limited; his devouring of his children is symbolic of time which both gives birth to events and then destroys them. He presides over the Golden Age of innocent but unprogressive peace, when men are unable to rule themselves and are ruled by genii; his kingdom was Lemuria. The Latins represented him as having, after his dethronement by Jupiter, become king of Italy, which was therefore called Saturnia, and presiding over the Golden Age; and Vergil voices the prophecy that such a Saturnian Age shall one day return.

The same idea underlies the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbath, a period of rest), the Lord's day, and Jehovah in one of its meanings is Saturn, the genius of the Hebrew nation. It was from Saturn that came the teachings revealed to Qutamy in Nabathean Agriculture. Among the many equivalents of Saturn are Chium, Seth, Cain, Ildabaoth among the Egyptian Gnostics, Agruerus, Sydyk (Melchisedec), and Satan -- the girdle about the loins of Satan is the rings of the planet Saturn. In the Biblical list of Gnostic emanations, Saturn corresponds to Thrones.

(See also: Saturn , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

IMPRINT VULNERABILITY (or IV)

This is the state of the mind induced by shock, fear, psychedelic drugs, sensory deprivation, etc. R. A. Wilson's term: "To change ourselves we need to learn how to recreate imprint vulnerability." This enables us to create new reality tunnels for ourselves (the right sort of ritual can also do this). IVs should be introduced by a qualified shaman into the body, mind and emotional "bloodstream."

(See also: IMPRINT VULNERABILITY, IV , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

MARTYA YOGA

Not to be confused with Abhava, a yoga in which the yogin envisions himself as "non-existence". Martya yoga is a means of inducing self-inflicted death by awakening the "sleeping coiled serpent" in each of us. It is self-taught, but inadvisable to call it forth unless one is prepared to follow through to the end. Once seriously begun, the process cannot easily be reversed (suicice is more easily induced, it is said, by a secret acupuncture point).

So long as we continue to let go of the lower rung in oder to reach for the higher, we can ascend the ladder of evolution. As we give way to fatigue we settle for mere repetition and holding fast. Similarly, the Yoga of Death teaches us to pass through the gates between worlds with courage. Life and Death are but ways of matter which Spirit sometimes uses. In life also we are capable of moving between dimensions, from one world to the next. And if we know how to travel indefinitely from dimension to dimension, it follows that we can ultimately alter exterior Reality by both natural magick and objective magic. Self and World are connected. This does not mean, however, that we have the right to consign whomever we choose of our fellow souls to some unfortunate dimension, without understanding what we are doing. To attempt to remove evil from one sphere is simply to send it to another, perhaps even less appropriate place. Nor may we ourselves blithely move from one dimension to the next, whenever the problems of the world begin to weigh a bit heavily on us. That would be to leave an endless trail of unfinished business and irresponsibility behind ourselves like muddy footprints. The best life, therefore, is the life of sacrifice in the here and now - not sacrifice through dying, but through living.

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Twin-Souls To quote Blavatsky: "The star under which a human Entity is born . . . will remain for ever its star, throughout the whole cycle of its incarnations in one Manvantara. But this is not his astrological star. The latter is concerned and connected with the personality, the former with the individuality. The 'Angel' of that Star, or the Dhyani-Buddha will be either the guiding or simply the presiding 'Angel,' so to say, in every new rebirth of the monad, which is part of his own essence, through [though]

his vehicle, man, may remain for ever ignorant of this fact. The adepts have each their Dhyani-Buddha, their elder 'twin Soul,' and they know it, calling it 'Father-Soul,' and 'Father-Fire' " (SD 1:572-3).

Thus when Jesus speaks of my Father and your Father, he means the cosmic paramatman or universal spirit presiding over our universe, of which every monad in the present solar manvantara -- except those peregrinating through our solar system as visitors -- is an offspring or spark; furthermore, every class of adepts has its own bond of spiritual communion which knits them together, because of identity of origin in a dhyani-buddha of our universe; and thus it is that every buddha, indeed every great adept, meets at his last initiation all the great adepts who had reached buddhahood during the preceding ages. "Such communion is only possible between persons whose souls derive their life and sustenance from the same divine ray" (Subba Row in SD 1:574). The awareness of such a community of origin pertains to planes of being far above the personal self, and it has nothing to do with so transitory a phase of human evolution as sex.

However, certain human beings, because of a common monadic origin in an identic spiritual source, are by that fact of the same spiritual family, and in consequence have bonds among themselves of intensive sympathy, and sympathetic intellectual understanding and processes of mentation, which cause them to feel more at-one with each other than with human beings similarly united but not derivative from the same spiritual ray. Yet all these different cosmic dhyani-buddhas or spiritual rays themselves converge or coalesce on a still loftier plane into another kosmic entity still more sublime than the former ones; and this again is but one of many others who on a divine plane still loftier than the last, find their common point of origin in a kosmic individuality still grander.

(See also: Twin-Souls , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Sanghai Dag-po (Tibet, Tibetan). The "concealed Lord"; a title of those who have merged into, and identified themselves with, the Absolute. Used of the " Nirvanees" and the "Jivanmuktas

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Chréstos (Ancient Greek) The early Gnostic form of Christ. It was used in the fifth century B.C. by Eschylus, Herodotus, and others. The Manteumata pythochresta, or the "oracles delivered by a Pythian god" "through a pythoness, are mentioned by the former (Choeph.901). Chréstian is not only "the seat of an oracle", but an offering to, or for, the oracle.

Chréstés is one who explains oracles, "a prophet and soothsayer", and Chrésterios one who serves an oracle or a god. The earliest Christian writer, Justin Martyr, in his first Apology calls his co-religionists Chréstians. It is only through ignorance that men call themselves Christians instead of Chréstians," says Lactantius (lib. iv., cap. vii.). The terms Christ and Christians, spelt originally Chrést and Chréstians, were borrowed from the Temple vocabulary of the Pagans. Chréstos meant in that vocabulary a disciple on probation, a candidate for hierophantship.

When he had attained to this through initiation, long trials, and suffering, and had been ‘‘anointed’’ (i.e., "rubbed with oil", as were Initiates and even idols of the gods, as the last touch of ritualistic observance), his name was changed into Christos, the "purified", in esoteric or mystery language. In mystic symbology, indeed, Christés, or Christos, meant that the "Way", the Path, was already trodden and the goal reached ; when the fruits of the arduous labour, uniting the personality of evanescent clay with the indestructible INDIVIDUALITY, transformed it thereby into the immortal EGO.

"At the end of the Way stands the Chréstes", the Purifier, and the union once accomplished, the Chrestos, the "man of sorrow", became Christos himself. Paul, the Initiate, knew this, and meant this precisely, when he is made to say, in bad translation: ‘‘I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv.19), the true rendering of which is . . . ‘‘until ye form the Christos within yourselves" But the profane who knew only that Chréstés was in some way connected with priest and prophet, and knew nothing about the hidden meaning of Christos, insisted, as did Lactantius and Justin Martyr, on being called Chréstians instead of Christians. Every good individual, therefore, may find Christ in his "inner man" as Paul expresses it (Ephes. iii. 16,17), whether he be Jew, Mussulman, Hindu, or Christian.

Kenneth Mackenzie seemed to think that the word Chréstos was a synonym of Soter, "an appellation assigned to deities, great kings and heroes," indicating ‘‘Saviour,’’ - and he was right. For, as he adds:"It has been applied redundantly to Jesus Christ, whose name Jesus or Joshua bears the same interpretation. The name Jesus, in fact, is rather a title of honour than a name - the true name of the Soter of Christianity being Emmanuel, or God with us (Matt.i, 23.).Great divinities among all nations, who are represented as expiatory or self-sacrificing, have been designated by the same title.’’ (R. M. Cyclop.) The Asklepios (or Esculapius) of the Greeks had the title of Soter.

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A Theosophical definition of Sthula-Sarira :

Sthula-Sarira

(Sanskrit) Sthula means "coarse," "gross," not refined, heavy, bulky, fat in the sense of bigness, therefore, conditioned and differentiated matter; sarira, "form," generally speaking. The lowest substance-principle of which man is composed, usually classified as the seventh in order  - the physical body.

The sthula-sarira or physical hierarchy of the human body is builded up of cosmic elements, themselves formed of living atomic entities which, although subject individually to bewilderingly rapid changes and reimbodiments, nevertheless are incomparably more enduring in themselves as expressions of the monadic rays than is the transitory physical body which they temporarily compose.

The physical body is composed mostly of porosity, if the expression be pardoned; the most unreal thing we know, full of holes, foamy as it were. At death the physical body follows the course of natural decay, and its various hosts of life-atoms proceed individually and collectively whither their natural attractions call them.

Strictly speaking, the physical body is not a principle at all; it is merely a house, man's carrier in another sense, and no more is an essential part of him  - except that he has excreted it, thrown it out from himself  - than are the clothes in which his body is garmented. Man really is a complete human being without the sthula-sarira; and yet this statement while accurate must be taken not too literally, because even the physical body is the expression of man's constitution on the physical plane. The meaning is that the human constitution can be a complete human entity even when the physical body is discarded, but the sthula-sarira is needed for evolution and active work on this subplane of the solar kosmos.

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