FLAT EARTH SOCIETY OF COVENANT PEOPLES CHURCH (International Flat Earth Research Society)

Also called the "Society of Zetetics". It is the conviction of this group that the sphericity of the world is merely a scientific theory inconsistent with the facts. Science, as opposed to pragmatic technology, is an unfounded religion, and its teaching that the earth is a spinning ball is mere superstition. Apart from obvious mountains and valleys the continents form virtually a planar disc, with the north pole as the center and the south pole as the circumference -- airplanes "all fly level on the Plane Earth".

The question as to whether reality conforms to consensus or to individual conviction is less important than the fact that the Flat Earthers represent to the majority of people (occult-minded and otherwise), the epitome of "nonsense". A proper subject for meditation, therefore, might be to learn how to view "error" from unconventional points of perspective.

(See also: FLAT EARTH SOCIETY OF COVENANT PEOPLES CHURCH, International Flat Earth Research Society, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

Bhajana -

(1) the word bhajana is derived from the verbal root ‘bhaj’ which is defined in the Garusa Purana (Purva-khansa 231.3): bhaj ity esa vai dhatu sevayam parikirtitah tasmat seva budhaih prokta bhakti sadhana-bhuyasi  - "The verbal root bhaj is used specifically in the sense of seva, or service. Therefore, when sadhana is performed with the consciousness of being a servant, it is called bhakti.” According to this sloka, krsna-seva, or loving devotional service to Krsna is called bhakti. Such service is the intrinsic attribute of bhakti or bhajana. Therefore whatever services are performed in this consciousness may be referred to as bhajana.

(2) in the general sense bhajana refers to spiritual practices; especially hearing, chanting, and meditating upon the holy name, form, qualities, and pastimes of Sri Krsna.

(See also: Bhajana, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sleep

A state of physical inertia with mental relaxation, sleep promotes proper growth of the self. Night is the natural time to sleep and mid-day catnaps should not be more than 15 minutes long except for the very young, very old, very weak and those intoxicated, diseased, exhausted or traumatised. Avoid having a full meal just before retiring to bed. Sleeping on the right side is the most relaxing and good for yoga. On the left, it is most digestive and increases interest in food, sleep and sex. Sleeping on the back indirectly and on the stomach directly encourages disease. Sleeping with crown of the head facing east and feet into the west promotes the best meditative sleep. Washing the hands, feet & face just before improves sleep. Never sleep in the kitchen and go to bed only to sleep. 6 to 8 hours of daily sleep is essential. The ideal form of sleep is yoga – a state of complete physical inertness with retention of mental alertness & awareness.

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

Manduka Yoga (Sanskrit) [from manduka frog]

A "particular kind of abstract meditation in which an ascetic sits motionless like a frog" (Monier-Williams). However, all true yoga practice involves complete mental abstraction from exterior concerns and the outer environment, so that all yogis, while practicing yoga sit motionless "like a frog." It is not a particularly high kind of yoga, in any case, for true spiritual yoga is the yoga of the inner man, implying intense intellectual and spiritual concentration on affairs and subjects of spiritual character, and need not necessarily involve any sitting in yoga whatsoever.

The true disciple may be doing his master's business and going about in pursuit of his duties from day to day, and yet be practicing this spiritual yoga without a moment's intermission. All forms of yoga practice which involve postures, sittings or similar things in which the physical body is active or inactive, technically belong to one of the various kinds of hatha yoga and are to be discouraged.

(See also: Manduka Yoga, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

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CHAOS MAGICK

Basically, it is that aspect of magic that deals with entering the "Abyss" or, on the common level of understanding, facing the unknown Chaos being simply "The Unknown" as apparently devoid of meaning. Chaos Magic was largely the invention of artist Austin Osman Spare in his Zos Kia Cultus. Later, a form of Chaos Magick was developed by a few others in the 1980's as a form of the magic of solipsism. It was best expounded in the 1980s by Pete Carroll in his Liber Null & Psychonaut and comprised the magic of the "Illuminates of Thanateros", and in the 1990s is best exemplified by such groups as AutonomatriX and Z-Cluster, and moreover by myriad individual (or rogue) practitioners such as Andrew Chumbley and Stephen Mace.

The very mystery of being itself, said Carroll, is fundamentally connected to how we deal with chaos. We react to chaos by earthing it to its opposite. Once an action or result enters consciousness, then the chao-energy or "cause" has to be carried all the way through to its end "effect" and hence is already implicitly manifest in the thought, even as it rises. If the impulse, however, is thwarted for any reason or scattered by ignorance, it falls back and disappears into its opposite polarity, i.e. its concealment in chaos. Hence pre-meditation is the bane of action and Crowley used to warn against the "lust for results." (The action is the result!).

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

Dhruva (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root dhru to be firm, fixed)

The pole star; "the heavenly form of the mighty lord Hari is made of stars and shaped like a porpoise with Dhruva in its tail. This constellation makes the planets, moon, sun and so on revolve, and the nakshatras circle him like a wheel. . . . on Dhruva rests the sun, upholder the world with its gods, demons and human beings.

"all the planets, constellations, stars and meteors are without exception tied to Dhruva with wind cords and move in their proper courses, O Maitreya" (Classical Hindu Mythology 45-6).

"The occult sciences show that the founders (the respective groups of the seven Prajapatis) of the Root Races have all been connected with the Pole Star. In the Commentary we find: --

'He who understands the age of Dhurva who measures 9090 mortal years, will understand the times of the pralayas, the final destiny of nations, O Lanoo' " (SD 2:768).

Also the name of an ancient Aryan sage, a Kshatriya, who through continuous religious austerities and philosophical meditation, became a rishi, and whose name was given to the pole star. In the Puranas, the son of Uttanapada, who was raised to the pole star by Vishnu.

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

Dhyani-buddha (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root dhyai to meditate, contemplate + buddha awakened one)

Buddhas of contemplation or meditation; the fifth in the descending series in the enumeration of the Hierarchy of Compassion. Two general hierarchies of spiritual beings brought forth our cosmos: the dhyani-buddhas or architects who in their aggregate form the higher and more spiritual side, and actually compose the line of the luminous arc; and the dhyani-chohans or the builders or constructors who form the lower and relatively more material side, the line (from this viewpoint only) of the shadowy arc. Often the term dhyani-chohans is used for both these lines of beings.

There are seven dhyani-buddhas, so that for each round of a septenary planetary chain there is a presiding dhyani-buddha or causal buddha. Our present fourth round is under the care and supervision of the dhyani-buddha belonging to the fourth degree of this celestial hierarchy. The dhyani-bodhisattvas who watch over the globes of the planetary chain in each round are rays from the dhyani-buddha of the round.

"It is this dhyani-buddha of our fourth round, our Father in Heaven, who is the Wondrous Being, the Great Initiator, the Sacrifice, . . . The Ray running through all our individual being, from which we draw our spiritual life and spiritual sustenance, comes direct to us from this hierarchical Wondrous Being in whom we all are rooted. He to us, psychologically and spiritually, holds exactly the same place that the human ego, the man-ego, holds to the innumerable multitudes of elemental entities which compose his body . . ." (Fund 237-8).

These dhyani-buddhas furnished humankind with divine kings and leaders, who taught humanity the arts and sciences, and who "revealed to the incarnated Monads that had just shaken off their vehicles of the lower Kingdoms -- and who had, therefore, lost every recollection of their divine origin -- the great spiritual truths of the transcendental worlds" (SD 1:267).

Further, each human monad has sprung from the essence of a dhyani-buddha.

"The 'triads' born under the same Parent-planet, or rather the radiations of one and the same Planetary Spirit (Dhyani Buddha) are, in all their after lives and rebirths, sister, or 'twin-souls,' on this Earth.

"This was known to every high Initiate in every age and in every country: 'I and my Father are one,' said Jesus (John x. 30). When He is made to say, elsewhere (xx. 17): 'I ascend to my Father and your Father,'. . . It was simply to show that the group of his disciples and followers attracted to Him belonged to the same Dhyani Buddha, 'Star,' or 'Father,' again of the same planetary realm and division as He did" (SD 1:574).

(See also: Dhyani-buddha, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Stanzas of Dzyan Archaic verses of philosophical and cosmogonical content drawn from the Book of Dzyan, which form the basis of The Secret Doctrine. They present the esoteric teachings in regard to cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis, and are the ancient heritage of humanity as preserved by the brotherhood of mahatmas.

Every race and nation has drawn from this source through the medium of its initiated or inspired teachers and saviors. Only portions of the original verses are given in The Secret Doctrine, and Blavatsky's presentation there represents the first time that they have been set down in a modern European language; her endeavor always was to represent the meaning rather than to give a merely literal rendering of the words: "it must be left to the intuition and the higher faculties of the reader to grasp, as far as he can, the meaning of the allegorical phrases used. Indeed it must be remembered that all these Stanzas appeal to the inner faculties rather than to the ordinary comprehension of the physical brain" (SD 1:21).

Especially is this the case when the Stanzas refer to events and conditions of cosmic or human life of which mankind today has virtually lost all memory, except for the scattered fragments of archaic writings which have reached us out of the darkness of prehistory. Only deep meditation and contemplation upon the mystical symbols used will awaken the faculty to comprehend them:

"The history of cosmic evolution, as traced in the Stanzas, is, so to say, the abstract algebraical formula of that Evolution. . . . .

"The Stanzas, therefore, give an abstract formula which can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to all evolution: to that of our tiny earth, to that of the chain of planets of which that earth forms one, to the solar Universe to which that chain belongs, and so on, in an ascending scale, till the mind reels and is exhausted in the effort.

"The seven Stanzas given in this volume represent the seven terms of this abstract formula. They refer to, and describe the seven great stages of the evolutionary process, which are spoken of in the Puranas as the 'Seven Creations,' and in the Bible as the 'Days' of Creation" (SD 1:20-1).

These archaic stanzas are written preeminently in symbolic language, with the intention of giving, perhaps, a sevenfold meaning; "as there are seven keys of interpretation to every symbol and allegory, that which may not fit a meaning, say from the psychological or astronomical aspect, will be found quite correct from the physical or metaphysical" (SD 2:22n).

See also BOOK OF DZYAN

(See also: Stanzas of Dzyan, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Prayer As usually understood in the West, prayer implies the existence -- whether actually so in nature or not -- of a divine entity, such as God, Christ, an angel or saint, to whom petitions may be addressed and by whose favor benefits may be obtained, a view of prayer held in nearly all exoteric religious systems. Yet even among those who believe in personal divinities, some take a higher view of prayer than that of asking for special favors, rather looking upon it as an act of resignation to the divine will: "Not my will, but thine, be done."

Theosophy speaks of this as the endeavor of the aspiring human mind to establish individual communion between the personal man and his spiritual counterpart or inner god, the true meaning of the injunction to pray to our Father which is in secret. Thus prayer takes the form of aspiration combined with deep meditation, as has been the case with mystics, Eastern and Western. This involves a laying aside of personal wishes and a conscious desire for intuitive perception of the truth and for the power to follow it.

If a personal wish is present, precisely because all personal wishes in the last analysis are restricted, and hence either physically or spiritually selfish, the act becomes one of black magic, for the person is seeking to evoke interior powers in furtherance of his own purposes, which in such cases are usually founded in self-seeking of some kind. Also, a well-intentioned person, praying on behalf of another, may unwittingly exercise on that other an interference with the latter's will, similar in many respects to that of hypnotism.

The absurdity of warring nations praying to the same God for victory over each other is often commented on; and the practice of many people combining together to pray for the conversion of people of another sect, or even for worse objects, is equally open to reprobation. This kind of prayer is merely a survival of one of the lower magic arts, where religious practice consists mainly in the invocation of tribal and local deities.

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

Book of Dzyan (probably from Sanskrit dhyana intense spiritual meditation, wisdom, divine knowledge)

An archaic work of enormous antiquity upon which Blavatsky based her Secret Doctrine. Dzyan has been variously spelled or transliterated, and under this form is a derivative of the Tibetan. Dzyan, dzen, or ch'an is the general term for the esoteric schools and their literature.

Blavatsky describes the Book of Dzyan, saying: "An Archaic Manuscript -- a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water, fire, and air, by some specific unknown process -- is before the writer's eye. On the first page is an immaculate white disk within a dull black ground. On the following page, the same disk, but with a central point" (SD 1:1).

"The 'very old Book' is the original work from which the many volumes of Kiu-ti were complied. Not only this latter and the Siphrah Dzeniouta but even the Sepher Jezirah, the work attributed by the Hebrew Kabbalists to their Patriarch Abraham (!), the book of Shu-king, China's primitive Bible, the sacred volumes of the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes, the Puranas in India, and the Chaldean Book of Numbers and the Pentateuch itself, are all derived from that one small parent volume.

Tradition says, that it was taken down in Senzar, the secret sacerdotal tongue, from the words of the Divine Beings, who dictated it to the sons of Light, in Central Asia, at the very beginning of the 5th (our) race; for there was a time when its language (the Sen-zar) was known to the Initiates of every nation, when the forefathers of the Toltec understood it as easily as the inhabitants of the lost Atlantis, who inherited it, in their turn, from the sages of the 3rd Race, the Manushis, who learnt it direct from the Devas of the 2nd and 1st Races. . . . The old book, having described Cosmic Evolution and explained the origin of everything on earth, including physical man, after giving the true history of the races from the First down to the Fifth (our) race, goes no further" (SD 1:xliii).

See also STANZAS OF DZYAN.

(See also: Book of Dzyan, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dhyani-chohans (Sanskrit-Tibetan) (from Sanskrit dhyani contemplation + Tibetan chohan lord)

Lords of meditation. In theosophical literature, dhyani-buddhas are the intellectual architects, the higher and more spiritual beings of the god-world. Dhyani-chohans, as a generalizing term, includes both the higher classes which take a self-conscious, active part in the architectural ideation of the universe, and the lower classes, some of which are self-conscious, but in their lower representations progressively less on on a descending scale.

The lowest of these builders are little more than merely conscious or semi-conscious beings following almost servilely the ideation of the cosmic spirit transmitted to them by the higher class of the architects.

Dhyani-chohan is likewise synonymous in one sense with the Sanskrit manu. The seven principal classes of dhyani-chohans are intimately connected, each to each, respectively, with the seven sacred planets of our solar system, and likewise with the globes of the earth planetary chain. Furthermore, there is a class of dhyani-chohans at the head of every department of nature in our solar system.

These dhyani-chohans, as the summit of the Hierarchy of Light, imbody in themselves as individuals the ideation of the cosmic Logos, thus forming the laws according to which nature exists and works. These laws, therefore, are really the automatic spiritual activities of the highest classes of the dhyani-chohans.

The dhyani-chohans have their bodhisattvas, intellectual offspring, or representatives on and in each descending cosmic plane, so that every being has as its highest portion one such dhyani-chohan as its egoic individuality. Hence, "the dhyani-chohans are actually in one most important sense our own selves. We were born from them; we were the monads, we were the atoms, the souls, projected, sent forth, emanated, by the dhyanis . . ." (Fund 407).

(See also: Dhyani-chohans, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

NEOPLATONISM

By the 3rd Century A.D., an eclectic occultism composed of Neoplatonism and Qabalah seriously rivalled Christianity. All those who wrote on this subject went under the name of "Hermes," the best known book of which is "The Pymander." Later, Hermes was equated with alchemy. With Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus, the religion of the Orient were fused to Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle and Stoicism eventually to form a doctrine of three hypostases (Monos, Nous, Psyche). The material world and its glories are the work of demons but union with the gods, our higher souls, our higher egos, can be accomplished only by theurgical means, which join us according to individual capacity to the divinely creative realm. Vatic powers reside in the higher ego which we all possess. In the 4th Century, Iamblichus (author of De Mysteriis), in struggling against the Galileans, stressed intellectual meditation and vigorously opposed magic and religion. But he virtually equated theurgy with raja yoga, calling samadhi manteia. In the 5th Century, Neoplatonism under Porphyry (who was Jewish), split into a Xtian version at Alexandria and an extremely short-lived Pagan version at Athens under Proclus. Porphyry and Plotinus also disapproved of "phenomenal theurgy" (physical magic). Neoplatonism was revived during the Renaissance by Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, whereafter it survived through the XIXth Century.

Its chief philosophy can probably be summed up as simple pantheism, but which the Xtians complexified to "the Logos that derives from One Divine Source."

Neoplatonism regarded Egypt as the source of all occult knowledge. Saccas himself rejected Xtianity totally, as it had in it nothing that could not be found in previous teachings. Paul Christian in his History of Magic tells us that, according to Proclus, Plato underwent a 13-year initiation in the mysteries of Thoth-Hermes by famed magi of Memphis -- Patheneitb, Ochoaps, Sechtnouphis and Etymon of Sebennithis. He emerged with what we now know as the "Platonic Doctrine."

At its best, Neoplatonism encouraged in the West an interest in Oriental systems, picking up Qabalah, Buddhism and Hinduism as enrichments. At its worst, it popularized an "anything goes" bubble-headed mysticism.

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

Yoga (Sanskrit) Union; one of the six Darsanas or schools of philosophy of India, founded by Patanjali, but said to have existed as a distinct teaching and system of life before that sage. Yajnavalkya, a famous and very ancient sage of pre-Mahabharatan times, to whom the White Yajur-Veda, the Satapatha-Brahmana, and the Brihadaranyaka are attributed, is credited with inculcating the positive duty of religious meditation and retirement into the forests, and therefore is believed to have originated the yoga doctrine. Patanjali's yoga, however, is more definite and precise as a philosophy, and imbodies more of the occult sciences than any of the extant works attributed to Yajnavalkya.

The objective of the Yoga school is attaining union or at-one-ness with the divine-spiritual essence within which is virtually identical with the spiritual essence or Logos of the universe. True yoga is genuine psychology based on a complete philosophical understanding of the entire inner human constitution.

There are several states leading to spiritual powers and perception. The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are:

1)    yama (restraint, forbearance);

2)    niyama, religious observances such as fastings, prayer, penances;

3)    asana, postures of various kinds;

4)    pranayama, methods of regulating the breath;

5)    pratyahara (withdrawal), withdrawal of the consciousness from external objects;

6)    dharana (firmness, steadiness, resolution) mental concentration, holding the mind on an object of thought;

7)    dhyana, abstract contemplation or meditation freed from exterior distractions; and

8)    samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and its faculties into union with the monadic essence.

There are several types of yoga such as karma yoga, hatha yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, and jnana yoga. "Similar religious aspirations or practices likewise exist in Occidental countries, as, for instance, what is called 'Salvation by Works,' somewhat equivalent to the Hindu Karma-Yoga, or, again, 'Salvation by Faith -- or Love,' somewhat similar to the Hindu Bhakti-Yoga; while both Orient and Occident have, each one, its various forms of ascetic practices which may be grouped under the term Hatha-Yoga.

"No system of Yoga should ever be practiced unless under the direct teaching of one who knows the dangers of meddling with the psycho-mental apparatus of the human constitution, for dangers lurk at every step, and the meddler in these things is likely to bring disaster upon himself, both in matters of health and as regards sane mental equilibrium. The higher branches of Yoga, however, such as the Raja-Yoga and Jnana-Yoga, implying strict spiritual and intellectual discipline combined with a fervid love for all beings, are perfectly safe. It is, however, the ascetic practices, etc., and the teachings that go with them, wherein lies the danger to the unwary, and they should be carefully avoided" (OG 183).

The various forms of yoga from the standpoint of theosophy when properly understood are not distinct, separable means of attaining union with the god within; and it is a divergence of the attention into one or several of these forms to the exclusion of others that has brought about so much mental confusion and lack of success even in those who are more or less skilled. Every one of these forms of yoga, with the probable exception of the lower forms of hatha yoga, should be practiced concurrently by the one who has set his heart and mind upon spiritual success.

Thus one should carefully watch and control his acts, acting and working unselfishly; he should live so that his daily customs distract attention as little as possible away from the spiritual purpose; his heart coincidentally should be filled with devotion and love for all things; and he should cultivate, all at the same time, his will, his capacity for self-sacrifice and self-devotion to a noble cause, and his ability to stand firm and undaunted in the face of difficulties whatever they may be; and, finally, in addition and perhaps most importantly, he should do everything in his power to cultivate his intuition and intellectual faculties, exercising not merely his ratiocinative mind, but the higher intuitive and nobly intellectual parts.

Combining all these he is following the chela path and is using all the forms of yoga in the proper way. Yet the chela will never obtain his objective if his practice of yoga is followed for his own individual advancement. He will never reach higher than the superior planes of the astral world even in consciousness; but when his whole being follows this yoga as thus outlined with a desire to lay his life and all he is on the altar of service to the world, he is then indeed on the path.

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

Ushnisha usnisa (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root ush to be warm, flaming; mystically warmth through inner light, intuition, vision]

A turban, diadem, or crown; also a kind of "excrescence" on the head of a buddha. Like the long ears so often seen in figures of the buddhas, the meaning of the ushnisha is entirely occult, and was in no sense whatsoever intended to signify a tuft of hair, nor any fleshly excrescence on the skull, but was a way of suggesting the radiating power of the eye of Siva or organ of vision and of intuition, working at relatively full power within the skull of a great adept.

The eye of Siva is the pineal gland; originally an external and active eye in the head of primitive mankind during this fourth round on earth, it gradually retreated within the skull, which grew to cover its place with bones, skin, and hair. As this presently so-called third eye retreated within the skull, its place was progressively taken by the two present organs of vision. At this period of our racial development it is buddhas, avataras, and other initiates of relatively high status who alone use the organ of spiritual vision, for in them the pineal gland has become active and is to some extent physiologically enlarged; although in everyone else it is more or less nonfunctional, yet to some degree functional.

Hence the ushnisha represents that radiant crown of buddhic fire that surrounds the head of initiates when they are in deep samadhi or meditation. The initiate's head becomes surrounded with rays from the vital inner fire of the third eye, the spiritual organ of the brain, which likewise is the source from which radiates the spiritual, intellectual, and psychovital nimbus or aura surrounding the head -- known to the iconographies of every religion. These rays thus form a glory around the head and sometimes even around the entire body. "They stream upwards from the back of the head, often symbolically represented in the buddha-iconography as one single, lambent flame soaring upwards from and over the top of the skull. In this case you may perhaps find that the ushnisha is missing, its place being taken by this flame issuing from the top of the head, a symbolic representation of the fire of the spirit and of the aroused and active buddhic faculty in which the man is at the time" (Fund 493).

Many statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas possess certain peculiar headgear called crowns or ushnishas. Hence ushnisha is also used in the sense of turban, because this particular headgear, given to these statues, somewhat resembles a turban of spiral conical form, somewhat like the spiral shell of some snails.

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

Nada:

Spontaneous inner sounds that may be heard during advanced stages of meditation; nada may take the form of sounds such as bells, the blowing of a conch, and thunder.

(See also: Nada, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary, Siddha Yoga, Siddha Yoga Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

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.

Dinacharya

In order to keep the tridoshas in a state of healthy equlibrium and digestion & metabolism (agni) in proper order, Ayurveda prescribes for each individual a specific daily routine ( dina – day & acharya – behaviour). The various stages to this daily routine, influenced by the specifics of your prakriti, that will enable you to make the most out of your life, are:

Arising

Since our biological clocks are attuned to the rising and setting of the sun, it is obviously better to awake at sunrise in perfect synchronisation to the natural clock. An ideal time to let the body cells soak in the strength of a tempered sun to be charged for the day. Drinking a glass of luke-warm water helps flush out all toxins accumulated overnight in the body.

Natural Urges

The last portion of the night being ruled by vata – involved in the process of elimination – dawn is the best time to eliminate the body's physical waste. Proper elimination also helping remove the kapha that naturally accumulates overnight. Defecation once or twice daily is the best. Preferably not immediately after a meal. But urination then is wise. Examine your eliminations each morning and if you notice any disturbance indicating poor digestion, go on a fast. It will allow the body rest to correct the system before disease sets in. Never suppress the natural physical urges as elimination, hunger, thirst, sleep, sneezing, yawning, vomiting, flatus and ejaculation, for it will lead to discomfort and even disease.

Cleanliness

Thorough washing of the limbs, face, mouth, eyes & nose purifies the bodies sense organs. Best done with a bath in clean water, it should accompany brushing of the teeth (should be repeated after every meal), scraping off a toxicated coating of ama from the tongue, occasional gargling of salt water with a pinch of turmeric to keep gums, mouth & throat healthy, proper cleaning of the nose and the ears and washing the eyes with warm water held in mouth for moments (saliva being very good for the eyes). Keep your hair trimmed, nails filed and wear clean clothes. Feel free to use perfumes in moderation and feel good.

Exercise

Either passive like massage or active like aerobics or both as in yoga postures, regular exercise increases the body's stamina and resistance to disease by facilitating the immune system, clearing all channels, promoting circulation & waste disposal, and destroying fat. Done regularly, it can reduce anxiety but become addictive. Depending on age & body type, kaphas can go for heavy exercises, pittas should do it in moderation and vatas should perform yoga and not aerobics. Never exert more than half your capacity, during illness, just after a meal and without rhythmic breathing. Swimming, walking and even laughing are excellent options.

Massage

Necessary for every person, a regular self-massage with herbal oils is usually adequate but needs to be supplemented with professional attention occasionally. It makes the skin supple, controls vata by reducing its cold, dry, light, rough & erratic qualities, enhances blood circulation, encourages quicker removal of metabolic wastes and relaxes the body. Follow the normal direction of hair growth, use a little extra oil over the body's vital parts, massage the scalp and head at least weekly and just the soles of your feet if short of time.

Meditation

Ideal for disciplining the mind and removing stress & strain, it is best done after a quick bath to cleanse yourself. Critical in satisfying the mind's hunger, when done well it is so nourishing that even the body can survive on less. Control of desire, or mental hunger, is the key to longevity and immortality. Anything can be meditation so long it is sincere and heartfelt. The simplest and healthiest involves the sun and its golden colour is deemed the most nourishing and productive.

While this routine acts as a critical shield of defence against the destabilising influences of an external environment, by using selective choice in some of the other factors mentioned below you can easily improve upon the condition of your total health.

Clothing

In shielding from extreme temperatures, it tends to reflect the temperament of the wearer in a society showing growing preponderance of the same. Should always be light & airy, and made of natural fibres as cotton, wool, linen or silk. Always wear clean, and never anyone else's except that of a saint. Since energy is brought into the body through the crown of the head and exits from the soles of the feet – extracting abnormal heat from the system – the polluted energy usually collects in the footwear. So avoid wearing other's footwear, try not to take shoes into the house and walk barefoot whenever possible. And wooden sandals are more healthy than animal skin or rubber shoes.

Employment

Since work consumes at least one-third part of our lives and success or failure in your profession affects self-confidence, self-worth, it is important that the nature of work should match well with your prakriti.

Vata people love work that requires sudden bursts of intense energy. But it tends to exhaust them also. So to balance it off, despite their dislike, they should be in routine jobs, slightly repetitive. Need a soothing home and work environment to smooth out their rough edges. They need adequate rest, specially in the afternoons. And should avoid places where the air is exceptionally cool and dry e.g. the freezing cold inside electronics manufacturing outfits or exceptionally dusty fertiliser mills. The ideal jobs must have enough excitement to hold their interest and sufficient routine to avoid imbalances.

Pitta people are very practical, making good administrators but not original thinkers. By nature aggressive and self-promoting, these realists see everything as a contest that has to be won. Insisting on being in the forefront of all activity, they cram as much work as they can, demanding perfect functioning from their bodies all the time. They do not take delays and obstacles to their plans well and must seriously try to be fair to and keep their professional and private lives separate. They should avoid work that is physically irritating or involves heat (as welding or metal casting) and listen more to others. They should ideally have sufficient challenge to keep them occupied without the stress of severe competition.

Innate Kapha stability and balance makes them great administrators. They must make a conscious effort bring in change or variety to their otherwise staid and routine lives. And ensure that even if work is not physically active, leisure is. Slow to get going in the morning, competition is good for them although they may find it stressful.

Choice of Pet

Often an extension of their owner's personalities, pets should ideally be chosen so as to have a therapeutic effect on your doshic imbalances.

Vatas get along famously with dogs, the canine's loveable, sloppy, open-heartedness reassuring and stabilising their cold, fearful, fickle nature. Some do well with small, furry high- strung animals as guinea pigs that arouse the maternal instincts in the owners.

The cat is the Pittas favourite. With strongly held opinions on most subjects, the feline presents continuous challenges, even with its movements.

Kaphas in turn prefer birds, the avian's light chirpiness helping offset some of the dosha's natural ponderousness. For some large dogs prove beneficial as the canine encourages them to exercise along with.

Choice of Partner

Ayurvedic wisdom suggests that like types make better mates because of similar mental processes, attitudes and sexual proclivities. Unfortunately, two people of similar dispositions are likely to have the same defects too. Choosing the right partner who will stimulate, inspire you to evolve into better individual thus becomes very important.

Sleep

A state of physical inertia with mental relaxation, sleep promotes proper growth of the self. Night is the natural time to sleep and mid-day catnaps should not be more than 15 minutes long except for the very young, very old, very weak and those intoxicated, diseased, exhausted or traumatised. Avoid having a full meal just before retiring to bed. Sleeping on the right side is the most relaxing and good for yoga. On the left, it is most digestive and increases interest in food, sleep and sex. Sleeping on the back indirectly and on the stomach directly encourages disease. Sleeping with crown of the head facing east and feet into the west promotes the best meditative sleep. Washing the hands, feet & face just before improves sleep. Never sleep in the kitchen and go to bed only to sleep. 6 to 8 hours of daily sleep is essential. The ideal form of sleep is yoga – a state of complete physical inertness with retention of mental alertness & awareness.

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

Buddha Siddharta (Sanskrit) The name given to Gautama, the Prince of Kapilavastu, at his birth. It is an abbreviation of sarvartthasiddha and means, the "realization of all desires".

Gautama, which means, on earth (gau) the most victorious (tama) "was the sacerdotal name of the Sakya family, the kingly patronymic of the dynasty to which the father of Gautama, the King Suddhodhana of Kapilavastu, belonged. Kapilavastu was an ancient city, the birth-place of the Great Reformer and was destroyed during his life time. In the title Sakyamuni, the last component, muni, is rendered as meaning one mighty in charity, isolation and silence", and the former Sakya is the family name.

Every Orientalist or Pundit knows by heart the story of Gautama, the Buddha, the most perfect of mortal men that the world has ever seen, but none of them seem to suspect the esoteric meaning underlying his prenatal biography, i.e., the significance of the popular story. The Lalitavistura tells the tale, but abstains from hinting at the truth. The 5,000 jatakas, or the events of former births (re-incarnations) are taken literally instead of esoterically.

Gautama, the Buddha, would not have been a mortal man, had he not passed through hundreds and thousands of births previous to his last. Yet the detailed account of these, and the statement that during them he worked his way up through every stage of transmigration from the lowest animate and inanimate atom and insect, up to the highest - or man, contains simply the well-known occult aphorism: "a stone becomes a plant, a plant an animal, and an animal a man". Every human being who has ever existed, has passed through the same evolution. But the hidden symbolism in the sequence of these re-births (jataka) contains a perfect history of the evolution on this earth, pre and post human, and is a scientific exposition of natural facts. One truth not veiled but bare and open is found in their nomenclature, viz., that as soon as Gautama had reached the human form he began exhibiting in every personality the utmost unselfishness, self-sacrifice and charity.

Buddha Gautama, the fourth of the Sapta (Seven) Buddhas and Sapta Tathagatas was born according to Chinese Chronology in 1024 B.C; but according to the Singhalese chronicles, on the 8th day of the second (or fourth) moon in the year 621 before our era. He fled from his father’s palace to become an ascetic on the night of the 8th day of the second moon, 597 BC., and having passed six years in ascetic meditation at Gaya, and perceiving that physical self-torture was useless to bring enlightenment, be decided upon striking out a new path, until he reached the state of Bodhi. He became a full Buddha on the night of the 8th day of the twelfth moon, in the year 592, and finally entered Nirvana in the year 543 according to Southern Buddhism. The Orientalists, however, have decided upon several other dates. All the rest is allegorical. He attained the state of Bodhisattva on earth when in the personality called Prabhapala. Tushita stands for a place on this globe, not for a paradise in the invisible regions. The selection of the Sakya family and his mother Maya, as "the purest on earth," is in accordance with the model of the nativity of every Saviour, God or deified Reformer.

The tale about his entering his mother’s bosom in the shape of a white elephant is an allusion to his innate wisdom, the elephant of that colour being a symbol of every Bodhisattva. The statements that at Gautama’s birth, the newly born babe walked seven steps in four directions, that an Udumbara flower bloomed in all its rare beauty and that the Naga kings forthwith proceeded ‘‘to baptise him ", are all so many allegories in the phraseology of the Initiates and well-understood by every Eastern Occultist. The whole events of his noble life are given in occult numbers, and every so-called miraculous event - so deplored by Orientalists as confusing the narrative and making it impossible to extricate truth from fiction - is simply the allegorical veiling of the truth, it is as comprehensible to an Occultist learned in symbolism, as it is difficult to understand for a European scholar ignorant of Occultism.

Every detail of the narrative after his death and before cremation is a chapter of facts written in a language which must be studied before it is understood, otherwise its dead letter will lead one into absurd contradictions. For instance, having reminded his disciples of the immortality of Dharmakaya Buddha is said to have passed into Samadhi, and lost himself in Nirvana - from which none can return., and yet, notwithstanding this, the Buddha is shown bursting open the lid of the coffin, and stepping out of it ; saluting with folded hands his mother Maya who had suddenly appeared in the air, though she had died seven (days after his birth, &c., &c.

As Buddha. was a Chakravartti (he who turns the wheel of the Law), his body at its cremation could not be consumed by common fire. What happens Suddenly a jet of flame burst out of the Swastica on his breast, and reduced his body to ashes. Space prevents giving more instances. As to his being one of the true and undeniable Saviours of the World, suffice it to say that the most rabid orthodox missionary, unless he is hopelessly insane, or has not the least regard even for historical truth, cannot find one smallest accusation against the life and personal character of Gautama, the "Buddha".

Without any claim to divinity, allowing his followers to fall into atheism, rather than into the degrading superstition of deva or idol-worship, his walk in life is from the beginning to the end, holy and divine. During the years of his mission it is blameless and pure as that of a god - or as the latter should be. He is a perfect example of a divine, godly man. He reached Buddhaship - i.e., complete enlightenment - entirely by his own merit and owing to his own individual exertions, no god being supposed to have any personal merit in the exercise of goodness and holiness. Esoteric teachings claim that he renounced Nirvana and gave up the Dharmakaya vesture to remain a "Buddha of compassion" within the reach of the miseries of this world.

And the religious philosophy he left to it has produced for over 2,000 years generations of good and unselfish men. His is the only absolutely bloodless religion among all the existing religions tolerant and liberal, teaching universal compassion and charity, love and self-sacrifice, poverty and contentment with one’s lot, whatever it may he.

No persecutions, and enforcement of faith by fire and sword, have ever disgraced it. No thunder-and-lightning-vomiting god has interfered with its chaste commandments; and if the simple, humane and philosophical code of daily life left to us by the greatest Man-Reformer ever known, should ever come to he adopted by mankind at large, then indeed an era of bliss and peace would dawn on Humanity.

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

WANDS (Or Rhabdology.)

The other day I found myself replying in this way to a fairly common request for more information on magic wands that chelas submitted to the Academy of M/magic(k)al Arts:

"No, polishing metallic wands doesn't build up static electricity  in me, or at least I keep dispersing it. Although after I pushed the elevator  up button yesterday, the unfortunate fellow right behind me, pushed it also  and he got a flash that was visible and nearly knocked him over.  I'd better be more careful. Sorry I contracted to buy this one, since it's  not double-ended anyway, and is twice what they were charging for  similar ones at the last New Age Fair I attended! [1986]. Still, it does have  lots of amethysts (eupeptics) and the crystal is well-shaped. but this  particular tool is ill-named: "power wand." Quartz is mainly a counter-measure  against malefics, evil influences and diseases. My teacher, to protect herself  on the street, keeps a small, double-ended power wand in her purse, like a  lady's revolver. Mine, however, doesn't do too many positive things, except that is excellent for visualization cuttings, like the ritual knife (see ATHAME).  but it's supposed to be used ritualistically, so is of minimal value to those  too indolent to conduct rites. I have heard rumours that it can be  "programmed" provided it can first be "cleared." (Always consult your books  for instruction on "clearing" your wand before using it and then "consecrate" it for what you plan to do with it). Since this one is not double, but  single-ended, it should be powerful in first-time situations, initiations,  etc.

However, if I want to do really creative things, I use a small Hindu  vajra, which is double-ended and can be half hidden when held in the  fist. The vajra is a true thunder-stick and must always be of traditional  design -- not always doubled and hence not always to be used as a wand. The  txuringa is another individualistic type of "wand," actually more like a  personal totem -- but it's too private to discuss in public. A txuringa,  however, is always made of wood or stone, never bronze, lead or crystal."

So much for the idiosyncratic point of view.

Asking what to do with a wand is a question that would probably not occur to a man -- though it is hardly like asking what one does with a penis! (Some women use their "power wands" as surrogate phalloi -- which is useful in drawing down Hermes or Ares as an imaginary love partner.) Wands represent the creative fire locked inside everything -- it's the power to transmute and be transmuted. On a simplistic level, a wand can be seen as the same as the thing that produces life, but actually it's even more basic than that. The wand is the source of manifestation in any form on any level. It's the connective "One" in face of the womb "Zero."

Next time you start something, anything, from scratch -- think of the wand as its producer. Its purpose is to make you more creative, to facilitate doing as opposed to mere being. Practice and experimentation will enable you to discover uses for yourself. Magical implements are tokens of spontaneity.

Wands are extremely individualistic. Some are very powerful, some only very subtle. I have a number of them which serve different purposes. The most expensive one, made of crystal and velvet, is very mysterious to me. I'm never sure how to use it properly. My most effective one is a twig I found in the woods. I've stuck all kinds of junk onto it and stained it different colors. It has been baptized with all of my own bodily fluids and carefully exposed to all seven elements. It is so powerful that I never use it! No. Again, the wand I actually use is that same two-ended Tibetan vajra. I use it to evoke curiosity sometimes, but mostly as protection and a guide for meditation in the midst of everyday life.

Wands should be of wood. If possible a wand should be a still living branch. The preferred wood for wands is almond. The almond tree possesses a virgin delicacy, sweetness and fertility. First to blossom in spring, it is also fist to succumb to the frost of autumn. The almond nut is the most advanced seed of life in the evolution of the vegetable kingdom. Hazel wood is second best. In any case, it is a good idea to fashion your own wand from scratch, using virgin tools. It should be personalized and earthed. Then it must be exposed to fire, immersed in water, hurled into the air and buried.

How do wands work? They aren't intended to serve as mere "indicators," worse yet, as "directors" (like an orchestra conductor's baton). I'm afraid we have to go back to the sexual aspect and think of what the Egyptians called bah -- "phallos" -- but apart from its ordinary sexual usage. If you can imagine such stuff outside the context of raw pornography, wands are non-penetrative. They are the conduits or vehicles of life (or being/becoming) and energy, and as such, demand of their users sometimes superhuman abstinence. We have to understand also that it's only one of the four magickal ikons (Wands, Cups, Coins, Swords). By themselves wands summon only the fire-world, the Lion of courage (and through the archangel Michael, one of the archangels of the celestial quaternary). Fire can be Will, Artistic Creation, Procreation, Health Protection, Life, etc. Wands are not hazy, mystical, psychedelic, emotional, desiring or delusional as Cups are. They are the masculine, Yang-bearers, but only symbolic of the phallus, as the Cups symbolize the vagina. (Beware -- don't try to take these things all the way down into the gutter! This is not Freud's world! Such glibness will cause you to be eaten alive and your unhallowed remains tossed into the eternal fire!). In Paracelsus' teaching, Sex is the 7th of the 7 Magickal Principles, not an activity necessarily involving the human body in any way. The Cup, i.e., Chalice (Holy Grail), being virginal and receptive, is to be contrasted in similar fashion to the Coin or Pentacle (Devil's sign), which is "closed" because "pregnant."

Amongst the Hebrews, there is the Rod of Almond, "Mateh Hashaqad" of numerological value 463 (400 = tau or Malkuth to Yesod, 60 = samekh or Yesod to Tiphareth, 3 = gimel or Tiphareth to Kether). Thus the staff is the whole of the paths from the Kingdom to the crown. (Reference is to Exodus -- the staff of Moses.) The top of the wand is in Kether, which is one, whereas the Qliphoth of Kether are the Thaumiel, or opposing heads that rend and devour one another.

At any rate, wands are unifying, juxtapositive, connective devices, whereas swords are penetrative and divisive. Fire (the wand) transmutes in the "melting pot," whereas air (the sword) disengages and separates things.

So wands work by coping with disparate or opposite things. If you want to repel, use single-ended quartz (or two ended quartz/amethyst, i.e., Moon/Jupiter). If you want to attract, use double-ended diamond, gold, ruby or carbuncle. Since the vajra is itself the "diamond" of the Bodhi-Sattva, it is harmoniously proportioned, even a vajra of brass will serve -- for that matter, even paper will suffice! Longevity, however, is an ideal attribute of life, so metal is more suitable than paper as a carrier. And if your wand must be of metal, then gold is best.

Finally, on the most pragmatic level (earth of fire), the wand is one's oath. The Word herewith must express the Will, hence the mystic name of the Probationer is the expression of his highest will.

You might think that the more wands you have, the better, and that is true to some extent. But after accumulating four or five of them, they begin to be a burden to carry around. You may have more powers, but you also begin to attract more challenges. Four wands indicate established strength without competition, but after that, if you start collecting more and more wands, you'll have to go on acquiring more still, in order to meet the new obligations associated with these power levels. Ultimately you will either become monarch of the unwieldy things or the inundated sorcerer's apprentice. At that point your responsibilities will outnumber your privileges. The King of Wands is executor of power, engaged continuously in the fulfillment of endless obligations.

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

MAGIC

From Latin magi, pl. (Greek magoi, pl. of magos, a Magian, one of the Median tribe; also an enchanter, properly a wise-man who interpreted dreams; Old Persian mugh, one of the Magi, a fire-worshipper; Sanskrit maga "a priest of the sun"; maybe related to maha, "great" and maya, illusion; perhaps, ultimately, even the Maya of Central America. Compare Hebrew makeshef, "magician"). Magic is actually short for "Magic Art". The connection between magus and magnus "great" also appears in Hebrew. As in Latin the word for "great", produces "master or teacher" (magister) , so Hebrew rab produces "rabbi". However the confusion in Hebrew does not arise because the word for "magic" (qeshem) is not related to rab".

The word in this form is found with precisely the same meaning (or mystery) in most European tongues and even in Japanese majutsu, (which they no doubt borrowed from the Portuguese). Elsewhere, however, we find different senses altogether, such as the old Teutonic Helliruna (lit. "Hell's secret") which is surely a folk etymology of the Arabic word for "mandrake", albiruhan or alyabruhin, the same word we find in Spanish as the word for "magician", el brujo, because alongside that there is indeed the Old High German word for "mandrake", Alruna. The only question we need ask is which form came first, but we find the Arabic influence extending east as far as Mongolia, where, in passing, we may note ilbi for "magic."

The otherness of ego enwraps each of us like a prison, but the magus takes all of earth as his body. Magic itself is but a symbol of the greater Magic, which is Unity. The Oneness frees us from the dungeon of darkness and the self and resembles the teaching of Buddhism.

From yet another perspective, magic, mind and life are the same thing: living cells are sometimes kept alive in labs. A specialized cell, so protected, fed and allowed to reproduce, eventually turns into a basic and undifferentiated cell. This indicates that life is not only exceedingly plastic but that it is also purposive. If such adaptation were attributable to mindless mechanics, a bone cell would go on reproducing a bone cell and a blood cell a blood cell forever.

Since all things are connected, then experiential reality, which is Mind, can be altered by the implementation of the Will and Visualization. There is no "orthodox" doorway of the "Self" through the various universes, so the magician must build his own bridge, without assistance, across the Abyss, from the otherness of the separate ego to Cosmic Unity. Since the goal and purpose of existence is knowledge, then the magus is obliged to seek experience on numerous planes of being reached via perichoresis and also to effect material changes in the earth's reality. Thinking isn't just the beginning of creation, it is creation itself.

Marc Edmund Jones classifies magic into categories. Divination is the effort to gain knowledge, particularly of the future (in order the better to assist the "Divine" plan). The evocation or invocation of elementals or angelic powers, functioning through the ethers, is another class of magic. Then there is hypnotism, which works through "imitative" magic. Finally, there is tantrism, or the development of supernatural siddhis.

Colin Wilson suggests that magic is simply the development of the Will and the Imagination, Versluis that it is "not a means to an end, but a means to heighten means." Clearly, the object of magic is the raising of consciousness. The magus is empowered to effect events only to the extent that he is able to recognize that inside and outside are one. To transform the world is to transform oneself and vice-versa. Traditional rituals, the using of symbols and the altering of consciousness through herbs, smells, sounds, repetitions and meditation are all inward-directed processes designed to educate, focus and strengthen the faculties of Imaging and Willing. Alchemy is the same endeavor directed outwardly. We fail to control the transformation of our selves to the degree that we isolate ourselves from the world, just as we lose our ability to change the world at the exact moment that we begin to lose touch with ourselves.

However, although those who don't know what they are doing are obliged to perform magic strictly through the observation of rituals, those who understand its real nature and purpose can move directly to its center and act from there, without incantations and conjurations.

Here are some definitions of M/magic(k) by various authorities on the subject:

ANONYMOUS: "Magus Nascitur Non Fit."

ALICE BAILEY: "No man is a magician, or worker in white magic, until his third eye is opened, or is in the process of opening." (That means 'transmission of consciousness to the universal mind').

WADE BASKIN: "The art and science of magic is based on three basic principles. 1) one may communicate with other realms, or planes of existence, through the medium of the Astral Light; 2) the power of the magician is unlimited; 3) external characteristics (signatures) are signs through which everything internal and invisible can be revealed."

MORRIS BERMAN: "Magic is not necessarily gnostic in nature, since it is not particularly dualistic, and it never includes the notion of an outside savior or redeemer, which Gnosticism (particularly in its early forms) sometimes does."

HELENA P. BLAVATSKY: "The art of divine Magic consists in the ability to perceive the essence of things in the light of nature (astral light), and - by using the soul-powers of the Spirit - to produce material things from the unseen universe, and in such operations the Above and the Below must be brought together and made to act harmoniously". (The Secret Doctrine).

"Magic is spiritual wisdom. Arcane knowledge misapplied is sorcery.

"Magic was considered a divine science which led to a participation in the attributes of Divinity itself."

"Magic was the highest knowledge of natural philosophy... and the magician differed from the witch in this, that, while the latter was an ignorant instrument in the hands of demons, the former had become their master by the powerful intermediation of science, which was only within reach of the few, and which these beings were powerless to disobey."

BERNARD BROMAGE: "The word has, more often than not, been used, not for illumination, not as a guide to ascertainable verity, but as a camouflage to conceal a man's ignorance; and, worse, his calculated ineptitude and folly. The word can be said to have ceased to be a word and to have become a byword: a symbol surrounded by an evilly phosphorescent light, of man's infernal capacity for avoiding the issues. . . Magic, tout court, is immensely concerned with the 'Extension of Consciousness'; the widening of frontiers; the increase and development of every variety of sense perception. To be a magician one must learn to investigate all phenomena with the eye of the scientist who scorns no possible hypothesis nor neglects to take into the fullest consideration the complete structure of our actual and potential being. . . it is not a solace for the frustrated, but a reward for the pure of heart. Its final appeal is not to curiosity or greed, but to reverence and acceptance."

PETER CARROLL: "The world is magical but designed to make us believe we are not magi."

"All events are basically magical, arising spontaneously without prior cause. Physical laws are only statistical approximations. Consciousness, magic and chaos are the same thing. Consciousness also makes things happen without prior cause."

ALEISTER CROWLEY: "All Art is Magick"

"The Goal of Magick is the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."

NEVILL DRURY: "Magic is the technique of harnessing the secret powers of Nature and and seeking to influence events for one's own purpose. If the purpose is beneficial it is known as white magic, but if it is intended to bring harm to others, or to destroy property, it is regarded as black magic."

"High Magic is intended to bring about the spiritual transformation of the person who practices it. This form of magic is designed to channel the magician's consciousness towards the sacred light within, which is often personified by the high gods of different cosmologies. The aim of high magic has been described as communication with one's Holy Guardian Angel, or higher self. It is also known as Theurgy."

"Whereas science deals with empirically observable causes and effects, occultism deals pragmatically with methods of altering consciousness to produce certain effects. One of these is the assimilation within the self of the characteristics of a deity, another is the separation of consciousness from the physical body."

DION FORTUNE: "Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will."

KENNETH GRANT: "Magick is the apotheosis of the Irrational, the acme of the absurd, and the reification of the impossible."

GURDJIEFF: ". . .I decided to call those undertakings which required intentional action of higher centers - those centers which are properly the feeling and thinking centers, capable of emotional sensing and of mentation respectively, but which are ordinarily unformed through absorption of their rightful impressions by the false emotional and intellectual centers of the psyche - objective magic, having as its result the obtaining of real knowledge."

"I thus separated this objective magic from its ordinary counterpart, 'magic of the psyche', in which purely fantastic results are obtained, and self-calming and amusement are the only attainments. Under this category I placed my former endeavors as a medium and psychic, as well as those results obtained by theosophy, occultism and so forth, all of which up to then had quite fascinated and attracted my attention."

WILLIAM JAMES: "We all have a lifelong habit of inferiority to our full self. . ."

MARC EDMUND JONES: "Occult, as distinct from secular, science; Occult as the effort to compel the cooperation of others, as well as deity, nature, in enterprises of self, illustrated by miracle or thaumaturgy, known as white when ethical and black when amoral."

ELIPHAS LÉVI: "The Arcanum of the Magnum Opus is the mastery or government of Ignis."; "Would you learn to reign over yourself and others? Learn how to will. How can one learn to will? This is the first arcanum of magical initiation. . ."

MACGREGOR MATTHEWS: "To practice magic, both the imagination and the Will must be called into action, they are co-equal in the work. . . The Will unaided can send forth a current. . . yet its effect is vague and indefinite. . . the Imagination unaided can create an image. . . yet it can do nothing of importance, unless vitalized and directed by the Will."

JOHN MIDDLETON: "We may say that the realm of magic is that in which human beings believe that they may directly affect nature and each other for good or ill, by their own efforts (even when the precise mechanism may not be understood by them) as distinct from appealing to divine powers by sacrifice or prayer (i.e. religion)."

JOHN O'KEEFE: "Magic is the defense of the self against the malevolence of society."

PARACELSUS: "The exercise of true magic does not require any ceremonies or conjurations, or the making of circles and signs; it requires neither benedictions nor maledictions in words, neither verbal blessings or curses."

JOHN COWPER POWYS: "Magic is simply the choice between emphasis and rejection."

DIANE DE PRIMA: "Look at the forces behind the things rather than just at the object or event. If I have a working definition of magic it's that behind every single thing in the world an infinite tunnel opens of reference, cross-references, and forces, and how these things interlock in nets. What I basically say is, yeah, learning to see force. . . learning to see the etheric and the astral, etc. to the thinner and thinner layers of stuff. And learning to work off those layers rather than . . . if you want to push that rock you don't necessarily have to go out there and put your shoulder to it."

RIMBAUD: "The Poet transforms himself into a seer through a long, immense and determined, rational disordering of all his sense. Every form of love, suffering and madness he seeks within himself and exhausts in himself all poisons, preserving but their quintessences. Ineffable torture where he will need all of his faith and superhuman strength, making him among men, the great Sick Man, the Thrice-Damned, the Arch-Criminal - and the supreme Savant! - for he arrives at the Unknown! Since he has cultivated his soul, already richer than any other man's, he thereby reaches the Unknown, and, even if, insane in the end, he should lose every shred of understanding gained so laboriously, he will have had his Visions! He may perish in his leap into those innumerable, unnameable things, there will follow other terrible workers. They will begin at the horizons where he fell."

MARTIN DEL RIO: "An art or skill which, by means of a non-supernatural force, produces certain strange and unusual phenomena whose rationale eludes common sense."

ROMULUS: "Magic is living poetry."

"Magic is the invocation and exploitation of synchronicity. All practices build up a momentum of their own. What we desire eventually comes true, with interest."

"Every magician's tricks are his own, to help him with own special problems, to get himself over his own inner obstacles. Our Individual tasks are to learn and overcome our own obstacles. That's why the study of great men and women is so very instructional and worthwhile. Not because they teach us to be like them, but because they show us how they became themselves! "

"Self-confident, integrated personalities already are fairly much in control of their powers and are magical to some extent. When circumstances intrude, such as sickness, enmity, financial loss, etc. and self-confidence wanes, the 'magical' side begins to seem spurious. The more 'magical' we try to be, the more charlatanry rises to the surface in us."

FRANCIS KING & STEPHEN SKINNER: "Four basic assumptions of magic: 1. That the [physical] universe is only a part of total reality. 2. The human will-power is a real force, capable of being trained and concentrated, and that the disciplined will is capable of changing its environment and producing paranormal events. 3. That this will-power must be directed by the imagination. 4. That the universe is not a mixture of chance factors and influences, but an ordered system of correspondences, and the understanding of the pattern of correspondences enables the occultist to use them for his own purposes, good or evil.

HUTTON WEBSTER (1948): "As regards purpose, Magic is divinatory, productive and aversive. The magician discovers or foretells what is otherwise hidden in time or space from human eyes; he influences and manipulates the objects and phenomena of nature and all animate creatures so that they may satisfy actual or human needs; and finally he combats, neutralizes and remedies the onslaught of the evils, real or imaginary, afflicting mankind. The range of magic is thus almost as wide as the life of man. All things under heaven, and even the inhabitants of heaven become subject to its sway.

COLIN WILSON: "Human perception is 'intentional.'" (Consciousness is a muscle).

"The great personality-inhibitor is caution. . . even in a few people who seem fairly well integrated. I can suddenly catch a glimpse of a more sophisticated, confident personality that has never succeeded in emerging . . . Even criminality is a form of caution, the desire for immediate and tangible returns, based upon the feeling that the universe has no intention of giving you anything you are not prepared to take by force. In fact, the study of murder leaves one with an impression of weak and crippled personalities who left half their potentialities to stagnate."

"Outside our everyday personality there is a wider self that possesses greater powers than the everyday self. . . When the will is hindered by too much self-consciousness it often produces the opposite effect from the one intended. (Poe called it "the imp of the perverse"). The wider self would be happy to oblige, but the contracted ego is somehow opposing itself, like someone trying to open a door by pushing it instead of pulling it. So it does the next best thing." (Psychokinesis).

"Modern civilization induces an attitude of passivity. When a Stone Age hunter set out to trap wild animals, he was aware of his will as a living force. When the prehistoric farmer scored the surface of the earth with a crude plough, he knew that his family's survival through the winter depended on his effort, and his will responded to the challenge. When a modern city dweller walks down a crowded thoroughfare, he feels no sense of challenge or involvement. This city was built by other people, all these shops and offices are owned by other people. He can get through an ordinary day's work in a state approximating sleep. Most of his routine tasks are carried out by the 'robot'. There is neither the need or the opportunity to use the will."

ZORN ZUCKERMAN: "The 20th Century has been so much a time of everything 'losing its magic, that the only thing left is magic itself."

CONCLUSION:

Is magic simply the search for "ultimate knowledge" without the burden of "worship"? Not exactly. The Golden Dawn used to say, "The aim of religion, the method of science," which was as ambitious as it was inaccurate. The "Transcendental" without religion, as opposed to mere "Revelation" without religion, would be closer to the mark than soulless "Ultimate Knowledge." The latter is a logical, scientific goal, not a magical one. The Scientist is obliged to go wherever his will-o'-the-wisp may lead him, as Mary Shelley pointed out, stopping not even at Frankenstein's monster nor the Hydrogen Bomb nor tailor-made diseases. Thus, the scientist inevitably winds up in Hell, the epitome of "Reason". The Magician knows where he is going, dares to go there and will what he will discover and create. His work (ideally) is the transmogrification of Hell. Moreover, about what he does he can make no statement, because it is always unique, never a repeatable "trick". That is, he is in the business, not as the scientist is of "finding" meaning, but of "creating" it. But we have to remember that the phenomenological world is an illusion, which requires the magician always to remain watchful of the illusory nature of what he is doing.

Life without magic is not possible. Moreover, the important "passages" of life cannot be handled except in a frank context of High Magic: birth, adolescence, marriage, death, etc.

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

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