Mahatmya (Sanskrit) Magnanimity; exalted state; the virtue of any divinity or sacred shrine. Also refers to a work which gives an account of the legends and merits of any holy place or object.

(See also: Mahatmya, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Maqom (Hebrew) A place, a dwelling place; also a city, a village.

In the Qabbalah a secret place, in the cosmos referring to the heavenly celestial matrix or womb, on earth to the mystical Holy of Holies, and in the human being to the womb.

This purely physiological usage is a degradation of the original highly mystical and impersonal sense as the womb of space or of the Vedic Aditi -- the cosmic Virgin Mother, continuously bringing into manifested birth universes and all that are in them.

(See also: Maqom, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Apples: Spiritual fruit; aroma; sweet allure; to be tempted to eat of the fruit of sin; a word fitly spoken; As the Apple of His Eye: God's care; security of the believer; the law. (Zech 2; 8; Deut. 32:10; Prov. 7:2; 25:11; Ps. 17:8; Gal. 5:22-23)

(Source: Tehillah Ministries)

Related pages: Christian Dream Interpretation, Dream Symbols, Dream Interpretation, Dream Symbol Apples, Dream Dictionary Apples, Meaning of dreams about Apples, Dream Interpretation Apples, Dream Analysis Apples, Dreaming of Apples

apples, apple, spiritual fruit, fruit, fruits, aroma, allure fruit of sin, tempted, temptation, filthy words, apple of his eye: god's care,

Penetralia (Latin) [from pen within]

The inner parts of a house, etc.; hence also a shrine or sacred chamber, a Holy of Holies. The original conception of the Holy of Holies was of a place of such purity and sacredness that none might enter save the high priest, and he only on rare and special occasions. It might contain no image or concrete representation of a divinity. Later, this pure conception was degraded to phallicism.

The origin of the reverence and often worship paid to the Holy of Holies by some ancient peoples lay in Atlantean religious magic. For among them, there were actual places of earth, or penetralia, of particular sanctity; because by working of magic these were actually filled or infilled with a presence of spiritual-divine character. Indeed, these penetralia among the Atlanteans were of two classes: places in which the presence of a divinity was actually there, so that it could be felt by sensitives and communication had with it by trained adepts; and similar penetralia but of the left-hand path, in which dark spirits of the earth were enchained and were consulted by adepts of evil. In later times when the secrets of Atlantean magic were largely lost, the custom of building a Holy of Holies continued to be as common as in Atlantean times.

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

Prayag:

Prayag (Prayaaga). Holy place at the meeting point of Ganga, Yamuna, and the underground Saraswathi rivers. Modern Allahabad in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Bathing here would give great spiritual blessing.

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

Prayag:

Prayag: Holy place at the meeting point of Ganga, Yamuna, and the underground Sarasvathi rivers. Modern Allahabad in the State of Utthar Pradesh. Bathing here would give great spiritual blessing.

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

Darshan:

Darshan is the blessings communicated through being in the presence of a holy person or place. Merely looking at the yogi and receiving the yogi's glance transfer an immense spiritual energy, which can profoundly transforms one's consciousness.

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

Qodesh (Hebrew) Also Kedosh, Kedesh. Holiness, sanctity; a holy place, sanctuary; that which is holy or consecrated.

The feminine plural, Qedeshoth, and masculine plural, Qedeshim, in Biblical times referred to the women and men of degenerate times who were attached to certain temples as temple servants, the women here being equivalent to the nachnis (nautch-girls of the Hindu pagodas) or temple prostitutes. The men were "Galli, the mutilated priests of the lascivious rites of Venus Astarte, who lived 'by the house of the Lord' " (TG 169).

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

vanaprastha

A man or woman in the retired order of life, the third stage of spiritual progress in the varnashrama social system. In this order a married man leaves home and travels to the forest and holy places of pilgrimage, either with or without his wife, to prepare himself for full renunciation, sannyasa.

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

Holy of Holies Equivalent to the Latin Sanctum sanctorum, referring to the sacred place in temples or churches from which all but the chief priest or hierophant were excluded. In pre-Christian times the ancient temples each had its especial sanctuary, in which was placed an altar or receptacle of some kind, be it ark, box, or some similar thing, perhaps even a sarcophagus.

The Holy of Holies in theory was the seat, residence, or sanctuary of the god or goddess to whom the temple had been consecrated; and piety always considered that the divine power was present there. A similar series of ideas clothes the chancel and its contained altar in Christian Churches even today.

The Holy of Holies, however, must not be confused with initiation chambers also contained in many temples and caves of antiquity, in which during the rites of initiation the neophyte entered, was initiated, and thereafter left the sacred precincts as reborn. In ancient Egypt the holy of holies par excellence of this latter type was the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid; and the coffer there was the sarcophagus used for initiation purposes. The sarcophagus was symbolic of the female principle, as from the feminine principle of nature, as a mother, was born the new "child" or disciple, now become a twice-born. The idea of the twice-born was that the physical birth came from the human mother, while the mystic birth took place from the womb of nature, of which the initiation chamber was the emblem. Hence at a much later date arose the phallic idea of the Jews that the human female womb was the maqom (the place).

Although part of the Hindu ceremonies necessitated a passing through the golden cow, as an emblem of Mother Nature, the neophyte did this in the same stooping position that was done in passing through the gallery in the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

"The ceremony of passing through the Holy of Holies (now symbolized by the cow), in the beginning through the temple Hiranya gharba (the radiant Egg) -- in itself a symbol of Universal, abstract nature -- meant spiritual conception and birth, or rather the re-birth of the individual and his regeneration: the stooping man at the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum, ready to pass through the matrix of mother nature, or the physical creature ready to re-become the original spiritual Being, pre-natal Man" (SD 2:469-70).

Holy of Holies has a specific meaning in connection with the Jewish tabernacle, as explained in Exodus, referring to the inner part, the western division of the tabernacle. Three of the sides of the holy place were the walls of the tabernacle itself, while the fourth or eastern end of the sanctum was closed by a curtain or veil -- upon which were the figures of the cherubim -- suspended from four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold. The intention was to have this Holy of Holies in the shape of a perfect cube, the length, breath, and height being each ten cubits. In this sanctuary was placed the Ark of the Covenant or Testament, made of shittim wood overlaid with gold.

Upon the Ark was the golden mercy-seat (the kapporeth), also two golden cherubim facing towards the center. Instead of being a "sarcophagus (the symbol of the matrix of Nature and resurrection) as in the Sanctum sanctorum of the pagans, they had the ark made still more realistic in its construction by the two cherubs set up on the coffer or ark of the covenant, facing each other, with their wings spread in such a manner as to form a perfect yoni (as now seen in India). Besides which, this generative symbol had its significance enforced by the four mystic letters of Jehovah's name, namely ; or  meaning Jod (membrum Virile, see Kabala);  (He, the womb);  (Vau, a crook or a hook, a nail), and  again, meaning also 'an opening'; the whole forming the perfect bisexual emblem or symbol or Y(e)H(o)V(a)H, the male and female symbol" (SD 2:460). However, "the worship of the 'god in the ark' dates only from David; and for a thousand years Israel knew of no phallic Jehovah" (SD 2:469).

See also ARK

(See also: Holy of Holies, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Holy of Holies Equivalent to the Latin Sanctum sanctorum, referring to the sacred place in temples or churches from which all but the chief priest or hierophant were excluded. In pre-Christian times the ancient temples each had its especial sanctuary, in which was placed an altar or receptacle of some kind, be it ark, box, or some similar thing, perhaps even a sarcophagus.

The Holy of Holies in theory was the seat, residence, or sanctuary of the god or goddess to whom the temple had been consecrated; and piety always considered that the divine power was present there. A similar series of ideas clothes the chancel and its contained altar in Christian Churches even today.

The Holy of Holies, however, must not be confused with initiation chambers also contained in many temples and caves of antiquity, in which during the rites of initiation the neophyte entered, was initiated, and thereafter left the sacred precincts as reborn. In ancient Egypt the holy of holies par excellence of this latter type was the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid; and the coffer there was the sarcophagus used for initiation purposes. The sarcophagus was symbolic of the female principle, as from the feminine principle of nature, as a mother, was born the new "child" or disciple, now become a twice-born. The idea of the twice-born was that the physical birth came from the human mother, while the mystic birth took place from the womb of nature, of which the initiation chamber was the emblem. Hence at a much later date arose the phallic idea of the Jews that the human female womb was the maqom (the place).

Although part of the Hindu ceremonies necessitated a passing through the golden cow, as an emblem of Mother Nature, the neophyte did this in the same stooping position that was done in passing through the gallery in the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

"The ceremony of passing through the Holy of Holies (now symbolized by the cow), in the beginning through the temple Hiranya gharba (the radiant Egg) -- in itself a symbol of Universal, abstract nature -- meant spiritual conception and birth, or rather the re-birth of the individual and his regeneration: the stooping man at the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum, ready to pass through the matrix of mother nature, or the physical creature ready to re-become the original spiritual Being, pre-natal Man" (SD 2:469-70).

Holy of Holies has a specific meaning in connection with the Jewish tabernacle, as explained in Exodus, referring to the inner part, the western division of the tabernacle. Three of the sides of the holy place were the walls of the tabernacle itself, while the fourth or eastern end of the sanctum was closed by a curtain or veil -- upon which were the figures of the cherubim -- suspended from four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold. The intention was to have this Holy of Holies in the shape of a perfect cube, the length, breath, and height being each ten cubits. In this sanctuary was placed the Ark of the Covenant or Testament, made of shittim wood overlaid with gold.

Upon the Ark was the golden mercy-seat (the kapporeth), also two golden cherubim facing towards the center. Instead of being a "sarcophagus (the symbol of the matrix of Nature and resurrection) as in the Sanctum sanctorum of the pagans, they had the ark made still more realistic in its construction by the two cherubs set up on the coffer or ark of the covenant, facing each other, with their wings spread in such a manner as to form a perfect yoni (as now seen in India). Besides which, this generative symbol had its significance enforced by the four mystic letters of Jehovah's name, namely ; or  meaning Jod (membrum Virile, see Kabala);  (He, the womb);  (Vau, a crook or a hook, a nail), and  again, meaning also 'an opening'; the whole forming the perfect bisexual emblem or symbol or Y(e)H(o)V(a)H, the male and female symbol" (SD 2:460). However, "the worship of the 'god in the ark' dates only from David; and for a thousand years Israel knew of no phallic Jehovah" (SD 2:469).

See also ARK

(See also: Holy Ghost, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Holi:

Holi: Present day India knows the tradition of the holi-celebrations, the festival of colors once year on the morning after the full moon in early March every year, where one plays this game. It celebrates the arrival of spring and the death of the demoness Holika. Holika was the sister of Hiranyakasipu who fighting Prahlada couldn't succeed in killing him [see 7.5]. She, said to be fire resistant,sitting with him in a fire couldn't harm him. He remained unscathed, but she burns in the fire to ashes. Thus are with holi the night before great bonfires lit to commemorate the story. Although holi is observed all over the north, it's celebrated with special joy and zest at Mathura, Vrindavana, Nandgaon, and Barsnar (the places where Lord Krishna and S'ri Radha grew up. Lord Krishna, while growing up in Vraja, popularized the festival with His ingenious pranks. The Gopis of Vraja responded with equal enthusiasm and the festivities have continued ever since. Role reversal with travesty, feminism etc. are accepted customs for the duration of the festival. Men and women of Vraja clash in a colorful display of a mock battle of the sexes. A naturally occurring orange-red dye, Kesudo, is used to drench all participants. (SB, 10:75-15 etc.)

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

Holy City Many spiritual traditions symbolize the goal of human attainment or the abode of the gods as a holy city. With the Hindus, Brahmapura is the capital of Brahma on Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas or on Mt. Meru, as well as being the inmost chamber of the heart.

According to the Chhandogya Upanishad (8:1:1), within the Brahmapura "is an abode, a small lotus-flower; within it is a small space (antarakasa). What is within that, should be searched out; that, assuredly, is what one should desire to understand." Hiranyapura (golden city) stands for the sun and for the invisible, etheric regions of space; while the Siddhapura or White Island is both the indestructible home of adepts on earth and the poles of the earth or Mt. Meru.

The Jews and Christians speak of the City of God or heavenly Jerusalem, the secret or sacred Salem, which is the goal of human spiritual attainment. This is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem, the earth or human world. In the Qabbalah, the Holy City symbolizes both the holy of holies and the maqom which is "(the Secret Place or the Shrine) on Earth: in other words, the human womb, the microcosmic copy and reflection of the Heavenly Matrix, the female space or primeval Chaos, in which the male Spirit fecundates the germ of the Son, or the visible Universe" (SD 2:84).

(See also: Holy City, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Holy City Many spiritual traditions symbolize the goal of human attainment or the abode of the gods as a holy city. With the Hindus, Brahmapura is the capital of Brahma on Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas or on Mt. Meru, as well as being the inmost chamber of the heart.

According to the Chhandogya Upanishad (8:1:1), within the Brahmapura "is an abode, a small lotus-flower; within it is a small space (antarakasa). What is within that, should be searched out; that, assuredly, is what one should desire to understand." Hiranyapura (golden city) stands for the sun and for the invisible, etheric regions of space; while the Siddhapura or White Island is both the indestructible home of adepts on earth and the poles of the earth or Mt. Meru.

The Jews and Christians speak of the City of God or heavenly Jerusalem, the secret or sacred Salem, which is the goal of human spiritual attainment. This is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem, the earth or human world. In the Qabbalah, the Holy City symbolizes both the holy of holies and the maqom which is "(the Secret Place or the Shrine) on Earth: in other words, the human womb, the microcosmic copy and reflection of the Heavenly Matrix, the female space or primeval Chaos, in which the male Spirit fecundates the germ of the Son, or the visible Universe" (SD 2:84).

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

Kumbha:

Literally means water-pot or jug, referring to the eleventh sign of the zodiac known in the west as Aquarius. It is interesting to note that the largest gathering of humans on earth is the Kumbha-Mela festival in Northern India, which occurs every twelve years when Jupiter transits the sign of Kumbha in the sky. This festival takes place at the confluence of three holy rivers known as Tri-Veni in Northern India, where nectar once fell from the sky.

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

Holy of Holies. The Assyriologists, Egyptologists, and Orientalists, in general, show that such a place existed in every temple of antiquity.

The great temple of Bel-Merodach whose sides faced the four cardinal points, had in its extreme end a "Holy of Holies" hidden from the profane by a veil: here, "at the beginning of the year ‘the divine king of heaven and earth, the lord of the heavens, seats himself’."

According to Herodotus, here was the golden image of the god with a golden table in front like the Hebrew table for the shew bread, and upon this, food appears to have been placed. in some temples there also was "a little coffer or ark with two engraved stone tablets on it". (Myer’s Qabbalah.) In short, it is now pretty well proven, that the "chosen people" had nothing original of their own, but that every detail of their ritualism and religion was borrowed from older nations. The Hibbert Lectures by Prof. Sayce and others show this abundantly.

The story of the birth of Moses is that of Sargon, the Babylonian, who preceded Moses by a couple of thousand years; and no wonder, as Dr. Sayce tells us that the name of Moses, Mosheh, has a connection with the name of the Babylonian sun-god as the "hero" or "leader". (Hib. Lect., p. 46 et seq.)

Says Mr. J. Myer, "The orders of the priests were divided into high priests, those attached or bound to certain deities, like the Hebrew Levites; anointers or cleaners ; the Kali, ‘illustrious’ or ‘elders’; the soothsayers, and the Makhkhu or ‘great one’, in which Prof. Delitzsch sees the Rab-mag of the Old Testament. . . The Akkadians and Chaldeans kept a Sabbath day of rest every seven days, they also had thanksgiving days, and days for humiliation and prayer. There were sacrifices of vegetables and animals, of meats and wine. . . . The number seven was especially sacred. . . . The great temple of Babylon existed long before 2,250 B.c. Its ‘Holy of Holies’ was with in the shrine of Nebo, the prophet god of wisdom." It is from the Akkadians that the god Mardak passed to the Assyrians, and he had been before Merodach, "the merciful", of the Babylonians, the only son and interpreter of the will of Ea or Hea, the great Deity of Wisdom. The Assyriologists have, in short, unveiled the whole scheme of the "chosen people".

(See also: Holy of Holies, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Holy Water As practiced in the Roman Catholic Church the rite is virtually identical with that of the ancient Egyptians: the water which has been blessed or consecrated is used to sprinkle the worshipers and objects used in the church service.

It was unquestionably adopted from the ancient Mysteries, and became a rite of external symbolic purification. In Egypt and pagan Rome, it "accompanied the rite of bread and wine. 'Holy water was sprinkled by the Egyptian priest alike upon his gods' images and the faithful. It was both poured and sprinkled.

A brush has been found, supposed to have been used for that purpose, as at this day.' (Bonwick's Egyptian Belief (p. 418)) As to the bread, 'the cakes of Isis . . . were placed upon the altar. Gliddon writes that they were "identical in shape with the consecrated cake of the Roman and Eastern Churches." Melville assures us "the Egyptians marked this holy bread with St. Andrew's cross." The Presence bread was broken before being distributed by the priests to the people, and was supposed to become the flesh and blood of the Deity. The miracle was wrought by the hand of the officiating priest, who blessed the food. . . . Rouge tells us "the bread offerings bear the imprint of the fingers, the mark of consecration".' (Ibid, page 418)" (TG 144-5).

(See also: Holy Water, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Holy Water As practiced in the Roman Catholic Church the rite is virtually identical with that of the ancient Egyptians: the water which has been blessed or consecrated is used to sprinkle the worshipers and objects used in the church service.

It was unquestionably adopted from the ancient Mysteries, and became a rite of external symbolic purification. In Egypt and pagan Rome, it "accompanied the rite of bread and wine. 'Holy water was sprinkled by the Egyptian priest alike upon his gods' images and the faithful. It was both poured and sprinkled.

A brush has been found, supposed to have been used for that purpose, as at this day.' (Bonwick's Egyptian Belief (p. 418)) As to the bread, 'the cakes of Isis . . . were placed upon the altar. Gliddon writes that they were "identical in shape with the consecrated cake of the Roman and Eastern Churches." Melville assures us "the Egyptians marked this holy bread with St. Andrew's cross." The Presence bread was broken before being distributed by the priests to the people, and was supposed to become the flesh and blood of the Deity. The miracle was wrought by the hand of the officiating priest, who blessed the food. . . . Rouge tells us "the bread offerings bear the imprint of the fingers, the mark of consecration".' (Ibid, page 418)" (TG 144-5).

(See also: Holy Spirit, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Sisumara (Sanskrit). An imaginary rotating belt, upon which all the celestial bodies move.

This host of stars and constellations is represented under the figure of Sisumara, a tortoise (some say a porpoise !), dragon, crocodile, and what not. But as it is a symbol of the Yoga-meditation of holy Vasudeva or Krishna, it must be a crocodile, or rather, a dolphin, since it is identical with the zodiacal Makara. Dhruva, the ancient pole-star, is placed at the tip of the tail of this sidereal monster, whose head points southward and whose body bends in a ring.

Higher along the tail are the Prajapati Agni, etc., and at its root are placed Indra, Dharma, and the seven Rishis (the Great Bear), etc., etc. The meaning is of course mystical.

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

Holy Water. This is one of the oldest rites practised in Egypt, and thence in Pagan Rome. It accompanied the rite of bread and wine. "Holy water was sprinkled by the Egyptian priest alike upon his gods’ images and the faithful. It was both poured and sprinkled.

A brush has been found, supposed to have been used for that purpose, as at this day." (Bonwick’s Egyptian Belief.) As to the bread, "the cakes of Isis were placed upon the altar. Gliddon writes that they were ‘identical in shape with the consecrated cake of the Roman and Eastern Churches’. Melville assures us ‘the Egyptians marked this holy bread with St. Andrew’s cross’.

The Presence bread was broken before being distributed by the priests to the people, and was supposed to become the flesh and blood of the Deity. The miracle was wrought by the hand of the officiating priest, who blessed the food. . . . Rouge tells us ‘the bread offerings bear the imprint of the fingers, the mark of consecration ‘."

(Ibid, page 458.) (See also " Bread and Wine".)

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

Promised Land Exoterically, the so-called Holy Land of Palestine, which was promised to the Hebrews as the goal of their wanderings. All peoples of the earth cherish the hope of reaching a Promised Land where peace, happiness, and prosperity will once again be the endowment of the human race.

Esoterically it is nirvana or the pristine spiritual laya-state from which issued the eternal monad and to which it shall ultimately return. It also refers to the sublime consummation of human evolutionary destiny which will take place at the end of the seventh round on the last globe of our planetary chain; and to the reaching by the neophyte through self-devised efforts and initiation of the full status of mahatmaship or minor dhyan-chohanship even on this earth.

(See also: Promised Land, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)