Panchaloha:

Panchaloha: it was a sheet of alloy of five metals, gold, silver, copper, brass and iron, the Panchaloha, out of which temple idols have to be made. (SSS-III)

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

Bal (Hebrew, Jewish). Commonly translated "Lord", but also Bel, the Chaldean god, and Baal, an "idol".

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

Tanga-Tango (Peruv.). An idol much reverenced by the Peruvians. It is the symbol of the Triune or the Trinity, "One in three, and three in One", and existed before our era.

(See also: Tanga-Tango, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

EIDOLON

Image, phantom or apparition; deliberately intended to confuse reflection or reflected image. The purpose of an idol is not worship but to serve as an aid to meditation in one's effort to enter the world of that particular god or phenomenon and in this sense an idol may be considered an eidolon, or generator of images. In a society where idols are forbidden or ignored, any ubiquitous object becomes a lure for metaphor, desire, standard, tradition, the will, etc. Thus, in many parts of the world, the automobile has come to take the place of a god or a monument and is a model for purpose and the major criterion for reality.

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

Metis (Ancient Greek). Wisdom. The Greek theology associated Metis -  Divine Wisdom, with Eros - Divine Love. The word is also said to form part of the Templars’ deity or idol Baphomet, which some authorities derive from Baphe, baptism, and Metis, wisdom; while others say that the idol represented the two teachers whom the Templars equally denied, viz., Papa or the Pope, and Mahomet.

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

Pagan Gods. The term is erroneously understood to mean idols. The philosophical idea attached to them was never that of something objective or anthropomorphic, but in each case an abstract potency, a virtue, or quality in nature. There are gods who are divine planetary spirits (Dhyan Chohans) or Devas, among which are also our Egos. With this exception, and especially whenever represented by an idol or in anthropomorphic form, the gods represent symbolically in the Hindu, Egyptian, or Chaldean Pantheons - formless spiritual Potencies of the "Unseen Kosmos".

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

Qu-tamy (Chaldean) The mystic student or initiate represented as receiving certain doctrines originally told by Saturn to the Moon, who communicated them to her idol, which revealed them to her devotee -- according to the Nabathean Agriculture.

(See also: Qu-tamy, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Puja (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root puj to honor, worship]

An offering of reverence and honor; veneration; homage and respect to superiors or to something held divine or sacred, whether made to living beings or even to idols.

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

Danava(s) (Sanskrit) Children of Danu (or Danayu) and Kasyapa, often identified with the daityas and asuras, and held to be enemies of the gods or devas. The titans and demon-magicians of the fourth root-race, almost identical with the daityas or giants and irreconcilable opponents of those groups of the fourth root-race who were the upholders of ritualism and idol-worship.

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

Nerthus (Old Sax.). The goddess of the earth, of love and beauty with the old Germans; the same as the Scandinavian Freya or Frigga. Tacitus mentions the great honours paid to Nerthus when her idol was carried on a car in triumph through several districts.

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Teraphim (Hebrew, Jewish). The same as Seraphim, or the Kabeiri Gods; serpent-images. The first Teraphim, according to legend, were received by Dardanus as a dowry, and brought by him to Samothrace and Troy. The idol-oracles of the ancient Jews. Rebecca stole them from her father Laban.

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

God:

The Universal Spirit; the eternal and all-encompassing intelligence behind all forms, shapes, sentient and insentient matter. 'It' (viz. God) has no attributes, is free of all imperfection, and beyond any similarity to all 'Creation'. 'It' and 'It' alone - not any idol or human being - is worthy of all worship.

See also Holy Spirit, Allah .

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

Assyrian Tree of Life. "Asherah" (q.v.). It is translated in the Bible by "grove " and occurs 30 times. It is called an "idol"; and Maachah, the grandmother of Asa, King of Jerusalem, is accused of having made for herself such an idol, which was a lingham. For centuries this was a religious rite in Judea.

But the original Asherah was a pillar with seven branches on each side surmounted by a globular flower with three projecting rays, and no phallic stone, as the Jews made of it, but a metaphysical symbol. "Merciful One, who dead to life raises! was the prayer uttered before the Asherah, on the banks of the Euphrates. The "Merciful One", was neither the personal god of the Jews who brought the "grove" from their captivity, nor any extra- cosmic god, but the higher triad in man symbolized by the globular flower with its three rays.

(See also: Assyrian Tree of Life, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Teraphim (Hebrew) The household, family, or domestic idols or gods of the Jews, popularly consulted for divination; in many respects closely similar to the lares and penates of the ancient Latins. Blavatsky cites Maimonides: "The worshippers of the Teraphim (the Jewish Oracles) 'carved images and claimed that the light of the principal stars (planets) permeating these through and through, the angelic Virtues (or the regents of the stars and planets) conversed with them, teaching them many most useful things and arts.' And Seldenus explains that the Teraphim were built and composed after the position of certain planets . . ." (SD 1:394).

The records of the Hebrews declare that the archaic Hebrews were as much given to consulting oracles or idols, statues, images, etc., as were any of the pagan peoples. The teraphim were just such oracular statues.

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

MONOLATRY

Worship of a single God. Many consider the idea of "one" God a step backward. Monotheism, it is claimed, is clumsy - it attributes everything to a single fons et origo and then forbids us to examine this resultant "Everything Factory" because it is beyond human comprehension. In other words, monotheism is just another, more pernicious symptom of atheism or agnosticism, except that the believers create a fetishistic idol and then stand in awe of their own ignorance, which it represents.

The Egyptians were not such sticklers about keeping boundaries between monotheism and polytheism. If the Xtians were honest they'd admit that the Trinity is pure polytheism. Indeed, not even the Jews are strictly monotheistic, as their hierarchies of angels indicate, as the Hebrew language itself betrays its polytheistic origins. And as Hakim Bey says, if the muslims understood Islam, they'd worship idols.

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

Ma-li-ga-si-ma (Chinese) The continent which legend relates formerly sank beneath the ocean's waves. As related in a legend, owing to the iniquity of the giants in Ma-li-ga-si-ma, it was submerged with all its inhabitants, except the king, Peiru-un, who was able to escape from the deluge with his family, having been warned by the gods of the impending catastrophe through two idols. This king and his descendants peopled China.

(See also: Ma-li-ga-si-ma, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Aher (Hebrew) To be after, behind, secondary, another; the plural 'aherim, especially when used in conjunction with 'elohim, means "other or strange gods," which were supposed to be merely idols. As the Hebrew scriptures themselves show, the ancient Hebrews never at any time denied the existence of the gods of other peoples, but being utterly and strongly tribalistic, their own god Jehovah was to them supreme. Their tribal god is the regent of the planet Saturn, who was their planetary hierarch, and consequently, to them, the supreme god -- the god over all other gods. Had the Jews been born as a people under the regent of some other planet, the hierarchical regent of this other planet would then have been in their opinion the supreme god.

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

Baphomet (from Greek baphe immersion + metis wisdom)

A medieval mystic term usually identified with the goat of Mendes. The Templars of Malta were accused of worshiping Baphomet as an idol. Baphomat signifies a baptism in wisdom or initiation, but became degraded and misunderstood when the keys to its real meaning were lost. Pan, the Greek nature god, was often represented with the horns and hoofs of a goat; however, "Pan is related to the Mendesian goat, only so far as the latter represents, as a talisman of great occult potency, nature's creative force" (TG 246).

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

Jagan-Natha (Sanskrit). Lit., "Lord of the World", a title of Vishnu. The great image of Jagan-natha on its car, commonly pronounced and spelt Jagernath. The idol is that of Vishnu Krishna. Puri, near the town of Cuttack in Orissa, is the great seat of its worship; and twice a year an immense number of pilgrims attend the festivals of the Snana yatra and Ratha-atra During the first, the image is bathed, and during the second it is placed on a car, between the images of Balarama the brother, and Subhadra the sister of Krishna and the huge vehicle is drawn by the devotees, who deem it felicity to be crushed to death under it.

(See also: Jagan-Natha, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

ANALOGY

Eliphas Levi considers analogy to be the root principle of all wisdom, the mainspring of science and the link between "finite and infinite". At bottom is a fundamental Unity and rising out of that, everything is connected to everything else (only superficially via analogy). Balance and harmony derive from the analogy of opposites. In the Orient, this same balance is the basis of the martial arts, such as jiu-jitsu.

The modern temperament has made idols of pragmatism and progress, while rejecting analogy to the backwaters of fable and poesie. We equate metaphysical depth with children's stories and make simple-minded mechanics the criterion of mature wisdom.

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

Moloch (Hebrew) Royal, king -- another form of the more usual melech; an idol of the Moabites and the Ammonites, also called Milcom, to which Jews after the time of Solomon are said to have sacrificed infants. Some scholars suggest that the Hebrews looked upon Moloch as the title of Yahweh or Yihweh (Jehovah).

Even when occurring in the Bible the rendering is "the Molech," and the idea is that of dedication -- "to make one's son or daughter pass through fire to (the) Molech" (2 King 23:10); and Jeremiah seems to indicate that immolation was practiced. Nothing of such a practice has been discovered in the ancient Assyrian or Babylonian empires, but ancient Greek writers have suggested that the Phoenicians had such a custom.

Diodorus (19:14) mentions a Carthaginian idol made of brass into which children were placed, and compares it to the child-eating Kronos. Blavatsky suggests that the Moloch of the Ammonites was the King of the Hosts of Heaven, the sun (SD 1:397); and there was undoubtedly some such connection, yet antiquity has identified Kronos with the planet Saturn, which was held in reverence by all the ancient Shemitic peoples, the Jews included.

(See also: Moloch, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)