Matter Dictionary

Hiranya (Sanskrit) Golden, hence any vessel or ornament made of gold; also substance, imperishable matter.

See also HIRANYAGARBHA

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

Kshira ksira (Sanskrit) Milk; mystically, the curds of space, or the nebulous matter of the spatial deeps, out of which universes, solar systems, or planets are evolved.

(See also: Kshira, ksira, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Om:

The primordial vibration;origin of all sound; a sacred symbol of the Hindu religion.Signifies the fundamental vibration (sound) produced by all matter in the universe.

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

Ektroma (Greek) Abortion; with the Valentinian Gnostics, "the Square of primordial Matter, or Chaos, emanated by Sophia . . ." (BCW 13:16).

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

Pravritti pravrtti (Sanskrit) [from pra forth, forwards + the verbal root vrit to roll, turn, unfold]

Evolution or emanation; the process of unwrapping or unfolding-forth, as of spirit entities into matter or, conversely, of matter-lives back into spirit entities. It is usually restricted to the process by which spirit descends into matter or the passage of the monads down the shadowy arc.

See also NIVRITTI

(See also: Pravritti, pravrtti, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Hylozoism (from Greek hyle matter + zoe life)

A term used by Ralph Cudworth (1617-88); the doctrine that matter includes its own vitalizing principle. Contrasted in The Secret Doctrine with crude materialism on the one hand and anthropomorphic deism on the other, it is said to be tantamount to a kind of pantheism.

The Stoics, using the word matter to mean something that actually exists, argued that the vitalizing agents in matter, although spiritual in origin, must themselves be material in order to affect matter. The duality between spirit and matter, or the active and passive potencies, they regarded as formal and a concession to Aristotelianism. They recognized the mind and vitality inherent in nature:

"Nature is a habit moved from itself, according to seminal principles," says Laertius, after Zeno. This is equivalent to recognizing the hierarchies of gods, in contrast with the notion that one "Supreme Architect" concerns himself directly with the innumerable details of the inferior ranges of the universe.

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

Hylozoism (from Greek hyle matter + zoe life)

A term used by Ralph Cudworth (1617-88); the doctrine that matter includes its own vitalizing principle. Contrasted in The Secret Doctrine with crude materialism on the one hand and anthropomorphic deism on the other, it is said to be tantamount to a kind of pantheism.

The Stoics, using the word matter to mean something that actually exists, argued that the vitalizing agents in matter, although spiritual in origin, must themselves be material in order to affect matter. The duality between spirit and matter, or the active and passive potencies, they regarded as formal and a concession to Aristotelianism. They recognized the mind and vitality inherent in nature:

"Nature is a habit moved from itself, according to seminal principles," says Laertius, after Zeno. This is equivalent to recognizing the hierarchies of gods, in contrast with the notion that one "Supreme Architect" concerns himself directly with the innumerable details of the inferior ranges of the universe.

(See also: Hylo-idealism, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

World-stuff Primordial substance out of which universes, solar systems, or worlds are developed; mulaprakriti (root-matter). Primordial matter in its first form of condensation, the radiant spiritual essence, the spiritual or ethereal "curds" which later become differentiated into the prakritis.

(See also: World-stuff, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

ANIMISM (Latin, anima: "air, soul"):

 The belief that all life is produced by a spiritual force separate from matter;

 The belief that natural phenomena and objects are alive and have souls;

 The doctrine of the existence of soul as independent of matter;

 The belief in the existence of spirits, demons, etc.

(See also: ANIMISM, Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Nebula (Latin) Mist, cloud; in astronomy, cloudlike appearances seen at distances comparable to those of the fixed stars. A true or irresolvable nebula is said to be gaseous rather than a cluster of stars. Irresolvable nebulae are cosmic matter which has reached a plane of condensation where it is ready for building into worlds by the action of intelligent fohatic energy.

Dark nebulae are masses of unknown substance sufficient to obscure the light of the stars behind them. These are composed of primordial or dormant matter, or matter at times in a state of atomic dissociation. The kinetic activities of world-building in them that have not yet begun, whereas the light nebulae represent the processes of building.

Theosophy holds that a nebula is the first stage of manifestation on the highest subplanes of the physical cosmic plane of the physical vehicle of a planet or star. Virtually all of the true irresolvable nebulae, however, are composed of matter which is hardly physical at all -- physical matter in its 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th state or condition counting upwards, and hence not the physical matter known and experimented upon in the laboratory.

(See also: Nebula, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Monism A philosophy which derives all phenomena from a single origin: thus, making mind the result of matter; matter the result of mind; or again, mind and matter the result of some unitary essence prior to both.

Far from being incompatible with dualism, monism is logically interdependent with it. Duality prevails everywhere, and everywhere dualities can be referred back to unities. The triad is the true number of manifestation and the key to the dispute between monists and dualists.

See also DUALISM

(See also: Monism, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Space

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

Mulaprakriti (Sanskrit). The Parabrahmic root, the abstract deific feminine principle - undifferentiated substance. Akasa. Literally, "the root of Nature" (Prakriti) or Matter.

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

Mukta and Mukti (Sanskrit). Liberation from sentient life; one beatified or liberated; a candidate for Moksha, freedom from flesh and matter, or life on this earth.

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

Rajas (Sanskrit). The "quality of foulness" (i.e., differentiation), and activity in the Puranas. One of the three Gunas or divisions in the correlations of matter and nature, representing form and change.

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

Santa (Sanskrit). Lit., "placidity ". The primeval quality of the latent, undifferentiated state of elementary matter.

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

Tamas (Sanskrit). The quality of darkness, "foulness" and inertia; also of ignorance, as matter is blind. A term used in metaphysical philosophy. It is the lowest of the three gunas or fundamental qualities.

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

Cosmic ideation (Occult.) Eternal thought, impressed on substance or spirit-matter, in the eternity ; thought which becomes active at the beginning of every new life-cycle.

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

Limbus Major (Latin). A term used by Paracelsus to denote primordial (alchemical) matter; "Adam’s earth".

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

Kaliya (Sanskrit). The five-headed serpent killed by Krishna in his childhood. A mystical monster symbolizing the passions of man - the river or water being a symbol of matter.

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

Hyle (Ancient Greek). Primordial stuff or matter; esoterically the homogeneous sediment of Chaos or the Great Deep. The first principle out of which the objective Universe was formed.

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

Bhuta-sarga (Sanskrit). Elemental or incipient Creation, i.e., when matter was several degrees less material than it is now.

(See also: Bhuta-sarga, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )