Definition and meaning of Forty Niners:

Forty Niners

Miners who rushed to California after the discovery of gold in the northern part of the territory in 1848 were called "forty-niners."

(Source: Madrid Waddington High School )

Also see these pages:  American History, American History Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of Non-renewable Resources

Non-renewable Resources

A non-renewable resource is a finite resource that cannot be replaced once it is used (e.g. fossil fuels, minerals).

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of Non-renewable Resources

Non-renewable Resources

A non-renewable resource is a finite resource that cannot be replaced once it is used (e.g. fossil fuels, minerals).

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Kingdom(s) In natural history, a large group, department, or domain, marked off from others by characteristic qualities, three being generally recognized: animal, vegetable, and mineral, with mankind at the summit of the animal kingdom. Ancient thought as a whole, however, took account of vast spheres of cosmic inner space and inner consciousness inhabited by numerous hierarchies of all-various evolving, intelligent, and semi-intelligent beings.

Hence it is that mankind was a separate kingdom; and, if we consider human nature as a whole, humanity is more sharply distinguished from the lower kingdoms than they are from each other. To these four in theosophy are added three kingdoms below the mineral called elemental kingdoms, thus making a septenate. Above the human may be enumerated three dhyani-chohanic or god kingdoms, but the word "man" has often been used so as to include these kingdoms. These divisions correspond to the other septenary and denary divisions in the cosmos.

The more highly each kingdom is specialized along its peculiar lines, the more sharply is it differentiated from the other kingdoms; but the distinction tends to disappear and merge into a continuity when the entities in the different kingdoms are in an elementary or germinal stage. The entities in any kingdom higher than the lowest must pass in brief recapitulation through all the stages represented by the preceding kingdoms, before they can develop the features characteristic of their own kingdom.

In another sense, kingdom is sometimes used in theosophy to signify the life-waves circling around a planetary chain, or the various individualized hierarchies in universal nature, each one comprising the kingdom or domain of its own characteristic species, topped by its hierarch.

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

Crystals, Crystallization The formation of crystals shows the working of intelligent life forces in the mineral world. The shapes of crystals show, in their harmony and proportion, the mathematical and geometrical principles permeant throughout the universe.

A solution of salt, when evaporated, first crystallizes in triangular shapes and ultimately builds up cubes, both of which are symbolical figures of fundamental importance; and salt is a well-known alchemical symbol of the element of earth, also denoted by the cubical shape. Every salt has a particular form in which it crystallizes, or has perhaps two different forms; but different salts may have the same crystalline form.

Snow crystals show the hexagonal patterns which display the septenate -- a center from which six radii proceed. Cubic, tetragonal, hexagonal, and octagonal shapes occur; but the fivefold forms of the regular dodecahedron and icosahedron are not found. Clairvoyant sensitives see light emanating from crystals, and luminous phenomena are often seen at the formation or disruption of crystals. Blavatsky alludes to the idea that the process of crystallization might be a step in the evolution of the minerals to the next higher kingdom.

(See also: Crystals, Crystallization, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Brahma (Sanskrit). The student must distinguish between Brahma the neuter, and Brahma, the male creator of the Indian Pantheon. The former, Brahma or Brahman, is the impersonal, supreme and uncognizable Principle of the Universe from the essence of which all emanates, and into which all returns, which is incorporeal, immaterial, unborn, eternal, beginningless and endless.

It is all-pervading, animating the highest god as well as the smallest mineral atom. Brahma on the other hand, the male and the alleged Creator, exists periodically in his manifestation only, and then again goes into pralaya, i.e., disappears and is annihilated.

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

Sulfur, Sulphur In European medieval alchemy, a cosmic element of which the mineral sulfur was regarded as a manifestation or correspondence. In classical Latin, also used for lightning, and the Greek for sulfur is theion (divine); it was regarded as having a purifying, and protective power.

The alchemical division of nature and man into spirit, body, and soul shows sulfur as denoting spirit and the element fire. Sulfur and mercury are used as a means to physical longevity (IU 2:220-1). It is used as a purificatory agent in modern medicine, and popular usage has sanctioned its efficacy in the insoluble form of brimstone.

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

Skidbladnir (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from skid ski + blad blade]

The mythical ship belonging to the Norse god Frey, who dwells in and sponsors the planet earth. Skidbladnir thus represents our globe. It contains the seeds of all life forms, and yet can be folded together like a kerchief when its life is over.

The Eddas relate how Skidbladnir was created for Frey by the dwarf Dvalin (undeveloped humanity) with the aid of the giant-god Loki (human mind), in a competition against the dwarfs Sindre (vegetation) and Brock (mineral kingdom), children of the moon god Ivalde.

See also DWARFS

(See also: Skidbladnir, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Ring Employed in the early days of the Theosophical Society, especially in connection with the correspondence held by the mahatmas with A. P. Sinnett and A. O. Hume, to signify any one of the many evolutionary cyclings followed by the monads in and through the different kingdoms of nature, such as the elemental, mineral, vegetable, etc.

Any group of such monads thus collected together is called a life-wave. Every one of the seven, ten, or twelve classes of monads must follow every one of such rings in order to evolve the karmic and latent powers and capacities involved in the monad and held by it as evolutionary tendencies or urges.

In connection with the human kingdom or life-wave, ring or rings has been superseded by the term root-races.

See also ROUND

(See also: Ring, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Mjolnir (Icelandic) [from mjoll meal, flour from mala, mola to grind, crush, mill]

Also Miolnir. The hammer of Thor, the Thunderer in Norse mythology, a gift to the god from the dwarfs Brock (mineral kingdom) and Sindri (vegetation), sons of Ivaldi, the lunar life cycle.

It is at once the instrument of creation and destruction, being the emblem of marriage on one hand and the weapon whereby the giants (cycles of material life) are destroyed. It is the magic mill which creates all things -- gold, salt, happiness, peace, etc. -- as well as grinding up all substance and recycling it for future use in worlds to come. Blavatsky likens the hammer of Thor to the fire weapon agneyastra of the Hindu Puranas and Mahabharata (TG 215).

(See also: Mjolnir, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

orthomolecular medicine (orthomolecular nutritional medicine, orthomolecular therapy): An approach to therapy whose centerpiece is megavitamin therapy. Orthomolecular medicine encompasses hair analysis, orthomolecular nutrition (a form of megavitamin therapy), and orthomolecular psychiatry. Linus Carl Pauling, Ph.D. (1901-1994), coined the word orthomolecular. The prefix ortho- means straight, and the implicit meaning of orthomolecular is to straighten (correct) concentrations of specific molecules. The primary principle of orthomolecular medicine is that nutrition is the foremost consideration in diagnosis and treatment. Its focus is normalizing the balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and similar substances in the body.

(See also: Orthomolecular medicine, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

orthomolecular medicine (orthomolecular nutritional medicine, orthomolecular therapy): An approach to therapy whose centerpiece is megavitamin therapy.

Orthomolecular medicine encompasses hair analysis, orthomolecular nutrition (a form of megavitamin therapy), and orthomolecular psychiatry. Linus Carl Pauling, Ph.D. (1901-1994), coined the word orthomolecular.

The prefix ortho- means straight, and the implicit meaning of orthomolecular is to straighten (correct) concentrations of specific molecules. The primary principle of orthomolecular medicine is that nutrition is the foremost consideration in diagnosis and treatment. Its focus is normalizing the balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and similar substances in the body.

(See also: Orthomolecular medicine, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Definition and meaning of basalt:

basalt - a dark, fine-grained igneous rock composed of minerals rich in ferromagnesian silicates

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Definition and meaning of calcite:

calcite - a mineral made up of a crystalline form of calcium carbonate

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Definition and meaning of inorganic matter:

inorganic matter - chemical substances of mineral origin which contain no organically produced carbon

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Definition and meaning of paramagnetism:

paramagnetism - magnetic property in certain iron-bearing minerals that cause them to be weakly attracted to magnetic fields

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

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

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

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

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

Bija (Sanskrit) Sometimes vija. Seed or life-germ, whether of animals or plants; esoterically the original or causal source of the urge of life to express itself. "Whether it be a kosmos or universe, or the reappearance of god, deva, man, animal, plant, or mineral, or, indeed, elemental, the seed or life-germ from and out of which any one of these arises is technically called Bija, and the reference here is almost as much to the life-germ or vehicle itself, as it is to the self-urge for manifestation working through the seed or life-germ. Mystically and psychologically, the appearance of an Avatara, for instance, is due to an impulse arising in Maha-Siva, or in Maha-Vishnu (according to circumstances), to manifest a portion of the divine essence, . . . Or again, when from the chela is born the Initiate during the dread trials of initiation, the newly-arisen Master is said to have been born from the mystic Bija or Seed within his own being" (OG 18).

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

Encapsulation Medieval theory, a misunderstood rendering of the pagan Mystery teaching of the One becoming the many, which later was rejected by scientists.

"The idea was that Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden held encapsulated in her womb all the seeds of the human race, which she passed on to her children, the families of which in their turn held encapsulated the seeds of future generations, passing them on to their children; and so forth. When properly interpreted, this is what H. P. B. meant when she spoke in The Secret Doctrine (I, 223-4) of the unmodified germ plasm -- Weismann's theory.

"Here again the Christians anthropomorphized the esoteric doctrine, thus distorting it. As a matter of fact, not only the animal kingdom, but the vegetable, mineral, and even the three elemental kingdoms, came forth from the primal human, the 'Adam Qadmon. They were all encapsulated within him, and he brought them forth" (FSO 354n). (Dialogues 3:421-3)

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

Philo-Judaeus. A Hellenized Jew of Alexandria, a famous historian and philosopher of the first century, born about the year 30 B. C., and died between the years 45 and 50 A. D. Philo's symbolism of the Bible is very remarkable. The animals, birds, reptiles, trees, and places mentioned in it are all, it is said, "allegories of conditions of the soul, of faculties, dispositions, or passions; the useful plants were allegories of virtues, the noxious of the affections of the unwise and so on through the mineral kingdom; through heaven, earth and stars; through fountains and rivers, fields and dwellings; through metals, substances, arms, clothes, ornaments, furniture, the body and its parts, the sexes, and our outward condition."

(Dict. Christ. Biog.) All of which would strongly corroborate the idea that Philo was acquainted with the ancient Kabbala.

(See also: Philo-Judaeus, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Spark, Sacred Used in the Stanzas of Dzyan in reference to the early history of the human race, and particularly to its intellectual evolution. It means the manas principle, which was awakened in man on this globe by the manasaputras at about the midpoint of the third root-race.

The fashioners of astral and physical man, the barhishad pitris, had brought the physical human being in evolutionary development to the point where mind could be contained and function therein: beings from an intellectual line of cosmic evolution, the manasaputras, awakened the intellectual spark in early humanity, and man thereafter became a reasoning, thinking, and intellectually and morally responsible entity.

Some races are said to be devoid of the sacred spark (SD 2:421), for they are still relatively unenlightened. Yet this condition is not radical but evolutionary only, for even these portions of the human race have intellect latent, though not evoked; indeed this last remark applies with equal truth to all the lower kingdoms of nature -- the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral.

See also FIRE, SACRED

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

SANKHYA

The ancient Hindu philosophy which exerted the strongest influence on Buddhism. Created by Kapila in 600 B.C., it reveals how the Kosmos has been engaged in a dualistic war between Prakriti (physical nature, matter or reality) and Purusha ("Person," Soul of the Universe, Archetypal man, Brahma, spirit, etc.). In the end, Purusha and Prakriti must be re-united in order to set in motion the world's evolution. Essential teaching is also encountered in Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism and contemporary psychiatry. The hallmarks of Prakriti, as follows, are known as gunas and they can be related perfectly to Alchemy:

TAMAS: The mineral nature characterized by heaviness, inertia,  indifference, inactivity, and delusion. (Salt, in alchemy.)

RAJAS: The vegetal nature shown by movability. (Sulphur, in alchemy.)

SATTVAS: The animal nature as lit by balance, harmony, luminosity. The  guna of transcendence. (In alchemy: mercury.)

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