Styx (Greek) River of the underworld, containing 1/10th of the waters of Oceanus; named after its nymph, eldest daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. {BCW 11:496}

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

NYMPHOLEPSY

Overtaken by insatiable and mad desire. In Greek, nymphe means "bride," as contrasted with porne, or "prostitute."

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

Calypso Kalypso (Greek) A nymph, daughter of Atlas, who lived on Ogygia and kept Odysseus with her there for seven years. (SD 2:762, 769n)

(See also: Calypso Kalypso, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Celaeno Kelaino (Greek) One of the Pleiades; daughter of Atlas and the ocean nymph Pleione, and mother of Lycus and Nycteus by Poseidon. Also one of the Harpies. (SD 2:768)

(See also: Celaeno, Kelaino, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dione (Greek) Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, or of Uranus and Gaia; the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus, she was worshiped as the wife of Zeus at Dodona, and her name expresses the feminine aspect of Zeus. When the Dodonan oracle lost its importance, Dione was superseded by Hera and became regarded merely as a nymph {IU 2:490}.

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

UNDINES

Water elementals, aquatic nature spirits, "water babes," nymphs or nereids, resembling human beings, but of a different "wavelength." It is said that an undine can acquire a soul by being impregnated by a human male. To attune yourself to the undines, says Crowley, "Be flexible and attentive to images, but avoid idleness and changeability." From Latin unda, "water wave," Sanskrit uda'n, "water." The other root is represented by Latin aqua, Gothic aha, Persian ab and was possibly connected to Greek nephos, nymphe.

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

Amaltheia, Amalthea (Greek) In Greek mythology a nymph who cared for the infant Zeus when his mother Rhea concealed him in a cave in Crete to keep him from being devoured by his father Kronos. Another legend credits the nymphs Ida and Adrastea with his care, but names the goat which suckled him Amaltheia.

Amaltheia is associated with the cornucopis, the broken-off horn of the goat. As the horn of Amaltheia it became a symbol of inexhaustible abundance and was adopted as a favored attribute by various divinities, among them Hermes, Demeter, Gaia, Pluto, and Cybele.

In Roman legend, Amalthea is the Sibyl, the Cumaean, who offered the Sibylline Books to Tarquin.

(See also: Amaltheia, Amalthea, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Aristaeus (Greek) Beneficent Greek deity, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, who aided with husbandry, flocks, and bees and gave protection from summer's extreme heat; raised by the Hours and Gaia, who made him immortal.

He brought destruction on Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, who was bitten by a snake while fleeing from him. Afterwards, his bees having been destroyed by angry nymphs as punishment, he sacrificed cattle and, returning nine days later, found a swarm of bees using one of the carcasses as a hive.

See also Orpheus. (BCW 13:237, elsewhere)

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

Urvasi (Sanskrit) [from uru wide, broad + the verbal root as to pervade]

Widely extending; in the Rig-Veda a beautiful divine nymph who, cursed by the gods, settled on earth and became the wife of Pururavas, the grandson of Soma (the moon) and son of Budha (esoteric wisdom, Mercury). Their love is the subject of Kalidasa's drama, the Vikramorvasi. Urvasi originated in teachings connected with the human buddhi principle, the center and source or mother of all spiritual and intellectual beauty in the human constitution; cosmically therefore Urvasi is mahabuddhi (cosmic buddhi).

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Kandu .(Sanskrit). A holy sage of the second root-race, a yogi, whom Pramlocha, a "nymph" sent by Indra for that purpose, beguiled, and lived with for several centuries. Finally, the Sage returning to his senses, repudiated and chased her away. Whereupon she gave birth to a daughter, Marisha. The story is in an allegorical fable from the Puranas.

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

Hanuman

In Hinduism, the monkey god born of Vayu, the Wind, and the nymph Anjana. Hanuman, also known as Hanumat or Mahavira ("great hero"), is Rama's chief agent in the Valmiki Ramayana and is later portrayed as Vishnu-Rama's paradigmatic devotee.

Characterized by strength and the ability to leap or fly and change form and size, he appears in classical and folk traditions throughout South and Southeast Asia.

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Krittika krttika (Sanskrit) (from kritti pelt, hide on which a disciple sits from the verbal root krit to divide into portions)

plural krittikas. The Pleiades; originally the first lunar mansion, in later times the third, having Agni as its regent. The constellation is sometimes represented as a flame, sometimes as a knife. In mythology there are six krittikas represented as nymphs, who became the nurses of the god of war, Karttikeya.

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Idas (Greek) In Greek mythology, brother of Lynceus, sons of Aphareus and Arene, and cousins of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollox. Idas won the nymph Marpessa from Apollo, and was considered the strongest of living men. Because of a quarrel over the division of cattle or over the rape of their betrothed by the Dioscuri, Idas killed Castor and then was killed by a lightning bolt from Zeus. (SD 2:122)

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Circe Kirke (Greek) In Greek mythology, a sorceress, daughter of Helios (the sun) and the ocean nymph Perseis; she lived on the island of Aeaea, and sometimes turned visitors into animals. After compelling her to return his men to their human forms, Odysseus spent a year with her; Jason and Medea also visited her to be purified of Medea's guilt in arranging her brother's murder. (SD 2:769n)

(See also: Circe, Kirke, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dryad (Greek) (from drys oak, tree)

Nymphs -- nature spirits or elementals -- pertaining especially to trees. Their life as individuals was said to be bound up with that of the tree to which it was attached and to perish when the tree perished. To modern views they were spirits in trees; to the ancients they were the tree itself considered as a living soul, viewed not only apart from but also in connection with the physical framework of the tree.

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