Sakti-kriya (Sanskrit) [from sakti power + kriya action]

An inner power or force recognized and taught from immemorial time in India, embracing spiritual, intellectual, as well as psychic elements, which can be exercised by any adept, whether ascetic or layman, and said to be most efficient when accompanied by meditation or bhavana.

Its reality depends on the inner merits of one's character and on the intensity of one's will, added to an absolute faith born of knowledge in one's own powers. When applied to ceremonial or ritualistic practice, sakti-kriya is akin to a magic mantra.

(See also: Sakti-kriya, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

LEYS

Ancient British megaliths (see DOLMEN) were noted by archaeologist Alfred Wakins to indicate lines of psychic power in the earth. Ufologists also believe ley-lines are guides for ultramundane visitants who have been using them throughout history. The word is a variant of lea, or "meadow" and surviv in in British place-names, such as Bradleigh and Waterloo, etc.

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

Seven (Solar) Rays Sunlight contains the characteristic potency of every one of the seven solar logoi. It is possible for the adept to sound seven notes, each of which will be in more or less perfect synchrony with the vibrational rate of the respective solar ray or power issuing from its own solar logos.

Such ancient magic is not only an act of reverential unity with the lord and giver of life for the solar system, but puts one in synchrony of a spiritual and intellectual as well as psychical type with the spiritual and other powers resident in and issuing from the sun (cf ML 73). Mystic words of seven vowels refer in a general fashion to the same ancient wisdom-magic.

See also OEAOHOO

(See also: Seven Rays, Seven Solar Rays, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Raja Yoga (Sanskrit) Royal union; more generally, the balance of all the faculties -- physical, mental, moral, and spiritual. Raja yoga is a true system of developing psychic, intellectual, and spiritual powers and union with one's higher self, the inner divine source of all our being.

This royal union with the self within must be attained by self-directed evolution. Union with this inner divinity is the source of all human genius and inspiration. Man increases his receptivity to the divine powers in his inmost being by cooperating with nature on its spiritual even more than its physical and astral planes, and by intellectual and spiritual aspiration combined with a fervent love for all beings.

(See also: Raja Yoga, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Psuchikos, Psychikos (Greek) The adjective of psuche or psyche, manas in conjunction with kama. In its mental aspects psyche is the distorted reflection of the higher aspect of manas, whereas the nous is manas overenlightened by buddhi.

In the New Testament psuchikos is translated "natural" (1 Cor 15:46) and "sensual" (James 3:15) and thus is confused with the vital-emotional or corporeal parts of man, and the teaching of the duality of the human being is lost sight of. The correct word for the vital-physical or "natural" part of man is somatikos.

See also PSYCHIC POWERS

(See also: Psuchikos, Psychikos, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Vajra (Sanskrit) Diamond or thunderbolt; one possessing this scepter, or diamond-thunderbolt, possesses great spiritual, intellectual, and psychic powers; among others, the occult ability to repel evil influences by purifying the air, as ozone does in chemistry.

The vajra mystically refers to indestructibility and to the wondrous reflective powers of the diamond. One who possesses the vajra reflects the suffering, joys, and sorrows -- and beauties -- of the world, but can never be injured by them. It has been said that the heart of the perfect person is a mirror: it reflects all things, but holds nothing for self alone. Thus also is the heart of one wielding the scepter of the vajra.

In Hindu literature this vajra is the scepter of Indra (similar to the thunderbolt of Zeus), with which he as the god of the skies was said to slay evildoers. In mystical Buddhism it is the magic scepter of priest-initiates and adepts, the symbol of the possessions of siddhis (superhuman powers), wielded during certain mystical ceremonies by initiated priests and theurgists. It is also the symbol of the Buddha's power over evil spirits or elementals. The possessors of this scepter are called vajrapanins.

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

Samma-sambuddha (Pali) Used by mystic Buddhists and raja-yogins to signify the complete or perfected knowledge of the whole series of one's past lives, a phenomenon of memory obtained through the practice of true inner yoga or self-control.

More generally, full or complete awaking, in the sense that all the higher nature of the individual is thoroughly awakened and active, thus conferring virtual omniscience as regards our solar system; it likewise brings with it great spiritual and psychic powers. It is the full efflorescence and self-conscious activity of the spiritual monad in and through the one who has attained to this sublime degree in spiritual unfoldment, the becoming at one with the cosmic Logos.

Also a title of Gautama Buddha referring to his perfect inner illumination.

(See also: Samma-sambuddha, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Vortex Healing (Vortex work): A incredibly powerful healing art that traces to an avatar who lived in India circa 3600 B.C.E. - namely Mehindra, who in 753 B.C.E. became the guru of the first human Merlin. Ric Weinman reportedly rediscovered VortexHealing on November 26, 1994.

VortexHealing includes psychic surgery, absent healing, Vortex Crystal-Grid Release, and a form or variation of self-healing. It theory posits chakras, divine shakti, karma, the third eye, two energy webs constituting the human body, and Mauma - the Vortex, a realm composed of seven divine beings whose sole intention is to manifest healing.

(See also: Vortex Healing, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Five Rites of rejuvenation (Five Rites, The Five Tibetans, Tibetan Five Rites): Subject of Peter Kelder's Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, first published in 1939, published by Harbor Press Inc. in 1989, and published by Doubleday - with The Lost Chapter - in 1998.

The Rites are bodily movements of Tibetan origin, that resemble those of hatha yoga. Practicing them: accelerates the flow of vital energy through chakras and encourages these centers or vortices of psychic energy to function optimally.

The Five Rites are also the subject of The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power (Inner Traditions International Ltd., 1994), by Christopher S. Kilham.

(See also: Five Rites of rejuvenation, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Eye of Siva The third eye; physically the pineal gland, which when awakened into activity becomes the organ of the inner spiritual vision of a seer.

The pineal gland was in former ages an active physical exterior organ before the present-day two eyes were developed, and was then the faculty both of physical vision and of interior illumination. As the ages passed, this third eye or pineal gland receded within the skull, finally being covered by hardened bone and the scalp. This eye may be described as the organ on this plane of spiritual intuition, through which direct and certain knowledge is obtainable at any time at the will of the seer.

"The 'eye of Siva' did not become entirely atrophied before the close of the Fourth Race. When spirituality and all the divine powers and attributes of the deva-man of the Third had been made the hand-maidens of the newly-awakened physiological and psychic passions of the physical man, instead of the reverse, the eye lost its powers" (SD 2:302).

(See also: Eye of Siva, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Possession The state of being possessed or controlled by evil spirits, as demoniacal possession; theosophy explains it as that degree of obsession in which some besieging astral entity has obtained actual possession and use of a living body.

One or another of such harmful invaders compels their human victims to conduct themselves in all kinds of ways that are unnatural, mischievous, foolish, shocking, purposeless, and degrading. "In cases of murder, of every description, and of other crimes of a diabolical character, the act is attributed, in nine cases out of ten, by the offenders themselves, to irresistible obsessions. 'Something whispered constantly in my ear . . . Somebody was incessantly pushing and leading me on.' Such are the too-frequent confessions of the criminals. Physicians attribute them to hallucinations of disordered brains, and call the homicidal impulse temporary lunacy" (IU 1:276).

As the highly organized modern brain and nervous system grow more sensitive to psychic influences, as is evident in the steady increase in the number and phases of mental and nervous disorders, the current ignorance of the afterdeath state and the reckless disregard of life are releasing hosts of desperate entities of desire -- despairing suicides and vengeful, executed criminals who survive in their kama-rupas to prey upon the living.

Moreover, not a few of the increasing numbers of the insane result from following various practices advertised as means for gaining psychic powers for selfish purposes; and the widespread use of hypnotism and the cultivation of mediumship leave many negative subjects weakened in will and in imminent danger of obsessing influences.

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

Manticism [from Greek mantis seer from mainomai to act ecstatically under a divine impulse]

A seer, one inspired with divine ecstasy; according to Plato, one who uttered oracles while under a divine impulse, which in its lowest forms was a kind of frenzy, while a prophetes (prophet) was one who interpreted the oracles. Frenzy, now used only to denote madness or anger, meant in classic times a state of exaltation both of mind and psychical nature which enabled inner faculties of perception to come into play, whereby seership and prophetic power were attained.

Certain exhalations from the earth would often act upon the body of the seer or seeress, inducing a state of physical receptivity, as occurred in the grotto of Delphi; and Cicero speaks highly of the better side of the power thus conferred. The condition produced by Bacchic rites was similar, but in later times degenerated into mere frenzy or ravings in the modern sense of the word; and as these rites became degraded into profligacy, the meaning of the word frenzy naturally altered pari passu.

(See also: Manticism, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Precipitation A process essentially founded in the formation of a visual image of some object in the mind, and the transferring of that image in visible form to some receptacle, such as paper. Usually used in theosophical history in reference to the precipitation of writing in messages from the Masters.

The messages were transmitted by will power as mental pictures to a chela at a distance; and the chela receiving these telepathic impacts or mental images, understood them in whole or in part, according to his skill, and then and there, either himself wrote down the message thus received for transmission to the addressee, or if a chela of advanced degree, materialized them into visible writing. Usually the messages thus mentally received were written down by the chela, and often in a handwriting closely similar to that of the Master, and then the message was transferred through the mail or otherwise to the addressee.

A mental image is a reality, and in materializing it the operator merely copies natural processes, since everything in the physical world is a materialization of something in the inner worlds working through the astral world into the physical. It is done by the use of psychic or psychophysiological faculties which have to be acquired by training, for even in the cases of those born with these powers, they exist because of training in previous lives.

Some spiritistic mediums instinctively possess the power of precipitation, but use it ignorant of its causes and rationale, and hence without conscious control. Were the adept or mahatma himself to employ precipitation for the conveying of intelligence to others, something which is very rarely done, the precipitation would be achieved by the will of the adept gathering astral and ethereal substance from the surrounding atmosphere by the power of his will and condensing it onto the paper.

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

Jethro yithro (Hebrew) Also called Reuel (Exodus 2). In the Bible the father of seven daughters: one, Zipporah, he gave in marriage to Moses. These daughters represent his various spiritual, intellectual, and psychic powers and faculties, as the offspring of the monadic or egoic center.

In one sense Jethro is the initiator of Moses:

"Jethro is called the 'father-in-law' of Moses; not because Moses was really married to one of his seven daughters. Moses was an Initiate, if he ever existed, and as such an ascetic, a nazar, and could never be married. It is an allegory like everything else. Zipporah (the shining) is one of the personified Occult Sciences given by Revel-Jethro, the Midian priest Initiator, to Moses, his Egyptian pupil" (SD 2:465n).

See also REUEL-JETHRO

(See also: Jethro, yithro, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Sacred Fire An equivalent for sacred spark, with reference to the lighting of the fires of mind in man during the third root-race. Especially used in connection with the occult allegory of the ancient Greeks dealing with Prometheus, who is represented as bringing the sacred fire -- signifying the fire of mind and thought -- to mankind from heaven.

Also used in reference to the sacred Samothracian deities, the kabeiroi:

"the personified sacred Fires of the most occult powers of Nature" (SD 2:106).

Equated with Living Fire as "a figure of speech to denote deity, the 'One' life. A theurgic term, used later by the Rosicrucians. The symbol of the living fire is the sun, certain of whose rays develope the fire of life in a diseased body, impart the knowledge of the future to the sluggish mind, and stimulate to active function a certain psychic and generally dormant faculty in man" (TG 119).

(See also: Sacred Fire, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

PENTACLE, PENTAGRAM:

1)    It is an ancient symbol with multiple meanings. It is always seen with its apex up. It can represent the four elements headed by the fifth element of spirit, or it can represent a human with its arms and legs spread to represent the creative principle over all creation. Satanic Cults often use the pentagram in an upside down fassion to show matter over spirit in much the same way that they pervert the meaning of the Christian cross; used as protection or for invoking or banishing magickal forces and entities. Symbolic of humankind made perfect.

2)    The basic 5 point star is worn by Wiccans or Witches with one point up, and enclosed by a Circle; The symbol represents the Wicca Religion: the 5 senses; the Elements; and the human body; and a protective symbol known from the times of Babylon.

3)    Symbol of power and, or protection when hung over doors and windows. Represents the Element - Earth. A tool for summoning the Goddess.

4)    PENTACLE: is the article of jewelry or altar piece, etc.

5)    PENTAGRAM: is the drawing. Also, penagram, pentangle. 'Pente' meaning 5, and gram, me meaning line; Greek.

6)    Pentagram is a material object charged with psychic power and used for concentrating psychic power;

7)    symbol of a man, woman standing with spread legs and outstretched arms; a miniature symbol of the Universe, the points representing the elements.

8)    8) In Latin PENTACULUM. The points & center can stand for: Birth, initiation, love, repose, death & transformation. Sex, self, passion, pride, power & timelessness. Beginning, adolescence, adulthood, elderly, ending & power to move, change, and transform. And the common meaning, but arguable: Earth, Air, Fire, Water & Spirit. NOTE: the early Christians often wore pentacles, for to them it represented the 5 wounds of Christ on the cross AND the parts of the human body; that is: head, arms, & legs. Sir Gawain used it as an emblem on his shield!

(See also: PENTACLE, PENTAGRAM, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Theosophical Society, or "Universal Brotherhood". Founded in 1875 at New York, by Colonel H. S. Olcott and H. P. Blavatsky, helped by W. Q. Judge and several others. Its avowed object was at first the scientific investigation of psychic or so-called "spiritualistic" phenomena, after which its three chief objects were declared, namely

(1) Brotherhood of man, without distinction of race, colour, religion, or social position;

(2) the serious study of the ancient world-religions for purposes of comparison and the selection therefrom of universal ethics;

(3) the study and development of the latent divine powers in man. At the present moment it has over 250 Branches scattered all over the world, most of which are in India, where also its chief Headquarters are established. It is composed of several large Sections - the Indian, the American, the Australian, and the European Sections.

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

Fire-Philosophers. The name given to the Hermetists and Alchemists of the Middle Ages, and also to the Rosicrucians. The latter, the successors of the Theurgists, regarded fire as the symbol of Deity. It was the source, not only of material atoms, but the container of the spiritual and psychic Forces energizing them. Broadly analyzed, fire is a triple principle; esoterically, a septenary, as are all the rest of the Elements. As man is composed of Spirit, Soul and Body, plus a four fold aspect: so is Fire.

As in the works of Robert Fludd (de Fluctibus) one of the famous Rosicrucians, Fire contains

(1) a visible flame (Body);

(2) an invisible, astral fire (Soul); and

(3) Spirit. The four aspects are heat (life), light (mind), electricity (Kamic, or molecular powers) and the Synthetic Essence, beyond Spirit, or the radical cause of its existence and manifestation. For the Hermetist or Rosicrucian, when a flame is extinct on the objective plane it has only passed from the seen world unto the unseen, from the knowable into the unknowable.

(See also: Fire-Philosophers, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Sukshmopadhi suksmopadhi (Sanskrit) [from sukshma subtle, fine, ethereal + upadhi base, vehicle]

The subtle base or vehicle, in the human constitution the combined qualities of the higher manas, the lower manas, the kama-energy, and their astral veil or vehicle infilled with life. According to Taraka-Raja-Yoga there are three upadhis in the human constitution: karanopadhi, sukshmopadhi, and sthulopadhi.

The sukshmopadhi comprehends manas in its dual aspect in union with kama and the vital-astral portions in the theosophic sevenfold division of man, and likewise corresponds to the manomaya-kosa of the Vedantic classification. The state of consciousness known as the svapna or sleeping condition is connected causally with the sukshmopadhi.

This upadhi when developed and trained in the adept is the seat of a number of remarkable faculties or powers, among them spiritual clairvoyance and clairaudience. In the ordinary person, it is the lower portion of sukshopadhi which ordinarily acts automatically, producing flashes of unconscious clairvoyant vision, dreams of various kind, and other psychic phenomena.

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

JUNG'S NIGHTMARE

Jung dreamed, at age 4, of a great tower on a throne. It seemed to be made of skin and the top of it was rounded with a singly eye staring upward. He found this quite frightening. In later life, when he broke with Freud he admitted that he felt that mans needs were much greater than sex. He felt that sex was merely one powerful force amongst others. Freud begged Jung never to abandon the sexual basis of neurosis but that it must stand as a bulwark. "Against what?", asked Jung. "Against the occult.", whispered Freud.

Jungs psychological theory can be summed up in this statement: the goal of psychic development is the self - There is no linear evolution. There is only a circumambulation of the self. Everything points to the center.

(See also: JUNG'S NIGHTMARE, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

Mesmerism Named for Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), a Viennese physician who conceived the idea that diseases could be healed by stroking the afflicted parts of the patient's body with magnets. Later he discovered that the same healing effect could be produced by stroking or making passes over the afflicted parts with the hands. Hence the name animal magnetism as descriptive of this method of healing which today is generally called mesmerism.

Mesmer's fundamental idea was that there resides in man a power, an odic force or nerve energy, which can be projected by the will and directed either to heal and cure, or to harm and kill. All people possess this power in varying degrees. The very life-atoms which continually enter and leave not only our physical bodies, but the higher parts of our composite nature, are charged with and carry with them this odic force or mesmeric influence. We continually exchange these life-atoms with other beings, unconsciously to ourselves, and with those kingdoms according to their respective natures or planes.

Mesmerism, however, means the conscious or unconscious projection by a human being of this odic or vital nerve force or magnetic fluid. But the possession of this power depends upon the physical vitality and health rather than the moral or spiritual status of the operator; while the quality of this power is very greatly influenced by the moral or spiritual status of the operator. In this lies the danger of the practice of mesmerism, for unless the operator is pure minded and of high moral character, the physical vitality or magnetic fluid which he projects to the patient will be morally tainted and may constitute a grave danger to the patient who, while apparently deriving physical benefit from the treatment, may become morally weakened by it, be it in however small degree.

In accordance with the constant transmigration of life-atoms between person and person, and among all the kingdoms of nature; and, as those life-atoms are of all planes -- physical, vital-astral, psychic, intellectual, and spiritual, each being of the nature of that plane and hence the carrier of the life-essence, prana, odic force, or magnetism of that plane -- it follows that no person can live to himself alone; but that all people influence one another either for good or ill, particularly those who are closely associated together. This is the occult significance of the power of example good or bad, the power of a cheerful, courageous, optimistic nature, or of a nature of opposite character. Hence we may speak of the mesmeric influence as operative theoretically on all planes; but when used for purposes of physical or psychic healing, it operates on the physical and psychic planes alone, because of the vital carriers or life-atoms in question.

Even so considered, the mesmeric influence not only supplements and thus arouses to renewed activity the latent vitality of the patient, but acts indirectly upon the patient's mind and will, by helping to remove the inhibitions upon the action of these due to physical suffering and lack of physical health; and can be used for either good or immoral ends when the influence is directed to the mental and psychic nature of the patient.

But mesmerism is not necessarily psychologization, which is control by psychic force of another's mind and will, resulting in a dislocation of the psychic nature of the latter, a usurpation or forcible direction of the thought and will of another by the psychologizer, an invasion of that other's most sacred rights -- immoral and evil in its results, whatever immediate appearances may be, and whatever be the motive, for it cripples that part in man without which he is not fully human. Nevertheless the psychologizer, as well as the so-called hypnotizer, invariably makes use of mesmeric influence, odic force, and the pranas, for these are the carriers of thought-energy and will, without which these latter could not reach and dominate the mind and will of the subject. Mesmerism, purely as such, depends solely upon the inherent natures of the pranas, and is solely a transference of pranic energy from the operator to the subject. Thus, according to the health, physical and moral, of the operator so will the subject be affected either for good or ill.

The greatest and only sure safeguard against baneful mesmeric influence, whether consciously directed against one or unconsciously exercised by another, is one's own aspirations, positive will, and endeavor to think and live one's best and noblest. If all people were spiritually enlightened, the true mesmeric power could be safely used for the healing of disease and even for aid in bringing about a rectification, by the patient's own will, of distortions and weaknesses in the patient's character or constitution. But as matters stand, the danger in meddling with the subtle pranic energies is invariably both very real and great. One may always use the power of suggestion when this is elevated to, and employed solely on, the high moral and intellectual planes, such as by lofty spiritual and ethical teaching, precept, and especially the power of high example -- because these instill thoughts and ideals in the patient's mind arousing his own desire to follow them. These facts also demonstrate the real danger of suggestion when employed as it so often is on the lower planes, thus frequently taking the form of what are commonly called temptations.

Because mesmerism, psychologization, suggestion, and hypnotism are interlinked, all these have their respective play and place in any usage by one person of his vitality upon another.

(See also: Mesmerism, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Gandharvas (Sanskrit) Hindu devas or divinities called celestial singers or musicians. Esoterically they are intermediaries between the gods and mankind, and hence can be called the instructors of humanity in the secret science.

"The Gandharva of the Veda is the deity who knows and reveals the secrets of heaven and divine truths to mortals. Cosmically -- the Gandharvas are the aggregate powers of the solar-fire, and constitute its Forces; psychically -- the intelligence residing in the Sushumna, Solar ray, the highest of the seven rays; mystically -- the occult force in the Soma (the moon, or lunar plant) and the drink made of it; physically -- the phenomenal, and spiritually -- the noumenal causes of Sound and the 'Voice of Nature.' Hence, they are called the 6,333 'heavenly' Singers and musicians of Indra's loka who personify (even in number) the various and manifold sounds in Nature, both above and below. In the latter allegories they are said to have mystic power over women, and to be fond of them. The esoteric meaning is plain. They are one of the forms, if not the prototypes, of Enoch's angels, the Sons of God, who saw that the daughters of men were fair (Gen. vi.) who married them, and taught the daughters of the Earth the secrets of Heaven" (SD 1:523n).

The heavenly consorts or saktis of the gandharvas are the apsarasas, their negative or vehicular aspects, much as a person's soul is the container and vehicular expression of his spirit and will.

The gandharvas are similar to the various classes of Greek daimones or to the classes of the Christian angels; the highest classes of the angels, or the highest gandharvas, are equivalent to the higher dhyani-chohans. They are intelligent streams in the cosmic economy, at times active and at times passive in the working out of karmic destiny.

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