Hierarchies (from Greek hieros sacred + archein to rule)

Primarily the field of influence of a ruler or hierarch of a body of beings -- divine, human, or otherwise -- organically disposed in serial grades or ranks; and secondarily, the power or post of a hierarch or ruler in sacred rites, copied after the cosmic pattern. In theosophy both meanings blend. Hierarchies, or the interpenetrating of beings, is a key teaching regarding the structure and operation of the universe.

This applies not only to the entities comprising a universe but to all its planes and spheres, for these, as well as the entities therein, interblend and interlock in an endless series, one group linking to its superior or inferior in evolutionary grade, in its turn being the link to the ascending or descending group: thus everything exists in and because of everything else. The essential nature or hyparxis of the hierarchy flows forth from the hierarch, and is delegated in proportionate lower degrees to inferior members of the hierarchy, so that all is vitally and organically connected. The hierarchical system is inherent potentially in the cosmic germ or seed from which the entire manifested universe springs; and thus the hierarchical system pervades the manifested universe throughout in all its parts from the highest to the lowest.

Scales of seven, ten, or twelve may be used to define this hierarchical structure. Using the denary scale as an example, we see that the hierarch of any given hierarchy is the lowest member of the immediately superior decad; while the lowest member of the same hierarchy is the hierarch of the immediately inferior decad, so that the scale is a scale of nine. This may explain the use of nine as a sacred number, the difference between ancient inclusive methods of counting and our present methods, and the principle of overlapping cycles.

The generalized Greek pre-Christian hierarchy is:

1)    divine hierarchies;

2)    gods, or divine-spiritual;

3)    demigods;

4)    heroes;

5)    men;

6)    animals;

7)    plants;

8)    minerals;

9)    elementals, to which may be added the supreme source as hyparxis of this hierarchy, which is itself the lowest member of the immediately preceding superdivine hierarchy.

See also LOKAS AND TALAS; CELESTIAL ORDER OF BEINGS

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

Paradise [from Greek paradeisos from Old Persian pairidaeza from Sanskrit paradesa region beyond]

Applied in Persian and Greek to a pleasure park or royal domain. A Hebrew version (pardes) is found in the Bible, translated "orchard" (Eccl 2:5, Cant 4:3) and "forest" (Neh 2:8). An equivalent is the Hebrew eden (delight). Stories of a Paradise or Eden are universal; and while the general idea is simple, its applications are complex. It is the state of innocence and bliss from which there is departure, and to which there is eventual return. This may apply to the human race as a whole, to particular races, to the lands they inhabit, or to the pilgrimage of the individual human soul.

Persian tradition places a Garden of Delight far to the north of Caucasus in the Arctic regions, where was the Imperishable Sacred Land whence issued a stream from the earth's fount of life. Adi-varsha was the Eden of the first races and specifically of the primeval third root-race; the Eden of the fifth root-race is but its faint reminiscence. The Garden of Eden or of God (Ezek 31:3-9) was a home of initiates of Atlantis, now submerged.

The Eden in Genesis is a marvelous fusion of many meanings into one narrative, where the Adams of the various root-races are made into one. Eden was an ancient name for Mesopotamia and adjacent regions; and under that one name are comprised the meanings of an abode of initiates, a sacred land from which races emerged, and a goal of bliss in the future. The Eden of the Hebrew books, which Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike have located in Mesopotamia and in the now sandy lands of Persia and Afghanistan, refers also to what was in prehistoric times a great and highly developed center of culture and the civilization which there had its seat, including a number of Mystery schools. When the changing cycles brought about a degeneration and final breakup of this seat of archaic wisdom, it was represented as the loss by the then human Adam -- the then race -- of the Paradise in which he had dwelt. Edens and Paradises always contain trees; and these, by one interpretation, signify the initiates in the sacred land, and by another they are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Wisdom for man himself. In the Qabbalah, Eden is a place of initiation.

In later times, the symbol of Paradise has come to mean a bliss of sensual pleasure, like the Moslem Paradise of the Houris, the Olympus of the Greeks, or Indra's Heaven (svarga).

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

Hierarchies (from Greek hieros sacred + archein to rule)

Primarily the field of influence of a ruler or hierarch of a body of beings -- divine, human, or otherwise -- organically disposed in serial grades or ranks; and secondarily, the power or post of a hierarch or ruler in sacred rites, copied after the cosmic pattern. In theosophy both meanings blend. Hierarchies, or the interpenetrating of beings, is a key teaching regarding the structure and operation of the universe.

This applies not only to the entities comprising a universe but to all its planes and spheres, for these, as well as the entities therein, interblend and interlock in an endless series, one group linking to its superior or inferior in evolutionary grade, in its turn being the link to the ascending or descending group: thus everything exists in and because of everything else. The essential nature or hyparxis of the hierarchy flows forth from the hierarch, and is delegated in proportionate lower degrees to inferior members of the hierarchy, so that all is vitally and organically connected. The hierarchical system is inherent potentially in the cosmic germ or seed from which the entire manifested universe springs; and thus the hierarchical system pervades the manifested universe throughout in all its parts from the highest to the lowest.

Scales of seven, ten, or twelve may be used to define this hierarchical structure. Using the denary scale as an example, we see that the hierarch of any given hierarchy is the lowest member of the immediately superior decad; while the lowest member of the same hierarchy is the hierarch of the immediately inferior decad, so that the scale is a scale of nine. This may explain the use of nine as a sacred number, the difference between ancient inclusive methods of counting and our present methods, and the principle of overlapping cycles.

The generalized Greek pre-Christian hierarchy is:

1)    divine hierarchies;

2)    gods, or divine-spiritual;

3)    demigods;

4)    heroes;

5)    men;

6)    animals;

7)    plants;

8)    minerals;

9)    elementals, to which may be added the supreme source as hyparxis of this hierarchy, which is itself the lowest member of the immediately preceding superdivine hierarchy.

See also LOKAS AND TALAS; CELESTIAL ORDER OF BEINGS

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

Dagoba (Sanskrit), or Stupa. Lit: a sacred mound or tower for Buddhist holy relics. These are pyramidal-looking mounds scattered all over India and Buddhist countries, such as Ceylon, Burmah, Central Asia, etc. They are of various sizes, and generally contain some small relics of Saints or those claimed to have belonged to Gautama, the Buddha.

As the human body is supposed to consist of 84,000 dhatus (organic cells with definite vital functions in them), Asoka is said for this reason to have built 84,000 dhatu-gopas or Dagobas in honour of every cell of the Buddha’s body, each of which has now become a dharmadhatu or holy relic. There is in Ceylon a Dhatu-gopa at Anuradhapura said to date from160 years B.C. They are now built pyramid-like, but the primitive Dagobas were all shaped like towers with a cupola and several tchhatra (umbrellas) over them. Eitel states that the Chinese Dagobas have all from 7 to 14 tchhatras over them, a number which is symbolical of the human body.

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

Om Mani Padme Hum (Sanskrit) Om! the jewel in the lotus, hum! One of the most sacred Buddhist mantras or verbal formulas; used very frequently in Tibet and in surrounding countries of the Far East. Not only is every syllable said to have a secret power of producing a definite result, but the whole invocation has a number of meanings.

When properly pronounced or changed, it produces different results, differing from the others according to the intonation and will given to the formula and its syllables. This mystic sentence above all refers to the indissoluble union between man and the universe, and thus conveys "I am in thee and thou art in me." Each of us has within himself the jewel in the lotus or the divine self within. When understood in a kosmic sense, it signifies the divine kosmic self within, inspiring all beings within the range of that kosmic divinity.

(See also: Om Mani Padme Hum, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Ogdoad [from Greek]

The number eight, a group of eight. It symbolizes the eternal, spiral motion of cycles, as is suggested by the form of the numeral 8 which, lying on its side, makes the modern mathematical symbol for infinity. The ogdoad show the regular breathing of the kosmos presided over by the eight great gods -- seven from the primeval Mother, the One and the Triad (SD 2:580).

A septenate may be made into an ogdoad by counting in either the last of the preceding hierarchy, or the first of the succeeding. If to a group of seven forces be added either the one from which they proceed, or that manifestation in which they eventuate, an ogdoad is produced, as in the case of the eight sons of Aditi, seven plus Martanda (the sun). Eight is the third power of two, and a number pertaining to physical space, and seems correlative to seven, just as four is correlative to three.

The eight great gods of the Mediterranean ancients are the seven sacred planets, usually Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun as a substitute for a secret planet, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon as a substitute for another secret planet, with Earth as the eighth. It was not so much the physical celestial bodies which were intended as their respective rectors or planetary spirits.

See also EIGHT

(See also: Ogdoad, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Gospels Usually, the four accepted or canonical gospels of the New Testament, being the three synoptic gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke -- and the Gospel according to John. They are an authorized and approved selection from a far larger number of Gospels, extant, partially extant, and lost, attributed to various disciples and apostles, claiming to give accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles.

The key to an understanding of the nature of the four Gospels lies in a consideration of the process which the functions and teachings of some of the Mystery schools of Asia Minor became gradually transformed into the formal religious system known as Christianity. The Gospels must have originated as extracts from the Mystery-dramas enacted in those schools. The mystical-human birth of Jesus, his trials or tests, his teachings, crucifixion, resurrection, etc., are clearly a form of the world-old and universal Mystery-drama of initiation of a human neophyte re-enacted in those ceremonies.

The Gospels' present form is the result of many copyings, recensions, omissions, additions, and alterations. They are, in fact, symbolic narratives made around the personality and individuality of a real character which thus has become a Mystery-figure; and contain also many teachings properly to be attributed to him, belonging to the general class of logia, or wise sayings of teachers, paralleled in the other world sacred scriptures. Jesus, as represented, is not historical; but there was an actual teacher, doubtless bearing the name Yeshua`, Latinized as Jesus, who lived about a century earlier than the commonly accepted beginning of the Christian era.

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

Hesiodic Cosmogony The cosmogony and theogony of Hesiod, the Greek poet-philosopher of the 8th century BC, are historical but need interpretation to understand the symbology involved and to filter out the accumulation of minor myths which have been mingled with it.

His two great works are Works and Days and Theogony. Among the features he mentions are: that gods and mortals have one common origin; that there have been four races preceding ours -- called golden, silver, bronze, and iron, the fourth being that of the heroes who fell at Thebes and Troy; that seven is a sacred number in days and in constellations; that the beginning of all things was Chaos (Hesiod having the singular restraint to say nothing about what preceded Chaos); that "night" came before "day."

The giants he mentions parallel the asuras and suras and are reminiscences of Atlanteans. His three cyclopes are said to have been representative figures for the last three subraces of Lemuria, and also for three polar continents (SD 2:769, 776). His Prometheus typifies the Greek moral ideal in representing this rebel demigod as the benefactor of mankind, in contrast with the Christian Satan.

(See also: Hesiodic Cosmogony, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Crocodile (from Greek champsai, Egyptian emsehiu)

In Egypt deified under the name of Sebak (or Sebeq). The principal seat of this worship was the city Crocodilopolis (Arsinoe) where great numbers of mummified beasts have been exhumed. When the canals became dry, the crocodiles would wander about the fields and make such havoc that they were naturally associated with the powers of destruction and evil, the principal malefactor of the pantheon being Set or Typhon.

The ancient Egyptians did not regard Set or Typhon, and the crocodile which represented him, as the enemy, the destroyer. In fact, in the earlier dynasties Typhon was one of the most powerful and venerated of the divinities, giving blessings, life, and inspiration to the people, and in especial perhaps to the Royal House or rulers of Egypt. The reason lay in the fact that the earlier mythology showed Typhon or Set mystically as the shadow of Osiris, the god of light and wisdom -- Typhon or Set being the alter ego or more material aspect of Osiris himself. "The Crocodile is the Egyptian dragon.

It was the dual symbol of Heaven and Earth, of Sun and Moon, and was made sacred, in consequence of its amphibious nature, to Osiris and Isis" (SD 1:409). The crocodile was also named as one of the signs of the zodiac, the regency of which was connected with a group of lofty beings, whose "abode is in Capricornus" (SD 1:219).

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

Hesiodic Cosmogony The cosmogony and theogony of Hesiod, the Greek poet-philosopher of the 8th century BC, are historical but need interpretation to understand the symbology involved and to filter out the accumulation of minor myths which have been mingled with it.

His two great works are Works and Days and Theogony. Among the features he mentions are: that gods and mortals have one common origin; that there have been four races preceding ours -- called golden, silver, bronze, and iron, the fourth being that of the heroes who fell at Thebes and Troy; that seven is a sacred number in days and in constellations; that the beginning of all things was Chaos (Hesiod having the singular restraint to say nothing about what preceded Chaos); that "night" came before "day."

The giants he mentions parallel the asuras and suras and are reminiscences of Atlanteans. His three cyclopes are said to have been representative figures for the last three subraces of Lemuria, and also for three polar continents (SD 2:769, 776). His Prometheus typifies the Greek moral ideal in representing this rebel demigod as the benefactor of mankind, in contrast with the Christian Satan.

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

Eight Although infrequently used in occultism, one of the important numerical stages in nature and, therefore, in all occult systems of reckoning and computaton.

An inaccurate use of 8, or a use springing from ignorance, can very easily mislead the student of archaic numerology as to its ancient computational value and numerical signification. After remarking that the ancients always referred to seven planets (the sun being included in the septenary), Blavatsky says:

"These 'seven' became the eight, the Ogdoad, of the later materialized religions, the seventh, or the highest principle, being no longer the pervading Spirit, the Synthesis, but becoming an anthropomorphic number, or additional unit" (SD 2:358n).

However, the ogdoad of the ancients had a special significance, among other things referring to the addition of the linking unit, whether of a superior or inferior hierarchy, to the septenary hierarchy envisioned at the moment. Furthermore, when the seven sacred planets of the ancients were considered in connection with their relations to earth, this conjoining of the eight units was often called an ogdoad. Hinduism takes cognizance of eight great gods, namely, the eight adityas, and on some of the oldest monuments of India, Persia, and Chaldea one may see the eight-pointed or double cross.

When the figure 8 is placed on its side . . . it symbolizes the eternal and spiral motion of cycles "and is symbolized in its turn by the Caduceus. It shows the regular breathing of the Kosmos presided over by the eight great gods -- the seven from the primeval Mother, the One and the Triad" (SD 2:580). In modern mathematics, it is the symbol for infinity, or for the approach to infinity.

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

Gospels Usually, the four accepted or canonical gospels of the New Testament, being the three synoptic gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke -- and the Gospel according to John. They are an authorized and approved selection from a far larger number of Gospels, extant, partially extant, and lost, attributed to various disciples and apostles, claiming to give accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles.

The key to an understanding of the nature of the four Gospels lies in a consideration of the process which the functions and teachings of some of the Mystery schools of Asia Minor became gradually transformed into the formal religious system known as Christianity. The Gospels must have originated as extracts from the Mystery-dramas enacted in those schools. The mystical-human birth of Jesus, his trials or tests, his teachings, crucifixion, resurrection, etc., are clearly a form of the world-old and universal Mystery-drama of initiation of a human neophyte re-enacted in those ceremonies.

The Gospels' present form is the result of many copyings, recensions, omissions, additions, and alterations. They are, in fact, symbolic narratives made around the personality and individuality of a real character which thus has become a Mystery-figure; and contain also many teachings properly to be attributed to him, belonging to the general class of logia, or wise sayings of teachers, paralleled in the other world sacred scriptures. Jesus, as represented, is not historical; but there was an actual teacher, doubtless bearing the name Yeshua`, Latinized as Jesus, who lived about a century earlier than the commonly accepted beginning of the Christian era.

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

Desatir (Persian) An old Persian work, filled with elements of enormous antiquity, expressed in places eloquently and poetically. In the words of its translator and publisher, Mulla Firuz, it "professes to be a collection of the writings of the different Persian Prophets, who flourished from the time of Mahabad to the time of the fifth Sasan, being fifteen in number; of whom Zerdusht, or Zoroaster was the thirteenth and the fifth Sasan the last. . . . The writings of these fifteen prophets are in a tongue of which no other vestige appears to remain, and which would have been unintelligible without the assistance of the ancient Persian translation" (Preface, p. i).

The contents have been criticized by several modern scholars, who do not grant it any standing as a work coming down from ancient times for linguistic reasons. However, it contains teachings which are not merely universal, but which run far back into the night of human history; for example, the first chapter suggests the seven sacred planets (vv. 15-21); each star and planet having an intelligence, a soul, and a body (23); the kingdoms of nature on the cosmic ladder of life (54-60); reincarnation (69-72); rounds (101-112); and the grand periods or manvantaras and pralayas (114-16).

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

Deva (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root div to shine)

A divinity, a resplendent deity. "A Deva is a celestial being -- whether good, bad, or indifferent. Devas inhabit 'the three worlds,' which are the three planes above us. There are 33 groups or 330 millions of them" enumerated in the exoteric sacred scriptures of Hindustan, although these numbers should not be taken literally (TG 98).

Deva is a very general term for various classes of celestial beings. There are classes of ethereal or spiritual beings that are behind mankind in their evolution, unself-conscious god-sparks who have yet to go through the human stage in order to bring forth more fully the glory within them. Then there are the celestial beings who have passed through the human stage and are thus evolutionally higher than we; and beings higher than these, who have developed the most divine parts of their constitution. Considered as inhabitants of the three worlds or planes above us, devas is a generalized term for those evolving life-waves or hierarchies of sentient beings evolving on the six superior globes of earth's planetary chain.

See also ASURA

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

Herbs The very large number of plants used as remedial agents in medicine are the natural remedies in treating disease, divine instructors having revealed to early humanity the great boon of agriculture and the medical use of plants. Echoes of the archaic wisdom appear in Vedic writings, but few can interpret the philosophy of the one Life which functions in the elements and forces of the human body, and their related action in the plants and minerals of the body of the earth.

The Sanskrit word for medicine in general is aushadha (consisting of herbs), and the ancient Hindu materia medica was the source from which subsequent systems of practice in many other countries drew their remedies, when a broad conception of the sacred art of healing marked their highest periods of national attainment. Originally the medical practitioners were as familiar with the mystical and occult properties of plants and minerals as magicians themselves were. Both understood the analogy and interrelations between the principles of the composite human being and all the various elements throughout the realm of nature.

That some plants are attracted by the sun and others by the moon, etc., was explained by a profound knowledge of astronomy and of the occult influences of solar, lunar, and planetary time periods and sidereal forces. This gave the key for the best time, place, and conditions for gathering the herbs, and for the special pharmacy required for bringing out the vital remedial action which, by working with nature, left no unfavorable aftereffects. There is no record of medical laboratory work producing artificial synthetic products which, even when duplicating nature's substances chemically, are not different vitally. Nor was organotherapy resorted to when and where the healing art held a worthy place in high civilizations.

One of the earliest physicians in Europe to bring herbs into medical practice was Paracelsus, who taught that every plant on earth belonged to, or had its origin in, a star. Following him there were many who allocated the herbs and plants as pertaining to the seven sacred planets of the ancients. The Hermetists of old also had the plants so listed.

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

Anahita (Avestan) Nahid (Persian) (in full Aredvi-Sura-Anahita from ared to grow straight or high, expand + sura strong, powerful + anahita undefilable from a not + ahit unclean)

The Avestan goddess of the waters dwelling in the region of the stars; similar to the Hindu Ganga, she is described as "the large river, known afar, that is as large as the whole of the waters that run along the earth; that runs powerfully from the height Hukairya down to the sea Vouru-Kasha (the waters of space)

. All the shores of the sea Vouru-Kasha are boiling over, all the middle of it is boiling over, when she runs down there, when she streams down there, she, Ardvi Sura Anahita, who has a thousand cells and a thousand channels: the extent of each of those cells, of each of those channels is as much as a man can ride in forty days, riding on a good horse. From this river of mine (Ahura Mazda's) alone flow all the waters that spread all over the seven Karshvares (the seven globes of the earth-chain); this river of mine alone goes on bringing waters, both in summer and in winter" (Aban Yasht 3-5).

According to Berosus, it was Artaxerxes Mnemon (404-361 BC) who first instituted formal worship of a divinity hitherto held too holy and sacred for public adoration, erecting statues under the name of Venus-Anahita -- thus she became the Anaitis of the Greeks. Blavatsky equates her with the Hindu Sarasvati.

In the old Persian Language Aredvi-Sur-Nahid has been used in the sense of powerful and unblemished water; Nahid is also the name of Venus. Anahita represents the water of life or the primordial substance in which the life-giving Mithra penetrates and creates light. Mehr-Ab (Mithra + water) is the name given to the most sacred place of worship or altar in all mosques, usually represented with a triangle over a square, geometrically pertaining to the number seven. This symbol can also be seen in some carpet designs and many Persian artifacts of different periods, both Islamic and pre-Islamic.

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

Herbs The very large number of plants used as remedial agents in medicine are the natural remedies in treating disease, divine instructors having revealed to early humanity the great boon of agriculture and the medical use of plants. Echoes of the archaic wisdom appear in Vedic writings, but few can interpret the philosophy of the one Life which functions in the elements and forces of the human body, and their related action in the plants and minerals of the body of the earth.

The Sanskrit word for medicine in general is aushadha (consisting of herbs), and the ancient Hindu materia medica was the source from which subsequent systems of practice in many other countries drew their remedies, when a broad conception of the sacred art of healing marked their highest periods of national attainment. Originally the medical practitioners were as familiar with the mystical and occult properties of plants and minerals as magicians themselves were. Both understood the analogy and interrelations between the principles of the composite human being and all the various elements throughout the realm of nature.

That some plants are attracted by the sun and others by the moon, etc., was explained by a profound knowledge of astronomy and of the occult influences of solar, lunar, and planetary time periods and sidereal forces. This gave the key for the best time, place, and conditions for gathering the herbs, and for the special pharmacy required for bringing out the vital remedial action which, by working with nature, left no unfavorable aftereffects. There is no record of medical laboratory work producing artificial synthetic products which, even when duplicating nature's substances chemically, are not different vitally. Nor was organotherapy resorted to when and where the healing art held a worthy place in high civilizations.

One of the earliest physicians in Europe to bring herbs into medical practice was Paracelsus, who taught that every plant on earth belonged to, or had its origin in, a star. Following him there were many who allocated the herbs and plants as pertaining to the seven sacred planets of the ancients. The Hermetists of old also had the plants so listed.

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

Six The number of manifestation; the ancients reasoned that since the basis of all manifested nature was sextal -- such as six fundamental forces, planes, and hierarchies of beings -- therefore nature throughout all its manifested structure and workings would be subordinate to this fundamental numerical key.

Hence not only the structure of nature itself would be sextal, but so would cycles of time in their operation. Here is the fundamental reason the Hindus, ancient Babylonians, and the Mystery schools and teachers of other lands, adopted the sextal or sexagesimal keys as the numerical series of events in which time cycles repeated themselves, therefore corresponding to events in human and cosmic matters. Multiplied by itself, and then by ten (the perfect number), gives 360 -- the number of the Hindu Divine Year, also of degrees in a circle and the basis of the Babylonian saros.

The combination with three (6+3) making nine, however, was looked at askance by the ancients, for "if number 6 was the symbol of our globe ready to be animated by a divine spirit, 9 symbolized our earth informed by a bad or evil spirit" (SD 2:581).

In Saint-Germain's manuscript, six is regarded as the symbol of the animating or informing principle, and it was also the "symbol of the Earth during the autumn and winter 'sleeping' months" (SD 2:583).

In occultism six is represented by the cube representing the six dimensions -- the four cardinal points, and the zenith and nadir; "while the senary was applied by the sages to physical man, the septenary was for them the symbol of that man plus his immortal soul" (SD 2:591).

Six is also present in the double triangles, which when interlaced form a six-pointed star; "this is the reason why Pythagoras and the ancients made the number six sacred to Venus, since 'the union of the two sexes, and the spagyrisation of matter by triads are necessary to develop the generative force, that prolific virtue and tendency to reproduction which is inherent in all bodies' " (SD 2:592).

See also SENARY

(See also: Six, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Vestal Virgins The priestess-guardians of the sacred fire of the Roman State; originally four in number, later six, then seven. Their special duty was to keep burning the sacred fire, which must never be allowed to go out. Once a year, however, it was extinguished with appropriate ceremonies, and then rekindled by means of "pure" or elemental fire -- fire produced by friction or by means of a burning-glass.

The Vestals were chosen when mere children, their election being the king's prerogative; under the Empire and Republic, that of the pontifex maximus. The one selected took a vow of chastity for thirty years, after which she was free to return to the world and marry if she chose. So highly regarded was this honor that few availed themselves of this privilege, and despite the requirements there were always more candidates for the position than could be accepted. A violation of her vows subjected the Vestal to extreme penalties.

Vestals enjoyed special privileges in the State, and in most respects were not subject to the Roman law. On state occasions they were preceded by a lictor and at public spectacles the best seats were reserved for them. In all the greater ceremonies and state festivals they took a prominent part. They had undisputed power to pardon any criminal whom they might meet when on his way to execution, providing the meeting was not prearranged. They could be buried within the walls, a privilege they shared with the Roman Emperor alone. Public slaves were appointed to serve them; they were the custodians of important state papers. They lived in almost royal splendor in the magnificent Atrium Vestae which adjoined the official fanum of the pontifex maximus himself. Their chief festival was the Vestalia, held on June 9th. From the central fire which they tended, the altars of other gods obtained their fires, and even distant colonies were not held to be consecrated until their own altar fires were lighted with fire from the central hearth. Compared with this cult in other parts of the world, especially in India where originally there was a lofty worship requiring the completest chastity and renunciation of the devadasis or nachnis of the temples, the cult in Rome, despite worldliness, seems to have suffered less degeneration than might have been expected from the theoretical and actual power surrounding it.

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

Crocodile. "The great reptile of Typhon." The seat of its "worship" was Crocodilopolis and it was sacred to Set and Sebak - its alleged creators.

The primitive Rishis in India, the Manus, and Sons of Brahma, are each the progenitors of some animal species, of which he is the alleged "father"; in Egypt, each god was credited with the formation or creation of certain animals which were sacred to him.

Crocodiles must have been numerous in Egypt during the early dynasties, if one has to judge by the almost incalculable number of their mummies. Thousands upon thousands have been excavated from the grottoes of Moabdeh, and many a vast necropolis of that Typhonic animal is still left untouched. But the Crocodile was only worshipped where his god and "father" received honours. Typhon (q.v.) had once received such honours and, as Bunsen shows, had been considered a great god. His words are, "

Down to the time of Ramses B.C. 1300, Typhon was one of the most venerated and powerful gods, a god who pours blessings and life on the rulers of Egypt." As explained elsewhere, Typhon is the material aspect of Osiris. When Typhon, the Quaternary, kills Osiris, the triad or divine Light, and cuts it metaphorically into 14 pieces, and separates himself from the "god", he incurs the execration of the masses; he becomes the evil god, the storm and hurricane god, the burning sand of the Desert, the constant enemy of the Nile, and the "slayer of the evening beneficent dew", because Osiris is the ideal Universe, Siva the great Regenerative Force, and Typhon the material portion of it, the evil side of the god, or the Destroying Siva.

This is why the crocodile is also partly venerated and partly execrated. The appearance of the crocodile in the Desert, far from the water, prognosticated the happy event of the coming inundation - hence its adoration at Thebes and Ombos. But he destroyed thousands of human and animal beings yearly - hence also the hatred and persecution of the Crocodile at Elephantine and Tentyra.

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

Vahana (Sanskrit) Vehicle, carrier; a vehicle of an entity which allows it to manifest on planes inferior to its own. The human constitution is comprised of a number of vahanas, each enabling the spiritual or intellectual entity to express itself on the plane where the vahana is native. Generally, the soul is the vehicle of a monad, the ego is the vehicle of a soul, and the body is the vehicle of an ego -- of whatever type or degree.

In The Secret Doctrine, fohat is spoken of as the vahana of the "Primordial Seven"; physical forces as the vehicles of the elements; and the sun as the vahana or buddhi of Aditi (I 108, 470. 527n). Again, all gods and goddesses are "represented as using vahanas to manifest themselves, which vehicles are ever symbolical. So, for instance, Vishnu has during Pralayas, Ananta 'the infinite' (Space), symbolized by the serpent Sesha, and during the Manvantaras -- Garuda the gigantic half-eagle, half-man, the symbol of the great cycle; Brahma appears as Brahma, descending into the planes of manifestation on Kalahansa, the 'swan in time or finite eternity'; Siva . . . appears as the bull Nandi; Osiris as the sacred bull Apis; Indra travels on an elephant; Karttikeya, on a peacock; Kamadeva on Makara, at other times a parrot; Agni, the universal (and also solar) Fire-god, who is, as all of them are, 'a consuming Fire,' manifests itself as a ram and a lamb, Aja, 'the unborn'; Varuna, as a fish; etc., etc., while the vehicle of Man is his body" (TG 357-8).

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

ABRAXAS (or Abrasax)

Being the unreachable, unknowable and unmanifested "God" beyond existence and non-existence, beyond good and evil, beyond all dualities, "he" may be considered the ultimate synthesis. Since the Judeo-Xtian God is a monad, He must have an opposite (Satan), in company with Zoroaster's Ahriman and Ahuramazda, Abraxas does not require opposition.

The Gods are the original essences of Reality and as such are limited to the manifestation of the processes of Nature or Subnature. Therefore, they are necessarily below Abraxas.

Budge is the only Egyptologist who presents us with the Egyptian word:

Abraskkiaks (Leemans Papyrus, III, 210- ). Probably derived from the same word as ABRACADABRA (Heb. Ha-b'rakah, "the blessing" or "the sacred name"). He is the ultimate God beyond good and evil (for that matter he is even beyond being and non-being). On ancient Gnostic amulets he appears as rooster-headed, with two serpents for legs and bearing in one hand a whip and in the other a shield with the word 'IAO'. Occasionally he appears as a charioteer. He is the source of the 365 emanations of the Divine Pleroma. The Creator God (see IALDABAOTH) is much inferior, hardly more than a Demiurge. It is said that, in order to express the important number 365 ("The Divine Cycle"). In Greek letters, Abraxas has that many Gods or "aeons" (or "Archons") under him.

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