CHARMS: Can either be an amulet or talisman that has been charged by saying an incantation over it and instilling it with energy for a specific task.

(See also: CHARMS , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Bhagavad Gita

Dated between the 5th and the 2nd centuries B.C., the Gita, which comprises 18 chapters, is a part of the Mahabharata. In the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna, the divine incarnation, and his friend and disciple Arjuna, it teaches how to achieve union with the supreme Reality through the paths of knowledge, devotion, selfless work, and meditation.

(See also: Bhagavad Gita , Hinduism, Vedic Scriptures, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Arya (Sanskrit) Lit., "the holy"; originally the title of Rishis, those who had mastered the "Aryasatyani" (q.v.) and entered the Aryanimarga path to Nirvana or Moksha, the great "four-fold" path.

But now the name has become the epithet of a race, and our Orientalists, depriving the Hindu Brahmans of their birth-right, have made Aryans of all Europeans. In esotericism, as the four paths, or stages, can be entered only owing to great spiritual development and "growth in holiness ", they are called the "four fruits". The degrees of Arhatship, called respectively Srotapatti, Sakridagamin, Anagamin, and Arhat, or the four classes of Aryas, correspond to these four paths and truths.

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

ABORIGINAL: Pagan tradition of the native Australian people.

(See also: ABORIGINAL , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Moon: The Moon is in its sign of rulership in Cancer. The Moon is visible to us because of reflected light from the Sun. Its monthly motion through the heavens and its phases are timers we should all take seriously. Hospital employees tell stories of increased birth rate or emergency room traffic as the Full Moon approaches. Astrologers know that important activities are best begun just after the New Moon.

The Moon in your chart reflects your subconscious mind. Its sign and house describe your emotional bias – the way your express your feelings most easily and directly.

It is interesting to note that the Sun and Moon appear to be exactly the same size in the sky. If this were not so, we could not have total eclipses of the Sun. But what does this mean to the astrologer? It means that the vitality of the Sun is equal in importance to the action of the Moon in your life. The expression of your individuality is equal in importance to the nurturance of your emotional well-being. Conscious awareness is equal to subconscious motivations. Studying your Moon sign can provide clue to your inner life and suggest paths to increased personal satisfaction with life.

In terms of career, the Sun may show what you want to be when you grow up, but the Moon shows the path – the means – to that end. (This relationship happens to be true for all kinds of astrological charts – for events, nations, weather forecasting, etc.) Learning about the sign and house of your Moon will provide answers to many questions you may have about how to take positive action. This is the area of the chart that shows your emotional changeability, and it also reflects your best path to any other kind of change in your life.

Finally, the Moon shows, by its sign and house, how and where you can be comfortable. It suggests the physical surroundings, the material objects and the emotional tone that is pleasant for you. It also shows how you assimilate – food, information, emotional vibrations.

The Sun and Moon together form a team. You will find that be considering them together, you get a fuller, richer sense of who you are and how you can become happier and more successful.

(See also: Moon , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

BOOK OF SHADOWS: A witch's book of spells, rituals, magickal lore. Much akin to a magickal cookbook. Also known as a BOS.

(See also: BOOK OF SHADOWS , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Cause-awakened one

(Jpn.: engaku; Skt.: pratyekabuddha)

Also, self-awakened one. One who perceives the twelve-linked chain of causation, or the truth of causal relationship. Cause-awakened one also means those who, in an age when there is no Buddha, realize on their own the truth of impermanence by observing natural phenomena. Because their awakening is self-gained, cause-awakened ones are also called self-awakened ones. Together with voice-hearers, they constitute the persons of the two vehicles. Unlike bodhisattvas, they seek their own emancipation without thought of preaching for and instructing others.

The Sanskrit term pratyekabuddha means "independently enlightened one" or "individually enlightened one." In the early Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures, it was rendered cause-awakened one, which implies one enlightened through perceiving causal relation ship. The Treatise on the Meaning of the Mahayana, written by Hui-yŸan (523-592), describes pratyekabuddha as one who perceives the twelve-linked chain of causation or who awakens to the truth by observing natural phenomena such as the scattering of blossoms or the falling of leaves. Later the term was rendered as self-awakened one.

In The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai (538-597) distinguishes these two types of pratyekabud-dha-cause-awakened ones and self-awakened ones. Mahayana, which upholds practice to benefit others, referred to the vehicle of pratyekabuddha, or the teaching that leads one to the state of pratyekabuddha, as Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle), because it concerns only one's own salvation. The realm of cause-awakened ones is also viewed as a condition of life, in which one perceives the transience of life in the six paths and strives to free oneself from the six paths by seeking eternal truth through one's own effort. This realm or state constitutes the eighth of the Ten Worlds.

(See also: Cause-awakened one , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

upasarga: (Sanskrit) "Trouble, obstacle."

Difficulties, challenges or distractions which retard one's progress on the spiritual path. Numerous lists are given in scripture under the Sanskrit terms upasarga, dosha (defect; blemish), klesha, vighna and antaraya.

The Yogatattva Upanishad lists twenty doshas including hunger, thirst, excitement, grief, anger and greed; as well as five vighnas: sloth, boastfulness, bad company, cultivation of mantras for wrong reasons and longing for women. Patanjali names nine antarayas to success in yoga, including sickness, doubt, sloth, nonattainment and instability. Spiritually, all these obstacles unless overcome lead to a dead end of unhappiness and despair, often affording steps which can only be retraced through reincarnating again.

See: purity-impurity.

(See also: Upasarga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Mars: Mars rules Aries. Mars is energy. It is the kind of energy that your body uses to contract muscles, to assimilate food, and to fire synapses in the brain. It is the kind of energy that makes gasoline burn, pushing pistons up and down, thereby moving your car. It is the dynamic energy of all action in the material world.

The god Mars was responsible for two distinctive kinds of energetic activity: He was the god of war, going around sowing terror and fear in the enemy and inspiring courage as well. On the other hand, he was a god of agriculture, encouraging the planting and tending of crops, and even encourage the crops themselves to grow.

The sign and house of Mars show where your personal energies tend to go when you are not guiding them. It also shows where you can concentrate your energy through decisive action for the strongest results. There is a certain reckless quality to Mars. This planet has to do with sharp instruments and vigorous force. We need to understand this planet in order to manage energy well, or it can become angry and destructive. Thus reading about Mars in your chart can provide answers to your questions about why some situations may have turned out badly, and how to use your physical and emotional energy more successfully in the future.

Mars is also the planet of desire. We all tend to use our energy to get what we want when we want it. Desire is a good thing, because it impels us forward to something new and better. It helps us to find partners and mates. It helps us to find satisfying food, clothing and shelter. On the mental level, desire helps us to choose an area of study, to select books or movies we want to experience. On a still higher level, Mars indicates the direction of our spiritual passion. It shows what religious or spiritual path will satisfy our desire to understand the universe and master our own actions.

The aspects of Mars in your chart indicate the directions in which you can most easily direct your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies. Understanding Mars helps you to direct your actions to gain the best results.

(See also: Mars , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

Difficult Path of Practice (Path of the Sages, Self-Power Path)

According to Pure Land teaching, all conventional Buddhist ways of practice and cultivation (Zen, Theravada, the Vinaya School ...), which emphasize self-power and self-reliance.

This is contrasted to the Easy Path of Practice, that is, the Pure Land method, which relies on both self-power and other-power (the power and assistance of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas).

 (See also: Difficult Path of Practice (Path of the Sages, Self-Power Path) , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

exclusive: Excluding all others. Saivites believe that there is no exclusive path to God, that no spiritual path can rightly claim that it alone leads to the goal.

(See also: Exclusive , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Natural Medicine Path (the Medicine of the South, the Natural Medicine of the South): Mode of Cherokee healing. The Natural Medicine Path is an animistic form of herbalism.

(See also: Natural Medicine Path , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Left-Hand Path:

(1) The people we don’t like who are doing magic.

(2) Occultists who spend their time being destructive, manipulative and “evil” — or at least annoying.

(See also: Left-Hand Path , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

CHARGING: To infuse an object with personal power.

(See also: CHARGING , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

MICROCOSM: The world within us.

(See also: MICROCOSM , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Eightfold Path

The eight right ways leading to the cessation of sufferings.

(1)  Right View;

(2)   (Right Thought;

(3)  Right Speech;

(4)  Right Action;

(5)  Right Livelihood;

(6)  Right Effort;

(7)  Right Remembrance;

(8)  Right Concentration.

 (See also: Eightfold Path , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Eightfold Path: Fourth noble truth of Buddhism, also called the "middle path," which includes proper cultivation of the following: views, aims, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and contemplation.

 (See also: Eightfold Path , Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Sadhana:

1) A spiritual discipline or path. 2) Practices, both physical and mental, on the spiritual path.

(See also: Sadhana , Yoga, Yoga Dictionary, Siddha Yoga, Siddha Yoga Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

AMULET: Usually considered an object of protection that has been charged to deflect specific negative energies or thought forms. Amulets can be made of feathers, plants, beads, etc. The horseshoe and the four-leaf-clover are two examples of amulets.

(See also: AMULET , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Yana (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root ya to go]

Path, road, vehicle; there are two recognized paths of action in nature, the pratyeka-yana (the path of each one for himself) and the amrita-yana (the immortal vehicle or path of immortality). There are also two schools of philosophy in India using this term: the Hinayana (the lesser, inferior, or defective vehicle) and the Mahayana (the greater or superior vehicle).

This contrast is an exoteric rather than an esoteric one. It is a recognition of the fact that the religion of Gautama Buddha has separated into two general paths of action; but both the Hinayana and the Mahayana are recognized because known to possess each one its own particular value in training. The combination of the two is what one might call the esoteric path.

The Hinayana is that portion of the esoteric path in which the mystic traveler takes the lower passional and elemental sides of himself into strict discipline and self-control, the while following certain simple rules of day-to-day procedure; whereas the Mahayana aspect includes rather the training of the spiritual, intellectual, and higher psychic parts of the human constitution, such as is brought about by a profound study of philosophy, of the truths of nature, the mystical side of religion, and the higher parts of kosmic philosophy -- all these collected together around the heart of the Mahayana which is mystical study and aspiration.

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

AMULET: A magically charged object which deflects specific, usually negative energies. A protective object.

(See also: AMULET , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)