Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram: Abbreviated LBRP. A basic Golden Dawn ritual that uses the figure of the pentagram to cleanse the temple or ritual space of unwanted energies.

Also See: LBRP

(See also: Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

Witchcraft: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS about Witchcraft

Including:

Q. What form does the practice of Witchcraft take?

Q. How do you see the Goddess?

Q. Do all Witches practice their religion the same way?

Q. Is Witchcraft a 'cult'?

Q. Do Witches have a bible?

Q. Do Witches cast spells?

Q. Do Witches worship the devil?

Q. Are Witches only women?

Q. How can someone find out more about Witchcraft?

Read more here: » Witchcraft: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS about Witchcraft

Creating Sacred Space In Your Home

Many modern Celtic pagans today are faced with a difficult question: how can I bring my religion into my home? Whether we live in a dormitory, an apartment, a duplex or a mansion, most of us like to have our homes reflect our personalities and the things we are interested in, and that includes our spiritual practices, but many of us don't have back yards in which to practice and set up more permanent shrines, or 24/7 access to our favorite places in nature. For some, just setting up an altar somewhere in the home is either undesirable, unachievable or just not enough.

Read more here: » SacredSpace: Creating Sacred Space In Your Home

Hinduism: Do Hindus worship idols?

No, Hindus are not idol worshippers in the sense implied. They are intelligent people, and intelligent people do not worship stones or statues. Hindus invoke the presence of great souls living in higher consciousness into stone images so that we can feel the presence of God. Though we may have a stone image of a God, we are invoking the physical presence of the God into the stone image to bless us. Invocations of this nature can be performed by invoking God's presence in a fire, or in a tree, or in the enlightened person of a Sat Guru.

Read more here: » Hinduism: Do Hindus worship idols?

Sacred Sites: Temples as Places Of Deep Insight

Temples and other places of worship play a significant role in cultural reformation. The innate vibrations, cultural complexion, and spiritual qualities resonate all around the devotee. So they are more than places of worship; they are cultural rendezvous centres for traditional community activities. They are also meeting places for families and friends.

Read more here: » Sacred Sites: Temples as Places Of Deep Insight

Purity impurity: Shaucha-ashaucha.

Purity and its opposite, pollution, are a fundamental part of Hindu culture. While they imply a strong sense of physical cleanliness, their more important meanings extend to social, ceremonial, mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual contamination. Freedom from all forms of contamination is a key to Hindu spirituality, and is one of the yamas.

-       Physical purity requires a clean and wellordered environment, yogic purging of the internal organs and frequent cleansing with water.

-       Mental purity derives from meditation, right living and right thinking.

-       Emotional purity depends on control of the mind, clearing the subconscious and keeping good company.

-       Spiritual purity is achieved through following the yamas and niyamas, study of the Vedas and other scriptures, pilgrimage, meditation, japa, tapas and ahimsa.

-       Ritual purity requires the observance of certain prayashchittas, or penances, for defilement derived from foreign travel, contact with base people or places, conversion to other faiths, contact with bodily wastes, attending a funeral, etc.

Purity is of three forms - purity in mind, speech and body, or thought, word and deed. Purity is the pristine and natural state of the soul. Impurity, or pollution, is the obscuring of this state by adulterating experience and beclouding conceptions. In daily life, the Hindu strives to protect this innate purity by wise living, following the codes of dharma. This includes harnessing the sexual energies, associating with other virtuous Hindu devotees, never using harsh, angered or indecent language, and keeping a clean and healthy physical body.

See: dharma, papa, penance, punya, yamaniyama.

(See also: Purity impurity , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Effects of Evil Eye

The power of an "Evil Eye" is so bad that it could inflict injury or bad luck by the look/glance of certain persons. Hence the tamil proverb, "Getting hurt by a stone is far better that getting hurt by an Evil Eye".

One could have observed that the stretch of important streets are strewn with pieces of white pumpkin which is broken open on the streets to wipe away the evil eye on occasions such as house warming function day, during the construction of a new house, on the day of opening a new account on the "Saraswathi Puja" day.

Read more here: » Vastu Shastra:

Relation between Hinduism and Zoroastrianism

Like the Rigvedic Aryans, the ancient Iranians worshipped gods like Mitra, Vayu, Verutraghna. They also wore the sacred thread and worshipped fire. They had a social organization that was in some ways similar to the Vedic occupation based social system. 

Read more here: » Hinduism and Zoroastrianism:Relation between Hinduism and Zoroastrianism

Religious observances, traditional worship and Vratas have, at times, more than one significance. Apart from being the adoration of the Divine, they are commemorative of stirring bygone events, allegoric when interpreted from the occult standpoint, and are significant pointers guiding the Jiva on his path to Realisation.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Worship: Worship in Hinduism for different Hindu Gods

Shanidev is Partly Shiva's Avatar

Shani or Shanichar (Saturn) is believed to be the son of Surya the Sun-god and Chhaya. So he is also called Saura. His other names include Kruradris and Kruralochana (the cruel-eyed), Mandu (dull or slow), Pangu (physically challenged), Saptarchi (seven-eyed) and Asita (dark). Shani is believed to wield evil influence, so anyone born under his influence is at risk. Hence the day named after him, Shanivara, is considered inauspicious to begin any new venture.

Read more here: » Shani: Shanidev is Partly Shiva's Avatar

Sravana, a Month Devoted to Shiva

The devout spend the entire month of Sravana in austerities and worship of Shiva, culminating in the Sravana Purnima on Raksha Bandhan day. Shiva is beyond the gunas, as His trident represents all three, sattva, rajas and tamas. The elephant skin attire indicates that he is beyond pride; the tiger skin symbolises his going beyond lust, and the snake around his neck represents wisdom and eternity.

Read more here: » Shiva: Sravana, a Month Devoted to Shiva

The Agamas : Another class of popular scriptures are the Agamas. The Agamas are theological treatises and practical manuals of divine worship. The Agamas include the Tantras, Mantras and Yantras. These are treatises explaining the external worship of God, in idols, temples, etc. All the Agamas treat of (i) Jnana or Knowledge, (ii) Yoga or Concentration, (iii) Kriya or Esoteric Ritual and (iv) Charya or Exoteric Worship.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Agamas: The Agamas in the Hindu Scriptures

There is no reference to worship of idols in the Vedas. The Puranas and the Agamas give descriptions of idol-worship both in the houses and in the temples. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind.

The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Worship: The Philosophy And Significance Of Idol-Worship

agnikaraka: (Sanskrit) "Fire ritual." The Agamic term for yajna. See: yajna.

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

Basics of Hinduism: Are Hindus idol worshipers?

Hindus do not worship a stone or metal "idol" as God. We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the image so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings.

Read more here: » Basics of Hinduism: Are Hindus idol worshipers?

In the stampede at the Nashik Kumbh Mela, many pilgrims were injured and several died. Some others drowned in the Godavari while taking the holy dip and a few were victims of the bomb blasts in Mumbai where they had made a brief stopover.

Pilgrims are aware of the various hardships they have to endure, of the risks involved - landslides, stampedes, floods, terrorist attacks, fires - but they carry on, undeterred, motivated by the desire to acquire punya or spiritual merit.

(See also: Kumbh Mela , Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Kumbh Mela: Pilgrims Undeterred By Perils  

The philosophy of Prophet Zarathushtra accorded sanctity to nature as much as to rectitude in human existence. The Sun became the celestial emblem of the Fire which was kept burning within the homes and fire-temples on earth as an undying and unremitting tribute to the spirit of the Creator, Ahura Mazda.

Haptan Yasht says: "We revere the Earth and the Sky, we revere the strong Wind created by Mazda, we revere all good land." The unflinching reverence of the living world as also an abiding involvement with the advancement of our own Self were propounded through Zoroastrianism, a religion in consonance with environmental perceptions. Physical purity became a step towards purity of the mind, the soul and the spirit.

(See also: Jamshedi Navroz , Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Jamshedi Navroz: Celebration of Life - Jamshedi Navroz  

bone-gathering: Asthisanchaya. Part of Hindu funeral rites. About twelve hours after cremation, family men return to the cremation site to collect the remains.

Water is first sprinkled on the ashes to separate the black ash of the wood from the fine, white ash of the body. The white ash and bones (up to four inches long, called flowers) are collected in a tray or brass pot.

Some Hindus send the ashes and bones for deposition in the Ganges. Or they may be put into any ocean or river. Arrangements can be made with crematoriums in the East or West for the family to personally gather the ash and flowers.

See: cremation, samskaras of adulthood.

(See also: Bone-gathering , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Purva Mimamsa or Karma-Mimamsa is an enquiry into the earlier portion of the Vedas, an enquiry into the ritual of the Vedas or that portion of the Vedas which is concerned with the Mantras and the Brahmanas only. The Purva Mimamsa is so called, because it is earlier (Purva) than the Uttara Mimamsa, not so much in the chronological as in the logical sense.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Purva Mimamsa: Hindu Philosophy - The Purva Mimamsa

In the Jagannath Puri festival the king works as a sweeper, cleaning the pathway ahead of the chariot, denoting that no labour is insignificant if done for a higher cause. People from all communities get together to draw the chariots with great enthusiasm, upholding the spirit of celebration and exalting the concept of dignity of labour.

(See also: Puri festival , Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Puri festival: Lord of the Universe - Puri Jagannath - about Puri festival  

Karma

(Sanskrit "deed," "action," "ritual," "result") A central Indian term with various meanings.

1)    Any mental, verbal, or physical action or intention, especially a morally correct or textually prescribed activity.

2)    The results or consequences of actions or intentions.

3)    The Hindu principle of cause and effect, originally developed in South Asian religions, that determines one's past, current, and future existences. Everything we do produces some effect, now or later, on the physical or astral planes. Representing neither good nor evil, all actions and events cause corresponding actions and events in the past or future (including past and future lives through reincarnation).

4)    Ritual activity, particularly the ancient Indian rites propitiating a pantheon of gods as prescribed in the Vedic texts. Ritual performance might be done to meet religious obligations, such as initiation into the community, to honor one's ancestors, or to fulfill individual desires such as wealth, progeny, or immortality. The results of ritual, which are also called karma, were sometimes interpreted as "unseen" (apurva), that is, postponed or not yet noticeable in order to explain apparently delayed consequences. While all could admit that actions would eventually bear consequences, the doctrine of unseen results provoked lively debate and reconsideration of the importance of ritual.

5)    The erroneous western interpretation: That the good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. At the end of our life, we are rewarded or punished according to our karma by being reincarnated into either a painful or good new life.

(see Karma)

(See also: Karma , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

There is no reference to worship of idols in the Vedas. The Puranas and the Agamas give descriptions of idol-worship both in the houses and in the temples. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind.

The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Worship: An Introduction to Hindu Worship