mysticism

Art and science of establishing conscious relation with the absolute.

(See also: Mysticism , Body Mind and Soul)

Asathor (Scandianvian Norse). The same as Thor. The god of storms and thunder, a hero who receives Miolnir, the "storm-hammer", from its fabricators, the dwarfs. With it he conquer Alwin in a "battle of words" breaks the head of the giant Hrungir, chastises Loki for his magic; destroys the whole race of giants in Thrymheim; and, as a good and benevolent god, sets up therewith land-marks, sanctifies marriage bonds, blesses law and order, and produces every good and terrific feat with its help. A god in the Eddas, who is almost as great as Odin. (See "Miolnir" and "Thor’s Hammer".)

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

Sagittarius: The Adventurer

Key Phrase: I UNDERSTAND

Sagittarius is the optimistic quality which inspires us to have faith in ourselves and our futures. As the Mutable Fire sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius expresses the ability to maintain an open mind. Philosophical and tolerant of differences, Sagittarius can show great wisdom, and through the energy of Jupiter, its planetary ruler, is stimulated to reach toward broader horizons. Yet it can also be tactless, blunt, and even condescending. Sagittarius must have an opinion about everything - in a pinch, it will generate one on the spot. Sagittarius looks for adventurous and philanthropic opportunities; when carried to the extreme, it can become overly zealous and gluttonous. Symbolized by the Archer, Sagittarius is always looking upward and forward, and may sometimes gallivant into the sunset leaving others behind. Where you find Sagittarius in your chart, there is a need to expand and to develop tolerance.

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

Gnomes: Gnomes are elemental spirits of Earth. The name was invented by Paracelsus in the 16th century. He identified spirits of the four elements, or elementals.

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

Anumitis (Sanskrit). Inference, deduction in philosophy.

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

Visvamitra (Sanskrit) Friend of all; a celebrated rishi (sage), famed for his contests with the sage Vasishtha. By birth a Kshattriya of the lineage of Pururavas of the lunar dynasty, he was employed at the court of Raja Sudas of the Tritsus, as was Vasishtha. Visvamitra was constantly worsted in his struggles for supremacy over the great Brahmin Vasishtha, and determined to elevate himself to the rank of a Brahmin, which he succeeded in doing after many strenuous austerities. Many verses of the Rig-Veda are said to have been written by him, and he is also credited with authorship of a law book.

In the Ramayana, Visvamitra is stated to be a counselor of Ramachandra.

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

Cry from the Cross The cry of the expiring Jesus -- given in the Gospels as "Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani" (Matt 27:46) (in Mark it is Eloi)

; translated in Greek "Theemou, Theemou, hinati me 'egkatelipes"; and then translated into English as "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" -- is a curious instance of mistranslation, for the Hebrew words as quoted mean, "My God, my God, how thou hast glorified me!" On the other hand, Psalms 22:1 has the words, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" but here the Hebrew for forsaken is `azabtani (forsaken me).

There seems to have been a desire to represent the cry from the cross as a fulfillment of these words of Psalms. What Jesus really uttered, according to the Hebrew, was a cry of ecstasy over the peace of attainment, clarification, and liberation. The cry in Psalms is that of the candidate for initiation left to his unaided resources, to achieve or fail by them and them alone -- which is the only fair and certain test of ability.

(See also: Cry from the Cross , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Bija (Sanskrit) Sometimes vija. Seed or life-germ, whether of animals or plants; esoterically the original or causal source of the urge of life to express itself. "Whether it be a kosmos or universe, or the reappearance of god, deva, man, animal, plant, or mineral, or, indeed, elemental, the seed or life-germ from and out of which any one of these arises is technically called Bija, and the reference here is almost as much to the life-germ or vehicle itself, as it is to the self-urge for manifestation working through the seed or life-germ. Mystically and psychologically, the appearance of an Avatara, for instance, is due to an impulse arising in Maha-Siva, or in Maha-Vishnu (according to circumstances), to manifest a portion of the divine essence, . . . Or again, when from the chela is born the Initiate during the dread trials of initiation, the newly-arisen Master is said to have been born from the mystic Bija or Seed within his own being" (OG 18).

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

Aristophanes (448?-380 BC) Athenian comedic playwright, of whose 44 plays 11 survive -- the only complete Greek comedies to reach modern times. Well-thought of as a person, he is mentioned in Plato's Symposium as among the noblest of men. His penetration, patriotism, sarcasm and satire, scorn of what is evil and base, imagination, command of language, and technical skill make him one of the great writers of comedies of all time. (SD)

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

Chiliocosm (Greek) (from chilioi thousand + kosmos world)

In Northern Buddhism, a world made up of a thousand regions; spoken of as equivalent to Sahalo-Kadhatu (Saha-lokadhatu)

(ML 199), out of the many regions of which only three are named: kama-loka, rupa-loka, and arupa-loka. It is also stated that kama-loka has many subdivisions or subregions, so that the threefold enumeration is a rough summary of a manifold classification.

It might be said that the universe is infilled with chiliososms, each one corresponding more or less to a hierarchy with its own integral system of worlds, regions, or divisions, each division again being subdivided to form the vast complexity of universal nature we see around us. Further, each such hierarchy from another standpoint consists of divine, spiritual, intellectual, astral, or astral-physical divisions running from the higher downwards to the lowest; and the three lowest of each such chiliocosm bear the names kama-loka (or kama-dhatu), rupa-loka (or rupa-dhatu), and arupa-loka (or arupa-dhatu), these three commonly spoken of as the trailokya, the name applying to whatever universe, hierarchy, or chiliocosm they may be in or belong to.

With regard to the trailokya, the lowest or kama-dhatu is generally the various subordinate or lowest regions of desire; the second or rupa-dhatu, while worlds of form, are of such ethereal and subtle character that they may be defined as worlds or regions of a purely intellectual or mental character; whereas the highest or arupa-dhatu comprises regions of so purely spiritual -- not merely ethereal -- character that the words states or divisions can alone give some idea of their character.

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

Egoity I-am-I-ness, ahamkara; human egoity is dual, but egoity really should mean individuality, not personality.

The characteristic or swabhava of individuality is egoity or the essential root of I-am-I-ness, while the characteristic or swabhava of the personality is egoism, the faint shadow of egoity drunken with the sense of its own exclusive importance in the world.

Further, both egoity and egoism are sharply distinguished from essential selfhood; paradoxically, the stronger the idea of essential selfhood in the human being, the less is there of egoity, and the least there is of egoism, for even egoity is a reflection, albeit high, of spiritual selfhood, which recognizes its oneness with the All.

Thus ego is defined as I-am-I, consciousness recognizing its own mayavi existence as a separate entity, hence often called reflected consciousness. Essential selfhood is the characteristic of atman in the human constitution; egoity arises in the conjunction of atma-buddhi with manas; whereas personality or egoism is the faint reflection of the latter working in and through the lower manas, kama, and prana.

Egregores Coined by Eliphas Levi, who explains it as "the chiefs of the souls who are the spirits of energy and action" (SD 1:259). They are beings "whose bodies and essence is a tissue of the so-called astral light. They are the shadows of the higher Planetary Spirits whose bodies are of the essence of the higher divine light" (TG 111). Blavatsky comments that they are "the 'giants' of Genesis who loved the daughters of men: an allusion to the first prehuman (so to say) races of men evoluted, not born -- Alpha and the Omega of Humanity in this our 'Round' " (BCW 6:176). (BCW refers to eggregores; does it = egregores?)

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

Sagittarius: The best quality of Sagittarius is loyalty. This is true for Sun sign Sagittarians, and also for people with other planets in this sign, although with other planets, the loyalty may extend only to matters concerning that planet. The worst quality is indiscriminate game-playing. A key phrase is “I aspire.” The Sagittarius personality is generous, ambitious and loyal. Self-reliant, Sagittarians can go off on world travels alone without a qualm, and tend to throw youselves into life with the same energy you would pack for such a trip. You can make effective decisions, and therefore are often found in executive positions. You reveal your enthusiasm and positive attitude toward life.

You like to travel mentally as well. You can study subjects deeply, and enjoy philosophical conversations. You tend to be somewhat conservative, as you would expect for your time of year – it is the conservative harvesting of summer’s bounty that feeds us in December, after all. Once you understand the theory of a subject, you are able to take effective action in the practical realm.

The Sagittarius temperament is outspoken and frank. In fact, sometimes you may wish you could restrain your speech. Still, you are usually open-minded, able to listen to what others have to say. You tend to hold to your own opinions tenaciously, yet you are able to change your minds when a suitable argument is presented. Generally able to make quick decisions, you can be too hasty at times.

Sagittarius is usually proper in demeanor. You can give or take orders, and thus are solid companions, able to share leadership cheerfully. When you engage in sports, you learnt he rules and abide by you, just as you respect the rules in all areas of life. Your understanding can come across as magnanimous at times, and at other times you seem self-righteous. You aspire to lofty heights and may be disappointed if others do not attain the same level. You seek to comprehend, both on an interior basis and on a practical level, and once you understand the dynamics of a situation, you cheerfully accept your proper role.

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

Chogyam Trungpa

(1940-87) Tibetan teacher noted for his propagation of Tibetan Buddhism in North America.

Trungpa was recognized as the eleventh Trungpa tulku ("incarnate lama"), an important line of Kagyu tulkus who presided over the Surmang monasteries in eastern Tibet. He was found and enthroned when he was eighteen months old, was subsequently ordained, and received the rigorous training reserved for high tulkus. He fled Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1959, first working in India under appointment by the Dalai Lama, then traveling to England in 1963, where he relinquished his monastic vows, married, and taught Tibetan Buddhism and its contemplative practices to Westerners.

Arriving in the United States in 1970, Trungpa spent the next seventeen years teaching, writing, founding contemplative centers, and inaugurating various organizations, including the Vajradhatu association of (Tibetan) Buddhist churches (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), the Naropa Institute, an upper division accredited college (Boulder, Colorado), the Nalanda Translation Committee (Halifax and Boulder), and Shambhala Training, a nonsectarian program in meditation.

Trungpa was known for his innovative, sometimes unconventional approach to transmitting Buddhism to the West and for his insistance that meditation is the cornerstone of Buddhism.

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

Ymir (Icelandic, Scandinavian) In the Norse creation tale, the primeval frostgiant from whose substance the worlds are formed by the aesir (gods) at the beginning of time. According to the Voluspa (sibyl's prophecy) in the Edda, Ymir was "slain" -- transformed -- by the creative deities Odin Allfather (spirit), Vile (will), and Vi or Ve (awe, sanctity) into the substances that form the worlds in space.

One version relates that sparks from Muspellsheim (realm of fire) fell among the droplets of water vapor in Niflheim (realm of mists or nebulae) creating vapor in Ginnungagap (the yawning void). From this arose the likeness of a man, Ymir, who was nourished by the four streams of milk flowing from the udder of the cow Audhumla -- symbol of fertility. Ymer represents the frozen immobility of non-existence when the universe is not.

The Vala (sibyl) relates in Voluspa that the frostgiant's two feet mated with each other and that from them arose all the matter-giants from which all physical creation was formed. She describes poetically how the blood of Ymir became the oceans of water, his bones became mountains, his skull the heavenly vault, but "from his brain were surely all dark skies created." Midgard (central court), the earth, is surrounded and protected by his eyebrows and each quarter of space is governed by one of the four ruling powers, named for the four cardinal points, North, South, East, and West.

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

Tempter In general, the human mind, whether reacting to outside impulsions or impressions, or from within its own relatively small and uninspired powers; it has been commonly typified by the dragon, Satan, Zeus, etc. "Zeus is represented as a serpent -- the intellectual tempter of man -- which, nevertheless, begets in the course of cyclic evolution the 'Man-Saviour,' the solar Bacchus or 'Dionysus,' more than a man" (SD 2:419-20). Indeed, often it is our higher nature which "tempts" us upwards by calling forth latent or inner powers which, once evoked, are the ladder by which we climb. Thus our tempter is also our redeemer. The esoteric teaching of the tempting of humankind by awakening in its light of intellect has been materialized into a sensual temptation by a Devil in the Garden of Eden; and in the Bible, an evolutionary phase has been theologically degraded into a sin. The astral light is also spoken of as the tempter, especially by Eliphas Levi.

Temptation in its better sense is trial, probation, and testing, such as a candidate for knowledge must necessarily incur. In its worse sense, temptation is the evocation of action in and from the human mind and emotions, either by outside impacts, or because of the undeveloped characteristics of the mind itself.

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

Water Lily In the West equivalent to the Eastern symbol of the lotus, especially in the Greek and Latin Churches. It particularly signifies spiritual productions or manifestations, thus the Archangel Gabriel is sometimes represented as appearing before the Virgin Mary bearing a lily or a bunch of water lilies. "This spray typifying fire and water, or the idea of creation and generation, symbolizes precisely the same idea as the lotus in the hand of the Bodhisat who announces to Maha-Maya, Gautama's mother, the birth of the world's Saviour, Buddha. Thus also, Osiris and Horus were represented by the Egyptians constantly in association with the lotus-flower . . ." (SD 1:379).

Just as the water lily or lotus rises out of the mud through the more ethereal water into the still more ethereal air, permeated by the sun, so does the individual follow the same progression of developing spirituality from the world of matter upwards through the astral light into the world of spirit illuminated by the divine sun as master of life.

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

Vach-sata-rupa vac-sata-rupa (Sanskrit) The goddess in a hundred forms, or Vach as the immanent feminine aspect of divinity in the innumerable phases and forms of nature. Vach as Sata-rupa is the divine creative activity unfolded into the ten planes and their many subplanes of the universe. Each of these has its own keynotes and subordinate keynote. The union of Svayambhuva-Manu with Vach-sata-rupa, his own daughter (here representing the first manifestation of prakriti), is explained cosmically as the symbol of the root-life, the germ from which spring all the solar systems, worlds, and gods, because here Svaymbhuva-Manu is the cosmic manu; on the smaller scale, he with his consort plays the same role in the planetary chains of the solar system, and on a still smaller scale on any globe thereof.

In another early Hindu myth, Sata-rupa was at once the other half and the daughter of Brahma, and from their association, bipolar in character, sprang the first manu called Svayambhuva.

(See also: Vach-sata-rupa, vac-sata-rupa , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Mara (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root mri to die]

That which kills, death, destroyer; in exoteric Indian literature, the representation of temptation, esoterically personified temptation through men's vices, which kill the soul. Maha-Mara is the king of the maras, or temptations collectively, the great ensnarer, and is usually represented "with a crown in which shines a jewel of such lustre that it blinds those who look at it, this lustre referring of course to the fascination exercised by vice upon certain natures" (VS 76).

Mara is the god of darkness and death: "Death of every physical thing truly; but Mara is also the unconscious quickener of the birth of the Spiritual" (SD 2:579n). The hosts of Mara refer to the unconquered passions that the neophyte must slay or transmute before he is reborn spiritually, or can become a dvija (twice-born). Mara is also a name frequently given to Kama, the personified god of love or desire.

(See also: Mara , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Remission of Sins Remission in the New Testament (Greek aphesis, Latin remissio) means sending away, discharge. The original meaning of remission of sins was the sending away of sinfulness from one's heart, the purification of one's nature, resulting from pledging oneself to a new way of life, undergoing initiation, passing through the second birth.

In Christianity remission of sins has come to imply the action of deity through a divine agent, as is supposed to have been the case in Jesus. Jesus' statement at the Last Supper: "This is my blood of the new testament (covenant, dispensation), which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt 26:28), echoes the initiatory rites of the ancient Mysteries, the remission of sins here meaning that when the vitality (blood) of the immanent Christ in the individual becomes the directing influence in his life, there is then no room for sins, which thereafter are discharged, sent away, refused. The karmic consequence, however, of previous sin must in all cases be worked out.

In Mark 1:4, John is said to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; repentance being the Greek metanoia, a radical change of heart or mind, of feeling and understanding. The Christian teaching easily slips into the mistaken doctrine that the consequences of wrongdoing can be escaped by some especial intercession of a personal savior or by some ecclesiastical agent and/or ceremony, just as remission has come to mean a letting-off, excusing, or escaping.

Thus in the case of a debt, the debtor may remit (wrongly escape) the amount owed, but the creditor may truly remit or discharge the debt. Theosophy accepts the doctrine in the sense that sinfulness can be banished from the nature by self-purification; but not the notion that we can escape the results of our acts -- past, present, or future.

(See also: Remission of Sins , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Typhoeus, Typhon (Greek) Typhoeus in Hesiodic theogony is a son of Tartarus and Gaia, a fire-breathing titan with a hundred heads and begetter of destructive hurricanes. He rebels against the gods and is killed by Zeus with a thunderbolt and buried under Mount Etna. Typhon was originally his son -- post-type of himself -- but the two were later identified. He represents the necessary counterpart of Zeus, as darkness is of light, Set of Osiris, or Satan of God. He is the Dragon Apophis, the Accuser in The Egyptian Book of the Dead, murderer of Osiris, destroyed by Horus; the dark side of Zeus, as Set is the dark side of Osiris, and night the dark side of day; Python, Loki, Rahu, and falling demons in general. In one form he is the dragon slain by St. Michael or St. George.

The original meaning is sublime, for Typhon in its prototypal significance is chaos, the unorganized womb or fountain of production, which calls forth the creative energy by resisting it, and is equally necessary with the former. When humanity falls into matter, then these dark-side potencies of nature acquire for mankind a distinctly evil connotation, and their names can be given to vast destructive forces which the misuse of the human will has engendered.

In a more restricted sense as connected with our earth, Typhon was not only the causative agent, but likewise the symbol of all seismic and volcanic phenomena, as well as being, even according to ancient Greek philosophical thought, in intimate connection with meteorological phenomena as evidenced by winds and storms.

See also SET; CROCODILE

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