Ring Employed in the early days of the Theosophical Society, especially in connection with the correspondence held by the mahatmas with A. P. Sinnett and A. O. Hume, to signify any one of the many evolutionary cyclings followed by the monads in and through the different kingdoms of nature, such as the elemental, mineral, vegetable, etc.

Any group of such monads thus collected together is called a life-wave. Every one of the seven, ten, or twelve classes of monads must follow every one of such rings in order to evolve the karmic and latent powers and capacities involved in the monad and held by it as evolutionary tendencies or urges.

In connection with the human kingdom or life-wave, ring or rings has been superseded by the term root-races.

See also ROUND

(See also: Ring, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Mjolnir (Icelandic) [from mjoll meal, flour from mala, mola to grind, crush, mill]

Also Miolnir. The hammer of Thor, the Thunderer in Norse mythology, a gift to the god from the dwarfs Brock (mineral kingdom) and Sindri (vegetation), sons of Ivaldi, the lunar life cycle.

It is at once the instrument of creation and destruction, being the emblem of marriage on one hand and the weapon whereby the giants (cycles of material life) are destroyed. It is the magic mill which creates all things -- gold, salt, happiness, peace, etc. -- as well as grinding up all substance and recycling it for future use in worlds to come. Blavatsky likens the hammer of Thor to the fire weapon agneyastra of the Hindu Puranas and Mahabharata (TG 215).

(See also: Mjolnir, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Definition and meaning of mycelium:

mycelium - the mass of filamentous growth (hyphae) from which the vegetative part of a fungus develops

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Definition and meaning of skerry:

skerry - a low-lying rocky island or reef, often without terrestrial vegetation, and frequently swept by waves

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Definition and meaning of thallus:

thallus - the vegetative body of a plant or alga that is not differentiated into organs, such as roots,stems and leaves

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Living Foods Lifestyle (Hippocrates Diet): Dietetic variation of self-healing originated by Ann Wigmore (1904-1994). It is the centerpiece of the Hippocrates health program.

The Hippocrates Diet comprises seven categories of uncooked (living) foods:

(1)           specific fruits;

(2)           specific vegetables;

(3)           fresh juices extracted from fruits, vegetables, and sprouts;

(4)           specific sprouts;

(5)           nuts and seeds;

(6)           fermented foods such as sauerkraut and miso; and

(7)           unfiltered honey.

In The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program (1984), Wigmore stated that life energy is the active agent of enzymes and claimed that the diet stops unnecessary wastage of enzyme energy.

(See also: Living Foods Lifestyle, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Definition and meaning of shoreline:

shoreline - the intersection of the land, including man-made waterfront structures, with the water surface. The shoreline depicted on NOS maps and charts represents the line of contact between the land and a selected water elevation. In areas affected by tidal fluctuations, the shoreline is the interpreted mean high water line. In confined coastal water of diminished tidal influence, the mean water level line may be used. In non-tidal waters, the line represents the land/water interface at the time of survey. In areas where the land is obscured by marsh grass, cypress or similar marine vegetation, the actual shoreline can not be accurately represented. Instead, the outer limit line of the vegetation area is delineated (where it would appear to the mariner as the shoreline) and is referred to as the apparent shoreline

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

Ivaldi, Ivalde (Icelandic, Scandinavian) (from i in, into + valdi power, wielder)

Wielder of power, or entering into power; in the Norse Edda, a dwarf (a not-yet-human consciousness) and also a giant, meaning a period of material life.

Ivaldi seemingly represents the previous lifetime of our planetary consciousness which was imbodied in the moon when it was living before the earth was formed. His is the home of the dark elves, said to be situated beneath Midgard (the earth). His children are Nanna (the lunar soul), and Idun (the terrestrial soul), while Hjuke and Bil are the children whose shadows are seen on the face of the full moon and who live on in the nursery rhyme of Jack and Jill. Additional descendants of Ivaldi are the dwarfs Brock and Sindri, representing respectively the mineral and vegetable kingdoms now on earth.

(See also: Ivaldi, Ivalde, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Ardhanarisa or Ardhanarisvara (Sanskrit) (from ardha half + nari woman + isvara, isa lord)

Half-feminine lord; a form of Siva, also applied to the first cosmic androgyne, equivalent to the mystically androgynous Sephirah-'Adam Qadmon of the Qabbalah. Cosmic entities are not sexual or sexed in the human sense, for sex as known in the human and animal kingdoms is a transitory phase of evolution.

The application of terms such as androgyne, masculine, or feminine to cosmic divinities has reference to states of cosmic force or energy and substance which may be polarized or unpolarized. Human energies and substances in our present evolutionary stage -- and this applies likewise to the animal kingdom, and to a degree to the vegetable kingdom -- are divided into opposites which bring about sex conditions.

When the forces are partially polarized, the androgynous or hermaphroditic condition results. When the forces or substances are unpolarized during pralayas and at the beginnings and endings of manvantaras, then each entity contains within itself and manifests a state of undivided unity -- a complete and perfect individual.

(See also: Ardhanarisa, Ardhanarisvara, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Encapsulation Medieval theory, a misunderstood rendering of the pagan Mystery teaching of the One becoming the many, which later was rejected by scientists.

"The idea was that Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden held encapsulated in her womb all the seeds of the human race, which she passed on to her children, the families of which in their turn held encapsulated the seeds of future generations, passing them on to their children; and so forth. When properly interpreted, this is what H. P. B. meant when she spoke in The Secret Doctrine (I, 223-4) of the unmodified germ plasm -- Weismann's theory.

"Here again the Christians anthropomorphized the esoteric doctrine, thus distorting it. As a matter of fact, not only the animal kingdom, but the vegetable, mineral, and even the three elemental kingdoms, came forth from the primal human, the 'Adam Qadmon. They were all encapsulated within him, and he brought them forth" (FSO 354n). (Dialogues 3:421-3)

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

Embla (Icelandic) The alder tree; in the Norse Edda, one of the two trees from which the first humanity is said to be created, woman being created from the alder and man from the ash tree.

Emblu-askr is apparently a form of the askr (ash tree), the Tree of Life, a replica in the small of the cosmic ash tree, which represents a universe with all its lives, each of which is at once a branch of the "noble ash tree" and a tree of life in its own right.

The creative trinity of gods -- Odin, Lodur, and Honer -- endowed the ash and the alder with their own properties, thus bringing into being the human race. Odin gave his spirit, Lodur his life-force and appearance, while Honer endowed mankind with his intelligence. The vegetative growth-force was already present in the ash and alder.

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

Definition and meaning of World Regions

World Regions

Regions are divisions of Earth space which are similar or linked in some way. The world can be divided into regions in a number of ways, such as by climate, vegetation, culturs prr/and locational or environmental factors.

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of Human and Physical Characteristics

Human and Physical Characteristics - [World Geography]

The physical characteristics of Earth include climate, landforms, soils, hydrology, vegetation, and animal life. The human characteristics include language, religion, political systems, economic systems, population distribution, and quality of life.

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of World Regions

World Regions

Regions are divisions of Earth space which are similar or linked in some way. The world can be divided into regions in a number of ways, such as by climate, vegetation, culturs prr/and locational or environmental factors.

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of Human and Physical Characteristics

Human and Physical Characteristics - [World Geography]

The physical characteristics of Earth include climate, landforms, soils, hydrology, vegetation, and animal life. The human characteristics include language, religion, political systems, economic systems, population distribution, and quality of life.

(Source: The Social Studies Center at Texas University )

Also see these pages:  Social Studies, Social Studies Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Spark, Sacred Used in the Stanzas of Dzyan in reference to the early history of the human race, and particularly to its intellectual evolution. It means the manas principle, which was awakened in man on this globe by the manasaputras at about the midpoint of the third root-race.

The fashioners of astral and physical man, the barhishad pitris, had brought the physical human being in evolutionary development to the point where mind could be contained and function therein: beings from an intellectual line of cosmic evolution, the manasaputras, awakened the intellectual spark in early humanity, and man thereafter became a reasoning, thinking, and intellectually and morally responsible entity.

Some races are said to be devoid of the sacred spark (SD 2:421), for they are still relatively unenlightened. Yet this condition is not radical but evolutionary only, for even these portions of the human race have intellect latent, though not evoked; indeed this last remark applies with equal truth to all the lower kingdoms of nature -- the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral.

See also FIRE, SACRED

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

SANKHYA

The ancient Hindu philosophy which exerted the strongest influence on Buddhism. Created by Kapila in 600 B.C., it reveals how the Kosmos has been engaged in a dualistic war between Prakriti (physical nature, matter or reality) and Purusha ("Person," Soul of the Universe, Archetypal man, Brahma, spirit, etc.). In the end, Purusha and Prakriti must be re-united in order to set in motion the world's evolution. Essential teaching is also encountered in Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism and contemporary psychiatry. The hallmarks of Prakriti, as follows, are known as gunas and they can be related perfectly to Alchemy:

TAMAS: The mineral nature characterized by heaviness, inertia,  indifference, inactivity, and delusion. (Salt, in alchemy.)

RAJAS: The vegetal nature shown by movability. (Sulphur, in alchemy.)

SATTVAS: The animal nature as lit by balance, harmony, luminosity. The  guna of transcendence. (In alchemy: mercury.)

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

Svedaja (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root svid to sweat, perspire, exude + the verbal root jan to be born]

Sweat-born, born by exudation or gemmation; according to theosophy the second root-race reproduced its individuals by what today is called budding or gemmation -- a swelling appeared on the outer surface of the body of one of these entities. This swelling then grew in size, and as it grew became constricted near the point of junction with the parent-body, until at length the bond of union became a mere filament, which finally broke, thus freeing the bud, which then grew into another entity in all respects like its parent. This method of reproduction is represented today both in the lower animal and vegetable kingdom and also in certain processes of cell division.

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

Monadic Ray The monad, that divine-spiritual-intellectual seed or originant of each evolving being, does not itself descend into the planes of matter, but shoots forth from itself a multitude of rays.

Each such rays forms the essential nature of the complex evolving being to which it pertains, and hence the monad is the primal or ultimate source of all that being's life and characteristic attributes, the immortal part of the being, whether that being be human, animal, vegetable, mineral, or what not. In man it is his essential self; it persists throughout all the evolutionary transformations in the life cycle and gathers around itself the life-atoms at each new incarnation of the reincarnating ego.

Thus the monad in any person is his inner god, the celestial buddha of his own septenary constitution, or again his individual Immanent Christ.

The rays from the person's individual monad which form the complex essential nature of his being, are the sources of the different centers in the human constitution, and in themselves are children monads, as it were, from their common source.

(See also: Monadic Ray, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Monera, Moneron [from Greek moneres single]

Coined by Haeckel for a group of unicellular organisms, without nucleus and multiplying by fission. Supposed to be neither animal nor vegetable but the root of both, the point at which "organic" life first appears from the minerals. Some of Haeckel's elementary organisms have since proved to be merely chemical.

Often used in the SD to denote a primordial particle of organic life, just as atom and molecule may be used for inorganic matter. Organic or inorganic do not signify living or nonliving, but merely entities or particles without organs even of the most primitive type. All matter, whether organized or in its so-called inorganic forms, is filled with life or vitality, each entity possessing life of its own type and therefore being as fully vitalized in its own sphere as are the most highly organized entities.

(See also: Monera, Moneron, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Reichian Therapy (psychiatric orgone therapy, Reichian bodywork therapy, Reichian massage; called vegetal therapy in Europe): Psychoanalytic form of bodywork developed by Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), the discoverer of orgone (see orgone therapy).

According to Reichian theory, blockages to orgone cause neuroses and most physical disorders. Muscular contractions (body armor) in various parts of the body manifest such blockages. The Reichian therapist intuitively decides where the greatest body armor is and seeks to dissolve or dismantle it. Approaches to dissolving this armor include massage and having the patient breathe deeply, cry, gag, kick, make faces, scream, and roll his or her eyes. Reichian Therapy is also called Reichian vegetotherapy.

(See also: Reichian Therapy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Definition and meaning of animal pole:

animal pole - the pole of a spherical oocyte or egg that is closest to the nucleus and contains most of the cytoplasm. The opposite pole is the vegetal pole, which, depending upon the type of egg, contains most of the nutritive or yolk granules. There is a graded distribution of cytoplasm and yolk along an axis between the poles that passes through the nucleus. After the fertilized egg undergoes cleavage and develops into a blastula, the same "geographic" points or reference are used

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,