Worship Dictionary

PAGAN/NEOPAGAN -

1. Nature based Religion. (TRASB)

2. movement devoted to nature, worship, polytheism, Goddess worship ancient tribal religions. (NAD)

3. a generic term for anyone who practice an earth or nature religion. (CMM)

(See also: PAGAN, NEOPAGAN , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Voodoo, Vodou (African, "divine spirits", also Vodou, Vodoun, Vodun)

African- Christian new religion born in Haiti, whose followers worship the "divine spirits" in life and rituals and accept possession by those spirits for healing and spiritual guidance. Originally a pejorative term -"Voodoo" is now acknowledged as the proper designation for the complex beliefs and practices among the majority of the populace of Haiti.

Voodoo began as the clandestine religion of enslaved African sugar-plantation workers in Haiti in the seventeenth century, but its early history is preserved only in scattered eighteenth-century colonial records and ordinance codes. The reports of covert meetings, dances, funeral practices, and even trance possession among enslaved and freed Africans indicate that they preserved ancient traditions in the face of enormous obstacles; the development of Voodoo is itself a tribute to the spirit and stamina of those early devotees. It is rooted in the West African Yoruba, Fon, and Angolan communities, as well as in French Roman Catholicism.

It has primarily continued African priestly roles, ritual themes, symbolism, and pantheons of named female spirits (especially Ezili) and male ones (Ogou, Damballah-Wedo, Legba). Voodoo theology parallels traditional medieval Christianity, for its followers acknowledge a high creator deity, Bondye (Bon dieu), but invoke the intermediary spirits for intercession in human affairs. It is only the intermediaries-identified individually with Christian saints or sacred places-who descend to "mount" their "horses," their followers, during possession rituals.

Roman Catholicism provides the ritual framework for the lives of Voodoo members as well, for they not only follow its traditional liturgical calendar for scheduling pilgrimages and lesser ceremonies but also participate in the common rituals of baptism, marriage, and the Mass. Roman Catholic prayers, some still in Latin, form a significant component of some Voodoo rituals, as do other lesser aspects and ritual objects from traditional Catholic festivals.

The divine spirits (loa or lwa) of Voodoo occupy separate pantheons or nations; two of these, the Rada, whose spirits are generous and benevolent, and the Petro, whose strong spirits evince terrible powers, dominate worship in urban centers. The higher powers (lemiste) are associated with natural dimensions or places, such as sacred springs or cemeteries, and are joined in the spirit world by souls of the dead and ancestral spirits (lemo) and sacred twins (lemarasa). Individual worshipers, drawn to individual spirits by necessity or similarities in personality or temperament, may choose among them for personal devotion but must not neglect those ancestors and spirits traditionally venerated in the family.

Voodoo rituals range from simple devotional acts, such as the lighting of candles with accompanying prayers, to family observances for the family dead to elaborate rituals enhanced by large meals, drumming and singing, and exuberant dance. The spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community are the male hungans and female mambos; in their religious roles, they perform divination and healing rituals for individual members, as well as oversee all training and calendrical ceremonies. As elders and teachers, they guide the possession trance dances, which allow the individual divine spirits to be present among their followers, to receive worship, and to offer healing and counsel.

In Haiti, rural communities continue Voodoo as a family-centered religion firmly tied to traditional agricultural life, while urban centers have interwoven a wider variety of practices, some structured and formal-including rituals of initiation, funeral rites, pilgrimage to Catholic shrines, and festivals-some less so, including not only divination, but also the making of amulets for luck and protection.

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

Siddha Siddhanta: (Sanskrit) Siddha Siddhanta, also called Gorakhnatha Saivism, is generally considered to have come in the lineage of the earlier ascetic orders of India. Its most well-known preceptor was Gorakshanatha (ca 1000) a disciple of Matsyendranatha, patron saint of Nepal, revered by certain esoteric Buddhist schools as well as by Hindus.

The school systematized and developed the practice of hatha yoga to a remarkable degree. Indeed, nearly all of what is today taught about hatha yoga comes from this school. Among its central texts are Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svatmarama, Gheranda Samhita, Siva Samhita and Jnanamrita. Siddha Siddhanta theology embraces both transcendent Siva (being) and immanent Siva (becoming). Siva is both the efficient and material cause of the universe. Devotion is expressed through temple worship and pilgrimage, with the central focus on internal worship and kundalini yoga, with the goal of realizing Parasamvid, the supreme transcendent state of Siva.

Today there are perhaps 750,000 adherents of Siddha Siddhanta Saivism, who are often understood as Shaktas or advaita tantrics. The school fans out through India, but is most prominent in North India and Nepal. Devotees are called yogis, and stress is placed on world renunciation - even for householders. This sect is also most commonly known as Natha, the Gorakshapantha and Siddha Yogi Sampradaya. Other names include Adinatha Sampradaya, Nathamatha and Siddhamarga.

See: Gorakshanatha.

(See also: Siddha Siddhanta , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

A Theosophical definition of Tantra(s) :

Tantra(s)

(Sanskrit) A word literally meaning a "loom" or the warp or threads in a loom, and, by extension of meaning, signifying a rule or ritual for ceremonial rites. The Hindu Tantras are numerous works or religious treatises teaching mystical and magical formulae or formularies for the attainment of magical or quasi-magical powers, and for the worship of the gods. They are mostly composed in the form of dialogs between Siva and his divine consort Durga, these two divinities being the peculiar objects of the adoration of the Tantrins.

In many parts of India the authority of the Tantras seems almost to have superseded the clean and poetical hymns of the Vedas.

Most tantric works are supposed to contain five different subjects: (1) the manifestation or evolution of the universe; (2) its destruction; (3) the worship or adoration of the divinities; (4) the achievement or attainment of desired objects and especially of six superhuman faculties; (5) modes or methods of union, usually enumerated as four, with the supreme divinity of the kosmos by means of contemplative meditation.

Unfortunately, while there is much of interest in the tantric works, their tendency for long ages has been distinctly towards what in occultism is known as sorcery or black magic. Some of the rites or ceremonies practiced have to do with revolting details connected with sex.

Durga, the consort of Siva, his sakti or energy, is worshiped by the Tantrins as a distinct personified female power.

The origin of the Tantras unquestionably goes back to a very remote antiquity, and there seems to be little doubt that these works, or their originals, were heirlooms handed down from originally debased or degenerate Atlantean racial offshoots. There is, of course, a certain amount of profoundly philosophical and mystical thought running through the more important tantric works, but the tantric worship in many cases is highly licentious and immoral.

See also: Tantra(s) , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Brihaspati (Sanskrit) (from brih prayer + pati lord)

Sometimes Vrihaspati. A Vedic deity, corresponding to the planet Jupiter, commonly translated lord of prayer, the personification of exoteric piety and religion, but mystically the name signifies lord of increase, of expansion, growth.

He is frequently called Brahmanaspati, both names having a direct significance with the power of sound as uttered in mantras or prayer united with positive will. He is regarded in Hindu mythology as the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices, thus representing the Brahmin or priestly caste, being the Purohita (family priest) of the gods, among other things interceding with them for mankind. He has many titles and attributes, being frequently designated as Jiva (the living), Didivis (the bright or golden-colored). In later times he became the god of exoteric knowledge and eloquence -- Dhishana (the intelligent), Gish-pati (lord of invocations). In this aspect he is regarded as the son of the rishi Angiras, and hence bears the patronymic Angriasa, and the husband of Tara, who was carried off by Soma (the moon). Tara is "the personification of the powers of one initiated into Gupta Vidya (secret knowledge) . . .

"Soma is the moon astronomically; but in mystical phraseology, it is also the name of the sacred beverage drunk by the Brahmins and the Initiates during their mysteries and sacrificial rites . . . .

"Soma was never given in days of old to the non-initiated Brahman -- the simple Grihasta, or priest of the exoteric ritual. Thus Brihaspati -- 'guru of the gods' though he was -- still represented the dead-letter form of worship. It is Tara his wife -- the symbol of one who, though wedded to dogmatic worship, longs for true wisdom -- who is shown as initiated into his mysteries by King Soma, the giver of that Wisdom. Soma is thus made in the allegory to carry her away. The result of this is the birth of Budha -- esoteric Wisdom -- (Mercury, or Hermes in Greece and Egypt). He is represented as 'so beautiful,' that even the husband, though well aware that Budha is not the progeny of his dead-letter worship -- claims the 'new-born' as his Son, the fruit of his ritualistic and meaningless forms. Such is, in brief, one of the meanings of the allegory" (SD 2:498-9).

Tara's abduction gave rise to the Tarakamaya -- the first war in heaven. The earth was shaken to its very center and turned to Brahma requesting him to restore Tara to her husband, which request was granted. Soma had for his allies the Daityas and Danavas, whose leader is Usanas (Venus) and Rudra (Siva), while the gods who sided with Brihaspati were led by Indra.

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

Yoni (Sanskrit) The womb; more generally, the female principle. In ancient India the yoni was the common female symbol of the universal Mother of the gods. This symbol corresponds to Noah's ark, and to the navis or shiplike form of the crescent, the sidereal vessel.

The ancient Hindu interpretation of the linga and yoni is entirely metaphysical and psychological, but the once highly philosophical and sublime worship of the linga and yoni of Siva worship has degenerated in modern times to mere phallic worship.

The Hebrew interpretation of these same symbols likewise finally became realistic and physiological (cf SD 2:469-70). However, as Monier-Williams wrote in Folklore Record (vol 3, pt 1, p. 118): "[The linga and yoni are] mystical representations, and perhaps the best possible impersonal representatives, of the abstract expressions of paternity and maternity."

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

Saivism (Saiva): (Sanskrit) The religion followed by those who worship Siva as supreme God. Oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. The earliest historical evidence of Saivism is from the 8,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization in the form of the famous seal of Siva as Lord Pashupati, seated in a yogic pose. In the Ramayana, Lord Rama worshiped Siva, as did his rival Ravana. Buddha in 624 bce was born into a Saivite family, and records of his time speak of the Saiva ascetics who wandered the hills looking much as they do today.

There are many schools of Saivism, six of which are

-       Saiva Shiddhanta,

-       Pashupata Saivism,

-       Kashmir Saivism,

-       Vira Saivism,

-       Siddha Siddhanta and

-       Siva Advaita.

They are based firmly on the Vedas and Saiva Agamas, and thus have much in common, including the following principle doctrines:

1)    the five powers of Siva - creation, preservation, destruction, revealing and concealing grace;

2)    The three categories: Pati, pashu and pasha ("God, souls and bonds");

3)    the three bonds: anava, karma and maya;

4)    the three-fold power of Siva: ic�ha shakti, kriya shakti and jnana shakti;

5)    the thirty-six tattvas, or categories of existence;

6)    the need for initiation from a satguru;

7)    the power of mantra;

8)    8the four padas (stages): charya (selfless service), kriya (devotion), yoga (meditation), and jnana (illumination);

9)    the belief in the Panchakshara as the foremost mantra, and in rudraksha and vibhuti as sacred aids to faith;

10)               the beliefs in satguru (preceptor), Sivalinga (object of worship) and sangama (company of holy persons).

See: individual school entries, Saivism (Saivism six schools), Saiva.

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

Labarum (Latin) Labaron (Greek) The standard carried by armies under the Christian Roman emperors, consisting of a pike from whose crossbar hung a silken banner bearing a crown of gold which enclosed the monogram made of the two first Greek letters of Christos.

The banner was a modification of the original Roman banner, and the monogram was an ancient symbol used in the Mysteries, for instance in Egypt, where it was an emblem of Osiris and Horus ages before the Christian emperors. It is one form of the cross and circle, borrowed by the Christians and adapted to suit their purposes.

This symbol can be traced "from our modern cathedrals down to the Temple of Solomon, to the Egyptian Karnac, 1600 BC. The Thebans find it in the oldest Coptic records of symbols preserved on tablets of stone and recognize it, varying its multitudinous forms with every epoch, every people, creed or worship. It is a Rosicrucian symbol, one of the most ancient and the most mysterious.

As the Egyptian Crux ansata, or that travelled from India, where it was considered as belonging to the Indian symbolism of the most early ages, its lines and curves could be suited to answer the purpose of many symbols in every age and fitted for every worship" (Some Unpublished Letters of Blavatsky 153-5).

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

Sun The central focus of radiating energy, physical and spiritual, of any solar system. In our solar system the sun is one of several suns subordinate to the more central sun of the universal solar system. In the solar cosmos as a whole it is the Logos, the head of the septenary hierarchy of creative forces, corresponding to the Christos, Abraxas, Mithras, Dionysos, etc., in man. Its names among the many peoples of the earth are countless: Osiris, Ormazd, Apollo, Phoebus, Ammon-Ra, Helios, Surya, etc. Symbolized by the circle with a central point, it is for its own system the All-Father. Sun worship, in the occult sense, was once the universal foundation of religion, but it has mostly given place to what is really lunar worship. The sun is often found contrasted with the moon as spiritual is with material; and solar magic means white magic as contrasted with the dark lunar magic. Thus we find deities classed as solar and lunar, or particular deities have both a solar and a lunar aspect. As Father and Son he is seen in Osiris and Horus, atman and buddhi-manas, God and Christos.

Our visible sun, though the center of its system, is not the father of the planets but their "co-uterine brother," one of the "eight sons of Aditi." It is not the creator of the fohatic forces, but their radiating focus. Nor is it an incandescent and cooling body; it is nature's great laboratory of intelligently vital and electromagnetic forces for our system. "The Sun is the heart of the Solar World (System) and its brain is hidden behind the (visible) Sun. From thence, sensation is radiated into every nerve-centre of the great body, and the waves of the life-essence flow into each artery and vein. . . . The planets are its limbs and pulses" (SD 1:541). Physiologically, the sun pulsates life through the solar system, in connection with the 11 and 22 year sunspot phenomena -- the solar spots being due to the contraction of the solar heart.

The sun is a vitally electric glowing sphere; what our eyes see is a reflection, the shell of the real sun, which is hidden behind this reflection. Further, the sun is the storehouse of the vital force of the solar system, which is the "Noumenon of Electricity"; it issues forth from the sun as life currents not only for the earth and every organism upon it, but for all the planets of the solar system (SD 1:531). The production of this vital energy will not cease until the end of the solar manvantara when the sun will instantaneously disappear, after certain long-standing premonitory symptoms.

The sun, like each of the planets, is a chain of globes, of which we see only the globe on the fourth cosmic plane -- a highly ethereal body composed of the fifth, sixth, and seventh, states of matter (counting upwards) of the fourth cosmic plane.

Regarding the elements which scientists state are present in the sun, because such elements are present in spectroscopic observations, theosophy holds that no element on the earth is missing in the sun, and there are other elements there which are unknown to science, yet which are present in the sun.

In the enumeration of the seven sacred planets the sun is used as a substitute for an esoteric planet.

The enormous importance which the sun assumes in nature is based on its being the spiritual and intellectual head of solar system, as well as the general physical and psychological life-giver.

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

A Christian theological definition of Worship according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

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Worship

See also: Worship , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

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?

Celtic Marriage

This article is not just for those interested in the traditions of Celtic Marriage, it is also a look into the complex body of law that governed the ancient Celts.

For the ancient Celts, marriage was a very different thing than what we conceive of as "marriage" today. For them, marriage or handfasting as some know it was a form of contract that had several purposes. These included the protection of property rights, the care of progeny (children), and the rights of the individuals involved in the relationships themselves.

Read more here: » Ancient Celts: Celtic Marriage

Buddhism: Buddhist Marriage Ceremony

Although wedding ceremonies have always been regarded as secular affairs in Buddhist countries, the parties concerned have nevertheless obtained the blessing from monks at the local temple after the civil registration formalities have been completed.

In view of the traditional importance that the marriage ceremony has in the West, moreover, local, and especially isolated Buddhists without access to a temple or a monk might well adopt the following service that could be performed by relatives and friends of the bride and groom:

Read more here: » Buddhism: Buddhist Marriage Ceremony

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.

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

Buddhist Worship: Worship in Buddhism

Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple. It is not considered essential to go to a temple to worship with others.

Read more here: » Buddhist Worship: Worship in Buddhism

Hinduism and Polytheism

According to the tenets of Hinduism, God is one as well as many. He is to be found every where and in every thing. He is there in the sky, in the rivers, in the plants and trees and even in a particle of dust. He is an enigma, because He is in many things at a time and is many things at a time. He is visible as well as invisible. He is here and He is there. He is above and He is below. He is with forms and also without form. He speaks and He speaks not. He is the self and also the not'self. To say that this is God and this is not is perhaps much more sacrilegious, if there is anything like sacrilegious in the world of God, than seeing God in images and idols and worshipping Him.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Polytheism: Why do Hindus worship so many gods and goddesses?

The Mantra on Lord Vishnu - a Hindu Prayer.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Hindu Prayers: The Mantra on Lord Vishnu - a Hindu Prayer

A Celebration of MAY DAY

There are four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year and the modern Witch's calendar as well. The two greatest of these are Halloween (the beginning of winter) and May Day (the beginning of summer). Being opposite each other on the wheel of the year, they separate the year into halves. Halloween (also called Samhain) is the Celtic New Year and is generally considered the more important of the two, though May Day runs a close second. Indeed, in some areas -- notably Wales -- it is considered the great holiday.

Read more here: » May Day: A Celebration of MAY DAY

MOTHER KALI

The Destroyer of Demoniac Attributes

It is unfortunate that Devi is ignorantly understood by many as a mere blood-thirsty Hindu Goddess. No! Devi is not a vicious demoness nor is She the property of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any religion. Devi is that conscious power of God. The words Devi, Shakti, etc., and the ideas of different forms connected with these names are concessions granted by the sages due to the limitations of the human intellect; they are by no means the ultimate definitions of Shakti.

From " Hindu Fasts & Festivals " by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Kali: The Hindu Godess Mother Kali

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

Hinduism Lexicon on B

From backbiting to buddhi chitta.

Read more here: » Hinduism: Hinduism Lexicon on B

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: