Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
1831
- 1891
THE
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY
BY
H.
P. BLAVATSKY
First
Published 1892
PREFACE.
The
Theosophical Glossary labours under the disadvantage
of being an almost entirely posthumous work, of which the author only saw the
first thirty-two pages in proof. This is all the more regrettable, for H.P.B.,
as was her wont, was adding considerably to her original copy, and would no
doubt have increased the volume far beyond its present limits, and so have
thrown light on many obscure terms that are not included in the present
Glossary, and more important still, have furnished us with a sketch of the
lives and teachings of the most famous Adepts of the East and West.
The
Theosophical Glossary purposes to give information on the principal Sanskrit, Pahlavi, Tibetan, Pâli, Chaldean, Persian, Scandinavian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin,
Kabalistic and Gnostic words, and Occult terms generally used in Theosophical
literature, and principally to be found in Isis Unveiled, Esoteric Buddhism,
The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy, etc.;
and in the monthly magazines, The Theosophist, Lucifer and The Path, etc., and
other publications of the Theosophical Society. The articles marked [w.w.w.] which explain words found in the Kabalah, or which illustrate Rosicrucian or Hermetic
doctrines, were contributed at the special request of H.P.B. by Bro. W. W.
Westcott, M.B., P.M. and P.Z., who is the Secretary General of the Rosicrucian
Society, and Prćmonstrator of the Kabalah
to the Hermetic Order of the G.D.
H.P.B.
desired also to express her special indebtedness, as far as the tabulation of
facts is concerned, to the Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary of Eitel,
The Hindu Classical Dictionary of Dowson, The Vishnu Purâna of Wilson, and the Royal Masonic Cyclopćdia
of Kenneth Mackenzie.
As
the undersigned can make no pretension to the elaborate and extraordinary
scholarship requisite for the editing of the multifarious and polyglot contents
of H.P.B.’s last contribution to Theosophical
literature, there must necessarily be mistakes of transliteration, etc., which
specialists in scholarship will at once detect. Meanwhile, however, as nearly
every Orientalist has his own system, varying
transliterations may be excused in the present work, and not be set down
entirely to the “Karma” of the editor.
G.
R. S. MEAD.
LONDON,
January, 1892
H P Blavatsky
THEOSOPHICAL
GLOSSARY
A
—The first letter in all the
world-alphabets save a few, such for instance as the Mongolian, the Japanese,
the Tibetan, the Ethiopian, etc. It is a letter of great mystic power and
“magic virtue” with those who have adopted it, and with whom its numerical value
is one. It is the Aleph of the Hebrews, symbolized by the Ox or Bull;
the Alpha of the Greeks, the one and the first the Az
of the Slavonians, signifying the pronoun “I”
(referring to the “I am that I am”). Even in Astrology, Taurus (the Ox or Bull
or the Aleph) is the first of the Zodiacal signs, its colour being white
and yellow. The sacred Aleph acquires a still more marked sanctity with
the Christian Kabalists when they learn that this
letter typifies the Trinity in Unity, as it is composed of two Yods, one upright, the other reversed with a slanting bar
or nexus, thus— a. Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie states that “the St. Andrew cross is
occultly connected therewith”. The divine name, the
first in the series corresponding with Aleph, is AęHęIęH
or Ahih when vowelless,
and this is a Sanskrit root.
Aahla
(Eg.).
One of the divisions of the Kerneter or
infernal regions, or Amenti ; the word means the “Field of Peace”.
Aanroo (Eg.).
The second division of Amenti. The celestial field of Aanroo
is encircled by an iron wall. The field is covered with wheat, and the
“Defunct” are represented gleaning it, for the “Master of Eternity”; some
stalks being three, others five, and the highest seven cubits high. Those who
reached the last two numbers entered the state of bliss (which is called in Theosophy Devachan) ; the disembodied spirits whose harvest was but three
cubits high went into lower regions (Kâmaloka).
Wheat was with the Egyptians the symbol of the Law of retribution or Karma.
The cubits had reference to the seven, five and three human “principles
Aaron
(Heb.). The elder brother of
Moses and the first Initiate of the Hebrew Lawgiver. The name means the Illuminated,
or the Enlightened. Aaron thus heads the line, or Hierarchy, of the
initiated Nabim, or Seers.
Ab
(Heb.). The eleventh month of
the Hebrew civil year; the fifth of the sacred year beginning in July.
[w.w.w.]
Abaddon
(Heb.). An angel of Hell, corresponding to the Greek Apollyon.
Abatur (Gn.).
In the Nazarene system the “Ancient of Days”, Antiquus
Altus, the Father of the Demiurgus of the
Universe, is called the Third Life or “Abatur”.
He corresponds to the Third “Logos” in the Secret Doctrine. (See Codex
Nazarćus)
Abba
Amona (Heb.).
Lit., “Father-Mother”; the occult names of the two higher Sephiroth, Chokmah and Binah, of the upper triad, the apex of which is
Sephira or Kether. From this triad issues the lower septenary of the Sephirothal
Tree.
Abhâmsi
(Sk.). A mystic name of the “four orders of beings” which are, Gods,
Demons, Pitris and Men. Orientalists somehow connect
the name with “waters”, but esoteric philosophy connects its symbolism with Akâsa—the ethereal “waters of space”, since it is on
the bosom and on the seven planes of “space” that the “four orders of (lower)
beings” and the three higher Orders of Spiritual Beings are born. (See Secret
Doctrine I. p. 458, and “Ambhâmsi”.)
Abhâsvaras (Sk.). The Devas or “Gods” of Light
and Sound, the highest of the upper three celestial regions
(planes) of the second Dhyâna (q.v.) A class of gods sixty-four
in number, representing a certain cycle and an occult number.
Abhâva (Sk.). Negation, or
non-being of individual objects; the noumenal
substance, or abstract objectivity.
Abhaya
(Sk.). “Fearlessness”—a son of Dharma; and also a religious life of
duty. As an adjective, “Fearless,” Abhaya is an
epithet given to every Buddha,
Abhayagiri (Sk.). Lit., “Mount
Fearless” in Ceylon. It has an ancient Vihâra
or Monastery in which the well-known Chinese traveller
Fa-hien found 5,000 Buddhist priests and ascetics in
the year 400 of our era, and a School called Abhayagiri
Vâsinah,, “School of the Secret Forest”. This
philosophical school was regarded as heretical, as the ascetics studied the
doctrines of both the “greater” and the “smaller” vehicles— or the Mahâyâna and the Hinayâna
systems and Triyâna or the three successive
degrees of Yoga; just as a certain Brotherhood does now beyond the Himalayas.
This proves that the “disciples of Kâtyâyana were and
are as unsectarian as their humble
admirers the Theosophists
are
now. (See “Sthâvirâh" School.) This was the most
mystical of all the schools, and renowned for the number of Arhats
it produced. The Brotherhood of Abhayagiri called
themselves the disciples of Kâtyâyana, the favourite Chela of Gautama, the Buddha. Tradition says that owing to bigoted
intolerance and persecution, they left Ceylon and passed beyond the Himalayas,
where they have remained ever since.
Abhidharma (Sk.). The metaphysical (third) part of Tripitaka,
a very philosophical Buddhist work by Kâtyâyana.
Abhijńâ (Sk.). Six phenomenal
(or “supernatural”) gifts which Sâkyamuni Buddha acquired
in the night on which he reached Buddhaship. This is
the “fourth” degree of Dhyâna (the seventh in esoteric teachings) which has to
be attained by every true Arhat. In China, the
initiated Buddhist ascetics reckon six such powers, but in Ceylon they reckon
only five. The first Abhijńâ is Divyachakchus,
the instantaneous view of anything one wills to see; the second, is Divyasrotra, the power of comprehending any sound
whatever, etc., etc.
Abhimânim (Sk.). The name of Agni (fire) the “eldest son of Brahmâ”, in
other words, the first element or Force produced in the universe at its
evolution (the fire of creative desire). By his wife Swâhâ,
Abhimânim had three sons (the fires) Pâvaka, Pavamâna and Suchi, and these had “forty-five sons, who, with the original
son of Brahmâ and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires”
of Occultism.
Abhimanyu (Sk.). A son of Arjuna. He killed Lakshmana,in the great battle of the Mahâbhârata
on its second day, but was himself killed on the thirteenth.
Abhűtarajasas (Sk.). A class of gods or Devas,
during the period of the fifth Manvantara.
Abib
(Heb.) The first Jewish
sacred month, begins in March; is also called Nisan.
Abiegnus Mons
(Lat.). A mystic name, from whence as from a certain mountain, Rosicrucian
documents are often found to be issued— “Monte Abiegno”.
There is a connection with Mount Meru, and other
sacred hills. [w.w.w.]
Ab-i-hayat (Pers.).
Water of immortality. Supposed to give eternal youth and sempiternal
life to him who drinks of it.
Abiri
(Gr.). See Kabiri,
also written Kabeiri, the Mighty Ones, celestials,
sons of Zedec the just one, a group of deities
worshipped in Phśnicia: they seem to be identical
with the Titans, Corybantes, Curetes,
Telchines and Dii Magni of
Virgil. [w.w.w.]
Ablanathanalba (Gn.). A term
similar to “Abracadabra”. It is said by C. W. King to have meant “thou art a
father to us”; it reads the same
from
either end and was used as a charm in Egypt.
(See “Abracadabra”.)
Abracadabra
(Gn.).
This symbolic word first occurs in a medical treatise in verse by Samonicus, who flourished in the reign of the Emperor Septimus Seveus. Godfrey Higgins
says it is from Abra or Abar
“God”, in Celtic, and cad ‘‘holy” ; it was used as a charm, and
engraved on Kameas as an amulet. [w.w.w.]
Godfrey
Higgins was nearly right, as the word “Abracadabra” is a later corruption of
the sacred Gnostic term “Abrasax”, the latter itself
being a still earlier corruption of a sacred and ancient Coptic or Egyptian
word: a magic formula which meant in its symbolism ‘‘Hurt me not”, and
addressed the deity in its hieroglyphics as “Father”. It was generally attached
to an amulet or charm and worn as a Tat (q.v.), on the breast under the
garments.
Abraxas or Abrasax (Gn.). Mystic
words which have been traced as far back as Basilides,
the Pythagorean, of Alexandria, AD. 90. He uses Abraxas
as a title for Divinity, the supreme of Seven, and as having 365 virtues. In
Greek numeration, a. 1, b. 2, r. 100, a. I,
x 60, a. I, s. 200 = 365 days of the year, solar year, a cycle of divine
action. C. W. King, author of The Gnostics, considers the word similar to the
Hebrew Shemhamphorasch, a holy word, the
extended name of God. An Abraxas Gem usually shows a
man’s body with the head of a cock, one arm with a shield, the other with a
whip.
[ w.w.w.]
Abraxas
is the counterpart of the Hindu Abhimânim (q.v.) and
Brahmâ combined. It is these compound and mystic qualities which caused Oliver,
the great Masonic authority, to connect the name of Abraxas
with that of Abraham. This was unwarrantable ; the virtues and attributes of Abraxas, which are 365 in number, ought to have shown him
that the deity was connected with the Sun and solar division of the year——nay,
that Abraxas is the antitype, and the Sun, the type.
Absoluteness. When predicated of the UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE, it
denotes an abstract noun, which is more correct and logical than to apply the
adjective “absolute ” to that which has neither attributes nor limitations, nor
can IT have any.
Ab-Soo (Chald.).
The mystic name for Space, meaning the dwelling of Ab
the “Father”, or the head of the source of the Waters of Knowledge. The lore of
the latter is concealed in the invisible space or akasic
regions.
Acacia
(Gr.). Innocence; and also a
plant used in Freemasonry as a symbol of initiation, immortality, and purity;
the tree furnished the sacred Shittim wood of the
Hebrews. [w.w.w.]
Achamôth (Gn.).
The name of the second, the inferior Sophia.
Esoterically
and with the Gnostics, the elder Sophia was the Holy Spirit (female Holy Ghost)
or the Sakti of the Unknown, and the Divine
Spirit; while Sophia Achamôth is but the
personification of the female aspect of the creative male Force in nature; also
the Astral Light.
Achar
(Heb.). The Gods over whom
(according to the Jews) Jehovah is the God.
Âchâra (Sk.). Personal and
social (religious) obligations.
Âchârya (Sk.). Spiritual
teacher, Guru; as Sankar-âchârya, lit., a
“teacher of ethics”. A name generally given to Initiates, etc., and meaning
“Master”.
Achath (Heb.). The one,
the first, feminine; achad being masculine. A
Talmudic word applied to Jehovah. It is worthy of note that the Sanskrit term ak means one, ekata
being “unity”, Brahmâ being called ák, or eka, the one, the first, whence the Hebrew word and
application.
Acher
(Heb.). The Talmudic name of
the Apostle Paul. The Talmud narrates the story of the four Tanaim,
who entered the Garden of Delight, i.e., came to he initiated; Ben Asai, who looked and lost his sight; Ben Zoma, who looked and lost his reason; Acher,
who made depredations in the garden and failed; and Rabbi Akiba,
who alone succeeded. The Kabalists say that Acher is Paul.
Acheron
(Gr.). One of the rivers of
Hades in Greek mythology.
Achit
(Sk.). Absolute
non-intelligence; as Chit is—in contrast— absolute intelligence.
Achyuta (Sk.). That which is not subject to change or fall; the
opposite to Chyuta, “fallen”. A title
of Vishnu.
Acosmism (Gr.). The precreative period, when there was no Kosmos but Chaos
alone.
Ad (Assyr.). Ad,
“the Father”. In Aramean ad means one, and ad-ad
“the only one”.
Adah
(Assyr.).
Borrowed by the Hebrews for the name of their Adah,
father of Jubal, etc. But Adah
meaning the first, the one, is universal property. There are reasons to think
that Ak-ad, means the first-born
or Son of Ad. Adon was the first
“Lord” of Syria. (See Isis Unv. II., pp. 452,
453.)
Adam
(Heb.). In the Kabalah
Adam is the “only-begotten”, and means also “red earth”. (See “Adam-Adami” in the S.D. II p. 452.) It is almost
identical with Athamas or Thomas, and
is rendered into Greek by Didumos, the
“twin”—Adam, “the first”, in chap. 1 of Genesis, being shown,
“male-female.”
Adam
Kadmon (Heb). Archetypal Man; Humanity. The “Heavenly Man” not
fallen into sin; Kabalists refer it to the Ten Sephiroth on the plane of human perception.
In
the Kabalah Adam Kadmon
is the manifested Logos corresponding to our Third Logos; the Unmanifested being the first paradigmic
ideal Man, and symbolizing the Universe in abscondito,
or in its “privation” in the Aristotelean sense. The
First Logos is the “Light of the World”, the Second and the Third—its gradually
deepening shadows.
Adamic Earth (Alch.).
Called the “true oil of gold” or the “primal element” in Alchemy. It is but one
remove from the pure homogeneous element.
Adbhuta Brâhmana (Sk.). The Brâhmana of miracles;
treats of marvels, auguries, and various phenomena.
Adbhuta Dharma (Sk.). The “law”
of things never heard before. A class of Buddhist works on miraculous or
phenomenal events.
Adept
(Lat.). Adeptus,
“He who has obtained.” In Occultism one who has reached the stage of
Initiation, and become a Master in the science of Esoteric philosophy.
Adharma (Sk.).
Unrighteousness, vice, the opposite of Dharma.
Adhi
(Sk.). Supreme, paramount.
Adhi-bhautika duhkha (Sk.). The second of the three kinds of pain; lit.,
“Evil proceeding from external things or beings”.
Adhi-daivika duhkha (Sk.). The
third of the three kinds of pain. “Evil proceeding from divine causes, or a
just Karmic punishment”.
Adhishtânam (Sk.).
Basis; a principle in which some other principle inheres.
Adhyâtmika duhkha (Sk.). The first of the three kinds of pain; lit., “Evil
proceeding from Self ”, an induced or a generated evil by Self, or man himself.
Adhyâtma Vidyâ (Sk.). Lit., “the esoteric luminary”. One of the Pancha Vidyâ Sastras,
or the Scriptures of the Five Sciences.
Âdi
(Sk.) The First, the primeval.
Âdi
(the Sons of). In Esoteric philosophy
the “Sons of Adi” are called the “Sons of the
Fire-mist”. A term used of certain adepts.
Âdi-bhűta (Sk.). The first Being; also primordial element. Adbhuta is a title of Vishnu, the “first
Element” containing all elements, “the unfathomable deity”.
Âdi-Buddha (Sk.). The First and Supreme Buddha—not recognised in the Southern Church. The Eternal Light.
Âdi-budhi (Sk.). Primeval
Intelligence or Wisdom; the eternal Budhi or
Universal Mind. Used of Divine Ideation, “Mahâbuddhi”
being synonymous with MAHAT.
Âdikrit (Sk.). Lit., the
“first produced” or made. The creative Force eternal and uncreate,
but manifesting periodically. Applied to Vishnu slumbering on the “waters of
space” during “pralaya” (q.v.).
Âdi-nâtha (Sk.). The “first”
Lord”—Âdi “first” (masc.), nâtha
“Lord”.
Âdi-nidâna (Sk.). First and
Supreme Causality, from Âdi, the first, and
Nidâna the principal cause (or the concatenation
of cause and effect).
Âdi-Sakti (Sk.). Primeval, divine
Force; the female creative power, and aspect in and of every male god. The Sakti in the Hindu Pantheon is always the spouse of
some god.
Âdi-Sanat (Sk.). Lit., “First Ancient”. The term corresponds to the Kabalistic
“ancient of days”, since it is a title of Brahmâ—called in the Zohar the Atteekah
d’Atteekeen, or “the Ancient of the Ancients”, etc.
Âditi
(Sk.). The Vedic name for the Műlaprakriti of the Vedantists;
the abstract aspect of Parabrahman, though both unmanifested and unknowable. In the Vedas Âditi is the “Mother-Goddess”, her terrestrial symbol being
infinite and shoreless space.
Âditi-Gća. A compound term, Sanskrit and Latin, meaning dual, nature in
theosophical writings—spiritual and physical, as Gća
is the goddess of the earth and of objective nature.
Âditya
(Sk.). A name of the Sun; as Mârttânda he is
the Son of Aditi.
Âdityas (Sk.). The seven sons
of Âditi; the seven planetary gods.
Âdi
Varsha (Sk.).
The first land; the primordial country in which dwelt the first races.
Adonai (Heb.). The same as
Adonis. Commonly translated “Lord”. Astronomically—the Sun. When a Hebrew in
reading came to the name IHVH, which is called Jehovah, he paused and
substituted the word “Adonai”, (Adni);
but when written with the points of Alhim, he called
it “Elohim”. [w.w.w.]
Adonim-Adonai, Adon. The ancient Chaldeo-Hebrew
names for the Elohim or creative terrestrial forces,
synthesized by Jehovah.
Adwaita (Sk.). A Vedânta sect. The non-dualistic (A-dwaita)
school of Vedântic philosophy founded by Sankarâchârya, the greatest of the historical Brahmin
sages. The two other schools are the Dwaita
(dualistic) and the Visishtadwaita; all the three
call themselves Vedântic.
Adwaitin (Sk.). A follower of
the said school.
Adytum (Gr.). The Holy of Holies in the pagan
temples. A name for the secret and sacred precincts or the inner chamber, into
which no profane could enter; it corresponds to the sanctuary of the
altars of Christian Churches.
Ćbe1-Zivo (Gn.). The Metatron or anointed spirit with the Nazarene Gnostics; the same as the angel Gabriel.
Agathon
(Gr.). Plato’s Supreme Deity. Lit.,
“The Good”, our ALAYA, or “Universal Soul”.
Aged (Kab.). One of the Kabbalistic names for
Sephira, called also the Crown, or Kether.
Agni
Bâhu (Sk.). An ascetic son of Manu Swâyambhuva, the “Self-born”.
Agruerus ; A very ancient Phśnician god. The same as Saturn.
Aham
(Sk.). “I”—the basis of Ahankâra,
Self-hood.
Ahan (Sk.). “Day”;the Body of Brahmâ, in the Purânas.
Aheie
(Heb.). Existence. He who exists;
corresponds to Kether and Macroprosopus.
Ah-hi (Sensar), Ahi (Sk.), or Serpents. Dhyân Chohans. “Wise Serpents” or Dragons of
Wisdom.
Ahi
(Sk.). A serpent. A name of Vritra, the
Vedic demon of drought.
Ahti (Scand.). The “Dragon” in the Eddas.
Ahu
(Scand.). “One” and the First.