Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
1831
- 1891
THEOSOPHICAL
GLOSSARY
BY
H.
P. BLAVATSKY
First
Published 1892
E, F, G,
E.—The fifth letter of the
English alphabet. The he (soft) of the Hebrew alphabet becomes in the Ehevi
system of reading that language an E. Its numerical value is five, and its
symbolism is a window; the womb, in the Kabbala. In the order of the
divine names it stands for the fifth, which is Hadoor or the “majestic”
and the “splendid.”
Ea (Chald.)
also Hea. The second god of
the original Babylonian trinity composed of Anu, Hea and Bel. Hea was the
“Maker of Fate”, “Lord of the Deep”, “God of Wisdom and Knowledge”, and “Lord
of the City of
Eagle.
This symbol is one of the most ancient. With the Greeks and Persians it was
sacred to the Sun; with the Egyptians, under the name of Ah, to Horus,
and the Kopts worshipped the eagle under the name of Ahom. It was
regarded as the sacred emblem of Zeus by the Greeks, and as that of the highest
god by the Druids. The symbol has passed down to our day, when following the
example of the pagan Marius, who, in the second century B.C. used the
double-headed eagle as the ensign of Rome, the Christian crowned heads of
Europe made the double-headed sovereign of the air sacred to themselves and
their scions. Jupiter was satisfied with a one-headed eagle and so was the Sun.
The imperial houses of
Easter.
The word evidently comes from Ostara, the Scandinavian goddess of spring. She
was the symbol of the resurrection of all nature and was worshipped in early
spring. It was a custom with the pagan Norsemen at that time to exchange
coloured eggs called the eggs of Ostara. These have now become Easter-Eggs. As
expressed in Asgard and the Gods: “Christianity put another meaning on
the old custom, by connecting it with the feast of the Resurrection of the
Saviour, who, like the hidden life in the egg, slept in the grave for three
days before he awakened to new life”. This was the more natural since Christ
was identified with that same Spring Sun which awakens in all his glory, after
the dreary and long death of winter. (See “Eggs”.)
Ebionites
(Heb.). Lit.,
“the poor”; the earliest sect of Jewish Christians, the other being the
Nazarenes. They existed when the term “Christian” was not yet heard of.
Many of the relations of Iassou (Jesus), the adept ascetic around whom
the legend of Christ was formed, were among the Ebionites. As the existence of
these mendicant ascetics can be traced at least a century earlier than
chronological Christianity, it is an additional proof that lassou or Jeshu
lived during the reign of Alexander Jannæus at Lyd (or Lud), where he was put to
death as stated in the Sepher Toldos Jeshu.
Echath
(Heb.). The
same as the following—the “One”, but feminine.
Echod (Heb
or Echad. “One”, masculine,
applied to Jehovah.
Eclectic Philosophy. One of
the names given to the Neo-Platonic
Ecstasis
(Gr.). A
psycho-spiritual state; a physical trance which induces clairvoyance and a
beatific state bringing on visions.
Edda
(
Eden
(Heb.). “Delight”, pleasure.
In Genesis the “
“
“the first leader of the Hebrew race, migrated from
On
the other hand the Eastern Esoteric philosophy teaches that the seven Kings of
Edom are not the type of perished worlds or unbalanced forces, but the symbol
of the seven human Root-races, four of which have passed away, the fifth is
passing, and two are still to come. Though in the language of esoteric blinds,
the hint in St. John’s Revelation is clear enough when it states in
chapter xvii , 10: “And there are seven Kings; five
are fallen, and one (the fifth, still) is, and the other (the sixth Root- race)
is not yet come Had all the seven Kings of Edom perished as worlds of
“unbalanced forces”, how could the fifth still be, and the other or others “not
yet come” ? In The Kabbalah Unveiled, we read on page 48, “ The seven Kings had died and their possessions had been
broken up”, and a footnote emphasizes the statement by saying, “these seven
Kings are the Edomite Kings”.
Edris (Arab.),
or Idris. Meaning “the
learned One”, an epithet applied by the Arabs to Enoch.
Eggs (Easter). Eggs were symbolical from an early time. There was
the “Mundane Egg”, in which Brahmâ gestated, with the Hindus the Hiranya-Gharba,
and the Mundane Egg of the Egyptians, which proceeds from the mouth of the
“unmade and eternal deity”, Kneph, and which is the emblem of generative power.
Then the Egg of Babylon, which hatched Ishtar, and was said to have fallen from
heaven into the
Egkosmioi
(Gk). “The intercosmic gods, each of which presides over
a great number of daemons to whom they impart their power and change it from
one to another at will”, says Proclus, and he adds, that which is taught in the
esoteric doctrine. In his system he shows the uppermost regions from the zenith
of the Universe to the moon belonging to the gods, or planetary Spirits,
according to their hierarchies and classes. The highest among them were the twelve Huper-ouranioi, the super-celestial gods.
Next to the latter, in rank and power, came the Egkosmioi.
Ego (Lat.). “ Self” ; the consciousness
in man “I am I”—or the feeling of “I-am-ship”. Esoteric philosophy teaches the
existence of two Egos in man, the mortal or personal, and the Higher, the
Divine and the Impersonal, calling the former “personality” and the latter
“Individuality Egoity. From the word “Ego”. Egoity
means “individuality”, never “personality”, and is the opposite of egoism or
“selfishness”, the characteristic par excellence of the latter.
Egregores. Eliphas Lévi calls them “the chiefs of the souls who are the spirits
of energy and action” ; whatever that may or may not
mean. The Oriental Occultists describe the Egregores as 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.
Eheyeh (Heb.). “I am”, according to Ibn Gebirol, but
not in the sense of “I am that I am”.
Eidolon (Gr.). The same as that which we term the
human phantom, the astral form.
Eka (
Ekana-rupa (
Ekasloka
Shastra (
El-Elion (Heb.). A name of the Deity borrowed
by the Jews from the Phœnician Elon, a name of the Sun.
Elementals. Spirits of the Elements. The creatures
evolved in the four Kingdoms or Elements—earth, air, fire, and water. They are
called by the Kabbalists, Gnomes (of the earth), Sylphs (of the air),
Salamanders (of the fire), and Undines (of the water). Except a few of the
higher kinds, and their rulers, they are rather forces of nature than ethereal
men and women. These forces, as the servile agents of the Occultists, may
produce various effects; but if employed by” Elementaries” (q.v.)_in which case
they enslave the mediums—they will deceive the credulous. All the lower
invisible beings generated on the 5th 6th, and 7th planes of our terrestrial
atmosphere, are called Elementals Peris, Devs, Djins, Sylvans, Satyrs, Fauns,
Elves, Dwarfs, Trolls, Kobolds, Brownies, Nixies, Goblins, Pinkies, Banshees,
Moss People, White Ladies, Spooks, Fairies, etc., etc., etc.
Elementaries. Properly, the disembodied souls of the depraved;
these souls having at some time prior to death separated from themselves their
divine spirits, and so lost their chance for immortality; but at the present
stage of learning it has been thought best to apply the term to the spooks or
phantoms of disembodied persons, in general, to those whose temporary
habitation is the Kâma Loka. Eliphas Lévi and some other Kabbalists make little
distinction between elementary spirits who have been men, and those beings
which people the elements, and are the blind forces of nature. Once divorced
from their higher triads and their bodies, these souls remain in their Kâma-rupic
envelopes, and are irresistibly drawn to the earth amid elements congenial to
their gross natures. Their stay in the Kâma Loka varies as to its duration; but
ends invariably in disintegration, dissolving like a column of mist, atom by
atom, in the surrounding elements.
Elephanta. An island near
Eleusinia
(Gr.). The Eleusinian Mysteries were the most famous and the most ancient of all
the Greek Mysteries (save the Samothracian), and were celebrated near the
hamlet of
The
name of the month (Ethanim) is derived, according to some, from Adonim, Adonia,
Attenim, Ethanim, and was in honour of Adonai or Adonis (Thammuz), whose death
was lamented by the Hebrews in the groves of
(See Isis Unveiled II., pp. 44 and 91, et seq.,
for further explanations.)
Elivagar
(Scand.). The waters of Chaos, called in the cosmogony of
the Norsemen “the stream of Elivagar”.
Elohîm
(Heb.). Also Alhim, the
word being variously spelled. Godfrey Higgins, who has written much upon its
meaning, always spells it Aleim. The Hebrew letters are aleph, lamed,
hé,yod, mem, and are numerically 1, 30, 5, 10, 40
= 86. It seems to be the plural of the feminine noun Eloah, ALH, formed
by adding the common plural form IM, a masculine ending; and hence the whole
seems to imply the emitted active and passive essences. As a title it is
referred to “Binah” the Supernal Mother, as is also the fuller title IHVH
ALHIM, Jehovah Elohim. As Binah leads on to seven succeedent Emanations, so “ Elohim” has been said to represent a sevenfold power of
godhead.
Eloї (Gn.). The genius or ruler
of Jupiter; its Planetary Spirit. (See Origen, Contra Celsum.)
Elu
(Sing.). An ancient dialect
used in
Emanation the
Doctrine of. In its
metaphysical meaning, it is opposed to Evolution, yet one with it. Science
teaches that evolution is physiologically a mode of generation in which the
germ that develops the foetus pre-exists already in the parent, the development
and final form and characteristics of that germ being accomplished in nature;
and that in cosmology the process takes place blindly through the correlation
of the elements, and their various compounds. Occultism answers that this is
only the apparent mode, the real
process being Emanation, guided by intelligent Forces under an immutable LAW.
Therefore, while the Occultists and Theosophists believe thoroughly in the
doctrine of Evolution as given out by Kapila and Manu, they are
Emanationists rather than Evolutionists. The doctrine of Emanation
was at one time universal. It was taught by the Alexandrian as well as by the
Indian philosophers, by the Egyptian, the Chaldean and Hellenic Hierophants,
and also by the Hebrews (in their Kabbala, and even in Genesis). For it
is only owing to deliberate mistranslation that the Hebrew word asdt has been
translated “angels” from the Septuagint, when it means Emanations, Æons,
precisely as with the Gnostics. Indeed, in Deuteronomy (xxxiii., 2) the word asdt
or ashdt is translated as” fiery law”, whilst the correct rendering
of the passage should be “from his right hand went [ not
a fiery law, but a fire according to law “; viz., that the fire of one flame is
imparted to, and caught up by another like as in a trail of inflammable
substance. This is precisely emanation. As shown in Isis Unveiled : “In Evolution,
as it is now beginning to he understood, there is supposed to be in all matter
an impulse to take on a higher form—a supposition clearly expressed by Manu and
other Hindu philosophers of the highest antiquity. The philosopher’s tree
illustrates it in the case of the zinc solution. The controversy between the
followers of this school and the Emanationists may he briefly stated thus The
Evolutionist stops all inquiry at the borders of ‘ the
Unknowable “; the Emanationist believes that nothing can be evolved—or, as the
word means, unwombed or born—except it has first been involved, thus indicating
that life is from a spiritual potency above the whole.”
Empusa (Gr.). A ghoul, a vampire,
an evil demon taking various forms.
En (or Ain)
Soph (Heb.). The endless, limitless and boundless. The
absolute deific Principle, impersonal and unknowable. It means literally
“no-thing” i.e., nothing that could be classed with anything else. The word and
ideas are equivalent to the Vedantic conceptions of Parabrahmn. [ w.w.w.]
Some
En (Chald.). A negative particle, like a
in Greek and Sanskrit. The first syllable of “En-Soph” (q.v.),
or nothing that begins or ends, the “Endless”.
Enoichion (Gr.). Lit., the inner Eye” ; the
“Seer”, a reference to the third inner, or Spiritual Eye, the true name
for Enoch disfigured from Chanoch.
Ens
(Gr.). The same as the Greek To On “Being”, or the real Presence in Nature.
Epimetheus (Gr.). Lit., “He who takes
counsel after” the event. A brother of
Prometheus in Greek Mythology.
Epinoia (Gr.). Thought, invention,
design. A name adopted by the Gnostics for the first passive Æon.
Episcopal Crook. One of the insignia of Bishops, derived from the
sacerdotal sceptre of the Etruscan Augurs. it is also
found in the hand of several gods.
Epoptes
(Gr.). An
Initiate. One who has passed his last degree of initiation.
Eridanus
(Lat.). Ardan,
the Greek name for the river
Eros (Gr.). Hesiod makes of the god Eros the third
personage of the Hellenic primordial Trinity composed of Ouranos, Gæa and Eros.
It is the personified procreative Force in nature in its abstract sense, the
propeller to “creation” and procreation. Exoterically, mythology makes of Eros
the god of lustful, animal desire, whence the term erotic esoterically,
it is different. (See “ Kâma”.)
Eshmim (Heb.). The Heavens, the Firmament in which are the
Sun, Planets and Stars; from the root Sm, meaning to place, dispose ; hence, the planets, as disposers. [ w. w.w.]
Esoteric (Gr.). Hidden, secret. From the
Greek esotericos, “inner” concealed.
Esoteric Bodhism. Secret wisdom or intelligence from the Greek esotericos
“inner”, and the Sanskrit Bodhi, “knowledge”, intelligence— in
contradistinction to Buddhi, “the faculty of knowledge or
intelligence” and Buddhism, the philosophy or Law of Buddha (the
Enlightened). Also written “ Budhism”, from Budha
(Intelligence and Wisdom) the Son of Soma.
Essasua.
The African and Asiatic sorcerers and serpent charmers.
Essenes. A hellenized word, from the Hebrew Asa,
a “healer”. A mysterious sect of Jews said by Pliny to have lived near
the
Benim-nabim of the Bible, and think that they were ‘Kenites and Nazarites.
They had many Buddhistic ideas and practices; and it is noteworthy that the
priests of the Great Mother at
(
Ether. Students are but too apt to confuse this with Akâsa
and with Astral Light. It is neither, in the sense in which ether is described
by physical Science. Ether is a material agent, though hitherto undetected by
any physical apparatus; whereas Akâsa is a distinctly spiritual agent,
identical, in one sense, with the Anima Mundi, while the Astral Light is only
the seventh and highest principle of the terrestrial atmosphere, as
undetectable as Akâsa and real Ether, because it is something quite on another
plane. The seventh principle of the earth’s atmosphere, as said, the Astral
Light, is only the second on the Cosmic scale. The scale of Cosmic Forces,
Principles and Planes, of Emanations—on the metaphysical—and Evolutions—on the
physical plane—is the Cosmic Serpent biting its own tail, the Serpent
reflecting the Higher, and reflected in its turn by the lower Serpent. The
Caduceus explains the mystery, and the four-fold Dodecahedron on the model of
which the universe is said by Plato to have been built by the manifested
Logos—synthesized by the unmanifested First-Born—yields geometrically the key
to Cosmogony and its microcosmic reflection—our Earth.
Eurasians. An abbreviation of “European-Asians”. The
mixed coloured races: the children of the white fathers and the dark mothers of
Evapto. Initiation; the same as Epopteia.
Evolution. The development of higher orders of
animals from lower. As said in Isis Unveiled: “Modern Science
holds but to a one-sided physical evolution, prudently avoiding and ignoring
the higher or spiritual evolution, which would force our contemporaries to
confess the superiority of the ancient philosophers and psychologists over
themselves. The ancient sages, ascending to the UNKNOWABLE, made their
starting- point from the first manifestation of the unseen, the unavoidable,
and, from a strictly logical reasoning, the absolutely necessary creative Being,
the Demiurgos of the universe. Evolution began with them from pure spirit,
which descending lower and lower down, assumed at last a visible and
comprehensible form, and became matter. Arrived at this point, they speculated
in the Darwinian method, but on a far more large and comprehensive basis.” (See
“Emanation”.)
Exoteric. Outward, public; the opposite of esoteric or hidden.
Extra-Cosmic. Outside of Kosmos or Nature; a nonsensical word
invented to assert the existence of a personal god, independent of, or
out side, Nature per se, in opposition to the Pantheistic idea that the
whole Kosmos is animated or informed with the Spirit of Deity, Nature being but
the garment, and matter the illusive shadow, of the real unseen Presence.
Eye of Horus. A very sacred symbol in ancient
Eyes
(divine). The “eyes” the Lord
Buddha developed in him at the twentieth hour of his vigil when sitting under
the BO-tree, when he was attaining Buddhaship. They are the eyes of the
glorified Spirit, to which matter is no longer a physical impediment, and which
have the power of seeing all things within the space of the limitless Universe.
0n the following morning of that night, at the close of the third watch, the “ Merciful One” attained the Supreme Knowledge.
Ezra
(Heb.). The Jewish priest and
scribe, who, circa 450 B.c., compiled the Pentateuch
if indeed he was not the author of it) and the rest of the Old Testament,
except Nehemiah and Malachi. [w.w.w.]
Ezra
(Heb.). The
same as Azareel and Azriel, a great Hebrew Kabbalist. His full name is
Rabbi Azariel ben Manahem. He flourished at
F
—The sixth
letter of the English alphabet, for which there is no equivalent in Hebrew. It
is the double F F of the Æolians which became the Digamma for some
mysterious reasons. It corresponds to the Greek phi. As a Latin numeral
it denotes 40, with a dash over the letter (F) 400,000.
Faces (Kabbalistic),
or, as in Hebrew, Partzupheem.
The word usually refers to Areekh Anpeen or Long Face, and Zeir-Anpeen,
or Short Face, and Resha Hivrah the “White Head” or Face. The Kabbala
states that from the moment of their appearance (the hour of differentiation of
matter) all the material for future forms was contained in the three Heads
which are one, and called Atteekah Kadosha
(Holy Ancients and the Faces). It is when the Faces look toward each other,
that the Holy Ancients” in three Heads, or Atteekah Kadosha, are called Areek
Appayem, i.e., “Long Faces”. (See Zohar iii.,
292a.) This refers to the three Higher Principles, cosmic and human.
Fafnir (Scand.). The Dragon of
Wisdom.
Fahian (Chin.). A Chinese traveller
and writer in the early centuries of Christianity, who wrote on Buddhism.
Fa-Hwa-King
(Chin.). A Chinese work on
Cosmogony.
Faizi (Arab.). Literally the
“heart”. A writer on occult and mystic subjects.
Fakir (Arab.). A Mussulman ascetic in
Falk, Caїn Chenul. A Kabbalistic Jew, reputed to have worked “miracles”. Kenneth Mackenzie
quotes in regard to him from the German annalist Archenoiz’ work on
Farbauti (Scand.). A giant in the Edda; lit., “the
oarsman”; the father of Loki, whose mother was the giantess Laufey (leafy
isle); a genealogy which makes W. S. W. Anson remark in Asgard and the Gods
that probably the oarsman or Farbauti “was the giant who saved himself from the
flood in a boat, and the latter (Laufey) the island to which he rowed”—which is
an additional variation of the Deluge.
Fargard (Zend.). A section or
chapter of verses in the Vendidad of the Parsis.
Farvarshi
(Mazd.). The
same as Ferouer, or the opposite (as contrasted) double. The spiritual counterpart of the still more spiritual original.
Thus, Ahriman is the Ferouer or the Farvarshi of Ormuzd— “demon
est deus inversus”—Satan of God. Michael the
Ferho
(Gnost.). The
highest and greatest creative power with the Nazarene Gnostics.
(Codex Nazaræus.)
Fetahil
(Gr.). The
lower creator, in the same Codex.
First Point. Metaphysically the first point of manifestation, the
germ of primeval differentiation, or the point in the infinite Circle “whose
centre is everywhere, and circumference nowhere“.
The Point is the Logos.
Fire
(Living). A
figure of speech to denote deity, the “One” life. A
theurgic term, used later by the Rosicrucians. The symbol of the living
fire is the sun, certain of whose rays develope
the fire of life in a diseased body, impart the knowledge of the future
to the sluggish mind, and stimulate to active function a certain psychic and generally
dormant faculty in man. The meaning is very occult.
Fire-Philosophers. The name given to the
Hermetists and Alchemists of the Middle Ages, and also
to the Rosicrucians. The latter, the successors of the
Theurgists, regarded fire as the symbol of Deity. It was the source, not
only of material atoms, but the container of the spiritual and psychic Forces
energizing them. Broadly analyzed, fire is a triple principle; esoterically, a
septenary, as are all the rest of the Elements. As man is composed of Spirit,
Soul and Body, plus a four fold aspect: so is Fire. As in the works of Robert
Fludd (de Fluctibus) one of the famous Rosicrucians, Fire contains (1) a
visible flame (Body); (2) an invisible, astral fire (Soul); and (3) Spirit. The
four aspects are heat (life), light (mind), electricity (Kâmic, or molecular
powers) and the Synthetic Essence, beyond Spirit, or the radical
cause of its existence and manifestation. For the Hermetist or Rosicrucian,
when a flame is extinct on the objective plane it has only passed from the seen
world unto the unseen, from the knowable into the unknowable.
Fifty Gates of Wisdom (Kab.). The number is a blind, and there are really 49 gates, for
Moses, than whom the Jewish world has no higher adept, reached, according to
the Kabbalas, and passed only the 49th. These “gates” typify the different
planes of Being or Ens. They are thus the
“gates” of Life and the “gates” of understanding or degrees of occult knowledge.
These 49 (or 50) gates correspond to the seven gates in the seven caves of
Initiation into the Mysteries of Mithra (see Celsus and Kircher). ‘I’he
division of the 50 gates into five chief gates, each including ten—is
again a blind. It is in the fourth gate of these five, from which begins,
ending at the tenth, the world of Planets, thus making seven, corresponding to
the seven lower Sephiroth—that the key to their meaning lies hidden. They are
also called the “gates of Binah” or understanding.
Flagæ(Herm.). A name given by Paracelsus to a particular kind of guardian angels
or genii.
Flame
(Holy). The “
Holy Flame” is the name given by the Eastern Asiatic Kabbalists
(Semites) to the Anima Mundi the “world- soul” The Initiates were called
the “Sons of the Holy Flame.
Fludd
(Robert), generally known as
Robertus de Fluctibus, the chief of the “Philosophers by Fire”. A celebrated
English Hermetist of the sixteenth century, and a
voluminous writer. He wrote on the essence of gold and other mystic and occult
subjects.
Fluvii
Transitus (Lat.). Or crossing of the River (Chebar). Cornelius Agrippa gives
this alphabet. In the Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. III., part 2, 1890,
which work is the Report of the proceedings of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge of
Freemasons, No. 2076, will be found copies of this alphabet, and also the
curious old letters called Melachim, and the Celestial alphabet, supplied by W.
Wynn Westcott, P.M. This Lodge seems to be the only one in
Fohat
(Tib.). A term used to
represent the active (male) potency of the Sakti (female reproductive power) in
nature. The essence of cosmic electricity. An occult
Tibetan term for Daiviprakriti primordial light: and in the universe of
manifestation the ever-present electrical energy and ceaseless destructive and
formative power. Esoterically, it is the same, Fohat being the universal
propelling Vital Force, at once the propeller and the resultant.
Foh-tchou
(Chin.). Lit.,
“Buddha’s Lord”, meaning, however, simply the teacher of the doctrines of
Buddha. Foh means a Guru who lives generally in a
Fons Yitæ (Lat.). A work of Ibn Gehirol, the Arabian Jewish philosopher
of the Xlth century, who called it Me-gôr Hayyûn or the “Fountain of
Life” (De Materia Universali and Fons Vitæ). The
FourAnimals. The symbolical animals of the vision of Ezekiel (the Mercabah). “ With the first Christians the celebration of the
Mysteries of the Faith was accompanied by the burning of seven lights, with
incense, the Trishagion, and the reading of the book of the gospels, upon which
was wrought, both on covers and pages, the winged man, lion, bull, and eagle” (Qabbalah,
by Isaac Myer, LL.B.). To this day these animals are represented along with the
four Evangelists and prefixing their respective gospels in the editions of the
Greek Church. Each represents one of the four lower classes of worlds or
planes, into the similitude of which each personality is cast. Thus the
Eagle (associated with St. John) represents cosmic Spirit or Ether, the
all-piercing Eye of the Seer; the Bull of St. Luke, the waters of Life, the
all-generating element and cosmic strength ; the Lion
of St. Mark, fierce energy, undaunted courage and cosmic fire; while the human
Head or the Angel, which stands near St. Matthew is the synthesis of all three
combined in the higher Intellect of man, and in cosmic Spirituality. All these
symbols are Egyptian, Chaldean, and Indian. The Eagle, Bull and Lion-headed
gods are plentiful, and all represented the same idea, whether in the Egyptian,
Chaldean, Indian or Jewish religions, but beginning with the Astral body they
went no higher than the cosmic Spirit or the Higher Manas—Atma-Buddhi, or
Absolute Spirit and Spiritual Soul its vehicle, being incapable of being
symbolised by concrete images.
Fravasham (Zend). Absolute spirit.
Freya or Frigga
(Scand.). In the Edda,
Frigga is the mother of the gods like Aditi in the Vedas. She is
identical with the
Frost Giants or
Hrimthurses (Scand.).
They are the great builders, the Cyclopes and Titans of the Norsemen, and play
a prominent part in the Edda. It is they who build the
strong wall round Asgard (the Scandinavian Olympus) to protect it from the
Jotuns, the wicked giants.
Fylfot (Scand.). A weapon of Thor, like the Swastika, or the Jaina,
the four-footed cross ; generally called “Thor’s
Hammer”.
G
•—The
seventh letter in the English alphabet. “In Greek, Chaldean, Syriac, Hebrew,
Assyrian, Samaritan, Etrurian, Coptic, in the modern Romaic and Gothic, it
occupies the third place in the alphabet, while in Cyrillic, Glagolitic, Croat,
Russian, Servian and Wallachian, it stands fourth.” As the name of “god” begins
with this letter (in Syriac, gad; Swedish, gud: German, gott;
English, god; Persian, gada, etc., etc.), there is an occult
reason for this which only the students of esoteric philosophy and of the Secret
Doctrine, explained esoterically, will understand thoroughly; it refers to
the three logoi—the last,the Elohim, and the emanation
of the latter, the androgynous Adam Kadmon. All these peoples have derived the
name of “god” from their respective traditions, the more or less clear echoes
of the esoteric tradition. Spoken and “Silent Speech” (writing) are a “gift of
the gods”, say all the national traditions, from the old Aryan
Sanskrit-speaking people who claim that their alphabet, the Devanâgari (lit.,
the language of the devas or gods) was given to them from heaven, down
to the Jews, who speak of an alphabet, the parent of the one which has survived,
as having been a celestial and mystical symbolism given by the angels to the
patriarchs. Hence, every letter had its manifold meaning. A symbol itself of a
celestial being and objects, it was in its turn represented on earth by like
corresponding objects whose form symbolised the shape of the letter. The
present letter, called in Hebrew gimel and symbolised by a long camel’s
neck, or rather a serpent erect, is associated with the third sacred divine
name, Ghadol or Magnus (great). Its numeral is four, the
Tetragrammaton and the sacred Tetraktys; hence its sacredness. With other
people it stood for 400 and with a dash over it, for 400,000.
Gabriel. According to the Gnostics, the
“Spirit” or Christos, the “messenger of life”, and Gabriel are one. The former
“is called some-times the Angel Gabriel Hebrew ‘the mighty one of God’,” and
took with the Gnostics the place of the Logos, while the Holy Spirit was
considered one with the Æon Life,
(see
Gæa
(Gr.). Primordial
Matter, in the Cosmogony of Hesiod; Earth, as some think; the wife of Ouranos,
the sky or heavens. The female personage of the primeval Trinity, composed of Ouranos, Gæa and Eros.
Gaffarillus. An Alchemist and philosopher who lived in the middle
of the seventeenth century. He is the first philosopher known to
maintain that every natural object (e.g., plants, living creatures, etc.), when
burned, retained its form in its ashes and that it could be raised again from
them. This claim was justified by the eminent chemist Du
Chesne, and after him Kircher, Digby and Vallemont have assured
themselves of the fact, by demonstrating that the astral forms of burned plants
could be raised from their ashes. A receipt for raising such astral phantoms of
flowers is given in a work of Oetinger, Thoughts on the Birth and
Generation of Things.
Gaganeswara
(
Gal-hinnom (Heb.) The name of Hell in the Talmud.
Gambatrin
(Scand.). The
name of Hermodur’s “magic staff” in the Edda.
Ganadevas
(Sk.)A
certain class of celestial Beings who are said to inhabit Maharloka. They
are the rulers of our Kalpa (Cycle) and therefore termed Kalpâdhikârins, or
Lord of the Kalpas. They last only “One Day” of Brahmâ.
Gandapada
(Sk.) A celebrated Brahman
teacher, the author of the Commentaries on the Sankhya Karika,
Mandukya Upanishad, and other works.
Gândhâra
(Sk.) A musical note of great occult
power in the Hindu gamut—the third of the diatonic scale.
Gandharva (Sk.) The celestial choristers and musicians
of
Gan-Eden (Heb.) Also Ganduniyas. (See “
Ganesa (Sk.) The elephant-headed God of Wisdom, the son
of Siva. He is the same as the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes, and Anubis or
Hermanubis (q.v.). The legend shows him as having lost his human head,
which was replaced by that of an elephant.
Gangâ (Sk.) The
Gangâdwâra (Sk.) “The gate or door of the
Gangi
(Sk.) A renowned Sorcerer in
the time of Kâsyapa Buddha (a predecessor of Gautama). Gangi was regarded as an
incarnation of Apalâla, the Nâga (Serpent), the guardian Spirit of the Sources
of Subhavastu, a river in Udyâna. Apalâla is said to have been converted by Gautama
Buddha, to the good Law, and become an Arhat. The allegory of the name is comprehensible : all the Adepts and Initiates were called
nâgas, “ Serpents of Wisdom”.
Ganinnânse. A Singhalese priest who has not yet been
ordained—from gana, an assemblage or brotherhood. The higher ordained
priests “are called terunnânse from the Pali théro, an
elder”(Hardy).
Garm (Scand.). The Cerberus of
the Edda. This monstrous dog lived in the Gnypa cavern in front
of the dwelling of Hel, the goddess of the nether-world.
Garuda
(Sk.) A gigantic bird in the Ramâyana,
the steed of Vishnu. Esoterically—the symbol of the great
Cycle.
Gâthâ (Sk.)
Metrical chants or hymns, consisting of moral aphorisms. A gâthâ of thirty-two words is called Âryâgiti.
Gâti (Sk.) The six (esoterically seven) conditions
of sentient existence. These are divided into two groups: the three higher and
the three lower paths. To the former belong the devas,
the asuras and (immortal) men; to the latter (in exoteric teachings) creatures
in hell, prêtas or hungry demons, and animals. Explained esoterically,
however, the last three are the personalities in Kâmaloka, elementals
and animals. The seventh mode of existence is that of the Nirmanakâya (q.v.).
Gâtra (Sk.) Lit., the limbs (of Brahmâ) from
which the “mind-born” sons, the seven Kumâras, were born.
Gautama (Sk.) The Prince of Kapilavastu, son of
Sudhôdana, the Sâkya king of a small realm on the borders of Nepaul, born in
the seventh century B.c., now called the “Saviour of
the World”. Gautama or Gôtama was the sacerdotal name of the Sâkya family, and
Sidhârtha was Buddha’s name before he became a Buddha. Sâkya Muni, means the
Saint of the Sâkya family. Born a simple mortal he rose
to Buddhaship through his own personal and unaided merit. A man—verily greater
than any god!
Gayâ (Sk.)
Ancient city of
Gayâtri (Sk.)
also Sâvitri. A most sacred
verse, addressed to the Sun, in the Rig -Veda, which the Brahmans have to
repeat mentally every morn and eve during their devotions.
Geber (Heb.)
or Gibborim. “Mighty men”; the same as the Kabirim. In heaven,
they are regarded as powerful angels, on earth as the giants mentioned in
chapter vi. of Genesis.
Gebirol, Solomon Ben Jehudah. Called
in literature Avicebron. An Israelite by birth, a
philosopher, poet and Kabbalist, a voluminous writer and a mystic. He
was born in the eleventh Century at
Geburah (Heb.) A Kabbalistic term ;
the fifth Sephira, a female and passive potency, meaning severity and power;
from it is named the Pillar of Severity. [ w. w w.]
Gedulah (Heb.) Another name for the Sephira Chesed.
Gehenna, in
Hebrew Hinnom. No hell at
all, but a valley near
Gehs (Zend)
Parsi prayers.
Gelukpa (Tib.) “Yellow Caps” literally
; the highest and most orthodox Buddhist sect in
Gemara
(Heb.) The latter portion of
the Jewish Talmud, begun by Rabbi Ashi and completed by Rabbi Mar and Meremar,
about 300 A.D. [w.w.w.] Lit., to finish. It is a commentary on the Mishna.
Gematria
(Heb.) A division of the
practical Kabbalah. It shows the numerical value of Hebrew words by summing up
the values of the letters composing them and further, it shows by this means, analogies
between words and phrases. [w.w.w.]
One of the methods (arithmetical) for extracting the
hidden meaning from letters, words and sentences.
Gems, Three
precious. In Southern Buddhism
these are the sacred books, the Buddhas and the priesthood. In
Northern Buddhism and its secret schools, the Buddha, his sacred teachings, and
the Narjols (Buddhas of Compassion).
Genesis. The whole of the Book of Genesis down to the death of
Joseph, is found to he a hardly altered version of the
Cosmogony of the Chaldeans, as is now repeatedly proven from the Assyrian
tiles. The first three chapters are transcribed from the allegorical narratives
of the beginnings common to all nations. Chapters four and five are a new
allegorical adaptation of the same narration in the secret Book of Numbers;
chapter six is an astronomical narrative of the Solar year and the seven
cosmocratores from the Egyptian original of the Pymander and the symbolical
visions of a series of Enoichioi (Seers)—from whom came also the Book of
Enoch. The beginning of Exodus, and the story of Moses
is that of the Babylonian Sargon, who having flourished (as even that unwilling
authority Dr. Sayce tells us) 3750 B.C. preceded the Jewish lawgiver by almost
2300 years. (See Secret Doctrine, vol. II., pp. 691 et
seq.) Nevertheless, Genesis is an undeniably esoteric work. It
has not borrowed, nor has it disfigured the universal symbols and teachings on
the lines of which it was written, but simply adapted the eternal truths to its
own national spirit and clothed them in cunning allegories comprehensible only
to its Kabbalists and Initiates. The Gnostics have done the same, each sect in
its own way, as thousands of years before,
Genii
(Lat.) A name for Æons, or
angels, with the Gnostics. The names of their hierarchies and classes are
simply legion.
Geonic
Period. The era of the Geonim may be
found mentioned in works treating of the Kabbalah ;
the ninth century AD. is implied.
Gharma (Sk.) A title of Karttikeya, the Indian god of
war and the Kumâra born of Siva’s drop of sweat that fell into the
Ghôcha (Sk.) Lit., “the miraculous Voice”. The name
of a great Arhat, the author of Abhidharmamrita Shastra, who restored sight to
a blind man by anointing his eyes with the tears of the audience moved by his
(Ghôcha’s) supernatural eloquence.
Gilgoolem
(Heb.) The cycle of rebirths
with the Hebrew Kabbalists; with the orthodox Kabbalists, the “whirling of the
soul” after death, which finds-no rest until it reaches
Gimil (Scand.). “The
Ginnungagap (Scand.). The “cup of illusion” literally ; the abyss of the great deep, or the shoreless,
beginningless, and endless, yawning gulf; which in esoteric parlance we call
the “World’s Matrix”, the primordial living space. The cup
that contains the universe, hence the “cup of illusion”.
Giöl (Scand.) The,
Gna (Scand.)
One of the three handmaidens of the goddess Freya. She is a female Mercury who
bears her mistress’ messages into all parts of the world.
Gnâna
(Sk.) Knowledge as applied to
the esoteric sciences.
Gnân
Devas (Sk.) Lit., “the gods of
knowledge”. The higher classes of gods or devas; the “mind-born” sons of
Brahmâ, and others including the Manasa-putras (the Sons of Intellect). Esoterically, our reincarnating Egos.
Gnânasakti (Sk.)
The power of true knowledge, one of the seven great forces in Nature (six,
exoterically).
Gnatha (Sk.)
The Kosmic Ego; the conscious, intelligent Soul of Kosmos.
Gnomes (Alch.) The Rosicrucian name for the mineral and earth
elementals,
Gnôsis (Gr.) Lit., “knowledge”. The technical term
used by the schools of religious philosophy, both before and during the first
centuries of so-called Christianity, to denote the object of their enquiry.
This Spiritual and Sacred Knowledge, the Gupta Vidya of the Hindus,
could only be obtained by Initiation into Spiritual Mysteries of which the
ceremonial “Mysteries” were a type.
Gnostics
(Gr.) The
philosophers who formulated and taught the Gnôsis or Knowledge (q.v.).
They flourished in the first three centuries of the Christian era: the
following were eminent, Valentinus, Basilides, Marcion, Simon Magus, etc. [ w.w. w.]
Gnypa
(Scand.) The cavern watched by
the dog Garm (q.v.).
Gogard
(Zend.) The
Tree of Life in the Avesta.
Golden Age. The ancients divided the life cycle into the Golden,
Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages. The Golden was an age of primeval purity,
simplicity and general happiness.
Gonpa
(Tib.) A
temple or monastery; a Lamasery.
Gonpîs
(
Gossain (
Great Age. There were several “great ages” mentioned by the
ancients. In
Grihastha
(Sk.) Lit., “a householder”,
“one who lives in a house with his family”. A Brahman “
family priest” in popular rendering, and the sarcerdotal hierarchy of
the Hindus.
Guardian Wall. A suggestive name given to the host of translated
adepts (Narjols) or the Saints collectively, who are supposed to watch over,
help and protect Humanity. This is the so-called
“Nirmanâkâya” doctrine in Northern mystic Buddhism. (See Voice
of the Silence, Part III.)
Guff (Heb.)
Body; physical form; also written Gof.
Guhya (Sk.)
Concealed, secret.
Guhya
Vidyâ(Sk.) The
secret knowledge of mystic Mantras.
Gullweig
(Scand.) The personification
of the “golden” ore. It is said in the Edda that during the Golden Age, when
lust for gold and wealth was yet unknown to man, “when the gods played with
golden disks, and no passion disturbed the rapture of mere existence”, the
whole earth was happy. But, no sooner does “Gullweig (Gold ore) the bewitching
enchantress come, who, thrice cast into the fire, arises each time more
beautiful than before, and fills the souls of gods and men with unappeasable
longing ”, than all became changed. It is then that the Norns, the Past,
Present and Future, entered into being, the blessed peace of childhood’s dreams
passed away and Sin came into existence with all its evil consequences. (Asgard and the Gods.)
Gunas (Sk) Qualities, attributes (See“ Triguna”) ; a thread, also a cord.
Gunavat
(Sk.) That
which is endowed with qualities.
Gupta
Vidyâ (Sk.) The
same as Guhya Vidyâ; Esoteric or Secret Science; knowledge.
Guru (Sk.)
Spiritual Teacher; a master in metaphysical and ethical doctrines; used also
for a teacher of any science.
Guru
Deva (Sk.) Lit., “divine
Master”.
Gyan-Ben-Giân
(Pers.) The
King of the Peris, the Sylphs, in the old mythology of
Gyges (Gr.) “The ring of Gyges” has become a
familiar metaphor in European literature. Gyges was a Lydian who, after
murdering the King Candaules, married his widow. Plato tells us that Gyges
descended once into a chasm of the earth and discovered a brazen horse, within
whose open side was the skeleton of a man who had a brazen ring on his finger.
This ring when placed on his own finger made him invisible.
Gymnosophists (Gr.)
The name given by Hellenic writers to a class of naked or “air-clad”
mendicants; ascetics in
Gyn
(Tib.) Knowledge acquired
under the tuition of an adept teacher or guru.
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