THEOSOPHICAL
GLOSSARY
BY
H.
P. BLAVATSKY
First
Published 1892
I
.—The ninth letter in the English,
the tenth in the Hebrew alphabet. As a numeral it signifies in both languages one,
and also ten in the Hebrew (see J), in which it corresponds to the
Divine name Jah, the male side, or aspect, of the hermaphrodite being,
or the male-female Adam, of which hovah Jah-hovah) is the female aspect.
It is symbolized by a hand with bent fore-finger, to show its phallic
signification.
Iacchos
(Gr.). A synonym of Bacchus.
Mythology mentions three persons so named: they were Greek ideals adopted later
by the Romans. The word Iacchos is stated to be of Phœnician origin, and to
mean “an infant at the breast ”. Many ancient monuments represent Ceres or
Demeter with Bacchus in her arms. One Iacchos was called Theban and Conqueror,
son of Jupiter and Semele; his mother died before his birth and he was
preserved for some time in the thigh of his father; he was killed by the
Titans. Another was son of Jupiter, as a Dragon, and Persephone ; this one was
named Zagræmus. A third was Iacchos of Eleusis, son of Ceres: he is of
importance because he appeared on the sixth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Some see an analogy between Bacchus and Noah, both cultivators of the Vine, and
patrons of alcoholic excess. [w.w.w.]
Iachus (Gr.). An Egyptian physician, whose memory,
according to Ælian, was venerated for long centuries on account of his
wonderful occult knowledge. Iachus is credited with having stopped epidemics
simply by certain fumigations, and cured diseases by making his patients
inhale herbs.
Iaho. Though this name is more fully treated under the
word“Yaho” and “Iao”, a few words of explanation will not be found amiss.
Diodorus mentions that the God of Moses was Iao; but as the latter name denotes
a “mystery god”, it cannot therefore be confused with Iaho or Yaho (q.v.).
The Samaritans pronounced it Iabe, Yahva, and the Jews Yaho, and then Jehovah,
by change of Masoretic vowels, an elastic scheme by which any change may be
indulged in. But “Jehovah” is a later invention and invocation, as originally
the name was Jah, or Iacchos (Bacchus). Aristotle shows the ancient Arabs
representing Iach (Iacchos) by a horse, i.e., the horse of the Sun (Dionysus),
which followed the chariot on which Ahura Mazda, the god of the Heavens, daily
rode.
Iamblichus
(Gr.). A
great Theurgist, mystic, and writer of the third and fourth centuries, a
Neo-Platonist and philosopher, born at
Iao
(Gr.). See Iaho. The highest
god of the Phœnicians the light conceivable only by intellect”, the physical
and spiritual Principle of all things, “the male Essence of Wisdom ”. It is the
ideal Sun light.
Iao
Hebdomai (Gr.). The collective
“Seven Heavens” (also angels) according to Irenæus. The mystery-god of the
Gnostics. The same as the Seven Manasa-putras (q.v.) of the Occultists.
(See also “Yah” and “Yaho”.)
Ibis
Worship. The Ibis, in Egyptian Hab,
was sacred to Thoth at Hermopolis. It was called the messenger of Osiris, for
it is the symbol of Wisdom, Discrimination, and Purity, as it loathes water if
it is the least impure. Its usefulness in devouring the eggs of the crocodiles
and serpents was great, and its credentials for divine honours as a symbol
were: (a) its black wings, which related it to primeval darkness—chaos; and (b)
the triangular shape of them—the triangle being the first geometrical figure
and a symbol of the trinitarian mystery. To this day the Ibis is a sacred bird
with some tribes of Kopts who live along the
Ibn
Gebirol. Solomon Ben Yehudah:
a great philosopher and scholar, a Jew by birth, who lived in the eleventh
century in
Ichchha
(
Ichchha
Sakti (
Ichthus
(Gr.). A Fish: the symbol of
the Fish has been frequently referred to Jesus, the Christ of the New
Testament, partly because the five letters forming the word are the initials of
the Greek phrase, Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter, Jesus Christ
the Saviour, Son of God. Hence his followers in the early Christian centuries
were often called fishes, and drawings of fish are found in the
Catacombs. Compare also the narrative that some of his early disciples were
fishermen, and the assertion of Jesus― “I will make you fishers of men”. Note
also the Vesica Piscis, a conventional shape for fish in general, is frequently
found enclosing a picture of a Christ, holy virgin, or saint; it is a long oval
with pointed ends, the space marked out by the intersection of two equal
circles, when less than half the area of one. Compare the Christian female
recluse, a Nun—this word is the Chaldee name for fish, and fish is connected
with the worship of Venus, a goddess, and the Roman Catholics still eat fish on
the Dies Veneris or Friday. [w.w.w.]
Ida
(Scand.). The plains of Ida,
on which the gods assemble to hold counsel in the Edda. The field of
peace and rest.
Ideos, in Paracelsus the same as Chaos, or Mysterium
Magnum as that philosopher calls it.
Idises (Scand.). The same as the Dises, the Fairies
and Walkyries, the divine women in the Norse legends; they were reverenced by
the Teutons before the day of Tacitus, as the latter shows.
Idæic
Finger. An iron finger strongly
magnetized and used in the temples for healing purposes. It produced wonders in
that direction, and therefore was said to possess magical powers.
Idol. A statue or a picture of a heathen god; or a statue
or picture of a Romish Saint, or a fetish of uncivilized tribes.
Idospati
(
Idra
Rabba (Heb.). “The Greater
Holy Assembly ‘ a division of the Zohar.
Idra
Suta (Heb.). “The Lesser Holy
Assembly”, another division of the Zohar.
Iduna
(Scand.). The goddess of
immortal youth. The daughter of Iwaldi, the Dwarf. She is said in the Edda
to have hidden “ life” in the Deep of the Ocean, and when the right time came,
to have restored it to Earth once more. She was the wife of Bragi, the god of
poetry; a most charming myth. Like Heimdal, “born of nine mothers”, Bragi at
his birth rises upon the crest of the wave from the bottom of the sea (see
“Bragi”). He married Iduna, the immortal goddess, who accompanies him to Asgard
where every morning she feeds the gods with the apples of eternal youth and
health. (See Asgard and the Gods.)
Idwatsara
(
Ieu. The “first man”; a Gnostic term used in
Pistis-Sophia.
Iezedians
or lezidi (Pers.). This
sect came to
Ifing
(Scand.). The broad river that
divides Asgard, the home of the gods, from that of the Jotuns, the great and
strong magicians. Below Asgard was Midgard, where in the sunny æther was built
the home of the Light Elves. In their disposition and order of locality, all
these Homes answer to the Deva and other Lokas of the Hindus, inhabited by the
various classes of gods and Asuras.
Igaga
(Chald.) Celestial angels, the same
as Archangels.
I.H.S. This triad of initials stands for the in hoc signo
of the alleged vision of
Ikhir
Bonga. A “Spirit of the Deep” of the
Kolarian tribes.
Ikshwaku
(
Ila
(
Ilavriti
(
Ilda
Baoth. Lit., “the child from
the Egg”, a Gnostic term. He is the creator of our physical globe (the earth)
according to the Gnostic teaching in the Codex Nazaræus (the Evangel of
the Nazarenes and the Ebionites). The latter identifies him with Jehovah the
God of the Jews. Ildabaoth is “the Son of Darkness” in a bad sense and the
father of the six terrestrial “ Stellar”, dark spirits, the antithesis of the
bright Stellar spirits. Their respective abodes are the seven spheres, the upper
of which begins in the “middle space”, the region of their mother Sophia
Achamôth, and the lower ending on this earth—the seventh region (See Isis
Unveiled, Vol. II., 183.) Ilda-Baoth is the genius of Saturn, the planet;
or rather the evil spirit of its ruler.
Iliados. In Paracelsus the same as “Ideos” (q.v.). Primordial
matter in the subjective state.
Illa-ah, Adam (Heb.). Adam Illa-ah is the celestial,
superior Adam, in the Zohar.
Illinus. One of the gods in the Chaldean Theogony of
Damascius.
Ilmatar
(Finn.). The Virgin who falls from heaven into the sea
before creation. She is the “daughter of the air” and the mother of seven Sons
(the seven forces in nature).
(See Kalevala, the epic poem of
Illusion. In Occultism everything finite (like the universe and
all in it) is called illusion or maya.
Illuminati
(Lat.). The “Enlightened”, the
initiated adepts.
Ilus
(Gr.). Primordial mud or
slime; called also Hyle.
Image. Occultism permits no other image than that of the
living image of divine man (the symbol of Humanity) on earth. The Kabbala
teaches that this divine Image, the copy of the sublime and holy upper Image
(the Elohim) has now changed into another similitude, owing to the
development of men’s sinful nature. It is only the upper divine Image
(the Ego) which is the same; the lower (personality) has changed, and man, now
fearing the wild beasts, has grown to bear on his face the similitude of many
of them. (
Imagination. In Occultism this is not to be confused with fancy,
as it is one of the plastic powers of the higher Soul, and is the memory of the
preceding incarnations, which, however disfigured by the lower Manas, yet rests
always on a ground of truth.
Imhot-pou
or Imhotep (Eg.). The
god of learning (the Greek Imouthes). He was the son of Ptah, and in one aspect
Hermes, as he is represented as imparting wisdom with a book before him. He is
a solar god; lit., “the god of the handsome face “.
Immah (Heb.). Mother, in contradistinction to
Abba, father.
Immah
Illa-ah (Heb.). The upper
mother; a name given to Shekinah.
In
(Chin.). The female principle of
matter, impregnated by Yo, the male ethereal principle, and precipitated
thereafter down into the universe.
Incarnations
(Divine) or Avatars. The Immaculate Conception is as
pre-eminently Egyptian as it is Indian. As the author of Egyptian Belief
has it: “It is not the vulgar, coarse and sensual story as in Greek mythology,
but refined, moral and spiritual “; and again the incarnation idea was found
revealed on the wall of a Theban temple by Samuel Sharpe, who thus analyzes it:
“First the god Thoth . . . as the messenger of the gods, like the Mercury of
the Greeks (or the Gabriel of the first Gospel), tells the maiden queen
Mautmes, that she is to give birth to a son, who is to be king Amunotaph III.
Secondly, the god Kneph, the Spirit . . . . and the goddess Hathor (Nature)
both take hold of the queen by the hands and put into her mouth the character
for life, a cross, which is to be the life of the coming child”, etc., etc.
Truly divine incarnation, or the avatar doctrine, constituted the
grandest mystery of every old religious system!
Incas
(Peruvian). The name given to
the creative gods in the Peruvian theogony, and later to the rulers of the
country. “The Incas, seven in number have repeopled the earth after the Deluge
‘, Coste makes them say (I. iv., p. 19). They belonged at the beginning of the
fifth Root-race to a dynasty of divine kings, such as those of Egypt, India
and Chaldea.
Incubus (Lat.). Something more real and dangerous than
the ordinary meaning given to the word, viz., that of “nightmare ”. An
Incubus is the male Elemental, and Succuba the female, and these are
undeniably the spooks of mediæval demonology, called forth from the invisible
regions by human passion and lust. They are now called “Spirit brides” and
“Spirit husbands” among some benighted Spiritists and spiritual mediums. But
these poetical names do not prevent them in the least being that which they
are—Ghools, Vampires and soulless Elementals; formless centres of Life, devoid
of sense; in short, subjective protoplasms when left alone, but
called into a definite being and form by the creative and diseased imagination
of certain mortals. They were known under every clime as in every age, and the
Hindus can tell more than one terrible tale of the dramas enacted in the life
of young students and mystics by the Pisachas, their name in India.
Individuality. One of the names given in Theosophy and Occultism
to the Human Higher EGO. We make a distinction between the immortal and
divine Ego, and the mortal human Ego which perishes. The latter, or
“personality” (personal Ego) survives the dead body only for a time in the Kama
Loka; the Individuality prevails forever.
Indra (Sk.). The god of the Firmament, the King of
the sidereal gods. A Vedic Deity.
Indrâni (Sk.). The female aspect of Indra.
Indriya
or Deha Sanyama (Sk.). The
control of the senses in Yoga practice. These are the ten external agents; the
five senses which are used for perception are called Jnana-indriya, and
the five used for action—Karma-indriya. Pancha-indryani means
literally and in its occult sense “the live roots producing life”(eternal).
With the Buddhists, it is the five positive agents producing five supernal
qualities.
Induvansa
(Sk.). Also Somavansa or
the lunar race (dynasty), from Indu, the Moon. (“See
“Suryavansa”.)
Indwellers. A name or the substitute for the right Sanskrit
esoteric name, given to our “inner enemies”, which are seven in the esoteric
philosophy. The early Christian Church called them the “seven capital Sins ‘:
the Nazarene Gnostics named them, the “seven badly disposed Stellars”, and so
on. Hindu exoteric teachings speak only of the “six enemies” and under
the term Arishadwarga enumerate them as follows: (1) Personal desire,
lust or any passion (Kâma); (2) Hatred or malice (Krodha); (
Avarice or cupidity (Lobha); ( Ignorance (Moha); ( Pride or
arrogance (Mada); (6) Jealousy, envy (Matcharya); forgetting the
seventh, which is the “unpardonable sin”, and the worst of all in Occultism.
(See Theosophist, May, 1890, p. 431.)
Ineffable
Name. With the Jews, the substitute
for the “mystery name” of their tribal deity Eh-yeh, “I am”, or
Jehovah. The third commandment prohibiting the using of the latter name “in
vain”, the Hebrews substituted for it that of Adonai or “the Lord”. But
the Protestant Christians who, translating indifferently Jehovah and
Elohim—which is also a substitute per se, besides being an inferior
deity name— by the words “Lord” and “God”, have become in this instance more
Catholic than the Pope, and include in the prohibition both the names. At the
present moment, however, neither Jews nor Christians seem to remember, or so
much as suspect, the occult reason why the qualification of Jehovah or YHVH had
become reprehensible; most of the Western Kabbalists also seem to be unaware of
the fact. The truth is, that the name they bring forward as “ineffable”, is not
in the least so. It is the “unpronounceable”, or rather the name not to be
pronounced, if any thing; and this for symbological reasons. To begin with,
the “Ineffable Name” of the true Occultist, is no name at all, least of
all is it that of Jehovah. The latter implies, even in its Kabbalistical,
esoteric meaning, an androgynous nature, YHVH, or one of a male and female
nature. It is simply Adam and Eve, or man and woman blended in one, and as now
written and pronounced, is itself a substitute. But the Rabbins do not care to
remember the Zoharic admission that YHVH means “not as I Am written, Am I read”
(Zohar, fol. III., 23Oa). One has to know how to divide the
Tetragrammaton ad infinitum before one arrives at the sound of
the truly unpronouncable name of the Jewish mystery-god. That the Oriental Occultists
have their own “Ineffable name” it is hardly necessary to repeat.
Initiate. From the Latin Initiatus. The designation of
anyone who was received into and had revealed to him the mysteries and secrets
of either Masonry or Occultism. In times of antiquity, those who had been
initiated into the arcane knowledge taught by the Hierophants of the Mysteries;
and in our modern days those who have been initiated by the adepts of mystic
lore into the mysterious knowledge, which, notwithstanding the lapse of ages,
has yet a few real votaries on earth.
Initiation. From the same root as the Latin initia, which
means the basic or first principles of any Science. The practice of initiation or
admission into the sacred Mysteries, taught by the Hierophants and learned
priests of the Temples, is one of the most ancient customs. This was practised
in every old national religion. In Europe it was abolished with the fall of the
last pagan temple. There exists at present but one kind of initiation known to
the public, namely that into the Masonic rites. Masonry, however, has no more
secrets to give out or conceal. In the palmy days of old, the Mysteries,
according to the greatest Greek and Roman philosophers, were the most sacred of
all solemnities as well as the most beneficent, and greatly promoted virtue.
The Mysteries represented the passage from mortal life into finite death, and
the experiences of the disembodied Spirit and Soul in the world of
subjectivity. In our own day, as the secret is lost, the candidate passes
through sundry meaningless ceremonies and is initiated into the solar allegory
of Hiram Abiff, the “Widow’s Son”.
Inner
Man. An occult term, used to
designate the true and immortal Entity in us, not the outward and mortal form
of clay that we call our body. The term applies, strictly speaking, only to the
Higher Ego, the “astral man” being the appellation of the Double and of Kâma
Rupa (q.v.) or the surviving eidolon.
Innocents. A nick-name given to the Initiates and Kabbalists
before the Christian era. The “Innocents” of Bethlehem and of Lud (or Lydda)
who were put to death by Alexander Janneus, to the number of several thousands
(B.C. 100, or so), gave rise to the legend of the 40,000 innocent babes
murdered by Herod while searching for the infant Jesus. The first is a little
known historical fact, the second a fable, as sufficiently shown by Renan in
his Vie de Jésus.
Intercosmic
gods. The Planetary Spirits,
Dhyan-Chohans, Devas of various degrees of spirituality, and “Archangels” in
general.
Iranian
Morals. The little work called
Ancient Iranian and Zoroastrian Morals, compiled by Mr. Dhunjibhoy
Jamsetjee Medhora, a Parsi Theosophist of Bombay, is an excellent treatise
replete with the highest moral teachings, in English and Gujerati, and will
acquaint the student better than many volumes with the ethics of the ancient
Iranians.
Irdhi
(Sk.). The synthesis of the
ten “supernatural” occult powers in Buddhism and Brahmanism.
Irkalla
(Chald.). The god of Hades,
called by the Babylonians “the country unseen”.
Isarim (Heb.). The Essenian Initiates.
Ishim
(Chald.). The B’ne-Aleim,
the “beautiful sons of god”, the originals and prototypes of the later
“Fallen Angels”.
Ishmonia
(Arab.). The city near which
is buried the so-called “petrified city” in the Desert. Legend speaks of
immense subterranean halls and chambers, passages, and libraries secreted in
them. Arabs dread its neighbourhood after sunset.
Ishtar
(Chald.). The Babylonian
Venus, called “the eldest of heaven and earth“, and daughter of Anu, the god of
heaven. She is the goddess of love and beauty. The planet Venus, as the evening
star, is identified with Ishtar, and as the morning star with Anunit, the
goddess of the Akkads. There exists a most remarkable story of her descent into
Hades, on the sixth and seventh Assyrian tiles or tablets deciphered by the
late G. Smith. Any Occultist who reads of her love for Tammuz, his
assassination by Izdubar, the despair of the goddess and her descent in search
of her beloved through the seven gates of Hades, and finally her liberation
from the dark realm, will recognise the beautiful allegory of the soul in
search of the Spirit.
Isiac
table. A true monument of Egyptian
art. It represents the goddess Isis under many of her aspects. The Jesuit
Kircher describes it as a table of copper overlaid with black enamel and silver
incrustations. It was in the possession of Cardinal Bembo, and therefore called
“Tabula Bembina sive Mensa Isiaca ”. Under this title it is
described by W. Wynn Westcott, M.B., who gives its “History and Occult
Significance” in an extremely interesting and learned volume (with photographs
and illustrations). The tablet was believed to have been a votive offering to
Isis in one of her numerous temples. At the sack of Rome in 1525, it came into
the possession of a soldier who sold it to Cardinal Bembo. Then it passed to
the Duke of Mantua in 1630, when it was lost.
Isis. In Egyptian Issa, the goddess Virgin-Mother;
personified nature. In Egyptian or Koptic Uasari, the female reflection
of Uasar or Osiris. She is the “woman clothed with the sun” of the land
of Chemi. Isis Latona is the Roman Isis.
Isitwa
(Sk.). The divine Power.
Israel (Heb.). The Eastern Kabbalists derive the name
from Isaral or Asar, the Sun-God. “Isra-el” signifies “striving
with god”: the “sun rising upon Jacob-Israel ” means the Sun-god Isaral (or
Isar-el) striving with, and to fecundate matter, which has power with “God and
with man” and often prevails over both. Esau, Æsaou, Asu, is also the Sun. Esau
and Jacob, the allegorical twins, are the emblems of the ever struggling dual
principle in nature—good and evil, darkness and sunlight, and the “ Lord”
(Jehovah) is their antetype. Jacob-Israel is the feminine principle of Esau, as
Abel is that of Cain, both Cain and Esau being the male principle. Hence, like
Malach-Iho, the “Lord” Esau fights with Jacob and prevails not. In Genesis xxxii.
the God-Sun first strives with Jacob, breaks his thigh (a phallic
symbol) and yet is defeated by his terrestrial type—matter; and the Sun-God
rises on Jacob and his thigh in covenant. All these biblical personages,
their “Lord God” included, are types represented in an allegorical sequence.
They are types of Life and Death, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, of Matter
and Spirit in their synthesis, all these being under their contrasted aspects.
Iswara (Sk.). The “Lord” or the personal god—divine
Spirit in man. Lit., sovereign (independent) existence. A title
given to Siva and other gods in India. Siva is also called Iswaradeva, or
sovereign deva.
Ithyphallic
(Gr.). Qualification of the
gods as males and hermaphrodites, such as the bearded Venus, Apollo in woman’s
clothes, Ammon the generator, the embryonic Ptah, and so on. Yet the phallus,
so
conspicuous and, according to our prim notions, so indecent, in the
Indian and Egyptian religions, was associated in the earliest symbology far
more with another and much purer idea than that of sexual creation. As shown by
many an Orientalist, it expressed resurrection, the rising in life from
death. Even the other meaning had nought indecent in it: “These images only
symbolise in a very expressive manner the creative force of nature, without
obscene intention,” writes Mariette Bey, and adds, “It is but another way to
express celestial generation, which should cause the deceased to enter
into a new life”. Christians and Europeans are very hard on the phallic symbols
of the ancients. The nude gods and goddesses and their generative emblems and
statuary have secret departments assigned to them in our museums; why then
adopt and preserve the same symbols for Clergy and Laity? The love-feasts in
the early Church—its agapæ as pure (or as impure) as the Phallic
festivals of the Pagans; the long priestly robes of the Roman and Greek
Churches, and the long hair of the latter, the holy water sprinklers and the
rest, are there to show that Christian ritualism has preserved in more or less
modified forms all the symbolism of old Egypt. As to the symbolism of a purely feminine
nature, we are bound to confess that in the sight of every impartial
archæologist the half nude toilets of our cultured ladies of Society are far
more suggestive of female-sex worship than are the rows of yoni-shaped lamps,
lit along the highways to temples in India.
Iurbo
Adunaї. A Gnostic term, or the
compound name for Iao Jehovah, whom the Ophites regarded as an emanation of
their Ilda-Baoth, the Son of Sophia Achamoth—the proud, ambitious and jealous
god, and impure Spirit, whom many of the Gnostic sects regarded as the god of
Moses. “Iurbo is called by the Abortions (the Jews) Adunai” says the Codex
Nazaræus (vol. iii., p.13 The “Abortions” and Abortives was
the nickname given to the Jews by their opponents the Gnostics.
Iu-Kabar
Zivo (Gn.). Known also as
Nebat-Iavar-bar-Iufin-Ifafin, “Lord of the Æons” in the Nazarene System. He is
the procreator (Emanator) of the seven holy lives (the seven primal
Dhyan Chohans, or Archangels, each representing one of the cardinal Virtues),
and is himself called the third life (third Logos). In the Codex he is
addressed as “the Helm and Vine of the food of life”. Thus, he is
identical with Christ (Christos) who says “I am the true Vine and
my Father is the Husband- man “(John xv. i). It is well known that Christ is
regarded in the Roman Catholic Church, as the “chief of the Æons”, and also as
Michael “who is like god”. Such was also the belief of the Gnostics.
Iwaldi (Scand.). The dwarf whose sons fabricated for
Odin the magic spear. One of the subterranean master-smiths who, together with
other gnomes, contrived to make an enchanted sword for the great war-god Cheru.
This two-edged-sword figures in the legend of the Emperor Vitellius, who got it
from the god, “to his own hurt”, according to the oracle of a “wise woman”,
neglected it and was finally killed with it at the foot of the capitol, by a
German soldier who had purloined the weapon. The “sword of the war-god” has a
long biography, since it also re-appears in the half-legendary biography of
Attila. Having married against her will Ildikd, the beautiful daughter of the
King of Burgundy whom he had slain, his bride gets the magic sword from a
mysterious old woman, and with it kills the King of the Huns.
Izdubar. A name of a hero in the fragments of Chaldean
History and Theogony on the so-called Assyrian tiles, as read by the late
George Smith and others. Smith seeks to identify Izdubar with Nimrod. Such may
or may not be the case; but as the name of that Babylonian King itself only
“appears” as Izduhar, his identification with the son of Cush may also turn out
more apparent than real. Scholars are but too apt to check their archæological
discoveries by the far later statements found in the Mosaic books, instead of
acting vice versa. “The chosen people” have been fond at all periods of
history of helping themselves to other people’s property. From the
appropriation of the early history of Sargon, King of Akkad, and its wholesale
application to Moses born (if at all) some thousands of years later, down to
their “spoiling” the Egyptians under the direction and divine advice of their
Lord God, the whole Pentateuch seems to be made up of unacknowledged mosaical
fragments from other people’s Scriptures. This ought to have made
Assyriologists more cautious; but as many of these belong to the clerical
caste, such coincidences as that of Sargon affect them very little. One thing
is certain Izdubar, or whatever may be his name, is shown in all the tablets as
a mighty giant who towered in size above all other men as a cedar towers over
brushwood—a hunter, according to cuneiform legends, who contended with, and
destroyed the lion, tiger, wild bull, and buffalo, the most formidable animals.
J —The tenth letter in the English and Hebrew alphabet,
in the latter of which it is equivalent to y, and i,
and is numerically number 10, the perfect number (See Jodh and Yodh),
or one. (See also “I”.)
Jâbalas
(Sk.). Students of the
mystical portion of the White Yajur Veda.
Jachin
(Heb.). “In Hebrew letters
IKIN, from the root KUN “to establish”, and the symbolical name of one of the
Pillars at the porch of King Solomon’s Temple” [ w.w.w.]
The
other pillar was called Boaz, and the two were respectively white and black.
They correspond to several mystic ideas, one of which is that they represent
the dual Manas or the higher and the lower Ego; another connected these two
pillars in Slavonian mysticism with God and the Devil,to the“WHITE” and the
“BLACK G0D” or Byeloy Bog and Tchernoy Bog. (See “Yakin and Boaz”
infra).
Jacobites. A Christian sect in Syria of the VIth cent. (550)
which held that Christ had only one nature and that confession was not of
divine origin. They had secret signs, passwords and a solemn initiation with
mysteries.
Jadoo
(Hind.). Sorcery, black magic,
enchantment.
Jadoogar (Hind.). A Sorcerer, or Wizard.
Jagaddhatri
(Sk.). Substance; the name of
“the nurse of the world”, the designation of the power which carried Krishna
and his brother Balarama into Devaki, their mother’s bosom. A title of
Sarasvati and Durga.
Jagad-Yoni
(Sk). The womb of the world;
space.
Jagat
(Sk.). The Universe.
Jagan-Natha (Sk.). Lit., “Lord of the World”, a title of
Vishnu. The great image of Jagan-natha on its car, commonly pronounced and
spelt Jagernath. The idol is that of Vishnu Krishna. Puri, near the town of
Cuttack in Orissa, is the great seat of its worship; and twice a year an
immense number of pilgrims attend the festivals of the Snâna yâtra and
Ratha-âtra During the first, the image is bathed, and during the second it is
placed on a car, between the images of Balarâma the brother, and Subhadrâ
the sister of Krishna and the huge vehicle is drawn by the devotees, who deem
it felicity to be crushed to death under it.
Jagrata
(Sk.). The waking state of
consciousness. When mentioned in Yoga philosophy, Jagrata-avastha is the
waking condition, one of the four states of Pranava in ascetic practices, as
used by the Yogis.
Jâhnavî
(Sk.). A name of Ganga,
or the river Ganges.
Jahva
Alhim (Heb.). The name that in
Genesis replaces “Alhim”, or Elohim, the gods. It is used in chapter
I., while in chapter II. the “Lord God” or Jehovah steps in. In Esoteric
philosophy and exoteric tradition, Jahva Alhim (Java Aleim) was the
title of the chief of the Hierophants, who initiated into the good and the evil
of this world in the college of priests known as the Aleim College in the land
of
Gandunya or Babylonia. Tradition and rumour assert, that the chief of the
temple Fo-maїyu, called
Foh-tchou (teacher of Buddhist law), a temple situated in the fastnesses of the
great mount of
Kouenlong-sang (between China and Tibet), teaches once every three years under
a tree called
Sung-Mîn-Shû, or the“ Tree of Knowledge and (the tree) of life”, which
is the Bo (Bodhi) tree of Wisdom.
Jaimini
(Sk.). A great sage, a
disciple of Vyâsa the transmitter and teacher of the Sama Veda which as claimed
he received from his Guru. He is also the famous founder and writer of the
Pûrva Mimânsâ philosophy.
Jaina
Gross. The same as the “Swastika” (q.v.),
“Thor’s hammer” also, or the Hermetic cross.
Jainas
(Sk.). A large religious body
in India closely resembling Buddhism, but who preceded it by long centuries.
They claim that Gautama, the Buddha, was a disciple of one of their
Tirtankaras, or Saints. They deny the authority of the Vedas and the existence
of any personal supreme god, but believe in the eternity of matter, the
periodicity of the universe and the immortality of men’s minds (Manas)
as also of that of the animals. An extremely mystic sect.
Jalarupa
(Sk.). Lit., “water-body, or
form”. One of the names of Makâra (the sign capricornus). It is one of
the most occult and mysterious of the Zodiacal signs; it figures on the banner
of Kama, god of love, and is connected with our immortal Egos. (See Secret
Doctrine.)
Jambu-dwipa (Sk.). One
of the main divisions of the globe, in the Purânic system. It includes India.
Some say that it was a continent,—others an island—or one of the seven islands (Sapta
dwipa) It is “the dominion of Vishnu”. In its astronomical and mystic sense
it is the name of our globe, separated by the plane of objectivity from the six
other globes of our planetary chain.
Jamin
(Heb.). The right side of a
man, esteemed the most worthy. Benjamin means “son of the right side”, i.e.,
testis. [w.w.w.]
Janaka (Sk.). One of the Kings of Mithilâ of the
Solar race. He was a great royal sage, and lived twenty generations before
Janaka the father of Sita who was King of Videha.
Jana-loka
(Sk. The world wherein the
Munis (the Saints) are supposed to dwell after their corporeal death (See Purânas).
Also a terrestrial locality.
Janârddana
(Sk.). Lit., “the adored of mankind”, a title of Krishna.
Japa
(Sk.). A mystical practice of
certain Yogis. It consists in the repetition of various magical
formulæ and mantras.
Jaras (Sk.). “Old Age”. The allegorical name of the
hunter who killed Krishna by mistake, a name showing the great ingenuity of the
Brahmans and the symbolical character of the World-Scriptures in general. As
Dr. Crucefix, a high mason well says, “to preserve the occult mysticism of
their order from all except their own class, the priests invented symbols and
hieroglyphics to embody sublime truths ”.
Jatayu
(Sk.). The Son of Garuda. The
latter is the great cycle, or Mahakalpa symbolized by the giant bird
which served as a steed for Vishnu, and other gods, when related to space and
time. Jatayu is called in the Ramayana “the King of the feathered
tribe”. For defending Sita carried away by Ravana, the giant king of Lanka, he
was killed by him. Jatayu is also called “the king of the vultures”.
Javidan
Khirad (Pers) A work on moral
precepts.
Jayas
(Sk.), The twelve great gods in the Purânas who neglect
to create men, and are therefore, cursed by Brahmâ to be reborn “in
every (racial) Manvantara till the seventh”. Another form or aspect of the
reincarnating Egos.
Jebal
Djudi (Arab.). The “Deluge
Mountain” of the Arabic legends. The same as Ararat, and the Babylonian Mount
of Nizir where Xisuthrus landed with his ark.
Jehovah
(Heb.). The Jewish “Deity name J’hovah, is a compound of
two words, viz of Jah (y, i, or j, Yôdh, the tenth letter
of the alphabet) and hovah (Hâvah, or Eve),” says a Kabalistic
authority, Mr. J. Ralston Skinner of Cincinnati, U.S.A. And again, “The word
Jehovah, or Jah-Eve, has the primary meaning of existence or being as
male female”. It means Kabalistically the latter, indeed, and nothing more; and
as repeatedly shown is entirely phallic. Thus, verse 26 in the IVth chapter of Genesis,
reads in its disfigured translation . . . . “then began men to call upon the
name of the Lord”, whereas it ought to read correctly . . . . “then began men
to call themselves by the name of Jah-hovah” or males and females, which
they had become after the separation of sexes. In fact the latter is described
in the same chapter, when Cain (the male or Jah) “rose up against Abel,
his (sister, not) brother and slew him”(spilt his blood, in the
original). Chapter IV of Genesis contains in truth, the allegorical narrative
of that period of anthropological and physiological evolution which is
described in the Secret Doctrine when treating of the third Root race of
mankind. It is followed by Chapter V as a blind; but ought to be
succeeded by Chapter VI, where the Sons of God took as their wives the
daughters of men or of the giants. For this is an allegory hinting at the
mystery of the Divine Egos incarnating in mankind, after which the hitherto
senseless races “became mighty men, . . . men of renown” (v. 4), having
acquired minds (manas) which they had not before.
Jehovah
Nissi (Heb.). The androgyne of
Nissi (See “Dionysos”). The Jews worshipped under this name Bacchus-Osiris, Dio-Nysos,
and the multiform Joves of Nyssa, the Sinai of Moses. Universal tradition
shews Bacchus reared in a cave of Nyssa. Diodorus locates Nysa between Phœnicia
and Egypt, and adds, “Osiris was brought up in Nysa he was son of Zeus and was
named from his father (nominative Zeus, genitive Dios) and the place Dio-nysos”—the
Zeus or Jove of Nyssa.
Jerusalem,
Jerosalem (Septuag.) and Hierosolyma (Vulgate). In Hebrew it is
written Yrshlim or “city of peace”,but the ancient Greeks called it pertinently
Hierosalem or “Secret Salem”, since Jerusalem is a rebirth from Salem of
which Melchizedek was the King-Hierophant, a declared Astrolator and worshipper
of the Sun,’“the Most High” by-the-bye. There also Adoni-Zedek reigned in his
turn, and was the last of its Amorite Sovereigns. He allied himself with four
others, and these five kings went to conquer back Gideon, but (according to Joshua
X) came out of the affray second best. And no wonder, since these five kings
were opposed, not only by Joshua but by the “Lord God”, and by the Sun and the
Moon also. On that day, we read, at the command of the successor of Moses, “the
sun stood still and the moon stayed” (v. 13) for the whole day. No mortal man,
king or yeoman, could withstand, of course, such a shower “of great stones from
heaven” as was cast upon them by the Lord himself . . . . “from Beth-horon unto
Azekah” “and they died” (v. ii). After having died they “fled and hid
themselves in a cave at Makkedah” (v. i6). It appears, however, that such
undignified behaviour in a God received its Karmic punishment afterwards. At
different epochs of history, the Temple of the Jewish Lord was sacked, ruined
and burnt (See“Mount Moriah”)—holy ark of the covenant, cherubs, Shekinah and
all, but that deity seemed as powerless to protect his property from
desecration as though they were no more stones left in heaven. After Pompey had
taken the Second Temple in 63, B.c., and the third one, built by Herod the
Great, had been razed to the ground by the Romans, in 70 A.D., no new temple
was allowed to be built in the capital of the “chosen people” of the Lord. In
spite of the Crusades, since the XIIIth century Jerusalem has belonged to the
Mahommedans, and almost every site holy and dear to the memory of the old
Israelites, and also of the Christians, is now covered by minarets and mosques,
Turkish barracks and other monuments of Islam.
Jesod (Heb.). Foundation; the ninth of the Ten
Sephiroth, a masculine active potency, completing the six which form the
Microprosopus. [w.w.w.]
Jetzirah
(Heb.). See “Yetzirah”.
Jetzirah, Sepher; or Book of the Creation. The most
occult of all the Kabalistic works now in the possession of modern mystics. Its
alleged origin, of having been written by Abraham, is of course nonsense; but
its intrinsic value is great. It is composed of six Perakim (chapters),
subdivided into
thirty-three short Mishnas or Sections; and treats of the
evolution of the Universe on a system of correspondences and numbers. Deity is
said therein to have formed (“created”) the Universe by means of numbers “by
thirty-two paths (or ways) of secret wisdom ”, these ways being made to
correspond with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the ten
fundamental numbers. These ten are the primordial numbers whence proceeded the
whole Universe, and these are followed by the twenty-two letters divided into
Three Mothers, the seven double consonants and the twelve simple consonants. He
who would well understand the system is advised to read the excellent little
treatise upon Sepher Jetzirah, by Dr. W. WynnWestcott. (See
“Yetzirah”.)
Jhâna
(Sk.) or Jnana.
Knowledge; Occult Wisdom.
Jhâna
Bhaskara (Sk.). A work on
Asuramâya, the Atlantean astronomer and magician, and other prehistoric
legends.
Jigten
Gonpo (Tib.). A name of Avalokitêswara,
or Chenres-Padma-pani, the “Protector against Evil”.
Jishnu (Sk.). “Leader of the Celestial Host”, a title
of Indra, who, in the War of the Gods with the Asuras, led the “host of devas”.
He is the “Michael, the leader of the Archangels” of India.
Jiva
(Sk.). Life, as the Absolute; the Monad also or
“Atma-Buddhi”.
Jivanmukta (Sk.). An adept or yogi who has reached the
ultimate state of holiness, and separated himself from matter; a Mahatma, or
Nirvânee, a “dweller in bliss” and emancipation. Virtually one who has
reached Nirvâna during life.
Jivatma (Sk.). The ONE universal life, generally; but
also the divine Spirit in
Jnânam
(Sk.). The same as “Gnâna”,
etc., the same as “Jhâna” (q.v.).
Jnânendriyas
(Sk.). The five channels of
knowledge.
Jnâna
Sakti (Sk.). The power of
intellect.
Jörd. In Northern Germany the goddess of the Earth, the
same as Nerthus and the Scandinavian Freya or Frigg.
Jotunheim
(Scand.). The land of the
Hrimthurses or Frost-giants.
Jotuns
(Scand.). The Titans or
giants. Mimir, who taught Odin magic, the “thrice wise”, was a Jotun.
Jul
(Scand.). The wheel of the Sun
from whence Yuletide, which was sacred to Freyer, or Pro, the Sun-god,
the ripener of the fields and fruits, admitted later to the circle of the Ases.
As god of sunshine and fruitful harvests he lived in the Home of the Light
Elves.
Jupiter
(Lat.). From the same root as the Greek Zeus, the greatest
god of the ancient Greeks and Romans, adopted also by other nations. His names
are among others: (1) Jupiter-Aërios; (2) Jupiter-Ammon of Egypt ; (3) Jupiter
Bel-Moloch, the Chaldean; (4) Jupiter-Mundus, Deus Mundus, “God of the World”;
(5) Jupiter-Fulgur, “the Fulgurant”, etc.,etc.
Jyotisha
(
Jyotisham
Jyotch (
Jyotsna (
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