Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
1831
- 1891
THEOSOPHICAL
GLOSSARY
BY
H.
P. BLAVATSKY
First
Published 1892
M—The thirteenth letter of the
Hebrew and of the English alphabets, and the twenty-fourth of the Arabic. As a
Roman numeral, this letter stands for 1,000, and with a dash on it (M)
signifies one million. In the Hebrew alphabet Mem symbolized water, and
as a numeral is equivalent to 40. The Sanskrit ma is equivalent
to number 5, and is also connected with water through the sign of the Zodiac,
called Makâra (q.v.). Moreover, in the Hebrew and Latin numerals the m, stands “as
the definite numeral for an indeterminate number”(Mackenzie’s Mason. Cyc.),
and “the Hebrew sacred name of God app]ied to this
letter is Meborach, Benedictus.” With the Esotericists the M
is the symbol of the Higher Ego—Manas, Mind.
Mâ
(
Ma, Mut
(Eg.). The
goddess of the lower world, another form of
Machagistia. Magic, as once taught in
Macrocosm (Gr.). The “Great Universe” literally, or
Kosmos.
Macroprosopus (Gr.). ‘A Kabalistic term, made of a compound
Greek word: meaning the Vast or Great Countenance (See “Kabalistic Faces”); a
title of Kether, the Crown, the highest Sephira. It is the name of the Universe,
called Arikh-Anpin, the totality of that of which Microprosopus or Zauir-Anpin
“the lesser countenance”, is the part and antithesis. In its high or abstract
metaphysical sense, Microprosopus is Adam Kadmon, the vehicle of Ain-Suph,
and the crown of the Sephirothal Tree, though since Sephira and Adam Kadmon are
in fact one under two aspects, it comes to the same thing. Interpretations are
many, and they differ.
Madhasadana or
Madhu-Sűdana (
Mâdhava
(Sk).
(1) A name of Vishnu or
when written Madhavi.
Madhya (
Madhyama
(
Mâdhyamikas
(
“Buddhist sect, which is an anachronism. It was probably at first a sect
of Hindu atheists. A later school of that name, teaching a system of sophistic
nihilism, that reduces every proposition into a thesis and its antithesis, and
then denies both, has been started in
Maga
(
Mage,
or Magian. From Mag or Maha. The
word is the root of the word magician. The Maha-âtma (the great Soul or Spirit)
in
Magi
(Lat.). The name of the
ancient hereditary priests and learned adepts in
Magic.
The great “Science”. According to Deveria and other
Orientalists, “magic was considered as a sacred science inseparable from
religion” by the oldest and most civilized and learned nations. The Egyptians,
for instance, were one of the most sincerely religious nations, as were and
still are the Hindus. “Magic consists of, and is acquired by the worship of the
gods”, said Plato. Could then a nation, which, owing to the irrefragable
evidence of inscriptions and papyri, is proved to have firmly believed in magic
for thousands of years, have been deceived for so long a time. And is it likely
that generations upon generations of a learned and pious hierarchy, many among
whom led lives of self-martyrdom, holiness and asceticism, would have gone on
deceiving themselves and the people (or even only the latter) for the pleasure
of perpetuating belief in “ miracles” ? Fanatics, we are told, will do anything
to enforce belief in their god or idols. To this we reply: in such case,
Brahmans and Egyptian Rekhget-amens (q.v.) or Hierophants would
not have popularized belief in the power of man by magic practices to
command the services of the gods: which gods, are in truth, but the
occult powers or potencies of Nature, personified by the learned priests
themselves, in which they reverenced only the attributes of the one unknown and
nameless Principle. As Proclus the Platonist ably puts it :
“Ancient priests, when they considered that there is a certain alliance and
sympathy in natural things to each other, and of things manifest to occult
powers, and discovered that all things subsist in all, fabricated a sacred
science from this mutual sympathy and similarity......and applied for
occult purposes, both celestial and terrene natures, by means of which, through
a certain similitude, they deduced divine virtues into this inferior abode”.
Magic is the science of communicating with and directing supernal, supramundane
Potencies, as well as of commanding those of the lower spheres; a practical
knowledge of the hidden mysteries of nature known to only the few, because they
are so difficult to acquire, without falling into sins against nature. Ancient
and medićval mystics divided magic into three classes—Theurgia, Goëtia and
natural Magic. “Theurgia has long since been appropriated as the
peculiar sphere of the theosophists and metaphysicians”, says Kenneth
Mackenzie. Goëtia is black magic, and “natural (or white) magic has
risen with healing in its wings to the proud position of an exact and
progressive study”. The comments added by our late learned Brother are
remarkable. “The realistic desires of modern times have contributed to bring
magic into disrepute and ridicule. . . . Faith (in one’s own self) is an
essential element in magic, and existed long before other ideas which presume its pre-existence. It is said that it takes a wise man to
make a fool; and a man’s ideas must be exalted almost to madness, i.e., his
brain susceptibilities must be increased far beyond the low, miserable status
of modern civilization, before he can become a true magician; (for) a pursuit
of this science implies a certain amount of isolation and an abnegation of Self ”. A very great isolation,
certainly, the achievement of which constitutes a wonderful phenomenon, a
miracle in itself. Withal magic is not something supernatural. As
explained by Jamblichus, “they through the sacerdotal theurgy announce that
they are able to ascend to more elevated and universal Essences, and to
those that are established above fate, viz., to god and the demiurgus: neither
employing matter, nor assuming any other things besides, except the observation
of a sensible time”. Already some are beginning to recognise the existence of
subtle powers and influences in nature of which they have hitherto known
nought. But as Dr. Carter Blake truly remarks, “the nineteenth century is not
that which has observed the genesis of new, nor the completion of old, methods
of thought”; to which Mr. Bonwick adds that “if the ancients knew but little of
our mode of investigations into the secrets of nature, we know still less of
their mode of research”.
Magic,
White, or “Beneficent Magic”,
so-called, is divine magic, devoid of selfishness, love of power, of
ambition, or lucre, and bent only on doing good to the
world in general, and one’s neighbour in particular. The smallest attempt to
use one’s abnormal powers for the gratification of self,
makes of these powers sorcery or black magic.
Magic, Black. (Vide Supra.)
Magician. This term, once a title of renown and distinction,
has come to he wholly perverted from its true meaning. Once the synonym of all
that was honourable and reverent, of a possessor of learning and wisdom, it has
become degraded into an epithet to designate- one who is a pretender and a
juggler; a charlatan, in short, or one who has “sold his soul to the Evil One”,
who misuses his knowledge, and employs it for low and dangerous uses, according
to the teachings of the clergy, and a mass of superstitious fools who believe
the magician a sorcerer and an “Enchanter”. The word is derived from Magh,
Mah in Sanskrit Mâha—great; a man well versed in esoteric knowledge. (
Magna
Mater (Lat.). “Great Mother”. A title given in days of
old, to all the chief goddesses of the nations, such as Diana of Ephesus, Isis,
Mauth, and many others.
Magnes. An expression used by Paracelsus and the medićval
Theosophists. It is the spirit of light, or Akâsa. A word much used by
the medićval Alchemists.
Magnetic Masonry. Also
called “Iatric” masonry. It is described as a Brotherhood of Healers
(from iatrikę a Greek word meaning “the art of healing”), and is greatly
used by the “Brothers of Light ”as Kenneth Mackenzie
states in the Royal Masonic Cyclopedia. There appears to be a tradition
in some secret Masonic works—so says Ragon at any rate, the great Masonic
authority—to the effect that there was a Masonic degree called the Oracle of
Cos, “instituted in the eighteenth century B.c., from the fact that Cos was the
birthplace of Hippocrates”. The iatrikę was a distinct characteristic of
the priests who took charge of the patients in the ancient Asclepia, the
temples where the god Asclepios (Ćsculapius) was said to heal the sick and the
lame.
Magnetism. A Force in nature and in man.
When it is the former, it is an agent which gives rise to the various phenomena
of attraction, of polarity, etc. When the latter, it becomes
“animal” magnetism, in contradistinction to cosmic, and terrestrial magnetism.
Magnetism, Animal. While official science calls it a “supposed” agent,
and utterly rejects its actuality, the teeming millions of antiquity and of the
now living Asiatic nations, Occultists, Theosophists, Spiritualists, and
Mystics of every kind and description proclaim it as a well established fact.
Animal magnetism is a fluid, an emanation. Some people can emit it for
curative purposes through their eyes and the tips of their fingers, while the
rest of all creatures, mankind, animals and even every inanimate object,
emanate it either as an aura, or a varying light, and that whether
consciously or not. When acted upon by Contact: with a patient or by the will
of a human operator it is called “Mesmerism” (q.v.).
Magnum
Opus (Lat.). In Alchemy the
final completion, the “Great Labour” or Grand Śuvre; the production of
the “Philosopher’s Stone” and “Elixir of Life” which, though not by far the
myth some sceptics would have it, has yet to be accepted symbolically, and is
full of mystic meaning.
Magus
(Lat.). in the New Testament
it means a Sage, a wise man of the Chaldeans; it is in English often used for a
Magician, any wonder-worker; in the Rosicrucian Society it is the title of the
highest members, the IXth grade; the Supreme Magus is the Head of the Order in
the “Outer”; the Magi of the “Inner” are unknown except to those of the VIIIth
grade. [w.w.w.]
Mahâ
Buddhi (
Mahâ
Chohan (
Mahâ
Deva (
Mahâ Guru (
Mahâjwala (
Mahâ
Kâla (
Mahâ
Kalpa (
Mahâ
Manvantara (
Mahâ
Mâyâ (
Mahâ
Pralaya (
Mahâ Parinibbâna Sutta (Pali.). One of the most authoritative of the Buddhist sacred
writings.
Mahâ
Purusha (
Mahâ
Râjikâs (
Mahâ
Sűnyata (
Mahâ
Vidyâ (
Mahâ
Yogin (
Mahâ
Yuga (
Mahâbhârata (
Mahâbhâratian period. According
to the best Hindu Commentators and Swami Dayanand Saraswati, 5,000 years B.C.
Mahâbhashya
(
Mahâbhautic
(
Mahâbhutas
(
Mahârâjahs, The Four (
Mahar
Loka (
Mahâsura (
Mahat
(
Mahâtma.
Lit., “great soul”. An adept of the
highest order. Exalted beings who, having
attained to the mastery over their lower principles are thus living unimpeded
by the “man of flesh”, and are in possession of knowledge and power
commensurate with the stage they have reached in their spiritual evolution. Called in Pali Rahats and Arhats.
Mâhâtmya (
Mahatowarat
(
Mahattattwa
(Sk).
The first of the seven creations called respectively in the Purânas—Mahattattwa,
Chűta, Indriya, Mukhya, Tiryaksrotas, Urdhwasrotas and Arvaksrotas.
Mahoraga
(
Mahavanso
(Pali.). A
Buddhist historical work written by Bhikshu Mohânâma, the uncle of King
Dhatusma. An authority on the history of Buddhism and
its spread in the
Mahayâna
(Pal.). A
school; lit., “the great vehicle”. A mystical system founded by
Nâgârjuna. Its books were written in the second century B.C.
Maitreya
Buddha (
Makâra (
Makâra
Ketu (
Makâram or Panchakaram
(
Makâras
(
Malachim
(Heb.). The
messengers or angels.
Malkuth (Heb.). The Kingdom, the tenth Sephira,
corresponding to the final H (hé) of the Tetragrammaton or IHVH. It is
the Inferior Mother, the Bride of the Microprosopus (q.v.); also called
the “Queen” It is, in one sense, the Shekinah. [w.w.w.]
Mamitu (Chald.). The goddess of
Fate. A kind of Nemesis.
Manas (
Manas, Kâma (
Manas Sanyama
(
Manas Taijasi (
Mânasa or Manaswin
(
Mânasa
Dhyânis (
Mânasas
(
Manasasarovara
(
Mânava
(
Mânava
Dharma Shâstra—is the ancient code of
law of, or by Manu.
Mandala (
Mandara
(
Mandâkinî
(
Mandragora (Gr.). A plant whose root has the human
form. In Occultism it is used by black magicians for various
illicit objects, and some of the “left-hand” Occultists make homunculi
with it. It is commonly called mandrake, and is supposed to cry out when
pulled out of the ground.
Manes or Manus
(Lat.). Benevolent “gods”,
i.e., “spooks” of the lower world (Kâmaloka); the deified shades of the
dead—of the ancient profane, and the “materialized”ghosts of the modern
Spiritualists, believed to be the souls of the departed, whereas, in truth,
they are only their empty shells, or images.
Manichćans
(Lat.). A sect of the third
century which believed in two eternal principles of good and evil; the
former furnishing mankind with souls, and the latter with bodies. This sect was
founded by a certain half-Christian mystic named Mani, who gave himself out as
the expected “Comforter”, the Messiah and Christ. Many centuries later, after
the sect was dead, a Brotherhood arose, calling itself the “Manichees”, of a
masonic character with several degrees of initiation. Their ideas were
Kabalistic, but were misunderstood.
Mano (Gnost.). The Lord of Light. Rex Lucis, in the Codex Nazarćus. He is the
Second “Life” of the second or manifested trinity “the heavenly life and light,
and older than the architect of heaven and earth” (Cod. Naz., Vol. I. p. 145). These trinities
are as follows. The Supreme Lord of splendour and of light,
luminous and refulgent, before which no other existed, is called
Manodhâtu
(
proportionate with the degree of his intellect and his mental faculties, beyond
which he can go only by studying and developing his higher spiritual faculties
in one of the higher spheres of thought.
Manomaya
Kosha (
Manticism, or Mantic Frenzy. During this state was
developed the gift of prophecy. The two words are nearly synonymous. One was as
honoured as the other. Pythagoras and Plato held it in high esteem, and Socrates
advised his disciples to study Manticism. The Church Fathers, who condemned so
severely the mantic frenzy in Pagan priests and Pythić, were not above
applying it to their own uses. The Montanists, who took their name from
Montanus, a bishop of
Mantra period (
Mantra Shâstra (
Mantra Tantra Shâstras (
Mantras (
Mantrika
Sakti (
Manjusri
(Tib.). The
God of Wisdom. In Esoteric philosophy a certain Dhyan
Chohan.
Manu
(
Manu
Swâyambhuva (Sk).
The heavenly man. Adam-Kadmon, the
synthesis of the fourteen Manus.
Manus (
Manushi or Manushi
Buddhas (
Manvantara (
Maquom
(Chald.) “A secret place” in
the phraseology of the Zohar, a concealed spot, whether referring to a sacred
shrine in a temple, to the “Womb of the World”, or the human womb. A Kabalistic term.
Mâra
(
Marabut. A Mahometan pilgrim who has been to
Mekka, a saint. After his death his body is placed in an open sepulchre
built above ground, like other buildings, but in the middle of the streets and
public places of populated cities. Placed inside the small and only room of the
tomb (and several such public sarcophagi of brick and mortar may be seen to
this day in the streets and squares of
Marcionites. An ancient Gnostic Sect founded by Marcion who was a devout Christian
as long as no dogma of human creation came to mar the purely transcendental,
and metaphysical concepts, and the original beliefs of the early
Christians. Such primitive beliefs were those of Marcion. He denied the historical
facts (as now found in the Gospels) of Christ’s birth, incarnation and passion,
and also the resurrection of the body of Jesus, maintaining that such
statements were simply the carnalization of metaphysical allegories and
symbolism, and a degradation of the true spiritual idea. Along with all the
other Gnostics, Marcion accused the “Church Fathers”, as Irenćus himself
complains, of “framing their (Christian) doctrine according to the capacity of
their hearers, fabling blind things for the blind, according to their
blindness; for the dull, according to their dulness: for those in error,
according to their errors.”
Mârga (
Mârîchi
(
Mârishâ
(
Martinists. A Society in
Mârttanda, (
Mârut
Jivas (
Mâruts
(
Masben ... (Chald.).
A Masonic term meaning “the Sun in putrefaction”. Has
a direct reference—perhaps forgotten by the Masons—to their “Word at Low
Breath”.
Mash-Mak. By tradition an Atlantean word of the fourth Race, to
denote a mysterious Cosmic fire, or rather Force,
which was said to be able to pulverize in a second whole cities and
disintegrate the world.
Masorah
(Heb.). The name is especially
applied to a collection of notes, explanatory, grammatical and critical, which
are found on the margin of ancient Hebrew MSS., or scrolls of the Old
Testament. The Masoretes were also called Melchites.
Masoretic
Points, or Vowels
(Heb.). Or, as the system is now called, Masóra from Massoreh
or Massoreth, “tradition”, and Mâsar, to “hand down”. The Rabbins
who busied themselves with the Masorah, hence called Masorites, were
also the inventors of the Masoretic points, which are supposed to give the
vowelless words of the Scriptures their true pronunciation, by the addition of
points representing vowels to the consonants. This was the invention of the
learned and cunning Rabbins of the School of Tiberias (in the ninth century of
our era), who, by doing so, have put an entirely new construction on the chief
words and names in the Books of Moses, and made thereby confusion still more
confounded. The truth is, that this scheme has only
added additional blinds to those already existing in the Pentateuch and
other works.
Mastaba (Eg.). The upper portion of an Egyptian tomb, which, say the
Egyptologists, consisted always of three parts: namely (1) the Mastaba
or memorial chapel above ground, (2) a Pit from twenty to ninety feet in depth,
which led by a passage, to (3) the Burial Chamber, where stood the Sarcophagus,
containing the mummy sleeping its sleep of long ages. Once the latter
interred, the pit was filled up and the entrance to it concealed. Thus say the
Orientalists, who divide the last resting place of the mummy on almost the same
principles as theologians do man—into body, soul, and spirit or mind. The fact
is, that these tombs of the ancients were symbolical
like the rest of their sacred edifices, and that this symbology points directly
to the septenary division of man. But in death the order is reversed; and while
the Mastaba with its scenes of daily life painted on the walls, its table of
offerings, to the Larva, the ghost, or “Linga Sarira”, was a
memorial raised to the two Principles and Life which had quitted that which was
a lower trio on earth; the Pit, the Passage, the Burial Chambers and the
mummy in the Sarcophagus, were the objective symbols raised to the two
perishable “principles”, the personal mind and Kama, and the three
imperishable, the higher Triad, now merged into one. This “One” was the Spirit
of the Blessed now resting in the
Matari
Svan (
Materializations. In Spiritualism the word signifies the objective
appearance of the so-called “Spirits” of the dead, who reclothe themselves
occasionally in matter; i.e., they form for themselves out of the materials
at hand, which are found in the atmosphere and the emanations of those present,
a temporary body hearing the human likeness of the defunct as he appeared, when
alive. Theosophists accept the phenomenon of “materialization”; but they reject
the theory that it is produced by “ Spirits”, i.e.,
the immortal principles of the disembodied persons. Theosophists hold that when
the phenomenon is genuine—and it is a fact of rarer occurrence than is
generally believed—it is produced by the larvć, the eidola or
Kamalokic “ghosts” of dead personalities. (See “Kâmadhâtu”, “Kâmaloka” and
“Kâmarupa”.) As Kâmaloka is on the earth plane and differs from its degree of
materiality only in the degree of its plane of consciousness, for which reason
it is concealed from our normal sight, the occasional apparition of such shells
is as natural as that of electric balls and other atmospheric phenomena.
Electricity as a fluid, or atomic matter (for Theosophists hold with Maxwell
that it is atomic), though invisible, is ever present in the air, and
manifests under various shapes, but only when certain conditions are there to
“materialize” the fluid, when it passes from its own on to our plane and makes
itself objective. Similarly with the eidola of the
dead. They are present, around us, but being on another plane do not see us any more than we see them. But whenever the
strong desires of living men and the conditions furnished by the abnormal
constitutions of mediums are combined together, these eidola are
drawn—nay, pulled down from their plane on to ours and made objective.
This is Necromancy ; it does no good to the
dead, and great harm to the living, in addition to the fact that it interferes
with a law of nature. The occasional materialization of the “astral bodies” or doubles
of living persons is quite another matter. These “astrals” are often
mistaken for the apparitions of the dead, since, chameleon-like, our own
“Elementaries”, along with those of the disembodied and cosmic Elementals, will
often assume the appearance of those images which are strongest in our
thoughts. In short, at the so-called “materialization” seances it is those
present and the medium, who create the peculiar
likeness of the apparitions. Independent “apparitions” belong to another
kind of psychic phenomena. Materializations are also called
“form-manifestations” and “portrait statues”. To call them materialized spirits
is inadmissible, for they are not spirits but animated portrait-statues,
indeed.
Mathadhipatis
(
Matrâ
(
Mâtrâ
(
Mâtripadma
(
Mâtris
(
Matronethah
(Heb. Kab.). Identical with Malcuth, the tenth Sephira. Lit.,
Matrona is the “inferior mother”.
Matsya
(
Matsya
Purâna (
Mâyâ
(
Mâyâ
Moha (
Mâyâvi
Rűpa (
Mayavic
Upadhi (
Mazdeans. From (Ahura) Mazda. (See Spiegel’s Yasna,
xl.) They were the ancient Persian nobles who worshipped
Ormazd, and, rejecting images, inspired the Jews with
the same horror for every concrete representation of the Deity. They seem in
Herodotus’ time to have been superseded by the Magian religionists. The Parsis
and Gebers, (geberim, mighty men, of Genesis vi. and x. 8) appear
to be Magian religionists.
Mazdiasnian. Zoroastrian; lit., “worshipping
god”.
M’bul
(Heb.). The
“waters of the flood”. Esoterically, the periodical
outpourings of astral impurities on to the earth; periods of psychic crimes and
iniquities, or of regular moral cataclysms.
Medinî(
Megacosm
(Gr.). The world of the Astral
light, or as explained by a puzzled Mason “a great world, not identical with
Macrocosm, the Universe, but something between it and Microcosm, the little
world” or man.
Mehen (Eg.). In popular myths, the
great serpent which represents the lower atmosphere. In Occultism, the
world of the Astral light, called symbolically the Cosmic Dragon and the
Serpent. (See the works of Eliphaz Lévi, who called this light le Serpent du
Mal, and by other names, attributing to it all the evil influences on the
earth.)
Melekh
(Heb.). Lit., “a
King”. A title of the Sephira Tiphereth, the V, or vau in the tetragrammaton—the son or Microprosopus (the Lesser
Face).
Melhas (
Memrab (Heb.). In the Kabala, “the voice of the will”
i.e., the collective forces of nature in activity, called the “Word”, or Logos,
by the Jewish Kabalists.
Mendćans
(Gr.). Also
called Sabians, and St. John Christians. The latter is absurd,
since, according to all accounts, and even their own, they have nothing at all
to do with Christianity, which they abominate. The modern sect of
the Mendćans is widely scattered over
Mendes (Gr.). The name of the demon-goat,
alleged by the Church of Rome to have been worshipped by the Templars
and other Masons. But this goat was a myth created by the evil fancy of
the odium theologicum. There never was such a creature, nor was
its worship known among Templars or their predecessors, the Gnostics. The god
of Mendes, or the Greek Mendesius, a name given to Lower Egypt in pre-Christian
days, was the ram-headed god Ammon, the living and holy spirit of Ra,
the life-giving sun; and this led certain Greek authors into the error of
affirming that the Egyptians called the “goat” (or the ram-headed god)
himself, Mendes. Ammon was for ages the chief deity of
Mensambulism
(Lat.). A word coined by some
French Kabalists to denote the phenomenon of “table turning” from the Latin mensa, a table.
Meracha phath (Heb.). Used of the “breathing” of the divine Spirit when in
the act of hovering over the waters of space before creation (See Siphra
Dzeniutha).
Mercavah or Mercabah
(Heb.). A chariot: the
Kabalists say that the Supreme after he had established the Ten Sephiroth used
them as a chariot or throne of glory on which to descend upon the souls of men.
Merodach
(Chald.). God
of Babylon, the Bel of later times. He is the son of Davkina, goddess of
the lower regions, or the earth, and of Hea, God of the Seas and Hades with the
Orientalists; but esoterically and with the Akkadians, the Great God of Wisdom,
“he who resurrects the dead”. Hea, Ea, Dagon or Oannes and Merodach are one.
Meru
(
Meshia and Meshiane
(Zend). The
Adam and Eve of the Zoroastrians, in the early Persian system; the first human
couple.
Mesmer, Friedrich Anton. The famous
physician who rediscovered and applied practically that magnetic fluid in man
which was called animal magnetism and since then Mesmerism. He was born
in Schwaben, in 1734 and died in 1815. He was an initiated member of the
Brotherhoods of the Fratres Lucis and of Lukshoor (or
Metatron
(Heb.). The
Kabbalistic “Prince of Faces”, the Intelligence of the First Sephira, and the
reputed ruler of Moses. His numeration is 314, the same as the deity
title “Shaddai”, Almighty. He is also the Angel of the
world of Briah, and he who conducted the Isrćlites through the Wilderness,
hence, the same as “the Lord God” Jehovah. The name resembles the Greek words
metathronon or “beside the Throne”.
Metempsychosis. The progress of the soul from one stage of existence to another. Symbolized as and vulgarly believed to be rebirths in
animal bodies. A term generally misunderstood by every class of European and
American society, including many scientists. Metempsychosis should apply
to animals alone. The kabalistic axiom, “A stone becomes a plant, a plant an
animal, an animal a man, a man a spirit, and a spirit a god”, receives an
explanation in Manu’s Mânava-Dharma-Shâstra and other Brahmanical books.
Metis
(Gr.). Wisdom.
The Greek theology associated Metis— Divine Wisdom, with Eros—Divine Love. The
word is also said to form part of the Templars’ deity or idol Baphomet,
which some authorities derive from Baphe, baptism, and Metis,
wisdom; while others say that the idol represented the two teachers whom the
Templars equally denied, viz., Papa or the Pope, and Mahomet.
Midgard (Scand.). The great snake in
the Eddas which gnaws the roots of the Yggdrasil—the Tree of Life
and the Universe in the legend of the Norsemen. Midgard is the Mundane
Snake of Evil.
Midrashim
(Heb.). “Ancient”—the same as Purâna ; the ancient writings of the Jews as the Purânas
are called the “Ancient” (Scriptures) of
Migmar
(Tib.). The
planet Mars.
Mîmânsâ
(
Mimir (Scand.). A wise giant in
the Eddas. One of the Jotuns or Titans.
He had a well which he watched over (Mimir’s well), which contained the waters
of Primeval Wisdom, by drinking of which Odin acquired the knowledge of all
past, present, and future events.
Minas
(
Minos
(Gr.,). The great Judge in
Hades. An ancient King of Crete.
Miölner
(Scand.) The storm-hammer of Thor (See
“Svastica”) made for him by the Dwarfs; with it the God conquered men and gods
alike. The same kind of magic weapon as the Hindu Agneyastra,
the fire- weapon.
Mirror. The Luminous Mirror, Aspaqularia nera, a Kabbalistic
term, means the power of foresight and farsight, prophecy such as Moses had.
Ordinary mortals have only the Aspaqularia della
nera or Non Luminous Mirror, they see only in a glass darkly: a parallel
symbolism is that of the conception of the Tree of Life, and that only of the
Tree of Knowledge. [w.w.w.]
Mishnah
(Heb.). The older portion of
the Jewish Talmud, or oral law,, consisting of
supplementary regulations for the guidance of the Jews with an ample
commentary. The contents are arranged in six sections, treating of Seeds,
Feasts, Women, Damages, Sacred Things and Purification. Rabbi Judah Haunasee
codified the Mishnah about AM. 140.
Mistletoe. This curious plant, which grows only as a parasite upon other trees,
such as the apple and the oak, was a mystic plant in several ancient religions,
notably that of the Celtic Druids: their priests cut the Mistletoe with much
ceremony at certain seasons, and then only with a specially consecrated golden
knife. Hislop suggests as a religious explanation that the Mistletoe being a
Branch growing out of a Mother tree was worshipped as a Divine Branch out of an
Earthly Tree, the union of deity and humanity. The name in German means “all
heal”. Compare the Golden Branch in Virgil’s Ćneid, Vi.
126: and Pliny, Hist. Nat., xvii. 4 “Sacerdos candida veste cultus arborem
scandit,
falce aurea demetit.”
Mitra or Mithra. (Pers.) An ancient Iranian deity, a sun-god, as evidenced by his being
lion-headed. The name exists also in
Mitre. The head-dress of a religious dignitary, as of a
Roman Catholic Bishop: a capending upwards in two lips, like a fish’s head with
open mouth—os tincć associated with Dagon, the Babylonian deity, the
word dag meaning fish. Curiously enough the os uteri has been so called in the human
female and the fish is related to the goddess Aphrodite who sprang from
the sea. It is curious also that the ancient Chaldee legends speak of a
religious teacher coming to them springing out of the sea, named Oannes and
Annedotus, half fish, half man.
Mizraim (Eg.). The name of
Mlechchhas (
Mnevis
(Eg.). The bull Mnevis, the
Son of Ptah, and the symbol of the Sun-god Ra, as Apis was supposed to be Osiris
in the sacred bull-form. His abode was at
Mobeds (Zend). Parsi, or
Zoroastrian priests.
Moira (Gr.). The same as the Latin
Fatum—fate, destiny, the power which rules over the actions, sufferings,
the life and struggles of men. But this is not Karma; it is only
one of its agent-forces.
Moksha
(
Monad (Gr.). The Unity, the one ; but in Occultism it often
means the unified triad, Atma-Buddhi-Manas, or the duad, Atma-Buddhi, that
immortal part of man which reincarnates in the lower kingdoms, and gradually
progresses through them to Man and then to the final goal— Nirvâna.
Monas
(Gr.). The same as the term Monad ; “Alone”, a unit. In the Pythagorean system
the duad emanates from the higher and solitary Monas, which is thus the “First
Cause”.
Monogenes (Gr.). Lit., “the
only-begotten”; a name of Proserpine and other gods and goddesses.
Moon. The earth’s satellite has figured very largely as an
emblem in the religions of antiquity; and most commonly has been represented as
Female, but this is not universal, for in the myths of the Teutons and Arabs,
as well as in the conception of the Rajpoots of India (see Tod, Hist.),
and in Tartary the moon was male. Latin authors speak of Luna. and also of Lunus, but with extreme rarity. The Greek name
is Selene, the Hebrew Lebanah and also Yarcah. In
The
division of the Zodiac into the 28 mansions of the moon appears to be older than
that into 12 signs: the Copts, Egyptians, Arabs, Persians and Hindoos used the
division into 28 parts centuries ago, and the Chinese use it still.
The
Hermetists said the moon gave man an astral form, while Theosophy
teaches that the Lunar Pitris were the creators of our human bodies and lower
principles. (See Secret Doctrine 1. 386.) [w.w.w.]
Moriah,
Mount. The site of
King Solomon’s first temple at
Morya
(
Môt
(Phśn.). The same as ilus,
mud, primordial chaos; a word used in the Tyrrhenian Cosmogony
(See “Suidas”).
Mout or Mooth
(Eg.). The mother goddess;
the primordial goddess, for “all the gods are born from Mooth”, it is said. Astronomically, the moon.
Mu (Senzar). The mystic word (or rather a
portion of it) in Northern Buddhism. It means the “destruction of
temptation” during the course of Yoga practice.
Mudra (
Mukta and Mukti
(
Műlaprakriti
(
Mulil (Chald.). A name of the
Chaldean Bel.
Muluk-Taoos
(Arab.). From Maluk,
“Ruler”, a later form of Moloch, Melek, Malayak and Malachim,
“messengers”, angels. It is the Deity worshipped by the Yezidis, a sect
in
Mummy. The name for human bodies embalmed and preserved
according to the ancient Egyptian method. The process of mummification is a
rite of extreme antiquity in the land of the Pharaohs, and was considered as
one of the most sacred ceremonies. It was, moreover, a process showing
considerable learning in chemistry and surgery. Mummies 5,000 years old and
more, reappear among us a preserved and fresh as when they first came from the
hands of the Parashistes.
Mumukshatwa
(
Mundakya
Upanishad (
Mundane Egg or Tree, or any other such symbolical object
in the world Mythologies. Meru
is a
“
Munis (
Murâri (
Műrti(
Murttimat
(
Muspel (Scand.). A giant in the Edda,
the Fire-god, and the father of the Flames. It was these evil sons of
the good Muspel Who after threatening evil in Glowheim (Muspelheim) finally
gathered into a formidable army, and fought the “Last Battle” on the field of
Wigred. Muspel is rendered as “World (or Mundane) Fire”. The
conception Dark Surtur (black smoke) out of which flash tongues of flame,
connects Muspel with the Hindu Agni.
Mutham or Mattam. (
Myalba (Tib.). In the Esoteric philosophy of Northern
Buddhism, the name of our Earth, called Hell for those who reincarnate
in it for punishment. Exoterically, Myalba is translated a Hell.
Mystagogy (Gr.). The doctrines or interpretations of
the sacred mysteries.
Mysterium
Magnum (Lat.). “The great
Mystery”, a term used in Alchemy in connection with the fabrication of the
“Philosopher’s Stone” and the “ Elixir of Life”.
Mysteries. Greek teletai, or finishings,
celebrations of initiation or the Mysteries. They were observances,
generally kept secret from the profane and uninitiated, in which were taught by
dramatic representation and other methods, the origin of things, the nature of
the human spirit, its relation to the body, and the method of its purification
and restoration to higher life. Physical science, medicine,
the laws of music, divination, were all taught in the same manner. The
Hippocratic oath was but a mystic obligation.
Hippocrates was a priest of Asklepios, some of whose writings chanced to become
public. But the Asklepiades were initiates of the Ćsculapian serpent-worship,
as the Bacchantes were of the Dionysia; and both rites were eventually
incorporated with the Eleusinia. The Sacred Mysteries were enacted in the
ancient
Mystery Language. The sacerdotal secret jargon employed by the
initiated priests, and used only when discussing sacred things. Every nation
had its own “mystery” tongue, unknown save to those admitted to the
Mysteries.
Mystes
(Gr.). In antiquity, the name
of the new Initiates; now that of Roman Cardinals, who having borrowed all their
other rites and dogmas from Aryan, Egyptian and Hellenic “heathen”, have helped
themselves also to the musiz of the neophytes. They have to keep
their eyes and mouth shut on their consecration and are, therefore, called Mystć.
Mystica
Vannus Iacchi. Commonly translated
the mystic Fan: but in an ancient terra-cotta in the
Find out more about
Theosophy
with these links
and there’s always a cup of tea afterwards
The
Cardiff Theosophical Society Website
The
National Wales Theosophy Website
Theosophy Cardiff’s Instant
Guide to Theosophy
History of
the Theosophical Society in Wales
Theosophy and the
Number Seven
A selection of
articles relating to the esoteric
significance
of the Number 7 in Theosophy
Dave’s Streetwise Theosophy
Boards
The Most Basic
Theosophy Website in the Universe
If you run a
Theosophy Group, you can use
This as an introductory handout
One liners and quick explanations
About aspects of Theosophy
H P Blavatsky is usually the only
Theosophist that most people have ever
heard of. Let’s put that right
Lentil burgers, a thousand
press ups before breakfast and
the daily 25 mile run may put it
off for a while but death
seems to get most of us in the end.
We are pleased to
present for your consideration, a
definitive work on the
subject by a Student of Katherine
Tingley entitled
An Independent
Theosophical Republic
Links to Free Online
Theosophy
Study Resources; Courses, Writings,
The main criteria for the
inclusion of
links on this site is that they
have some
relationship (however tenuous) to
Theosophy
and are lightweight, amusing or
entertaining.
Topics include Quantum Theory
and Socks,
Dick Dastardly and Legendary Blues Singers.
An entertaining introduction to Theosophy
Blavatsky Calling and I
Don’t Wanna Shout
The Voice of the Silence Website
A selection of articles on Reincarnation
by Theosophical writers
Provided in response to the large
number of enquiries we receive at
No Aardvarks were harmed in the
The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy
The Earth Base for Evolutionary Theosophy
________________________
The Theosophy
The Theosophy
Cardiff Guide to
The Theosophy Cardiff
Guide to
The
Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
The
Terraced Maze of Glastonbury Tor
Glastonbury and Joseph of Arimathea
The
Grave of King Arthur & Guinevere
Views
of Glastonbury High Street
The
Theosophy Cardiff Guide to
_____________________
Camberley, Surrey, England GU15 - 2LF
Tekels Park to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns are raised about the fate of the wildlife as
The Spiritual Retreat, Tekels Park in Camberley,
Surrey, England is to be sold to a developer
Tekels Park is a 50 acre woodland park, purchased
for the Adyar
Theosophical Society in England in 1929.
In addition to concern about the park, many are
worried about
the future of the Tekels Park Deer
as they are not a protected species.
Many feel that the sale of a
sanctuary
for wildlife to a
developer can
only mean
disaster for the park’s animals
Confusion as the Theoversity moves out of
Tekels Park to Southampton, Glastonbury &
Chorley in Lancashire while the leadership claim
that the Theosophical Society will carry on
using
Tekels Park despite its sale to a developer
Future of Tekels Park Badgers in Doubt
Tekels Park & the Loch
Ness Monster
A Satirical view
of the sale of Tekels Park
in Camberley,
Surrey to a developer
The Toff’s Guide to the Sale
of Tekels Park
What the men in
top hats have to
say about the
sale of Tekels Park
____________________
Theosophy Cardiff
Nirvana Pages
Classic Introductory
Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy By C
What
Theosophy Is From
the Absolute to Man
The
Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The
Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The
Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The
Result of Theosophical Study
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary
Theosophy Who is the Man?
Body
and Soul Body,
Soul and Spirit
Preface Theosophy
and the Masters General
Principles
The Earth
Chain Body
and Astral Body Kama – Desire
Manas Of Reincarnation
Reincarnation
Continued
Karma Kama Loka Devachan Cycles
Arguments
Supporting Reincarnation
Differentiation
Of Species Missing
Links
Psychic
Laws, Forces, and
Phenomena
Psychic
Phenomena and Spiritualism
Quick Explanations with Links to More
Detailed Info
What
is Theosophy ? Theosophy
Defined (More Detail)
Three
Fundamental Propositions Key
Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Karma
Ascended
Masters After Death States
Reincarnation
The
Seven Principles of Man Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel
Henry Steel Olcott William Quan
Judge
The
Start of the Theosophical Society Theosophical
Society Presidents
History
of the Theosophical Society Glossaries of
Theosophical Terms
History of
the Theosophical Society in Wales
The
Three Objectives of the Theosophical Society
Explanation of the
Theosophical Society Emblem
Karma Fundamental
Principles Laws:
Natural and Man-Made The Law of Laws
The Eternal
Now Succession Causation The Laws of Nature
A
Lesson of The Law
Karma
Does Not Crush Apply
This Law Man
in The Three Worlds Understand
The Truth
Man
and His Surroundings The Three Fates The
Pair of Triplets Thought,
The Builder
Practical
Meditation Will and Desire The Mastery of Desire
Two
Other Points
The Third
Thread Perfect
Justice Our
Environment Our Kith
and Kin Our Nation
The Light
for a Good Man Knowledge
of Law The Opposing Schools
The More
Modern View Self-Examination Out of the
Past
Old
Friendships We Grow By
Giving Collective
Karma Family Karma
National
Karma India’s Karma National
Disasters
Try these if you are
looking for a
Local Theosophy Group or
Centre
UK Listing of
Theosophical Groups
Pages About
General pages about Wales,
Welsh History
and The History of Theosophy in
Wales
Wales is a
Principality within the United Kingdom
and has an eastern
border with England. The land
area is just over 8,000
square miles. Snowdon in
North Wales is
the highest mountain at 3,650 feet.
The coastline is
almost 750 miles long.
The population of
Wales as at the