Reincarnation Reimbodiment; specifically reinfleshment, the repeated imbodiment of the reincarnating ego in vehicles of human flesh on this earth. The unexhausted desire for earth-life draws the ego back to this globe, where it gathers to itself the material for a reincarnation and thus is finally born from a human womb. The process is repeated almost numberless times until the evolution of the inspiriting monad has reached a stage when reincarnation is no longer required. The interval between successive incarnations may be roughly estimated at 100 times the length of the preceding earth-life -- a rule obviously subject to many exceptions.

(See also: Reincarnation , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Abba Amona (Hebrew, Jewish). Lit., "Father-Mother"; the occult names of the two higher Sephiroth, Chokmah and Binah, of the upper triad, the apex of which is Sephira or Kether. From this triad issues the lower septenary of the Sephirothal Tree.

(See also: Abba Amona , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Tala (Sanskrit) Lower or inferior portions of a series, inferior world; also a chasm, abyss, floor. All these ideas suggest lower or inferior planes. Often used in conjunction with loka (place, world). The talas stand for the material aspects or substance-principles of the different worlds which are the cosmic universe, in contrast with the lokas which suggest the spiritual aspect of the universe.

The number of loka-talas is generally given as seven, though the number varies, all the seven lokas and seven talas interblending and interworking to form the universe and all its various hierarchies. The seven talas are generally given in theosophical writings as atala, vitala, sutala, rasatala, talatala, mahatala, and patala.

Because the lokas are more particularly the spheres of spiritual and intellectual character, and the talas the spheres of vehicular or more substantial character, it has been customary in Indian literature to speak of the lokas as heavens and the talas as hells -- neither heavens nor hells bearing the shades of meaning attached to them in Christian theology. Every substantial globe is considered a hell; our own earth, for instance, bhurloka-patala, is so considered. All these talas are in the last analysis rising or descending realms forming the astral light which is not one sole restricted realm or sphere.

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

Ananda-Lahari (Sanskrit). "The wave of joy"; a beautiful poem written by Sankaracharya, a hymn to Parvati, very mystical and occult.

(See also: Ananda-Lahari , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Rebecca, Rebekah Ribeqah (Hebrew) In the Bible the wife of Isaac, mother of Esau and Jacob. When Rebecca was about to become a mother, she felt that the children were struggling within her, so she inquired of the Lord as to the meaning of this, and received the answer: "Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23). Rebecca gave birth to twins, "and the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau" (25:25); and the other was called Jacob.

Genesis 25:24-34 contains "the allegorical history of the birth of the Fifth Race," as explained in Jewish allegorical fashion; and "Esau represents in the Bible the race which stands between the Fourth and the Fifth, the Atlantean and the Aryan" (SD 2:705).

(See also: Rebecca, Rebekah, Ribeqah , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Diksha diksa (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root diksh to consecrate or dedicate oneself)

Preparation or consecration in exoteric matters for a religious ceremony; or the undertaking, equally in exoteric matters, of religious observances for a specific purpose, as well as the observances themselves; also initiation. As a proper noun, Diksha or initiation is personified as the wife of Soma (the Moon). Diksha again signifies preparatory training of the neophyte for initiation.

(See also: Diksha,  diksa , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Amarakosa (Sanskrit) (from a not + mara dying from the verbal root mri to die + kosa treasury, sheath, dictionary)

Also Amarakosha. Immortal treasury; a dictionary written by Amara or Amara-Simha, sage, scholar, and Buddhist, about whom not very much is definitely known. Orientalists place him anywhere between the 2nd and 6th centuries. They are unanimous, however, in rating the Amarakosa as equal in quality and importance for the Sanskrit language as is Panini's grammar.

Amarakosa is also sometimes applied to the highest of the kosas (sheaths).

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

Aquarius

(Greek) "Waterbearer", 11th sign of the zodiac (approx. January 20 to February 20); ruler Uranus; the airy element; keywords: consecration, originality, eccentric innovative energy.

Recognized strengths: generous, inventive, detached, progressive, tolerant, ingenuous, open-minded, social, creative; problem-solver, humanitarian.

Potential weaknesses: unconventional, eccentric, changeable, independent to a fault, unsteady, aloof

(See also: Aquarius , Body Mind and Soul)

Ptah, or Pthah (Egypt, Egyptian). The son of Kneph in the Egyptian Pantheon. He is the Principle of Light and Life through which "creation" or rather evolution took place. The Egyptian logos and creator, the Demiurgos.

A very old deity, as, according to Herodotus, he had a temple erected to him by Menes, the first king of Egypt. He is "giver of life" and the self-born, and the father of Apis, the sacred bull, conceived through a ray from the Sun. Ptah is thus the prototype of Osiris, a later deity. Herodotus makes him the father of the Kabiri, the mystery-gods; and the Targum of Jerusalem says: "Egyptians called the wisdom of the First Intellect Ptah"; hence he is Mahat the "divine wisdom"; though from another aspect he is Swabhavat, the self-created substance, as a prayer addressed to him in the Ritual of the Dead says, after calling Ptah "father of fathers and of all gods, generator of all men produced from his substance": "Thou art without father, being. engendered by thy own will; thou art without mother, being born by the renewal of thine own substance from whom proceeds substance".

(See also: Ptah, Pthah , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Amber Pale yellow, brown, or reddish fossilized resin, capable of a negative electric charge by friction. In Greek mythology amber was formed from the tears of Meleager's sisters, or alternately of Phaeton's sisters dropped into the Eridan after he was killed trying to drive the chariot of the sun.

While the Eridan is usually identified with the Po River in Italy, Blavatsky holds that it was a northern sea (SD 2:770n). In Scandinavian myths it was attributed to the tears of Freya. In China amber was said to be the soul of the tiger transformed into a mineral after its death. It has been used widely for medicinal, religious, and decorative purposes ().

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

Ida or Ila (Sanskrit) Refreshment, flow; the goddess of sacred speech, similar to Vach; in the Rig-Veda called the instructress of Manu, instituting the rules for the performing of sacrifices. The Satapatha-Brahmana represents Ida as arising from a sacrifice which Manu had performed for the purpose of obtaining offspring.

Although claimed by the gods Mitra and Varuna, she became the wife of Manu, giving birth to the race of manus. In the Puranas, she is daughter of Vaivasvata-Manu, wife of Budha (wisdom), and mother of Pururavas. In some accounts she is born a woman, becomes a man named Sudyumna, then rebecomes a woman before finally becoming a man again. This refers to the androgynous third root-race, as well as to the later part of the second root-race.

"In their most mystical meaning, the union of Swayambhuva Manu with Vach-Sata-Rupa, his own daughter (this being the first 'euhemerization' of the dual principle of which Vaivasvata Manu and Ila are a secondary and a third form), stands in Cosmic symbolism as the Root-life, the germ from which spring all the Solar Systems, the worlds, angels and the gods" (SD 2:148).

See also ILA

(See also: Ida, Ila , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Asathor (Scandianvian Norse). The same as Thor. The god of storms and thunder, a hero who receives Miolnir, the "storm-hammer", from its fabricators, the dwarfs. With it he conquer Alwin in a "battle of words" breaks the head of the giant Hrungir, chastises Loki for his magic; destroys the whole race of giants in Thrymheim; and, as a good and benevolent god, sets up therewith land-marks, sanctifies marriage bonds, blesses law and order, and produces every good and terrific feat with its help. A god in the Eddas, who is almost as great as Odin. (See "Miolnir" and "Thor’s Hammer".)

(See also: Asathor , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Suffism (Ancient Greek). From the root of Sophia, "Wisdom ". A mystical sect in Persia something like the Vedantins; though very strong in numbers, none but very intelligent men join it. They claim, and very justly, the possession of the esoteric philosophy and doctrine of true Mohammedanism.

The Suffi (or Sofi) doctrine is a good deal in touch with Theosophy, inasmuch as it preaches one universal creed, and outward respect and tolerance for every popular exoteric faith. It is also in touch with Masonry.

The Suffis have four degrees and four stages of initiation:1st, probationary, with a strict outward observance of Mussulman rites, the hidden meaning of each ceremony and dogma being explained to the candidate; 2nd, metaphysical training; 3rd, the "Wisdom" degree, when the candidate is initiated into the innermost nature of things; and 4th final Truth, when the Adept attains divine powers, and complete union with the One Universal Deity in ecstacy or Samadhi.

(See also: Suffism , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Prana Vata: The chief subdivision of vata, it governs the mind, the heart, respiration, and life itself.

(See also: Prana Vata ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Manticism [from Greek mantis seer from mainomai to act ecstatically under a divine impulse]

A seer, one inspired with divine ecstasy; according to Plato, one who uttered oracles while under a divine impulse, which in its lowest forms was a kind of frenzy, while a prophetes (prophet) was one who interpreted the oracles. Frenzy, now used only to denote madness or anger, meant in classic times a state of exaltation both of mind and psychical nature which enabled inner faculties of perception to come into play, whereby seership and prophetic power were attained.

Certain exhalations from the earth would often act upon the body of the seer or seeress, inducing a state of physical receptivity, as occurred in the grotto of Delphi; and Cicero speaks highly of the better side of the power thus conferred. The condition produced by Bacchic rites was similar, but in later times degenerated into mere frenzy or ravings in the modern sense of the word; and as these rites became degraded into profligacy, the meaning of the word frenzy naturally altered pari passu.

(See also: Manticism , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Asava (Sanskrit, Pali) (from the verbal root su to distill, make a decoction)

A distilling or a decoction; a Buddhist term, difficult to render in European languages, signifying the distillation or decoction which the mind makes or produces from the impact upon it of outside energies or substances, whether these latter be thoughts or suggestions automatically arising and acting from outside upon us, or such as impinge upon the human consciousness from another consciousness striving to affect the former.

Thus it corresponds in some respects to the Christian idea of temptation. Asava signifies attachments rising in the mind from the impact upon it of outside influences, and the ideas born of outside influences which intoxicate the mind, born in the mind or flowing into it and presenting its being held upon higher lines. Freedom from the asavas constitutes the essential of arhatship, which involves self-mastery in all its phases. The four asavas are enumerated in Southern Buddhism as 1) sensuousness and sensuality (kama); 2) hunger for life (bhava); 3) dreamy speculation (dittha); and 4) nescience (avijja).

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

Christos (Greek) Anointed; applied in the Greek Mysteries to a candidate who had passed the last degree and become a full initiate. Also the immanent individual god in a person, equivalent in some respects to Dionysos, Krishna, etc.

The Hebrew word for anointed (mashiah) is generally written in English as Messiah. What we know as Christianity is a syncretism of borrowings from Neoplatonism, neo-Pythogoreanism, Greek Gnosticism, and Hebrew religion. Christos was commonly used in the Greek translation of the Bible as a title of the Jewish Kings, those who had been anointed for reigning -- a symbolic rite taken originally from the Mysteries. St. Paul's use of the word shows that he understood its true mystical meaning, but spoke with precaution in his public epistles or writings.

The first two letters of the Greek word, , superimposed in a monogram, were on the military standard of the later Christian emperors of Rome, probably dating from Constantine, and have a significance as geometrical symbols besides.

See also CHRESTOS

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

Archetypal World or Universe (from Greek archetypos original pattern)

Either an abstract type in the divine mind, or a subtle form which is the model for a grosser form. In the processes of cosmic manifestation, forms are built by the builders working on a particular plane from abstract models already existing on a higher plane. In order for ideation to pass from the abstract into the concrete or visible form, the creative logoi see in the ideal world the archetypal forms of all and proceed to build upon these models forms both evanescent and transcendent (SD 1:380).

The Archetypal Man of the Qabbalah is the host of the higher dhyani-chohans collectively called 'Adam Qadmon or the upper triad of the ten Sephiroth, also svabhavat or the fourfold anima mundi, whence proceed the creative, formative, and material worlds. The archetypal world has three planes, corresponding to the First, Second, and Third Logoi, and to parabrahman with mulaprakriti or to Brahman with pradhana. In the human hierarchy, this is paramatman (the supreme self) from which fall the armies of rays which permeate every atom on every plane, constituting the unity in the divine selfhood which is the essence of all. In contrast with the septenary hierarchy below, this upper triad is called arupa (formless).

Archetypal world is also used to designate the fourth cosmic plane.

(See also: Archetypal World, Universe , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Brothers of Light. This is what the great authority on secret societies, Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie IX., says of this Brotherhood. "A mystic order, Fratres Lucis, established in Florence in 1498.

Among the members of this order were Pasqualis, Cagliostro, Swedenborg, St. Martin, Eliphaz Lévi, and many other eminent mystics. Its members were very much persecuted by the Inquisition. It is a small but compact body, the members being spread all over the world."

(See also: Brothers of Light , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Drishti - Vision.

(See also: Drishti ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Aja (Sanskrit) (from a not + the verbal root jan to be born, produced)

Unborn; title given to many of the primordial gods. In the Rig-Veda, the equivalent of the First Logos, which is a radiation or first manifestation on the plane of illusion of the cosmic One -- the Absolute or cosmic paramatman. The Purusha-Sukta or Hymn of Man (RV 10:90) states that the thousand-headed Purusha is dismembered at the foundation of the world so that from his remains the universe might arise. This is the foundation of the later Christian symbol of the sacrificial lamb, for there is here a play on words: Aja the "unborn" -- Purusha or manvantaric spirit -- may also be derived from the verbal root aj (to drive, propel), whose meanings include a he-goat, a ram, and the sign Aries. Spirit disappears -- dies, metaphorically -- the more it becomes involved in cosmic matter, and hence the sacrifice of the unborn, the lamb, or the ram (cf TBL 56).

Aja when derived from the verbal root aj, is also a title given to various Vedic divinities such as Rudra, Indra, Angi, the sun, the maruts, and in post-Vedic works to Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, as well as to cosmic Kama, counterpart of the Greek cosmic Eros -- all these gods being considered leaders of their respective hierarchies in the sense of urging, driving, or propelling life and intelligence therein.

In its feminine form, aja signifies maya (illusion) and hence prakriti (evolving nature).

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

Nidhi (Sanskrit) A treasure; the nine divine treasures or jewels of Kuvera, the Vedic Satan, each under the guardianship of some demon -- or rather a spirit more of the nature of the Greek daimon.

These nine nidhis are popularly given as

• padma (lotus),
• mahapadma (great lotus),
• sankha (conch shell),
• makara (marine animal or fish),
• kachchhapa (tortoise),
• mukunda (kettle drum),
• ananda (joy),
• nila (a dark color or blue), and
• kharva (dwarf).

They are sometimes personified as attendants of Kuvera or of Lakshmi.

All these nidhis are the objects of special worship by the Tantrikas. They differ from the nava-nidhi, or nine treasuries or jewels of wisdom referring to a consummation of spiritual development in occult training, occult life, or mysticism generally. In theosophy the "seven jewels of wisdom" are seven of the nine nava-nidhi.

(See also: Nidhi , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)