1.
Thelema (EP)
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Thelema is an EP by the Murder City Devils released on September 4,2001 on Sub Pop Records. It is their last release of original material before they broke up later that year. Spencer Moody has said that it was really my favorite stuff overall and it was reissued on vinyl on February 17,2009. Pitchfork Media has said it contains some decent melodies and a lot more attention to instrumentation-- and structure-- than their previous albums, thats What You Get Bear Away Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum One Vision of May Bride of the Elephant Man 364 Days
2.
Unicursal hexagram
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The unicursal hexagram is a hexagram or six-pointed star that can be traced or drawn unicursally, in one continuous line rather than by two overlaid triangles. The hexagram can also be depicted inside a circle with the points touching it and it is often depicted in an interlaced form with the lines of the hexagram passing over and under one another to form a knot. It is the shape as depicted in Blaise Pascals 1639 Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem. In Aleister Crowleys Thelema, the hexagram is usually depicted with a flower in the centre which symbolises a pentacle. The symbol itself is the equivalent of the ancient Egyptian Ankh, or the Rosicrucians Rosy Cross, the unicursal hexagram was part of the symbol called The Seal of Orichalcos that was prominent in the Waking the Dragons arc of Yu-Gi-Oh. A unicursal hexagram appears several times in the television series Supernatural as a symbol to ward off evil entities and it was also featured prominently in the season 8 episode As Time Goes By as the symbol signifying membership of the Men of Letters. Its mentioned that it stands above the gates to Atlantis, a modified version of the symbol appears on the cover of Mindless Self Indulgences fifth studio album How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence. Serves as a symbol of Inferno fraction in the Heroes of Might, commonly used by the UK band Bring Me The Horizon since their release of Sempiternal in 2013. The unicursal hexagram has been used by the band Behemoth as a part of the props for their lives performances. 7₄ knot Wigner–Seitz cell As Above, So Below
3.
Blaise Pascal
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Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He was a prodigy who was educated by his father. Pascal also wrote in defence of the scientific method, in 1642, while still a teenager, he started some pioneering work on calculating machines. After three years of effort and 50 prototypes, he built 20 finished machines over the following 10 years, following Galileo Galilei and Torricelli, in 1647, he rebutted Aristotles followers who insisted that nature abhors a vacuum. Pascals results caused many disputes before being accepted, in 1646, he and his sister Jacqueline identified with the religious movement within Catholicism known by its detractors as Jansenism. Following a religious experience in late 1654, he began writing works on philosophy. His two most famous works date from this period, the Lettres provinciales and the Pensées, the set in the conflict between Jansenists and Jesuits. In that year, he wrote an important treatise on the arithmetical triangle. Between 1658 and 1659 he wrote on the cycloid and its use in calculating the volume of solids, Pascal had poor health, especially after the age of 18, and he died just two months after his 39th birthday. Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, which is in Frances Auvergne region and he lost his mother, Antoinette Begon, at the age of three. His father, Étienne Pascal, who also had an interest in science and mathematics, was a local judge, Pascal had two sisters, the younger Jacqueline and the elder Gilberte. In 1631, five years after the death of his wife, the newly arrived family soon hired Louise Delfault, a maid who eventually became an instrumental member of the family. Étienne, who never remarried, decided that he alone would educate his children, for they all showed extraordinary intellectual ability, the young Pascal showed an amazing aptitude for mathematics and science. Particularly of interest to Pascal was a work of Desargues on conic sections and it states that if a hexagon is inscribed in a circle then the three intersection points of opposite sides lie on a line. Pascals work was so precocious that Descartes was convinced that Pascals father had written it, in France at that time offices and positions could be—and were—bought and sold. In 1631 Étienne sold his position as president of the Cour des Aides for 65,665 livres. The money was invested in a government bond which provided, if not a lavish, then certainly a comfortable income which allowed the Pascal family to move to, but in 1638 Richelieu, desperate for money to carry on the Thirty Years War, defaulted on the governments bonds. Suddenly Étienne Pascals worth had dropped from nearly 66,000 livres to less than 7,300 and it was only when Jacqueline performed well in a childrens play with Richelieu in attendance that Étienne was pardoned
4.
Pascal's theorem
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The theorem is also valid in the Euclidean plane, but the statement needs to be adjusted to deal with the special cases when opposite sides are parallel. The most natural setting for Pascals theorem is in a plane since all lines meet. However, with the interpretation of what happens when some opposite sides of the hexagon are parallel. If two pairs of sides are parallel, then all three pairs of opposite sides form pairs of parallel lines and there is no Pascal line in the Euclidean plane. This theorem is a generalization of Pappuss theorem – Pappuss theorem is the case of a degenerate conic of two lines. Pascals theorem is the reciprocal and projective dual of Brianchons theorem. It was formulated by Blaise Pascal in a written in 1639 when he was 16 years old. Par B. P. Pascals theorem is a case of the Cayley–Bacharach theorem. This can be proven independently using a property of pole-polar, six is the minimum number of points on a conic about which special statements can be made, as five points determine a conic. The Braikenridge–Maclaurin theorem may be applied in the Braikenridge–Maclaurin construction, which is a construction of the conic defined by five points. Then if 2n of those points lie on a common line, if six unordered points are given on a conic section, they can be connected into a hexagon in 60 different ways, resulting in 60 different instances of Pascals theorem and 60 different Pascal lines. This configuration of 60 lines is called the Hexagrammum Mysticum, as Thomas Kirkman proved in 1849, these 60 lines can be associated with 60 points in such a way that each point is on three lines and each line contains three points. The 60 points formed in this way are now known as the Kirkman points, the Pascal lines also pass, three at a time, through 20 Steiner points. There are 20 Cayley lines which consist of a Steiner point, the Steiner points also lie, four at a time, on 15 Plücker lines. Furthermore, the 20 Cayley lines pass four at a time through 15 points known as the Salmon points, Pascals original note has no proof, but there are various modern proofs of the theorem. It is sufficient to prove the theorem when the conic is a circle and this was realised by Pascal, whose first lemma states the theorem for a circle. His second lemma states that what is true in one plane remains true upon projection to another plane, a short elementary proof of Pascals theorem in the case of a circle was found by van Yzeren, based on the proof in. This proof proves the theorem for circle and then generalizes it to conics, a short elementary computational proof in the case of the real projective plane was found by Stefanovic We can infer the proof from existence of isogonal conjugate too
5.
Western esotericism
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Western esotericism is a scholarly term for a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements which have developed within Western society. They are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and from Enlightenment rationalism, the idea of categorising a wide range of Western traditions and philosophies together under the rubric that we now term esotericism developed in Europe during the late seventeenth century. Various academics have debated the definition of Western esotericism, with a number of different options proposed. One scholarly model adopts its definition of esotericism from certain esotericist schools of thought themselves, treating esotericism as a perennialist hidden, a second perspective sees esotericism as a category that encompasses world-views which seek to embrace an enchanted world-view in the face of increasing de-enchantment. The 19th century saw the emergence of new trends of thought that have come to be known as occultism. Prominent groups in this included the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Modern Paganism developed within occultism, and includes religious movements such as Wicca, Esoteric ideas permeated the counterculture of the 1960s and later cultural tendencies, from which emerged the New Age movement in the 1970s. The academic study of Western esotericism only emerged in the late 20th-century, pioneered by scholars like Frances Yates, Esoteric ideas have meanwhile also exerted an influence in popular culture, appearing in art, literature, film, and music. The adjective esoteric first appeared in the second century CE as the Ancient Greek term esôterikós, the noun esotericism, in its French form of lésotérisme, was first used in 1828, by Jacques Matter in his book, Histoire du gnosticisme. The term was popularized by the French occultist and ceremonial magician Eliphas Lévi in the 1850s, Lévi also introduced the term loccultisme, a notion that he developed against the background of contemporary socialist and Catholic discourses. Esotericism and occultism were often employed as synonyms until being distinguished by later scholars, the concept of Western esotericism is a modern scholarly construct rather than a pre-existing, self-defined tradition of thought. The first to do so was Ehregott Daniel Colberg, a German Lutheran who wrote Platonisch-Hermetisches Christianity, various academics have emphasised the idea that esotericism is a phenomenon unique to the Western world, as Faivre stated, an empirical perspective would hold that esotericism is a Western notion. As scholars such as Faivre and Hanegraaff have pointed out, there is no category of Eastern or Oriental esotericism. The emphasis on Western esotericism was nevertheless primarily devised to distinguish the field from a universal esotericism, Hanegraaff has characterised these as recognisable world views and approaches to knowledge that have played an important although always controversial role in the history of Western culture. This attitude was endorsed by Egil Asprem, nevertheless, esotericism itself remains a controversial term, with scholars specialising in the subject disagreeing as to how it can best be defined. It subsequently became a popular approach within several esoteric movements, most notably Martinism and Traditionalism, within the academic field of religious studies, those who study different religions in search of an inner, universal dimension to them all are termed religionists. Such religionist ideas also exerted an influence on more recent scholars like Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, there are various problems with this model for understanding Western esotericism. The most significant is that is rests upon the conviction that there really is a universal, hidden, moreover, Hanegraaff noted that when scholars adopt this definition, it shows that they subscribe to the religious doctrines which are espoused by the very groups that they are studying
6.
Religion
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Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
7.
New religious movement
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NRMs can be novel in origin or part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Some NRMs deal with the challenges posed by the world by embracing individualism whereas others seek tightly knit collective means. Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands worldwide, with most of their members living in Asia, most have only a few members, some have thousands, and only very few have more than one million members. New religions have often faced a hostile reception from established religious organisations, in Western nations, a secular anti-cult movement and a Christian countercult movement emerged during the 1970s and 1980s to oppose emergent groups. In the 1970s, the field of new religions studies developed within the academic study of religion. There are now several organisations and peer-reviewed journals devoted to the subject. Scholars continue to try to reach definitions and define boundaries, there is no singular, agreed upon criteria for defining a new religious movement. However, the term usually requires that the group be both of recent origin and different from existing religions, there is debate as to what the term new should designate in this context. According to him, NRMs constituted those religious groups that have found, from the perspective of the dominant religious community, to be not just different. This definition would mean that which religions were regarded as NRMs would differ from country to country and would be open to change, as noted by scholars of religion Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein, new religions are just young religions. Melton has stated that those NRMs which were offshoots of older religious groups, tended to resemble their parent group far more than each other. One question that faces scholars of religion is when a new religious movement ceases to be new, some NRMs are strongly counter-cultural and alternative in the society they appear in, while others are far more similar to a societys established traditional religions. There are also problems in the use of religion within the new religious movements. Since at least the early 2000s, most sociologists of religion have used the new religious movement to avoid the pejorative undertones of terms like cult. These are words that have used in different ways by different groups. For instance, from the nineteenth century onward a number of sociologists used the terms cult, the term cult is used in reference to devotion or dedication to a particular person or place. For instance, within the Roman Catholic Church devotion to Mary and it is also used in non-religious contexts to refer to fandoms devoted to television shows like The Prisoner, The X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the United States, the term began to be used in a pejorative manner to refer to Spiritualism
8.
Philosophy
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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to know anything and to prove it. However, philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as, is it better to be just or unjust. Historically, philosophy encompassed any body of knowledge, from the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, natural philosophy encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics. For example, Newtons 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy later became classified as a book of physics, in the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize. In the modern era, some investigations that were part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology. Other investigations closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy, for example, is beauty objective or subjective. Are there many scientific methods or just one, is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy. Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, since the 20th century, professional philosophers contribute to society primarily as professors, researchers and writers. Traditionally, the term referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, mathematics, natural science, education. This division is not obsolete but has changed, Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. Moral philosophy has birthed the social sciences, but still includes value theory, metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic, mathematics and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology, cosmology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today, colin McGinn and others claim that no philosophical progress has occurred during that interval. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, in one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as how are we to live, a broad and impartial conception of philosophy then, finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality, morality and life in all world civilizations. Socrates was an influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom
9.
Aleister Crowley
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Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century, a prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and he was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, in 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. Moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu and Buddhist practices in India. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should Do what thou wilt, in 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated the religion. Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, and North America, in 1920 he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and he divided the following two decades between France, Germany, and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death. Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, bisexual and he was denounced in the popular press as the wickedest man in the world and a Satanist. Crowley has remained an influential figure over Western esotericism and the counter-culture. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time, Crowley was born as Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on 12 October 1875. His father, Edward Crowley, was trained as an engineer and his mother, Emily Bertha Bishop, came from a Devonshire-Somerset family and had a strained relationship with her son, she described him as the Beast, a name that he revelled in. The couple had married at Londons Kensington Registry Office in November 1874. Crowleys father was particularly devout, spending his time as a preacher for the sect and reading a chapter from the Bible to his wife. Following the death of their daughter in 1880, in 1881 the Crowleys moved to Redhill. At the age of 8, Crowley was sent to H. T, habershons evangelical Christian boarding school in Hastings, and then to Ebor preparatory school in Cambridge, run by the Reverend Henry dArcy Champney, whom Crowley considered a sadist. In March 1887, when Crowley was 11, his father died of tongue cancer, Crowley described this as a turning point in his life, and he always maintained an admiration of his father, describing him as his hero and his friend. Inheriting a third of his fathers wealth, he began misbehaving at school and was punished by Champney
10.
Aeon (Thelema)
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In the religion of Thelema, it is believed that the history of humanity can be divided into a series of aeons, each of which was accompanied by its own forms of magical and religious expression. The first of these was the Aeon of Isis, which Thelemites believed occurred during prehistory, and finally the third aeon, the Aeon of Horus, which was controlled by the child god, symbolised by Horus. In this new aeon, Thelemites believe that humanity will enter a time of self-realization and self-actualization, within the Thelemite religion, each of these aeons is believed to be characterized by their magical formula, the use of which is very important and fundamental to the understanding of. It was characterized by pagan worship of the Mother and Nature, in his Equinox of the Gods Crowley describes this period as simple, quiet, easy, and pleasant, the material ignores the spiritual. Lon Milo DuQuette remarked that this aeon was the Age of the Great Goddess, continuing with this idea, he remarked that this period was when the cult of the Great Goddess was truly universal. She was worshipped by countless cultures under myriad names and forms and it would also be a mistake for us to conclude that the magical formula of this period manifested exclusively through the worship of any particular anthropomorphic female deity. The classical and medieval Aeon of Osiris is considered to be dominated by the paternal principle and this Aeon was characterized by that of self-sacrifice and submission to the Father God while man spoke of his father and mother. Crowley says of this Aeon in his Heart of the Master, Formula of Osiris, whose word is IAO, so that men worshiped Man, thinking him subject to Death, even so conceived they of the Sun as slain and reborn with every day, and every year. Crowley also says of the Aeon of Osiris in Equinox of the Gods, The second is of suffering and death, christianity and all cognate religions worship death, glorify suffering, deify corpses. The modern Aeon of Horus is portrayed as a time of self-realization as well as a growing interest in all things spiritual, the Word of its Law is Thelema, which is complemented by Agape, and its formula is Abrahadabra. Individuality and finding the individuals True Will are the dominant aspects, its formula is that of growth, in consciousness and love, concerning the Aeon of Horus, Crowley wrote. The crowned and conquering child, who not, nor is reborn. Even so goeth the Sun, for as it is now known that night is but the shadow of the Earth, so Death is but the shadow of the Body, that veileth his Light from its bearer. But it would be a mistake to view this new aeon simply as another tick on a great cosmic clock, the Age of Aquarius, profoundly significant as it is, is only one aspect of a far greater new spiritual age. Some Thelemites believe that the Aeon of Maat will eventually replace the present one, according to one of Crowleys early students, Charles Stansfeld Jones, the Aeon of Maat has already arrived or overlaps the present Aeon of Horus. Chaos magic is seen by some as having evolved from portions of the Thelemic religion, relevant personalities and organizations, Peter J. Carroll, Ray Sherwin, and the Illuminates of Thanateros. Not all Thelemites believe in a succession of Aeons. Sometimes Crowley compared the Word of Horus with other formulas, whose reigns appear to overlap with the Aeon of Osiris and/or Isis
11.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
12.
Aiwass
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Aiwass is the name given to a voice that English occultist Aleister Crowley claimed to have heard on April 8,9, and 10 in 1904. Crowley claimed that voice, which he considered originated with a non-corporeal intelligence. According to Crowley, the first appearance of Aiwass was during the Three Days of the writing of Liber al vel Legis and his first and only identification as such is in Chapter I, Behold. It is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat, Hoor-paar-kraat is more commonly referred to by the Greek transliteration Harpocrates, meaning Horus the Child, whom Crowley considered to be the central deity within the Thelemic cosmology. However, Harpocrates also represents the Higher Self, the Holy Guardian Angel, Crowley described the encounter in detail in The Equinox of the Gods, saying, The Voice of Aiwass came apparently from over my left shoulder, from the furthest corner of the room. It seemed to echo itself in my heart in a very strange manner. I have noticed a similar phenomenon when I have been waiting for a message fraught with great hope or dread, the voice was passionately poured, as if Aiwass were alert about the time-limit. The voice was of deep timbre, musical and expressive, its tones solemn, voluptuous, tender, not bass – perhaps a rich tenor or baritone. The English was free of native or foreign accent, perfectly pure of local or caste mannerisms, thus startling. I had an impression that the speaker was actually in the corner where he seemed to be, in a body of fine matter, transparent as a veil of gauze. He seemed to be a tall, dark man in his thirties, well-knit, active and strong, with the face of a savage king, the dress was not Arab, it suggested Assyria or Persia, but very vaguely. I took little note of it, for to me at that time Aiwass was a such as I had often seen in visions. Crowley says this later manifestation took the form of a pyramid of light, Crowley went to great pains to argue that Aiwass was an objectively separate being from himself, possessing far more knowledge than he or any other human could possibly have. He wrote no forger could have prepared so complex a set of numerical and literal puzzles, finally, this excerpt, The existence of true religion presupposes that of some discarnate intelligence, whether we call him God or anything else. And this is exactly what no religion had ever proved scientifically, and this is what The Book of the Law does prove by internal evidence, altogether independent of any statement of mine. This proof is evidently the most important step in science that could possibly be made, and, further, having provided the proof required. However, Crowley also spoke of Aiwass in symbolic terms, in The Law is for All, he goes on at length in comparison to various other deities and spiritual concepts, but most especially to The Fool. Thus we see him as the Great Fool of Celtic legend, the Pure Fool of Act I of Parsifal, and, generally speaking, perhaps more importantly, Crowley later identified Aiwass as his own personal Holy Guardian Angel and more
13.
The Book of the Law
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Crowley claimed it was dictated to him by a discarnate entity named Aiwass. However, the three chapters are written in the first person by the Thelemic deities Nuit, Hadit. Through the reception of the Book, Crowley proclaimed the arrival of a new stage in the evolution of humanity. The primary precept of this new aeon is the charge to Do what thou wilt. The book contains three chapters, each of which was alleged to be written down in one hour, beginning at noon, on 8 April,9 April, and 10 April in Cairo, Egypt, in the year 1904. Crowley says that the author was an entity named Aiwass, whom he referred to as his personal Holy Guardian Angel. Crowley himself wrote Certain very serious questions have arisen with regard to the method by which this Book was obtained, although she could see nothing, she did seem to enter into a light trance and repeatedly said, Theyre waiting for you. Since Rose had no interest in magic or mysticism, he took little interest, however, on the 18th, after invoking Thoth, she mentioned Horus by name as the one waiting for him. Crowley, still skeptical, asked her numerous questions about Horus, Knew my past relations with the God. Knew his lineal figure and its color, Knew his weapon Knew his planetary nature Knew his number Picked him out of Five, Three indifferent, i, e, arbitrary symbols. We cannot too strongly insist on the character of this identification. Crowley also gives a different chronology, in which an invocation of Horus preceded the questioning, lawrence Sutin says this ritual described Horus in detail, and could have given Rose the answers to her husbands questions. As part of his test for Rose, Crowley claimed they visited the Bulaq Museum, much to Crowleys initial amusement, she passed by several common images of the god, and went upstairs. From across the room Rose identified Horus on the stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, the stela would subsequently be known to Thelemites as the Stele of Revealing. On 20 March, Crowley invoked Horus, with great success, between 23 March and 8 April, Crowley had the hieroglyphs on the stele translated. Also, Rose revealed that her informant was not Horus himself, finally, on 7 April, Rose gave Crowley his instructions—for three days he was to enter the temple and write down what he heard between noon and 1,00 P. M. The apartment was on the floor, and the temple was the drawing room. This voice is described as passionate and hurried, and was of deep timbre, musical and expressive, its tones solemn, voluptuous, tender, not bass—perhaps a rich tenor or baritone
14.
Thelema
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Thelema is a religion based on a philosophical law of the same name, adopted as a central tenet by some religious organizations. The law of Thelema is Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, Love is the law, love under will. The law of Thelema was developed in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley and he believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, based upon a spiritual experience that he and his wife, Rose Edith, had in Egypt in 1904. An adherent of Thelema is a Thelemite, the Thelemic pantheon includes a number of deities, primarily a trio adapted from ancient Egyptian religion, who are the three speakers of The Book of the Law, Nuit, Hadit and Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Crowley described these deities as a literary convenience, the religion is founded upon the idea that the 20th century marked the beginning of the Aeon of Horus, in which a new ethical code would be followed, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. This statement indicates that adherents, who are known as Thelemites, should seek out and follow their own path in life. The philosophy also emphasizes the practice of Magick. The word thelema is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun θέλημα will, from the verb θέλω to will, wish, want or purpose. As Crowley developed the religion, he wrote widely on the topic and he also included ideas from occultism, yoga and both Eastern and Western mysticism, especially the Qabalah. The word θέλημα is rare in classical Greek, where it signifies the appetitive will, desire, sometimes even sexual, but it is frequent in the Septuagint. Early Christian writings occasionally use the word to refer to the human will, and even the will of Gods opponent, the Devil, one well-known example is in the Lords Prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ”It is used later in the gospel, He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it. In his 5th-century Sermon on 1 John 4, 4–12, Augustine of Hippo gave an instruction, Love. In the Renaissance, a character named Thelemia represents will or desire in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of the Dominican monk Francesco Colonna, the protagonist Poliphilo has two allegorical guides, Logistica and Thelemia. When forced to choose, he chooses fulfillment of his sexual will over logic, the only rule of this Abbey was fay çe que vouldras. In the mid-18th century, Sir Francis Dashwood inscribed the adage on a doorway of his abbey at Medmenham, where it served as the motto of the Hellfire Club. Rabelaiss Abbey of Thelema has been referred to by later writers Sir Walter Besant and James Rice, in their novel The Monks of Thelema, françois Rabelais was a Franciscan and later a Benedictine monk of the 16th century. Eventually he left the monastery to study medicine, and moved to the French city of Lyon in 1532, there he wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel, a connected series of books
15.
Ancient Egyptian religion
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Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians interaction with many deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, rituals such as prayers and offerings were efforts to provide for the gods and gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, the king of Egypt and he acted as the intermediary between his people and the gods and was obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain order in the universe. The state dedicated enormous resources to Egyptian rituals and to the construction of the temples, individuals could interact with the gods for their own purposes, appealing for their help through prayer or compelling them to act through magic. These practices were distinct from, but closely linked with, the formal rituals, the popular religious tradition grew more prominent in the course of Egyptian history as the status of the Pharaoh declined. Another important aspect was the belief in the afterlife and funerary practices, the Egyptians made great efforts to ensure the survival of their souls after death, providing tombs, grave goods, and offerings to preserve the bodies and spirits of the deceased. The religion had its roots in Egypts prehistory and lasted for more than 3,000 years, the details of religious belief changed over time as the importance of particular gods rose and declined, and their intricate relationships shifted. At various times, certain gods became preeminent over the others, including the sun god Ra, the creator god Amun, for a brief period, in the theology promulgated by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, a single god, the Aten, replaced the traditional pantheon. Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology left behind many writings and monuments, along with significant influences on ancient, the beliefs and rituals now referred to as ancient Egyptian religion were integral within every aspect of Egyptian culture. Their language possessed no single term corresponding to the modern European concept of religion, the characteristics of the gods who populated the divine realm were inextricably linked to the Egyptians understanding of the properties of the world in which they lived. The Egyptians believed that the phenomena of nature were divine forces in and these deified forces included the elements, animal characteristics, or abstract forces. The Egyptians believed in a pantheon of gods, which were involved in all aspects of nature and their religious practices were efforts to sustain and placate these phenomena and turn them to human advantage. This polytheistic system was complex, as some deities were believed to exist in many different manifestations. Conversely, many forces, such as the sun, were associated with multiple deities. The diverse pantheon ranged from gods with vital roles in the universe to minor deities or demons with very limited or localized functions. It could include gods adopted from foreign cultures, and sometimes humans, deceased Pharaohs were believed to be divine, and occasionally, distinguished commoners such as Imhotep also became deified. The depictions of the gods in art were not meant as representations of how the gods might appear if they were visible. Instead, these depictions gave recognizable forms to the deities by using symbolic imagery to indicate each gods role in nature
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Nuit
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Nuit is a goddess in Thelema, the speaker in the first Chapter of The Book of the Law, the sacred text written or received in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Nut is an Egyptian sky goddess who leans over her husband/brother, Geb and she is usually depicted as a naked woman who is covered with stars. She represents the All, pure potentiality both as it flowers into the universe and as it resides beyond embodiment. Within this system, she is one-third of the cosmology, along with Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit. She has several titles, including the Queen of Infinite Space, Our Lady of the Stars, Nuit represents the infinitely-expanded circle whose circumference is unmeasurable and whose center is everywhere. According to Thelemic doctrine, it is the interaction between these two principles that creates the manifested universe similar to the gnostic syzygy. Some quotes from the First Chapter of The Book of the Law, Every man, come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love. For I am divided for loves sake, for the chance of union, the word of the Law is Θελημα. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look, for there are therein Three Grades, the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, for pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect. Love is the law, love under will, I give unimaginable joys on earth, certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death, peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy, nor do I demand aught in sacrifice. In The Equinox of the Gods, Crowley writes of Nuit in comparison to Christianity, Nuit cries, I love you, like a lover and she woos like a mistress, whispers To me. In every ear, Jesus, with verb, appeals vehemently to them that labour and are heavy laden. The following are quotes from Crowleys commentaries to The Book of the Law, note that Heaven is not a place where Gods Live, Nuit is Heaven, itself. Nuit is All that which exists, and the condition of that existence, Hadit is the Principle which causes modifications in this Being. This explains how one may call Nuit Matter, and Hadit Motion and it should be evident that Nuit obtains the satisfaction of Her Nature when the parts of Her Body fulfill their own Nature. The sacrament of life is not only so from the point of view of the celebrants, in Egyptian mythology, Nut was the sky goddess. She is the daughter of Shu and Tefnut, the sun god Ra entered her mouth after the sun set in the evening and was reborn from her vulva the next morning
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Hadit
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Hadit refers to a Thelemic version of Chaos. Hadit is the speaker of the second chapter of The Book of the Law. He may refer to the serpent Apophis, Crowley also identified Chaos as the father of life and counterpart of Babalon. Hadit has been interpreted as the spirit of man, the Holy Ghost, the sperm and egg in which the DNA of man is carried. When juxtaposed with Nuit in The Book of the Law, Hadit represents each unique point-experience and these point-experiences in aggregate comprise the sum of all possible experience, Nuith. Hadit, the Great God, the lord of the sky, is depicted on the Stele of Revealing in the form of the disk of the Sun. However, while the ancient Egyptians treated the Sun and the stars as separate. Furthermore, The Book of the Law says, Every man, in The Book of the Law he says, I am alone, there is no god where I am. He is the flame burns in every heart of man. He is identified with kundalini, in The Book of the Law he says, I am the Secret Serpent coiled about to spring, if I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I, there is great danger in me. Hadit is the Fire of Desire at the Heart of Matter, the combination of the upward-pointing triangle of Hadit and the downward-pointing triangle of Nuit forms the Star of Spirit. The union of the infinitely small Hadit and the infinitely great Nuit causes an explosive rapture which leads to samādhi. His symbols are our Sun, the serpent, the Fire Snake, the star Sothis, the planet Pluto, sperm, the Will, the globe, the Hermit. He is Leo to Nuits Aquarius, the short form of his name, Had, forms the central syllable of the word of the Aeon, Abrahadabra. The earlier, Egyptian version, went by the name of Heru-Behdeti or Horus of Behdet, thoth let him take the form of the solar disk to help a younger version of Horus—Re-Horakhty, or Ra-Hoor-Khuit—in a battle with Set and his army. Around the time of its creation, Egyptian funerary teachings apparently included the new idea that the deceased could become one with the sun god, the Book of the Law Nu Nuit Heru-ra-ha Free Encyclopedia of Thelema. Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, Hadit and the Stele of Revealing
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Heru-ra-ha
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Heru is a composite deity within Thelema, a religion that began in 1904 with Aleister Crowley and his Book of the Law. Heru-ra-ha is composed of Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-paar-kraat and he is associated with the other two major Thelemic deities found in The Book of the Law, Nuit and Hadit, who are also godforms related to ancient Egyptian mythology. Their images link Nuit and Hadit to the established Egyptian deities Nut, the Active Aspect of Heru-ra-ha is Ra-Hoor-Khuit, more commonly referred to by the Greek transliteration Ra-Herakhty, means Ra Horus on the Horizon. Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Ra-Hoor-Khut is the speaker in the Third Chapter of The Book of the Law, some quotes from his Chapter, Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War and of Vengeance. Fear not at all, fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light, and I am the strength, force, vigour, I am the warrior Lord of the Forties, the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy, I will be at arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof, courage is your armour, go on, go on, in my strength, there is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. Within Thelema, Ra-Hoor-Khuit is called the Lord of the Aeon, according to the instructions that Crowley claimed to have received from the 8th Enochian Aethyr, the five-pointed star of flame symbolizes Ra-Hoor-Khuit in certain contexts. An appellation of Ra, identifying him with Horus, this shows the two as manifestations of the singular Solar Force. Khuit also refers to a form of the goddess Hathor at Athribis. Khut refers to the goddess Isis as light giver of the new year and this last meaning serves as a title of Isis in one of the hymns to Isis-Hathor at the Temple of Philae. Hathor also has the titles Uraeus of Ra and Great Flame, hoor is represented as a young boy with a childs sidelock of hair, sucking his finger. The Greeks, Ovid and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn attributed silence to him, aiwass, the being who dictated The Book of the Law to Crowley, in the books first chapter introduces himself as the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat. Also known as The Babe in the Lotus, Hoor-paar-kraat is sometimes thought of as the baby Ra-Hoor-Khuit, in the second interpretation, the Golden Dawn placed Hoor-paar-kraat at the center of their Hall of Maat while the officers of the temple revolved around him. The Cry of the First Aethyr in Crowleys Liber 418 presents Horus and it is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported by countless myriads of Archangels, the Archangels are all the same colourless brilliance, and every one of them is blind. Below the Archangels again are many, many other legions, and so on far below, and on his forehead, and on his heart, and in his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast
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Magick (Thelema)
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Crowley wrote that it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature. John Symonds and Kenneth Grant attach a deeper significance to this preference. Aleister Crowley chose the spelling to differentiate his practices and rituals from stage magic, Crowley defined Magick as the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will. He goes on to elaborate on this, in one postulate and he goes on further to state, Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and ones conditions. It is the Art of applying that understanding in action, again, at its most broad, it can be defined as any willed action leading to intended change. It can also be seen as the set of methods used to accomplish the Great Work of mystical attainment. The professed purpose of banishing rituals is to eliminate forces that might interfere with a magical operation, the area of effect can be a magick circle, a room, or the magician himself. The general theory of Magick proposes that there are forces which are represented by the classical elements, the planets, the signs of the Zodiac. Magick also proposes that various spirits and non-corporeal intelligences can be present, banishings are performed in order to clean out these forces and presences. There are many banishing rituals, but most are some variation on two of the most common—The Star Ruby and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and he goes on to say that purification no longer requires such activity, since the magician can purify the self via willed intention. The putting on of the robe is the side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the frame of mind suitable to that one thought, consecration is an equally important magical operation. It is essentially the dedication, usually of an instrument or space. In Magick, Book 4, Crowley writes, Invocation is the bringing in or identifying with a deity or spirit. Crowley wrote of two keys to success in this arena, to inflame thyself in praying and to invoke often, Crowley describes the experience of invocation, The mind must be exalted until it loses consciousness of self. The Magician must be carried forward blindly by a force which, though in him, just as the poet, the lover, the artist, is carried out of himself in a creative frenzy, so must it be for the Magician. Crowley discusses three main categories of invocation, although in the great essentials these three methods are one, in each case the magician identifies himself with the Deity invoked. Devotion—where identity with the God is attained by love and by surrender, calling forth—where identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of yourself
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Koine Greek
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It was based mainly on Attic and related Ionic speech forms, with various admixtures brought about through dialect levelling with other varieties. Koine Greek displayed a wide spectrum of different styles, ranging from more conservative literary forms to the vernaculars of the time. As the dominant language of the Byzantine Empire, it developed further into Medieval Greek, Koine Greek remained the court language of the Byzantine Empire until its dissolution in 1453, while Medieval and eventually Modern Greek were the everyday language. Literary Koine was the medium of much of post-classical Greek literary and scholarly writing, such as the works of Plutarch, Koine is also the language of the Christian New Testament, of the Septuagint, and of most early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers. In this context, Koine Greek is also known as Biblical, New Testament and it continues to be used as the liturgical language of services in the Greek Orthodox Church. The word koinē is the Greek word for common, and is understood as referring to the common dialect. The word is pronounced /kɔɪˈneɪ/, /ˈkɔɪneɪ/ or /kiːˈniː/ in US English, the pronunciation of the word in Koine gradually changed from Greek pronunciation, to Greek pronunciation. Its pronunciation in Modern Greek is, the term was applied in several different senses by ancient scholars. Others chose to refer to Koine as the Alexandrian dialect or the dialect of Alexandria, the former was often used by modern classicists. Koine Greek arose as a dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Under the leadership of Macedon, their newly formed common variety was spoken from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt to the Seleucid Empire of Mesopotamia and it replaced existing ancient Greek dialects with an everyday form that people anywhere could understand. The passage into the period, known as Medieval Greek. The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to the creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic, the linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic period, most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα. The view accepted by most scholars today was given by the Greek linguist Georgios Hatzidakis, who showed that, despite the composition of the Four, the stable nucleus of Koine Greek is Attic. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, the degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on the region of the Hellenistic World. The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it is mentioned as Common Attic. Koine Greek was therefore considered a form of Greek which was not worthy of attention
21.
The Holy Books of Thelema
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Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema, designated his works as belonging to one of several classes. Not all of his work was placed in a class by him, Class A consists of works that are not to be changed, even to the letter. The Holy Books fall in this category, Class B consists of works of scholarship and enlightenment. Class C consists of material that suggests things other than the obvious, Class D consists of official rituals and instructions. Class E consists of manifestos, broadsides, epistles and other public statements, Liber AL vel Legis, also known as The Book of the Law, is the foundational text for Thelema. It is the only Holy Book that Aleister Crowley claimed to have had no part in the authorship of, the remaining texts were written between the years 1907 and 1911. According to Crowley, they were not so much written by him as through him, some of these works were originally published by Crowley in 1909 under the title ΘΕΛΗΜΑ. In 1983 these original texts, together with a number of texts, were published under the new title The Holy Books of Thelema by Ordo Templi Orientis under the direction of Hymenaeus Alpha. Volume I Liber LXI vel Causæ—Explains the actual history and origin of the present movement and this text, being in Class D, is not technically a Holy Book, but was included in ΘΕΛΗΜΑ as an Introduction, and is thus listed here. Liber LXV, Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente—An account of the relations of the aspirant, volume II Liber VII, Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli—These are the Birth Words of a Master of the Temple. Its 7 Chapters are referred to the 7 Planets in the order, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Sol, Mercury, Luna. Volume III Liber XXVII, Liber Trigrammaton sub Figura XXVII—Being a book of Trigrams of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin, an account of the Cosmic process. Liber CCXX, Liber AL vel Legis sub Figura CCXX, The Book of the Law—Among the Holy Books of Thelema, every Thelemite is expected to interpret the book, each for himself. Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita—An account of the Hexagram and the method of reducing it to the Unity and this book describes in magical language a very secret process of Initiation. Liber I, Liber B vel Magi—An account of the Grade of Magus, Liber X, Liber Porta Lucis—An account of the sending forth of the Master Therion by the A∴A∴ and an explanation of his mission. Liber LXVI, Liber Stellae Rubeae—Sexual Magick veiled in symbolism, Liber XC, Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus—An account of Initiation, and an indication as to those who are suitable for the same. Liber CLVI, Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni—Sexual Magick veiled in symbolism, Liber CCXXXI, Liber Arcanorum—An account of the cosmic process so far as it is indicated by the Tarot Trumps. The sequence of the 22 Trumps is explained as a formula of Initiation, Liber CD, Liber Tau vel Kabbalae Trium Literarum—A graphic interpretation of the Tarot on the plane of Initiation
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Occult
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The occult is knowledge of the hidden. In common English usage, occult refers to knowledge of the paranormal, as opposed to knowledge of the measurable, the terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult, in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. Occultism is the study of practices, including magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion. Alchemy was common among important seventeenth-century scientists, such as Isaac Newton, Newton was even accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he postulated gravity as a force capable of acting over vast distances. By the eighteenth century these unorthodox religious and philosophical concerns were well-defined as occult, inasmuch as they lay on the outermost fringe of accepted forms of knowledge and they were, however, preserved by antiquarians and mystics. Occult science is the research into or formulation of occult concepts in a manner that resembles the way natural science researches or describes phenomena. In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term occult science as a synonym for magic, Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation, in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality. Newtons contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through action at a distance, some religions and sects enthusiastically embrace occultism as an integral esoteric aspect of mystical religious experience. This attitude is common within Wicca and many other modern pagan religions, some other religious denominations disapprove of occultism in most or all forms. They may view the occult as being anything supernatural or paranormal which is not achieved by or through God, monistic in contrast to Christian dualistic beliefs of a separation between body and spirit, Gnostic i. e. Walker, Benjamin. Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural, harold W. Percival, Joined the Theosophical Society in 1892. Blavatsky, Occultism versus the Occult Arts, Lucifer, May 1888 Bardon, true to His Ways, Purity & Safety in Christian Spiritual Practice, ISBN 1-932124-61-6. ISBN 1-57863-150-5 Forshaw, Peter, The Occult Middle Ages, in Christopher Partridge, The Occult World, London, Routledge,2014 Gettings, Fred, Vision of the Occult, ISBN 0-7126-1438-9 Kontou, Tatiana – Willburn, Sarah. The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8 Martin, W. Rische, J. Rische, K. & VanGordon, K. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.201 p. N. B, the scope of this study also embraces the occult. ISBN 0-8028-0262-1 Partridge, Christopher, The Occult World, London, the Tree of Life, An Illustrated Study in Magic. Newton, Isaac, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Sir Isaac Newton Rogers, L. W. Hints to Young Students of Occultism. Albany, NY, The Theosophical Book Company, joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto, Archives of Western Esoterica Occult Science and Philosophy of the Renaissance
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Yoga
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Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. There is a variety of Yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga, the chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Hatha yoga texts emerged around the 11th century with origins in tantra. Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th, in the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more physical exercise, it has a meditative. One of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as an intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma. On December 1,2016, Yoga was listed as UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage, in Sanskrit, the word yoga comes from the root yuj which means to add, to join, to unite, or to attach in its most common senses. By figurative extension from the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses, all further developments of the sense of this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as exertion, endeavour, zeal, there are very many compound words containing yoga in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on such as connection, contact, union, method, application, addition. In simpler words, Yoga also means combined, thus, bhaktiyoga means devoted attachment in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyāyoga has a sense, meaning connection with a verb. But the same compound is given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras, designating the practical aspects of the philosophy. In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samādhau is considered by commentators as the correct etymology. In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras, according to Dasgupta, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga or yuj samādhau. Someone who practices yoga or follows the philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi or yogini
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Mysticism
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Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, the term mysticism has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek word μυω, meaning to conceal, mysticism referred to the liturgical, spiritual. During the early period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs. In modern times, mysticism has acquired a limited definition, with applications, as meaning the aim at the union with the Absolute. This limited definition has been applied to a range of religious traditions and practices. Since the 1960s scholars have debated the merits of perennial and constructionist approaches in the research of mystical experiences. The perennial position is now largely dismissed by scholars, most scholars using a contextual approach, Mysticism is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning I conceal, and its derivative μυστικός, mystikos, meaning an initiate. The verb μυώ has received a different meaning in the Greek language. The primary meanings it has are induct and initiate, secondary meanings include introduce, make someone aware of something, train, familiarize, give first experience of something. The related form of the verb appears in the New Testament. As explained in Strongs Concordance, it properly means shutting the eyes and its figurative meaning is to be initiated into the mystery revelation. The meaning derives from the rites of the pagan mysteries. Also appearing in the New Testament is the related noun μυστήριον, the term means anything hidden, a mystery or secret, of which initiation is necessary. According to Thayers Greek Lexicon, the term μυστήριον in classical Greek meant a hidden thing, a particular meaning it took in Classical antiquity was a religious secret or religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to be communicated by them to ordinary mortals. In the Septuagint and the New Testament the meaning it took was that of a purpose or counsel. It is sometimes used for the hidden wills of humans, but is often used for the hidden will of God. Elsewhere in the Bible it takes the meaning of the mystic or hidden sense of things and it is used for the secrets behind sayings, names, or behind images seen in visions and dreams
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Hermetic Qabalah
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Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left hand path orders, Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly syncretic system, however it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah. Hermetic Qabalah holds to the conception that the manifest universe, of which material creation is a part. These emanations arise out of three states that are considered to precede manifestation. The emanations of creation arising from Ain Suph Aur are ten in number and these are conceptualised somewhat differently in Hermetic Qabalah to the way they are in Jewish Kabbalah. From Ain Suph Aur crystallises Kether, the first sephirah of the Hermetic Qabalistic tree of life. From Kether emanate the rest of the sephirot in turn, viz. Kether, Chokhmah, Binah, Daath, Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Daath is not assigned a number as it is considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah. Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the energy which ever flows from the unmanifest. This flow of light is indicated by the lightning flash shown on diagrams of the tree which passes through each sephirah in turn according to their enumerations. Each sephirah is a nexus of energy and each has a number of attributions. These attributions enable the Qabalist to form a comprehension of each particular sephirahs characteristics and this manner of applying many attributions to each sephirah is an exemplar of the diverse nature of Hermetic Qabalah. Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the tarot as keys to the Tree of Life, while the sephiroth describe the nature of divinity, the paths between them describe ways of knowing the Divine. Traditionalist Judaic views of Kabbalahs origins view it as an inherent development from within the Jewish religion, in contrast, Hermeticists have taken different views of Qabalahs origins. Christians, in contrast, would have been persecuted for the same process, with the Renaissance, this wisdom would have been relearned by Christianity from Judaism. It contributed strongly to the Renaissance view of ritual magics relationship with Christianity, once Hermeticism was no longer endorsed by the Christian Church it was driven underground and a number of Hermetic brotherhoods were formed. Non-Jewish Cabala, unlike in Judaic Kabbalahs mainstream censure of its side, became a central component of Western occult, magic. Rosicrucianism and esoteric branches of Freemasonry taught religious philosophies, Qabalah and their esoteric teachings, and secret society structure of an outer body governed by a restricted inner level of adepts, laid the format for modern esoteric organisations. Post-Enlightenment Romanticism encouraged societal interest in occultism, of which Hermetic Qabalistic writing was a feature, francis Barretts The Magus handbook of ceremonial magic gained little notice until it influenced the French magical enthusiast Eliphas Levi
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Wicca
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Wicca, also termed Pagan Witchcraft, is a contemporary Pagan new religious movement. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. There are many variations on the structure, and the religion grows. It is divided into a number of lineages, sects and denominations, referred to as traditions, each with its own organizational structure. Due to its nature, there is some disagreement over what actually constitutes Wicca. Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a Goddess and a God and these are traditionally viewed as the Moon Goddess and the Horned God, respectively. These deities may be regarded in a way, as having many different divine aspects which can in turn be identified with many diverse pagan deities from different historical pantheons. For this reason, they are referred to as the Great Goddess. These two deities are viewed as facets of a greater pantheistic divinity, which is regarded as an impersonal force or process rather than a personal deity. While duotheism or bitheism is traditional in Wicca, broader Wiccan beliefs range from polytheism to pantheism or monism, an unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, although it is not accepted by all Wiccans. Wicca often involves the practice of magic, though it is not always necessary. Scholars of religious studies classify Wicca as a new religious movement, several academics have also categorised Wicca as a form of nature religion, a term that is also embraced by many of the faiths practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, Wicca is also a form of Western esotericism, and more specifically a part of the esoteric current known as occultism. The terms wizard and warlock are generally discouraged in the community, in Wicca, denominations are referred to as traditions, while non-Wiccans are often termed cowans. When the religion first came to attention, it was commonly called Witchcraft. For instance, Gerald Gardner—the man regarded as the Father of Wicca—referred to it as the Craft of the Wise, witchcraft, there is no evidence that he ever called it Wicca, although he did refer to the collective community of Pagan Witches as the Wica. As a name for the religion, Wicca developed in Britain during the 1960s, the first recorded use of the word Wicca appears in 1962, and it had been popularised to the extent that several British practitioners founded a newsletter called The Wiccan in 1968. In early sources Wicca referred to the entirety of the rather than specific traditions
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Modern Paganism
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Although they do share similarities, contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all. Not all members of faiths or beliefs regarded as Neopagan self-identify as Pagan, academic research has placed the Pagan movement along a spectrum, with Eclecticism on one end and Polytheistic Reconstructionism on the other. Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common features in Pagan theology, rituals take place in both public and in private domestic settings. The Pagan relationship with Christianity is often strained, contemporary Paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both similarities and differences. From the 1990s onward, scholars studying the modern Pagan movement have established the field of Pagan studies. There is considerable disagreement as to the definition and proper usage of the term modern Paganism. Even within the field of Pagan studies, there is no consensus regarding how contemporary Paganism can best be defined. Most scholars describe modern Paganism as an array of different religions rather than a singular religion in itself. Thus, he expressed the view that although a diverse phenomenon. However, while viewing different forms of Paganism as distinct religions in their own right, the various Pagan religions have been academically classified as new religious movements, with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing Paganism as a whole as a new religious phenomenon. A number of academics, particularly in North America, have considered modern Paganism to be a form of nature religion. Some practitioners eschew the term Pagan altogether, choosing not to themselves as such. This is because the term Pagan has its origins in Christian terminology, alternately, many practitioners within these regions view Native Faith as a category that exists within modern Paganism but which does not encompass all Pagan religions. Other terms sometimes favored by Pagans are traditional religion, indigenous religion, nativist religion, Further, they have suggested that all of these could be defined under the banner of paganism or Paganism. This approach has received critically by many specialists in religious studies. Many scholars have favored the use of Neopaganism to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix neo- serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient. Some Pagan practitioners also prefer Neopaganism, believing that the prefix conveys the nature of the religion, including for instance its rejection of superstition. Accordingly, to avoid causing offense many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the modern or contemporary rather than neo
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Chaos magic
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Chaos magic, also spelled chaos magick, is a contemporary magical practice which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the creation of new and unorthodox methods. Chaotes can be agnostic or atheist and sometimes regard magical practice as merely psychological, some chaos magicians also use psychedelic drugs in practices such as chemognosticism. Chaos magic was first formulated in West Yorkshire, England in the 1970s, a meeting between Peter J. Liber Null by Peter J. Carroll further developed this new, experimental perspective on magic. This book and Carrolls Psychonaut remain important sources, specifically, Spare developed the use of sigils and the use of gnosis to empower these. Although Spare died before chaos magick emerged, many consider him to be the father of magic because of his repudiation of traditional magical systems in favor of a technique based on gnosis. Following Spares death, magicians continued to experiment outside of traditional magical orders, the first edition of Liber Null does not include the term chaos magic, but only refers to magic or the magical art in general. Psychonaut uses the label individual sorcery as taught by the IOT, Chaos came to be part of this movement defined as the thing responsible for the origin and continued action of events. It could as well be called God or Tao, but the name Chaos is virtually meaningless, the Symbol of Chaos used to signify it was apparently, but not explicitly, lifted from the fantasy novels of Michael Moorcock. Carroll wrote that the aspect of this magic aims for psychological anarchy The aim is to produce inspiration. Chaos magic theory says that belief is a magical force. It emphasizes flexibility of belief and the ability to choose ones beliefs. Various psychological techniques are employed in order to induce flexibility of belief, other chaos magicians suggest that people do not need belief to work magic. Austin Osman Spare asserts in The Book of Pleasure and various works that will formulates desire which promulgates belief. A concept introduced by Peter Carroll is the state, also referred to as gnosis. This is defined as a state of consciousness that in his magic theory is necessary for working most forms of magic. This is a departure from older concepts which described energies, spirits or symbolic acts as the source of magical powers, the concept has an ancestor in the Buddhist concept of Samadhi, made popular in western occultism by Aleister Crowley and further explored by Austin Osman Spare. The gnostic state is achieved when a mind is focused on only one point, thought, or goal. Practitioners of chaos magic each develop their own ways of reaching this state, three main types of gnosis are described, Inhibitory gnosis is a form of deep meditation into a trance state of mind
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Satanism
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Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on the character of Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966, prior to the public practice, Satanism existed primarily as an accusation by various Christian groups toward perceived ideological opponents, rather than a self-identity. Satanism, and the concept of Satan, has also used by artists. Accusations that various groups have been practicing Satanism have been throughout much of Christian history. In the subsequent Early Modern period, belief in a widespread Satanic conspiracy of witches resulted in mass trials of alleged witches across Europe and the North American colonies. Accusations that Satanic conspiracies were active and that they were behind such as the French Revolution continued to be made in Christendom during the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Since the 19th century, various religious groups have emerged that self-identify as Satanists or use Satanic iconography. Satanist groups that appeared after the 1960s are widely diverse, theistic Satanists venerate Satan as a supernatural deity, viewing him not as omnipotent but rather as a patriarch. In contrast, atheistic Satanists regard Satan as merely a symbol of human traits. Contemporary religious Satanism is predominantly an American phenomenon, the ideas spreading elsewhere with the effects of globalization, the Internet spreads awareness of other Satanists, and is also the main battleground for Satanist disputes. Satanism started to reach Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, in time with the fall of the Soviet Union, the concept of Satanism is an invention of Christianity, for it relies upon the figure of Satan, a character deriving from Christian mythology. Elsewhere, Petersen noted that Satanism as something others do is different from Satanism as a self-designation. Eugene Gallagher noted that, as used, Satanism was usually a polemical. The word Satan was not originally a name but rather an ordinary noun meaning the adversary. For instance, in the Book of Samuel, David is presented as the satan of the Philistines, while in the Book of Numbers the term appears as a verb, the word Satanism was adopted into English from the French satanisme. In a Roman Catholic tract of 1565, the author condemns the heresies, blasphemies, in an Anglican work of 1559, Anabaptists and other Protestant sects are condemned as swarmes of Satanistes. Historical and anthropological research suggests that all societies have developed the idea of a sinister. This commonly involves a belief in witches, a group of individuals who invert the norms of their society and seek to harm their community, for instance by engaging in incest, murder, allegations of witchcraft may have different causes and serve different functions within a society
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Scientology
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Scientology is a body of religious beliefs and practices created in 1954 by American author L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard initially developed a program of ideas called Dianetics, which was distributed through the Dianetics Foundation, the foundation soon entered bankruptcy and Hubbard lost the rights to his seminal publication Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1952. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining the terminology, doctrines, the E-meter, and the practice of auditing. Within a year, he regained the rights to Dianetics and retained both subjects under the umbrella of the Church of Scientology. ”Hubbard writes, “thus, Scientology means knowing about knowing, or science of knowledge. ”Hubbards groups have encountered considerable opposition and controversy. In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners brought proceedings against Hubbards Dianetics Foundation on the charge of teaching medicine without a license, Hubbards followers engaged in a program of covert and illegal infiltration of the U. S. government. Hubbard-inspired organizations and their classification are often a point of contention, Germany classifies Scientology groups as an anti-constitutional sect. In France, Scientology groups have been classified as a cult by some parliamentary reports. L. Ron Hubbard was the child of Harry Ross Hubbard, a United States Navy officer. Hubbard spent three semesters at George Washington University but was placed on probation in September 1931 and he failed to return for the fall 1932 semester. In July 1941, Hubbard was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U. S. Naval Reserve, on May 18,1943, the subchaser left Portland. That night, Hubbard ordered his crew to fire 35 depth charges and his ship sustained minor damage and three crew were injured. Having run out of charges and with the presence of a submarine still unconfirmed by other ships. The navy report concludes that there was no submarine in the area, a decade later, Hubbard claimed he had sunk a Japanese submarine in his Scientology lectures. On June 28,1941, Hubbard ordered his crew to fire on the Coronado Islands, Hubbard apparently did not realize that the islands belonged to US-allied Mexico, nor that he had taken his vessel into Mexican territorial waters. He was reprimanded and removed from command on July 7, after reassignment to a naval facility in Monterey, California, Hubbard became depressed and fell ill. Reporting stomach pains in April 1945, he spent the remainder of the war as a patient in Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, according to his later teachings, during this time Hubbard made scientific breakthroughs by use of endocrine experiments. On October 15,1947, Hubbard wrote a letter to the Veterans Administration formally requesting psychiatric treatment, within a few years, Hubbard would condemn psychiatry as evil, which would grow into a major theme in Scientology. In April 1938, Hubbard reportedly reacted to a used in a dental procedure
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Hermeticism
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Hermeticism, also called Hermetism, is a religious, philosophical, and esoteric tradition based primarily upon writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. These writings have influenced the Western esoteric tradition and were considered to be of great importance during both the Renaissance and the Reformation. The tradition claims descent from a prisca theologia, a doctrine that affirms the existence of a single, true theology that is present in all religions, st. Thomas Aquinas reported that Trismegistus arrived at something akin to the doctrine of the Trinity. The three parts of the wisdom are alchemy, astrology, and theurgy, the Poimandres, from which Marsilio Ficino formed his opinion, states that They called him Trismegistus because he was the greatest philosopher and the greatest priest and the greatest king. The Suda states that He was called Trismegistus on account of his praise of the trinity, much of the importance of Hermeticism arises from its connection with the development of science during the time from 1300 to 1600 AD. Consequently, it was the practical aspects of Hermetic writings that attracted the attention of scientists, Isaac Newton placed great faith in the concept of an unadulterated, pure, ancient doctrine, which he studied vigorously to aid his understanding of the physical world. The term Hermetic is from the medieval Latin hermeticus, which is derived from the name of the Greek god, in English, it has been attested since the 17th century, as in Hermetic writers. The word Hermetic was used by Dr. Everard in his English translation of The Pimander of Hermes, Mary Anne Atwood mentioned the use of the word Hermetic by Dufresnoy in 1386. The synonymous term Hermetical is also attested in the 17th century, sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici of 1643 wrote, Now besides these particular and divided Spirits, there may be a universal and common Spirit to the whole world. It was the opinion of Plato, and is yet of the Hermeticall Philosophers, Hermes Trimegistus supposedly invented the process of making a glass tube airtight using a secret seal. Hence, the term completely sealed is implied in hermetically sealed, in Late Antiquity, Hermetism emerged in parallel with early Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, the Chaldaean Oracles, and late Orphic and Pythagorean literature. These doctrines were characterized by a resistance to the dominance of either rationality or doctrinal faith. The books now known as the Corpus Hermeticum were part of a renaissance of syncretistic and these post-Christian Greek texts dwell upon the oneness and goodness of God, urge purification of the soul, and defend pagan religious practices such as the veneration of images. Their predominant literary form is the dialogue, Hermes Trismegistus instructs a perplexed disciple upon various teachings of the hidden wisdom, many lost Greek texts and many surviving vulgate books contained discussions of alchemy clothed in philosophical metaphor. One of these, known as The Asclepius, contained a prophecy of the end of Roman rule in Egypt. Plutarchs mention of Hermes Trismegistus dates back to the 1st century AD, and Tertullian, Iamblichus, after centuries of falling out of favor, Hermeticism was reintroduced to the West when, in 1460, a man named Leonardo de Candia Pistoia brought the Corpus Hermeticum to Pistoia. He was one of agents sent out by Pistoias ruler, Cosimo de Medici. In 1614, Isaac Casaubon, a Swiss philologist, analyzed the Greek Hermetic texts for linguistic style and he concluded that the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were not the work of an ancient Egyptian priest but in fact dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD
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Hermes Trismegistus
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Hermes Trismegistus is the purported author of the Hermetic Corpus, a series of sacred texts that are the basis of Hermeticism. Hermes Trismegistus may be a representation of the combination of the Greek god Hermes. Greeks in Hellenistic Egypt recognized the equivalence of Hermes and Thoth, consequently, the two gods were worshiped as one, in what had been the Temple of Thoth in Khemnu, which the Greeks called Hermopolis. Both Hermes and Thoth were gods of writing and of magic in their respective cultures, Hermes, the Greek god of interpretive communication, was combined with Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, to become the patron of astrology and alchemy. In addition, both gods were psychopomps, guiding souls to the afterlife, the Egyptian priest and polymath Imhotep had been deified long after his death and therefore assimilated to Thoth in the classical and Hellenistic period. This interpretation of poorly-understood Mycenaean material is disputed, since Hermes Trismegistus is not referenced in any of the sources before he emerges in Hellenistic Egypt. The majority of Greeks, and later Romans, did not accept Hermes Trismegistus in the place of Hermes, the two gods were regarded as distinct. Both of these early references in Cicero corroborate the view that Thrice-Great Hermes originated in Hellenistic Egypt through syncretism between Greek and Egyptian gods. In a parallel tradition, Hermetic philosophy rationalized and systematized religious cult practices and this latter tradition has led to the confusion of Hermeticism with Gnosticism, which was developing contemporaneously. As a divine source of wisdom, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with tens of thousands of highly esteemed writings, platos Timaeus and Critias state that in the temple of Neith at Sais there were secret halls containing historical records which had been kept for 9,000 years. Clement of Alexandria was under the impression that the Egyptians had forty-two sacred writings by Hermes, the Neo-Platonic writers took up Clements forty-two essential texts. The Hermetica is a category of papyri containing spells and initiatory induction procedures, in other papyri, there are recipes for constructing such images and animating them, such as when images are to be fashioned hollow so as to enclose a magic name inscribed on gold leaf. Fowden asserts that the first datable occurrences of the epithet thrice great are in the Legatio of Athenagoras of Athens and in a fragment from Philo of Byblos, circa AD 64–141. However, in a work, Copenhaver reports that this epithet is first found in the minutes of a meeting of the council of the Ibis cult. Hart explains that the epithet is derived from an epithet of Thoth found at the Temple of Esna, Thoth the great, the great, the great. Some authorities regard him as a contemporary of Abraham, and some Jewish traditions claim that Abraham acquired a portion of his knowledge from Hermes himself. They believed in a prisca theologia, the doctrine that a single, true theology exists and it was given by God to man in antiquity and passed through a series of prophets, which included Zoroaster and Plato. In order to demonstrate the verity of the prisca theologia, Christians appropriated the Hermetic teachings for their own purposes and it was Marsilio Ficino who stated that they called him Trismegistus because he was the greatest philosopher and the greatest priest and the greatest king
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Thoth
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Thoth or Djehuti was one of the deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Maat, Thoths chief temple was located in the city of Khmun, later called Hermopolis Magna during the Greco-Roman era and Shmounein in the Coptic rendering, and was partially destroyed in 1826 CE. In that city, he led the Ogdoad pantheon of eight principal deities and he also had numerous shrines within the cities of Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens. Thoth played many vital and prominent roles in Egyptian mythology, such as maintaining the universe, the final -y may even have been pronounced as a consonant, not a vowel. According to Theodor Hopfner, Thoths Egyptian name written as ḏḥwty originated from ḏḥw, the addition of -ty denotes that he possessed the attributes of the ibis. Hence his name means He who is like the ibis, Djehuty is sometimes alternatively rendered as Jehuti, Jehuty, Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, or Tetu. Greek versions Thot, Thout and Thoth are derived from the letters ḏḥwty, not counting differences in spelling, Thoth had many names and titles, like other goddesses and gods. Among the names used are A, Sheps, Lord of Khemennu, Asten, Khenti, Mehi, Hab, in addition, Thoth was also known by specific aspects of himself, for instance the moon god Iah-Djehuty, representing the Moon for the entire month. The Greeks related Thoth to their god Hermes due to his similar attributes, One of Thoths titles, Thrice great was translated to the Greek τρισμέγιστος, making Hermes Trismegistus. Thoth has been depicted in many ways depending on the era, usually, he is depicted in his human form with the head of an ibis. In this form, he can be represented as the reckoner of times, when depicted as a form of Shu or Ankher, he was depicted to be wearing the respective gods headdress. Sometimes he was seen in art to be wearing the Atef crown or the United Crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. When not depicted in this form, he sometimes takes the form of the ibis directly. He also appears as a baboon or a man with the head of a baboon when he is Aan. In the form of Aah-Djehuty he took a more human-looking form and these forms are all symbolic and are metaphors for Thoths attributes. The Egyptians did not believe these gods actually looked like humans with animal heads, for example, Maat is often depicted with an ostrich feather, the feather of truth, on her head, or with a feather for a head. Thoths roles in Egyptian mythology were many and he served as a mediating power, especially between good and evil, making sure neither had a decisive victory over the other
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The Kybalion
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The Kybalion was first published in 1908 by the Yogi Publication Society and is now in the public domain, as well as circulating the worldwide web. Purportedly based upon ancient Hermeticism, its philosophies, in conjunction with others, have become founding pillars within the New Thought movement of our modern age. The book early on makes the claim that it makes its appearance in life when the time is appropriate and includes axioms. The book devotes a chapter to each of its seven Principles, or axioms, everything that happens has to be result of mental state which precedes it. For anything to exist, thoughts had to form first, then form physical reality or manifestation after, the Principle of Correspondence embodies the idea that there is always a correspondence between the laws of phenomena of the various planes of being and life. As above, so below, as below, so above and this principle explains that the differences between different manifestations of Matter, Energy, Mind, and even Spirit, are the result of only different vibrations. The higher a person is on the scale, the higher the rate of vibration will be, here, The All is said to be at an infinite level of vibration, almost to the point of being at rest. There are said to be millions upon millions of varying degrees between the highest level, The All, and the objects of the lowest vibration, Mental Transmutation is described as the practical application of this principle. To change ones mental state is to change vibration, one may do this by an effort of Will, by means of deliberately fixing the attention upon a more desirable state. The Principle of Polarity embodies the idea that everything is dual, All manifested things have two sides, two aspects, or two poles. The Principle of Rhythm embodies the idea that in everything there is manifested a measured motion, a to and from, a flow and inflow, a backward and forward. This principle explains that there is rhythm between every pair of opposites, or poles, and is related to the Principle of Polarity. It can be seen that this Principle enables transition from one pole to the other, the Principle of Cause and Effect explains that there is a cause for every effect, and an effect for every cause. It also states there is no such thing as chance. The Principle is clarified in the chapter Causation, the Principle of Gender embodies the idea that gender is manifested in everything. The authors state that this does not relate explicitly to the commonly understood notion of sex, to beget, to procreate, to generate, to create, or to produce. Gender is manifested as the Feminine and Masculine principles, and manifests itself on all planes, Mental Gender is described as a Hermetic concept which relates to the feminine and masculine principles. It does not refer to someones physical sex, nor does it suggest that someone of a certain physical sex necessarily has a matching mental gender, ideally, one wants to have a balanced mental gender
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Alchemy
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Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Egypt and Asia. It aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects, the perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis. In Europe, the creation of a stone was variously connected with all of these projects. In English, the term is limited to descriptions of European alchemy, but similar practices existed in the Far East, the Indian subcontinent. In Europe, following the 12th-century Renaissance produced by the translation of Islamic works on science, Islamic and European alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today. However, they continued antiquitys belief in four elements and guarded their work in secrecy including cyphers and their work was guided by Hermetic principles related to magic, mythology, and religion. The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers, the subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts. The word alchemy was borrowed from Old French alquemie, alkimie, taken from Medieval Latin alchymia, the Arabic word is borrowed from Late Greek chēmeía, chēmía, with the agglutination of the Arabic definite article al-. This ancient Greek word was derived from the early Greek name for Egypt, Chēmia, based on the Egyptian name for Egypt, the Medieval Latin form was influenced by Greek chymeia meaning ‘mixture’ and referring to pharmaceutical chemistry. Alchemy covers several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents and these traditions general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and genetic relationships. It is still a question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other. Here, elements of technology, religion, mythology, and Hellenistic philosophy, each with their own much longer histories, Zosimos of Panopolis wrote the oldest known books on alchemy, while Mary the Jewess is credited as being the first non-fictitious Western alchemist. They wrote in Greek and lived in Egypt under Roman rule, mythology – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion. Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and these included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, and many others. The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus and his name is derived from the god Thoth and his Greek counterpart Hermes. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff, were among alchemys principal symbols, according to Clement of Alexandria, he wrote what were called the forty-two books of Hermes, covering all fields of knowledge. The Hermetica of Thrice-Great Hermes is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice and these writings were collected in the first centuries of the common era. Technology – The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of metallurgy, Many writings were lost when the emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria
36.
Astrology
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Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs and terrestrial events. Throughout most of its history astrology was considered a tradition and was common in academic circles, often in close relation with astronomy, alchemy, meteorology. It was present in political circles, and is mentioned in works of literature, from Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in it has largely declined, Astrology is now recognized to be pseudoscience. The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, which derives from the Greek ἀστρολογία—from ἄστρον astron, astrologia later passed into meaning star-divination with astronomia used for the scientific term. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, with roots in systems used to predict seasonal shifts. A form of astrology was practised in the first dynasty of Mesopotamia, Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty. Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylonian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria, Alexander the Greats conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread to Ancient Greece and Rome. In Rome, astrology was associated with Chaldean wisdom, after the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, and Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Persian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were imported to Europe, major astronomers including Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo practised as court astrologers. Astrological references appear in literature in the works of such as Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer. Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition and it was accepted in political and academic contexts, and was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. At the end of the 17th century, new concepts in astronomy. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in astrology has largely declined, Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. This was a first step towards recording the Moons influence upon tides and rivers, by the 3rd millennium BCE, civilisations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and may have oriented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars. Scattered evidence suggests that the oldest known references are copies of texts made in the ancient world. The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa thought to be compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE, a scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash
37.
Freemasonry
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The degrees of freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow, and Master Mason. These are the degrees offered by Craft Freemasonry, members of these organisations are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, the basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the Lodge. The Lodges are usually supervised and governed at the level by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, worldwide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry, each Grand Lodge is independent, modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups. Continental Freemasonry is now the term for the liberal jurisdictions who have removed some, or all. The Masonic Lodge is the organisational unit of Freemasonry. The Lodge meets regularly to conduct the formal business of any small organisation. In addition to business, the meeting may perform a ceremony to confer a Masonic degree or receive a lecture, at the conclusion of the meeting, the Lodge might adjourn for a formal dinner, or festive board, sometimes involving toasting and song. The bulk of Masonic ritual consists of degree ceremonies, candidates for Freemasonry are progressively initiated into Freemasonry, first in the degree of Entered Apprentice. Some time later, in a ceremony, they will be passed to the degree of Fellowcraft. In all of ceremonies, the candidate is entrusted with passwords, signs. Another ceremony is the installation of the Master and officers of the Lodge. In some jurisdictions Installed Master is valued as a separate rank, in other jurisdictions, the grade is not recognised, and no inner ceremony conveys new secrets during the installation of a new Master of the Lodge. Most Lodges have some sort of calendar, allowing Masons. Often coupled with events is the obligation placed on every Mason to contribute to charity. This occurs at both Lodge and Grand Lodge level, Masonic charities contribute to many fields from education to disaster relief. These private local Lodges form the backbone of Freemasonry, and a Freemason will necessarily have been initiated into one of these, there also exist specialist Lodges where Masons meet to celebrate anything from sport to Masonic research
38.
Rosicrucianism
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The manifestos do not elaborate extensively on the matter, but clearly combine references to Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and Christianity. The Rosicrucian Manifestos heralded a universal reformation of mankind, through a science allegedly kept secret for decades until the climate might receive it. In 1616, Johann Valentin Andreae famously designated it as a ludibrium, by promising a spiritual transformation at a time of great turmoil, the manifestos tempted many figures to seek esoteric knowledge. Seventeenth-century occult philosophers such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd, according to historian David Stevenson, it was influential to Freemasonry as it was emerging in Scotland. In later centuries, many societies have claimed to derive from the original Rosicrucians. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross or Rose Cross, between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous manifestos were published, first in Germany and later throughout Europe. These were the Fama Fraternitatis RC and the Confessio Fraternitatis, the Fama Fraternitatis presented the legend of a German doctor and mystic philosopher referred to as Frater C. R. C. The year 1378 is presented as being the year of our Christian Father. After studying in the Middle East under various masters, possibly adhering to Sufism, instead, he gathered a small circle of friends/disciples and founded the Rosicrucian Order. During Rosenkreuzs lifetime, the order was said to consist of no more than eight members, each a doctor, each member undertook an oath to heal the sick without payment, to maintain a secret fellowship, and to find a replacement for himself before he died. Three such generations had passed between c.1500 and c. 1600, a time when scientific, philosophical and religious freedom had grown so that the public benefit from the Rosicrucians knowledge. The manifestos were and are not taken literally by many but rather regarded either as hoaxes or as allegorical statements, the invitation to the royal wedding in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz opens with Dees philosophical key, the Monas Hieroglyphica symbol. The writer also claimed the brotherhood possessed a book that resembled the works of Paracelsus and their literature announced them as moral and religious reformers. They used the techniques of chemistry and of the sciences generally as media through which to publicize their opinions, in his autobiography, Johann Valentin Andreae claimed that the anonymously published Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz was one of his works, and he subsequently described it as a ludibrium. In his later works, he makes alchemy an object of ridicule and places it along with music, art, theater, according to some sources, his role in the origin of the Rosicrucian legend is controversial. However, it was accepted according to others. Wars of politics and religion ravaged the continent, the works were re-issued several times, followed by numerous pamphlets, favorable or otherwise
39.
Ariosophy
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Armanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideological systems of an esoteric nature, pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term Ariosophy, meaning concerning the Aryans, was first coined by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915. This broader use of the word is retrospective and was not generally current among the esotericists themselves, List actually called his doctrine Armanism, while Lanz used the terms Theozoology and Ario-Christianity before the First World War. The connection of this Germanic mysticism with historical Germanic culture is evident in the fascination with runes. Ideology regarding the Aryan race, runic symbols, the swastika, from around 1900, esoteric notions entered Guido Lists thoughts by 1899 at the latest. In April 1903 he sent his manuscript, proposing what Goodrick-Clarke calls a monumental pseudoscience concerning the ancient German faith and these Ariosophic ideas contributed significantly to an occult counterculture in Germany and Austria. The most notable case is Himmlers Ahnenerbe. In a less broad approach one could also treat rune occultism separately, although the Armanen runes go back to List, Rudolf John Gorsleben distinguished himself from other völkisch writers by making the esoteric importance of the runes central to his world view. Goodrick-Clarke therefore refers to the doctrine of Kummer and Gorsleben and his followers as rune occultism, highly practical systems of rune occultism, influenced mainly by List, were developed by Friedrich Bernhard Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer. Guido von List elaborated a racial religion premised on the concept of renouncing the imposed foreign creed of Christianity, in this, he became strongly influenced by the Theosophical thought of Madame Blavatsky, which he blended however with his own highly original beliefs, founded upon Germanic paganism. He also had written an essay in 1895. List adopted the aristocratic von between 1903 and 1907, List called his doctrine Armanism after the Armanen, supposedly a body of priest-kings in the ancient Aryo-Germanic nation. His conception of the religion of the Germanic tribes was a form of sun worship. Religious instruction was imparted on two levels and this peaceful merging of the two religions had been disrupted by the forcible conversions under bloody Charlemagne – the Slaughterer of the Saxons. He also believed in the powers of the old runes. From 1891 onwards he claimed that heraldry was based on a system of encoded runes, in April 1903, he submitted an article concerning the alleged Aryan proto-language to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Its highlight was a mystical and occult interpretation of the runic alphabet, list’s doctrine has been described as gnostic, pantheist and deist. At its core is the union of God, man
40.
Holy Royal Arch
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The Holy Royal Arch is a degree of Freemasonry. The Royal Arch is present in all main masonic systems, though in some it is worked as part of Craft Freemasonry, until 1823, only freemasons who had previously passed through the chair of a Craft lodge were allowed to join. Today, candidates for an English Holy Royal Arch Chapter are required to have been a Master Mason for four weeks or more. In Freemasonry in Scotland, the candidate for the Royal Arch must also be a Mark Master Mason, in Ireland a candidate must be a Master Mason for one year before being admitted as a member of a Royal Arch Chapter. The Degree of Mark Master Mason is taken separately first and only then can the Royal Arch Degree be taken, the Royal Arch is also the subject of the 13th and 14th degrees of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Similarly to Craft Freemasonry, the Royal Arch conveys moral and ethical lessons, in the three degrees of the Craft, the candidate is presented with a series of practical principles of service to his fellow man. But as man is not simply a practical being, he also has a spiritual aspect to his nature. The Royal Arch further develops this latter aspect by a contemplation of mans spiritual nature, in clearing the ground of Solomons Temple for the foundations of a new temple, the candidate makes important discoveries. The symbol or Grand Emblem of Royal Arch Masonry is the Triple Tau, the exact origins of Royal Arch Masonry in general, and of the Holy Royal Arch in particular, are unknown except that it dates back to the mid 18th century. Although glimpses of Royal Arch vocabulary appear in Masonic literature from the 1720s, 21’s records, the “Royal Arch” was carried in a procession by “two excellent Masons” through Youghal, Ireland, on December 27,1743. The degree is also mentioned disapprovingly in Dassignys A serious and impartial enquiry into the cause of the present decay of Free-masonry in the Kingdom of Ireland published in Dublin in 1744. Separate notes in this work indicate that the rite was practised in Dublin, London and York, in 1749, the Grand Lodge of Ireland issued warrants to Lodges 190 and 198 to establish “Royal Arch Lodges”. In 18th century England, the role and purpose of Royal Arch Masonry was the subject of a debate between the two rival umbrella organisations of Freemasonry. In 1717, four Craft lodges had formed the original Premier Grand Lodge of England to govern Freemasonry as practiced in England, from 1751, this claim was contested by another group of Craft lodges which formed the Antient Grand Lodge of England. In the ensuing debate, the grand lodge became known for short as the Antients. He regarded the Royal Arch as the degree of Craft Masonry. Under his influence, the Antients championed the Royal Arch degree in England, in 1764, a lodge of Scottish masons attached to the Antients switched sides and became the Caledonian Lodge attached to the Moderns. The next year, they assisted in setting up a Royal Arch Chapter admitting masons from other Craft lodges which were attached to the Moderns and he was also one of the signatories on the charter establishing the first Grand Chapter
41.
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
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The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was an organization devoted to the study and practice of the occult, metaphysics, and paranormal activities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as an order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was active in Great Britain and focused its practices on theurgy. The three founders, William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, were Freemasons, Westcott appears to have been the initial driving force behind the establishment of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn system was based on hierarchy and initiation like the Masonic Lodges, the Golden Dawn was the first of three Orders, although all three are often collectively referred to as the Golden Dawn. The Second or Inner Order, the Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, taught magic, including scrying, astral travel, the foundational documents of the original Order of the Golden Dawn, known as the Cipher Manuscripts, are written in English using the Trithemius cipher. The documents did not excite Woodford, and in February 1886 he passed them on to Freemason William Wynn Westcott, Westcott, pleased with his discovery, called on fellow Freemason Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers for a second opinion. Westcott asked for Mathers help to turn the manuscripts into a coherent system for lodge work, Mathers in turn asked fellow Freemason William Robert Woodman to assist the two, and he accepted. Mathers and Westcott have been credited with developing the ritual outlines in the Cipher Manuscripts into a workable format, Mathers, however, is generally credited with the design of the curriculum and rituals of the Second Order, which he called the Rosae Rubae et Aureae Crucis. In October 1887, Westcott claimed to have written to a German countess and prominent Rosicrucian named Anna Sprengel, Westcott purportedly received a reply from Sprengel granting permission to establish a Golden Dawn temple and conferring honorary grades of Adeptus Exemptus on Westcott, Mathers, and Woodman. The temple was to consist of the five grades outlined in the manuscripts, in 1888, the Isis-Urania Temple was founded in London. In contrast to the S. R. I. A. and Masonry, women were allowed, the Order was more of a philosophical and metaphysical teaching order in its early years. Other than certain rituals and meditations found in the Cipher manuscripts and developed further, for the first four years, the Golden Dawn was one cohesive group later known as the Outer Order or First Order. An Inner Order was established and became active in 1892, the Inner Order consisted of members known as adepts, who had completed the entire course of study for the Outer Order. This group of adepts eventually became known as the Second Order, eventually, the Osiris temple in Weston-super-Mare, the Horus temple in Bradford, and the Amen-Ra temple in Edinburgh were founded. In 1893 Mathers founded the Ahathoor temple in Paris, in 1891, Westcotts alleged correspondence with Anna Sprengel suddenly ceased. He claimed to have received word from Germany that she was dead or that her companions did not approve of the founding of the Order. If the founders were to contact the Secret Chiefs, apparently, in 1892, Mathers professed that a link to the Secret Chiefs had been established. Subsequently, he supplied rituals for the Second Order, calling them the Red Rose, the rituals were based on the tradition of the tomb of Christian Rosenkreuz, and a Vault of Adepts became the controlling force behind the Outer Order
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
