Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
MYTH,MYTHOLOGY,MYTHOLOGIES,MYTHS

Return to Occult Library Index

0 0

th: the tenth emanation of the tree of life. malkuth is associated with the gods and goddesses of the earth, especially persephone, proserpina, and geb. malkuth is the domain of the manifested universe, the immediate environment, the plane of physical reality. as a consequence, all inner journeys of consciousness begin symbolically in malkuth. it is particularly appropriate, for example, that the myth of the rape of persephone confirms her both as queen of the underworld and as a lunar goddess. from an occult point of view, the underworld equates with the lower unconscious mind, and the moon, represented by the sphere of yesod, is the first sephira reached on the inner mystic journey up the tree of life. malkuth is closely linked with the universe card. the path of the flaming sword is the

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

d which enabled him to trace a word with certitude through the strangest disguises. the comparative mythology of all nations has made great strides since grimm first wrote his book; but as a storehouse of facts within his special province of teutonic mythology, and as a clue to the derivation and significance of the names of persons and things vi translator's preface. in the various versions of a myth, it has never been superseded and perhaps it never can be. not that he confines himself to the teutonic field; he compares it at every point with the classical mythus and the wide circle of slavic, lettic and occasionally of ugric, celtic, and oriental tradition. still, among his deutsch kindred he is most at home; and etymology is his forte. but then etymology in his hands is transfigured fr

d facts, which i believe have liitherto been overlooked. if we are to sum up in brief the attributes of this god, he is the 1 a word that has never been fully explained, goth, vopis dulcis, 2 cor. 2, 15, ohg. wuodi, diut. 2, 304% os. wuothi, hel. 36, 3. 140, 7, as. u-e&e, must either l^e regarded as wholly unconnected, or its meaning be harmonized- finn magnusen comes to the same conclusion, lex. myth. 621. 636. 3 the belief, so common in the mid. ages, in a 'furious host' or 'wild hunt' is described in ch. xxxi. trans. wodan. 13^ all-pervading creative and formative pmvcr, who bestows shape and beauty on men and all things, from whom proceeds the gift of song and the management of war and victory, on whom at the same time depends the fertility of the soil, nay wishing, and all highest gif

hairands, now that hakuls for (f)e\6vr]odin as bald-headed, iduna 10, 231. in the ancient poetry he is harharffr, sidgrani, sidskcggr, all in allusion to his thick growth of hair and beard. the name eedbeard i have elsewhere understood of thor, but in fornald. sog. 2, 239 257 the grani and rau&grani are expressly osinn (see suppl. the norse myth arms osinn with a wonderful s'pcar (geir, gixngnir by name, stem. 196. sn. 72; which i put on a par with the lance or sword of mars, not the staff of mercury. sigmund's sword breaks, when he hacks at osinn's spear, vols, saga cap. 11, lie lends this spear to heroes to win victories with, ssem. 165. a remarkable passage in the fornm. sog. 5, 250 says: seldi honum reyrspiota (gave him the reede

p nu, oden asagrim! svenska fornsangor 1, 11. hielp mig othin! 1, 69. to this god first and foremost the people turned when in distress; i suppose he is called asagrim, because amons the ases he bore the name of grimnir^ eeuscli, sagen des preiiss. samlands, no. 11. 29. 2 in the old british mythology there appears a gwydion ah don, g. son of don, whom davies (celtic researches pp. 168, 174. brit. myth. p. 118, 204, 263-4, 353, 429, 504, 541) identities with hermes; he invented avriting, practised magic, and inult the rainbow; the milky way was named caer gwydion, g.'s castle (owen, sub v. the british antiquaries say nothing of woden, yet gwydion seems near of kin to the above givodan= wodan. so the irish name for dies mercurii, dia geden, whether modelled on the engl. wednesday or not, lea

. 8, 1. mk 5, 5. 11. 9, 2. 11, 1. lu. 3, 5. 4, 29. 9, 37. 19, 29. 37. 1 cor. 13, 2. bairgahei (17 opeivrj) in lu. 1, 39, 65; never the simple bairgs. thunae. 173 perkun, and v>-ill be confirmed presently by the meaning of mount and rock which lies in the word hamar. as zeus is called ivdkplo, so is his daughter pallas akpia, and his mother opearepa td, fxdrep avrov ai6 (sophocl. philoct. 389; the myth transfers from him to his mother and daughter. of donar's another our very miirchen have things to tell (pentam. 5, 4; and beyond a doubt, the stories of the devil and his bath and his grandmother are but a vulgarization of heathen notions about the thundergod. lasicz 47 tells us: percuna tete mater est fulminis atque tonitrui quae solem fessum ac pulverolentum balneo excipit, deinde lotum et

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

shing or binding magick can have a creative focus, diverting or transforming redundant or negative energy, for example by burying a symbol of the negativity or casting herbs to the four winds. magick and responsibility true magick is not like a cake in which everybody must vie for a slice or be left with none: it is more akin to a never-emptying pot. like the legendary cauldron of undry in celtic myth, the more goodness that is put in, the more the mixture increases in richness and quantity. the cauldron of undry, one of the four main celtic treasures, provided an endless supply of nourishment, had great healing powers and could restore the dead to life, in either their former existence or a new life form. located on the isle of arran, it could be accessed by magical means or through spiri

ily and close friends to celebrate with me on the festival days. most solitary witches initiate themselves, though some traditions, such as the saxon seat wicca founded by raymond buckland in the usa, do admit solitary witches. indeed, solitary practitioners are said by some to have been witches in seven previous lifetimes and to possess within them all they need to know about the craft. truth or myth, no one should underestimate the number of private practitioners who do work alone, some coming together occasionally in small, informal groups. solitary witches can use ceremonial magick very successfully, but many do follow the less formal folk magick, linked to the land and the seasons, that was practised by our ancestors in their homes. for this reason, some call themselves hedge-witches

read their mythical stories. because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. for example, diana, the goddess of the moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. so, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. some deities fit into more than one category, so i have listed them under their most significant one. deities of love and passion aphrodite aphrodite is the cretan and greek goddess of love and beauty. her name m

-frozen fields and sacred fires were lit on hilltops to attract the new sun. it is said that brighid went around the fields with her white wand of fire, melting the snows and stirring new life, so it is primarily a festival of light. in both pagan and christian traditions it has involved the lighting of candles and torches, to restore warmth and light into the world. the maiden goddess brighid in myth mated with lugh the young god of light and so, traditionally, a virgin was chosen to mate with the chief of the tribe to ensure the coming of new life to the land. it is said that, like lugh, he embraced cailleach, the old hag of winter who was thus transformed in his arms into the maiden goddess. in medieval times, a girl representing brighid would be brought to the door of the main house or

ocus: the triumph of light over darkness, resurrection, new beginnings and opportunities; spring cleaning and casting out what is no longer of worth; fertility and conception, the winds of change. at the spring equinox, the sun rises precisely in the east and sets precisely in the west, giving exactly 12 hours of daylight and so heralds the longer days and shorter nights. as is so often the case, myth and religion are intertwined in the sources of their festivals that share the same dates. in the old celtic tradition, lugh, the god of light overcame his twin, the god of darkness, and at easter, the christian spring festival most closely associated with the spring equinox, the resurrection of christ is associated with the restoration of light to the world. the first eggs of spring were pain

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

, via a process of individuation that is active and dynamic (being brought about by the "patient" himself) as opposed to the passive depth analysis of the jungian adepts, lovecraft's cthulhu mythos was meant for entertainment. scholars, of course, are able to find higher, ulterior motives in lovecraft's writings, as can be done with any manifestation of art. lovecraft depicted a kind of christian myth of the struggle between opposing forces of light and darkness, between god and satan, in the cthulhu mythos. some critics may complain that this smacks more of the manichaen heresy than it does of genuine christian dogma; yet, as a priest and former monk, i believe it is fair to say that this dogma is unfortunately very far removed from the majority of the faithful to be of much consequence

tion, as manifest in the famous chinese yin-yang symbol. but what of inanna, the single planetary deity having a female manifestation among the sumerians? she is invoked in the necronomicon and identified as the vanquisher of death, for she descended into the underworld and defeated her sister, the goddess of the abyss, queen ereshkigal (possibly another name for tiamat. interestingly enough, the myth has many parallels with the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmi

the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmic and eternal nature of this myth. therefore, the goddess of the witches has two distinct forms: the ancient one, goddess of the dragon-like telluric power which is raised in magickal rituals, and the elder goddess, defeater of death, who brings the promise of resurrection and rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the "summerland. sumer-land? anot

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

of ra. line 22: ma is more usually spelt maat or ma at. lines 23, 31: auramoth and thoum-aesh-neith were never egyptian deities but were names constructed on qabalistic principles by the golden dawn to refer to water and fire; similarly the name tarpesheth (tharpesht) is unknown prior to g.d. material, although she appears to be a hybrid of bast and sekhet. line 24: typhon was a monster in greek myth, probably a personification of destructive forces of nature, who was identified with set in late classical times. add selket, whose symbol was the scorpion. i have no idea what khephra is doing here. line 25: add neith (net) who is traditionally depicted with a bow and arrows. line 26: khem is identified by budge (op. cit, i, 97) with the phallic god min or amsu, and is said to have been the

gods had invisible stations in the corners of the temple. the most immediate source for the elemental attributions, though, is the golden dawn paper on enochian chess where the four pawns of each side are referred to these god-forms. it is not clear why crowley omitted tuamutef for water (a g.d. coptic form of this name is cited in connection with the eagle kerub in a ritual in equinox i (3. in a myth recounted by budge (op. cit. vol. i p. 158) these gods are said to have grasped the four pillars of heaven as sceptres: amset the south, hapi the north, tuamutef the east, and qebhsennuf the west. they were also said to guard the canopic jars in which the internal organs of the deceased were preserved, and their g.d. attributions to the crossquarters probably derive from a single find of an e

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

the road to damascus, goes into the desert of arabia for many years, and on his return overturns the roman empire. even in the legends of savages we find the same thing universal; somebody who is nobody in particular goes away for a longer or shorter period, and comes back as the "great medicine man; but nobody ever knows exactly what happened to him. making every possible deduction for fable and myth, we get this one coincidence. a nobody goes away, and comes back a somebody. this is not to be explained in any of the ordinary ways. there is not the smallest ground for the contention that these were from the start exceptional men. mohammed would hardly have driven a camel until he was thirty-five years old if he had possessed any talent or ambition. st. paul had much original talent; but h

ins and the murder of little children, and whose rites were then, and still are, celebrated by human sacrifice<jews in eastern europe which surprise the ignorant, are almost invariably excited by the disappearance of "christian" children, stolen, as the parents suppose, for the purposes of "ritual murder<blood-libel" myth was later recanted by crowley. the blood-libel was visited upon early christians by the romans and is visited today upon thelemites by christian fundamentalists> similarly the visions of joan of arc were entirely christian; but she, like all the others we have mentioned, found somewhere the force to do great things. of course, it may be said that there is a fallacy in the argument; it may be

oubt to send him forth as a teacher into the world, and rejoices that he is so well carrying out the will of the father. let us pass from this most blessed subject to yet another. tom, tom, the piper's son, stole a pig and away he run. the pig was eat, and tom was beat, and tom went roaring down the street. this is one of the more exoteric of these rimes. in fact, it is not much better than a sun-myth. tom is toum, the god of the sunset (called the son of apollo, the piper, the maker of music. the only difficulty in the poem concerns the pig; for anyone who has watched an angry sunset in the tropics upon the sea, will recognize how incomparable a description of that sunset is given in that wonderful last line. some have thought that the pig refers to the evening sacrifice, others that she

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

shed. yet deussen is honest enough to admit that vedanta teaching is identical, but clearer! and he quite clearly and sensibly defines faith surely the most essential quality for the adherent to christian dogma as being convinced on insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the central spirit of christianity is far older, in the osiris myth of the egyptians. these ideas are all right, but they have no more to do with christianity than the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth! henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley shelley! as a christian in spirit. talking of shelley: with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald

per cent, perhaps, of mortals scape its woes that knock us, and bilk the wily gonococcus. so he is but a simple cynic who takes the world to match his clinic; and he assuredly may err who, keeping cats, think birds have fur. you say: there s berridge, felkin, mathers, hysteries, epileptoids, blathers, guttersnipe, psychopath, and mattoid, with ceremonial magic that toyed. granted. astronomy s no myth, but it produced piazzi smyth. what crazes actors? why do surgeons go mad and cut up men like sturgeons (the questions are the late chas. spurgeon s) of yogi i could quote you hundreds in science, law, art, commerce noted. they fear no lunacy: their on dread s not for their noddles doom-devoted. they are not like black bulls (that shunned reds in vain) that madly charge the goathead of rural

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

ox, he bit off a quid and, chewing it, spat it on my leg, and the pain vanished. he did not spend an hour racking through the dictionary of his brain to find a suitable "itis" whereby to allay the inflammation, and then, having carefully classified it with another, declared the pain to be imaginary and myself to be an hysterio-monomaniac suffering from apiarian illusions! to-day hercules is a sun-myth, and so are osiris and baal; and no may can raise his little finger without some priapic pig shouting "phallus. phallus! i see a phallus! o what a phallus" away with this church-spire sexuality, 188 these atavistic obstetrics, these endless survivals and hypnoid states, and all these orchitic superficialities! back to the fruits of life and the treasure-house of mystery! let us leap beyond th

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

the magician can only exercise omnipotence in inverse proportion to his material interest; the alchemist makes so much the more gold as he is the more resigned to privations, and the more esteems that poverty which protects the secrets of the "magnum" 139 "opus" only the adept whose heart is passionless will dispose of the love and hate of those whom he would make instruments of his science; the myth of genesis is eternally true, and god permits the tree of science to be approached only by those men who are sufficiently strong and self-denying not to covet its fruits. ye, therefore, who seek in science a means to satisfy your passions, pause in this fatal way; you will find nothing but madness or death. this is the meaning of the vulgar tradition that the devil ends sooner or later by str

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

e cradle of the race. vol. ii- i. the church; where is it- ii. christian crimes and heathen virtues- iii. divisions amongst the early christians- iv. oriental cosmogonies and bible-records- v. mysteries of the kabala- vi. esoteric doctrines of buddhism parodied in christianity- vii. early christian heresies and secret societies- viii. jesuitry and masonry- ix. the vedas an the bible- x. the devil myth- xi. comparative results of buddhism and christianity- xii. conclusions and illustrations. transcendental magic: its doctrine and ritual. by eliphas levi (a complete translation of "dogme et rituel de la haute magie, with a biographical preface by arthur e. waite, author of "devil worship in france" etc, etc "portrait of the author, and all the original engravings" 8vo, 406 pp "cloth" 1896 (p

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

this flatly contradicted. we shall find some astronomers talking about "star-drift" and saying that the drift or trend, of certain stars is in a specific direction; others argue that the distances are so vast that it is impossible to determine whether certain systems are following a definite orbit or not. nevertheless, if we go to some of the ancient books, those which we call mythological (and a myth may be defined as something which holds a great truth hidden until we are ready to understand it, and if we study the ancient books of the east, we shall find that in all of them there are two or three constellations which are regarded as having a peculiarly intimate relation to our solar system. towards these views modern astronomers as yet hold an agnostic attitude, and from the point of vi

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

, thereby enabling himself to work intelligently in the present, and he can begin to balance his karma, to work off his obligations, and to understand how karma in the three worlds can be negated. the relation of that hierarchy of spiritual beings who are connected with the law of karma as it affects man is demonstrated to him, and he knows with first-hand knowledge that the lords of karma are no myth, or symbolical units, but are highly intelligent entities who wield the law for the benefit of humanity, and thus enable men to become fully self-conscious and self -reliant in the occult sense, and to become creators through perfected knowledge- 100- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust at the third initiation "the secret of fohat" is given to him, and then the mystery of t

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

forget the truth which the incarnation is intended to teach. evelyn underhill points out in her most valuable book, mysticism, that "the incarnation, which is for popular christianity synonymous with the historical birth and earthly life of christ, is for the mystic not only this but also a perpetual cosmic and personal process" scholars spend their lives in proving that the whole story is only a myth. it should, however, be pointed out that a myth is the summarised belief and knowledge of the past, handed down to us for our guidance and forming the foundation of a newer revelation, and that it is a stepping-stone to the next truth. a myth is a valid and proven truth which bridges, step by step, the gap between the past gained knowledge, the present formulated truth, and the infinite and d

th. a myth is a valid and proven truth which bridges, step by step, the gap between the past gained knowledge, the present formulated truth, and the infinite and divine possibilities of the future. the ancient myths and the old mysteries give us a sequential presentation of the divine message as it went forth from god in response to the need of man, down the ages. the truth of one age becomes the myth of the next, but its significance and its reality remain untouched, and require only re-interpretation in the present- 6- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust we are free to choose and to reject; but let us see to it that we choose with eyes opened by that sagacity and wisdom which are the hallmark of those who have penetrated a considerable way along the path of return. there

hose who have penetrated a considerable way along the path of return. there is life and truth and vitality in the gospel story yet to be re-applied by us. there is dynamic and divinity in the message of jesus. christianity is, for us today, a culminating religion. it is the greatest of the later divine revelations. much of it, since its inception two thousand years ago, has come to be regarded as myth, and the clear outlines of the story have dimmed and have come frequently to be regarded as symbolic in their nature. yet behind symbol and myth stands reality an essential, dramatic and practical truth. our attention has been engrossed by the symbol and by the outer form, whilst the meaning has remained obscured and fails sufficiently to affect our lives. in our myopic study of the letter we

ractical significance and meaning for the civilised man today, then there will be some objective gained and some service and help rendered. it is possible that today owing to our more advanced evolution and the ability to express ourselves through more finely developed shades of consciousness we can appropriate the teaching with a clearer vision and a wiser use of the indicated lesson. this great myth belongs to us for let us be courageous and use this word in its true and right connotation. a myth is capable of becoming a fact in the experience of- 7- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust an individual, for a myth is a fact which can be proven. upon the myths we take our stand, but we must seek to re-interpret them in the light of the present. through self-initiated experim

our stand, but we must seek to re-interpret them in the light of the present. through self-initiated experiment we can prove their validity; through experience we can establish them as governing forces in our lives; and through their expression we can demonstrate their truth to others. this is the theme of this book, dealing as it does with the facts of the gospel story, that fivefold sequential myth which teaches us the revelation of divinity in the person of jesus christ, and which remains eternally truth, in the cosmic sense, in the historical sense, and in its practical application to the individual. this myth divides itself into five great episodes: 1. the birth at bethlehem. 2. the baptism in jordan. 3. the transfiguration on mount carmel. 4. the crucifixion on mount golgotha. 5. th

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

ggestions which i may indicate. with this in mind, let us proceed. i have pointed out that these energies fall into three groups- 17- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust 1. those coming from certain great constellations which are to be found active in relation to our solar system and which, from the most ancient days, have always been related in myth and legend to our system. to these constellations, ours is related in a peculiar way. 2. those coming from the twelve zodiacal constellations. these are recognised as having a definite effect upon our system and our planetary life. 3. those coming from the planets found within the periphery of the sun's sphere of influence. from a certain point of view, one can generalise largely and say that

e into the hierarchy as well as the "mystic raising" of which masonry holds the key. this deals with the emergence of the consciousness of the initiate (white and one-pointed) and the defeat of the king of beasts (the personality) leading to the triumph of group and world consciousness, of selflessness and illumination over self-consciousness and selfishness. in the true rendition of this ancient myth the king of beasts is blinded and killed by the piercing of his eye and heart by the long horn of the unicorn- 93- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust the symbol of this sign is indecipherable and intentionally so. it is sometimes called the "signature of god" i must not attempt to interpret it for you, partly because it has never yet been c

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

anifesting divinity and to the constantly recurring periods of divine intervention. i would here face you with these alternatives and would ask you to consider your own position in these matters. does the story of easter and of the living christ carry no truth, and is it not possible for that risen christ to express his power on earth through his chosen instruments? is there no foundation for the myth of the annual return of the buddha, holding the door open between shamballa and the hierarchy so that, at need, intervention may be possible through that open door? is it only a silly dream and a fantasy that at the time of the june full moon, christ in the closest cooperation with the buddha links the hierarchy with humanity? is it quite impossible that when humanity awakens to the fact of t

his attitude of humanity will lead to a new revelation, to the new world religion and to new attitudes in the relation of man to god (religion) and of man to man (government or social relationships. two major approaches are to be found in the past history of the race, and both are of such significance that it would be well to note them here. they lie so far back in human history that we have only myth and monument to indicate their happening. the first great approach of the divine to man caused the appearance of the human soul and the adding of another kingdom in nature to the three (mineral, vegetable and animal) already existing. the kingdom of man appeared on earth. aeons passed away whilst primitive man continued to evolve, and when the second great approach took place and the spiritua

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

ork is done, and naught is left save flame primordial. that flame absorbs, revolves, receives, and remains. when all that is has traversed the flame, then time is nvialice bailey& djwhal khul the labors of hercules- table of contents the zodiac the purpose of this study (foreword) the nature of discipleship astrological connotations the world disciple today key thoughts hercules the disciple- the myth elaboration of the myth labor i the capture of the man-eating mares the myth the meaning of the myth the sign the three initial impulses in aries the sign of the mind constellations in aries the crux of the test labor ii the capture of the cretan bull the myth the meaning of the labor four symbolic words the story of the labor the theme of illumination the theme of sex significance of the con

ree initial impulses in aries the sign of the mind constellations in aries the crux of the test labor ii the capture of the cretan bull the myth the meaning of the labor four symbolic words the story of the labor the theme of illumination the theme of sex significance of the constellations nature of the tests the disciple and sex labor iii- part 1 gathering the golden apples of the hesperides the myth the nature of the test- 1- the symbols labor iii- part 2 gathering the golden apples of the hesperides the field of the labor the three symbolic constellations the lesson of the labor labor iv- part 1 the capture of the doe or hind the myth synthesis of the signs meaning of the story labor iv- part 2 the capture of the doe or hind qualities of the sign the cardinal cross the stars at-one-ment

labor the three symbolic constellations the lesson of the labor labor iv- part 1 the capture of the doe or hind the myth synthesis of the signs meaning of the story labor iv- part 2 the capture of the doe or hind qualities of the sign the cardinal cross the stars at-one-ment with capricorn symbols the three symbolic constellations the lesson of the labor labor v the slaying of the nemean lion the myth the number five the story of the myth the field of the labor the three symbolic constellations the lesson of the labor labor vi seizing the girdle of hippolyte- 2- the labours of hercules the myth introduction interpretations of the myth the two ways the constellations and stars the mutable cross and the planetary rulers significance of the sign and its polar opposite keynotes labor vii the c

he myth the field of the labor the three symbolic constellations the lesson of the labor labor vi seizing the girdle of hippolyte- 2- the labours of hercules the myth introduction interpretations of the myth the two ways the constellations and stars the mutable cross and the planetary rulers significance of the sign and its polar opposite keynotes labor vii the capture of the erymanthian boar the myth prologue reflections of a libran the rulers of libra and its opposite sign the constellations and stars some highlights from the lecture by alice bailey labor viii destroying the lernaean hydra the myth introduction psychological analysis of the myth the nine heads of the hydra fighting the hydra: modern version applications to life what is death scorpio, the sign of magic the constellations

and its opposite sign the constellations and stars some highlights from the lecture by alice bailey labor viii destroying the lernaean hydra the myth introduction psychological analysis of the myth the nine heads of the hydra fighting the hydra: modern version applications to life what is death scorpio, the sign of magic the constellations and the stars labor ix killing the stymphalian birds the myth interpretation of the labor silence two gates, three constellations the chrysalis symbol the spirit of truth the spirit of right three gifts three constellations- 3- the labours of hercules details of the story labor x the slaying of cerberus, guardian of hades the myth prologue interpretations of the labor in capricorn meanings of the sign constellations the climbing of the mountain preparat

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

nough herodias, who was regarded in the beginning as associated with dianaas chief of the witches. this was not, as i opine, derived from the herodiasof the new t estament,but from an earlier replica of lilith, bearing the same name. it is, in fact, an identification or twin-ingof the aryan and shemitic queens of heaven, or of night and of sorcery, and it may be that this wasknown to the earliest myth-makers. so far back as the sixth century the worship of herodiasanddianaby witches was condemned by a church council at ancyra. pipernus and other writers havenoted the evident identity of herodiaswith lilith. isispreceded both.dianais very vigorously, even dramatically, set forth in this poem as the goddess of the god-forsak-en and ungodly, of thieves, harlots, and, truthfully enough, of the

rangeform the spell of night!there is a dangerous silence in that houra stillness which leaves room for the full soult o open all itself, without the powerof calling wholly back its self-control;the silver light which, hallowing tree and tower,sheds beauty and deep softness oer the whole,breathes also to the heart, and oer it throwsa loving languor which is not repose.this is what is meant by the myth of diana and endymion. it is the making divine or aesthetic (whichto the greeks was one and the same) that which is impassioned, secret, and forbidden. it was thecharm of the stolen waters which are sweet, intensified to poetry. and it is remarkable that it hasbeen so strangely preserved in italian witch traditions. page 40 so it came to pass that the fair goddess made love with endamone as i

so strangely preserved in italian witch traditions. page 40 so it came to pass that the fair goddess made love with endamone as if they had been awake (yetcommuning in dreams. and so it is to this day, that whoever would make love with him or her whosleeps, should have recourse to the beautiful tana, and so doing there will be success.this legend, while agreeing in many details with the classical myth, is strangely intermingled withpractices of witchcraft, but even these, if investigated, would all prove to be as ancient as the rest ofthe text. thus the sheeps intestine used instead of the red woollen bag which is employed inbeneficent magic the red and black ribbon, which mingles threads of joy and woe the (pea-cocks) feather or la penna maligna pepper and salt, occur in many other incant

yed inbeneficent magic the red and black ribbon, which mingles threads of joy and woe the (pea-cocks) feather or la penna maligna pepper and salt, occur in many other incantations, but alwaysto bring evil and cause suffering. 20 i have never seen it observed, but it is true, that keats in his exquisite poem of endymioncomplete-ly departs from or ignores the whole spirit and meaning of the ancient myth, while in this rude witch-song it is minutely developed. the conception is that of a beautiful youth furtively kissed in his slum-ber by dianaof reputed chastity. the ancient myth is, to begin with, one of darkness and light, orday and night, from which are born the fifty-one (now fifty-two) weeks of the year. this is diana, thenight, and apollo, the sun, or light in another form. it is expre

form, but one which, while shimmering andbreathing, still sleeps in a dream could not escape the greeks, and they expressed it as dianaembracing endymion. but as night is the time sacred to secrecy, and as the true diana of themysteries was the queen of night, who wore the crescent moon, and mistress of all hidden things,including sweet secret sins and loved iniquities, there was attached to this myth far more thanmeets the eye. and just in the degree to which diana was believed to be queen of the emancipatedwitches and of night, or the nocturnal venus-astarte herself, so far would the love for sleepingendymion be understood as sensual, yet sacred and allegorical. and it is entirely in this sense thatthe witches in italy, who, may claim with some right to be its true inheritors, have prese

ARTHUR E WAITE TEMPLAR ORDERS IN FREEMASONRY

they grew from more to more, till this particular aspect culminated in the templar dramas of werner, in which an order concealed through the ages and perpetuated through saintly custodians reveals to a chosen few among knights templar some part of its secret doctrine-the identity of christ and horus, of mary the mother of god, and isis the queen of heaven. the root of these dreams on doctrine and myth transfigured through the ages- with a heart of reality behind it- will be found, as it seems to me, in occult derivations from templar ritual which belong to circa 1782 and are still in vigilant custody on the continent of europe. i mention this lest it should be thought that the intimations of a german poet, though he was an active member of the strict observance, were mere inventions of an

reated the masonic order in i340; but the alchemical secret, which is the physical term of the mystery, has been ever reserved to those who can emerge from the veils of allegory- that is to say, for the chiefs of st. andrew of the thistle, who are princes of the rosy cross, and the grand council of the chapter. the alchemical side of this story is in a similar position to that of the perpetuation myth, of which it is an early version. there is nothing that can be taken seriously. but this is not to say that in either case there is no vestige of possibilities behind. modern science tends more and more to show us that the transmutation of metals is not an idle dream and- speaking on my own part- there are well-known testimonies in the past on the literal point of fact which i and others have

e clermont knight of god, thus giving further colour to the idea that templar masonry and its perpetuation story arose where it might have been expected that they would arise, in france and not in germany. i have said that the grade under notice has no reference to scotland or to any specific place of templar refuge after the proscription. but the chivalrous origin of masonry is not less a ramsay myth, and it characterises almost every variant of templar perpetuation which has arisen under a masonic aegis, from that of the knights of god and the chevalier du temple to that of werner and his sons of the valley, belonging to the year 1803. there stand apart only the english religious and military order and the late french order of the temple which depends from the charter of larmenius, but t

lar element in the chapter of clermont and that of the strict observance which superseded it had an influence on all continental masonry which was not only wide and general, but lasting in the sense that some part of it has persisted there and here to the present day. the eighth degree of the swedish rite, being that of master of the temple, communicated its particular version of the perpetuation myth, being (i) that molay revealed to his nephew beaujeu, shortly before his death, the rituals and treasures of the order (2) that the latter escaped, apparently, with these and with the disinterred ashes of the master, and was accompanied by nine other knights, all disguised as masons (3) that they found refuge among the stonemasons. it is said that in denmark the history of masonry, owing to t

esting and vital a question, which appeals especially to myself on account of the beauty and spiritual significance of the ritual in all its varied forms. the number of these may be a source of surprise to many, and i have pointed out elsewhere that however widely and strangely they differ from each other they have two points of agreement: there is no traditional history presenting a perpetuation myth or a claim on the past of chivalry, while except in one very late instance, there is no historical account whatever; and they are concerned with the one original templar purpose, that of guarding the holy sepulchre and pilgrims to the holy places. they offer no version of masonic origins, no explanation of craft symbolism, no suggestion of a secret science behind the temple, no plan of restor

BALANCE J

is paintings and i could not believe my eyes. until then i had only been aware of his name and had been conscious of seeing the recurring and haunting image of pan, which was actually a section of the late pastel called the vampires are coming. this image was widely used in the seventies on several occult type book jackets and was a key figure in the promotion of the eclectic magazine series man, myth and magic. here were a clutch of excitingly vivid and dynamically coloured originals. my mouth went dry, my head reeled and i was shocked into a state of genuine awe. these were the real thing. i remember a dual self-portrait in which the two facing heads of spare seemed to be locked into some perpetual argument. there was an eerie study of a transported medium, her eyes neither open nor clos

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

nd the importance of protector deities as a cohesive force between multiple cultural milieus, particularly lay and monastic communities. x figure 1. tsiu marpo (tenzin 1975, p. 415) xi introduction since the arrival of buddhism in tibet during the seventh century c.e, the religion has had a complex, at times uncomfortable, relationship with the indigenous religious forces of the land. in cultural myth and history, this relationship is personified by the constant interaction between buddhist agents and supernatural deities of the tibetan landscape. this interaction is not wholly unique to tibet and can be found in the development of buddhism in china, japan, sri lanka, and elsewhere in asia. however, what is unique is how such relationships develop, given tibet s particular history, and how

outline this study is organized in five chapters. the first chapter will establish the cosmological, historical, and ritual background of tibet in which tsiu marpo exists. this is necessary in order to understand the multiple contexts in which tsiu marpo and other protector deities participate, as well as the social solidarity that they help to maintain. the second chapter will provide the origin myth of tsiu marpo as recounted in the primary tibetan texts concerning him. this chapter will discuss how tsiu marpo evolved from a fallen buddhist monk to a local malicious spirit and, finally, into an important protector deity. this section will also elucidate on tsiu marpo s connection to samy monastery. the third chapter will explore the iconography surrounding tsiu marpo and his demonic coho

-144. 110 see tambiah 1976, pp. 102-131. 111 see samuel 1993, pp. 61-63. 112 samuel 1993, p. 62. 113 see samuel 1993, p. 62. 114 see davidson 2002, p.131-132. 59 the ma..ala and tibetan deities to relate this brief survey of the ma..ala back to protector deities and to tsiu marpo in particular, i would like to look more closely at the mythographic nature of the tibetan landscape. the language and myth of tibet abounds with the concepts of taming and subjugation. this taming, or disciplining, is most pragmatically that of the initiate who must be disciplined in their tantric practice by their teacher. however, culturally, the concept relates back to the era of padmasambhava, who tamed the various demonic deities of tibet including tsiu marpo as part of the effort to establish buddhism. stil

l circle out pinned her right and left palms, and right and left feet. finally, her heart at the center in lhasa consisted of a lake that symbolized her life blood. this lake was filled in and the jokhang temple (figure 20) was built on top. this completed the complex act of subjugating the demoness of the land in order to tame the wilderness and thus properly establish buddhism.116 i relate this myth because it is clear from its description that a ma..ala has been symbolically overlaid on the tibetan landscape in order to subjugate the fierce indigenous deities symbolized wholly by the demoness. the ma..ala manifests as the ritual act of purifying the land to further buddhist goals. this, then, can be read as a physical act of redefining the 115 see miller 2003 and stein 1972, p. 39. 116

the tibetan landscape in order to subjugate the fierce indigenous deities symbolized wholly by the demoness. the ma..ala manifests as the ritual act of purifying the land to further buddhist goals. this, then, can be read as a physical act of redefining the 115 see miller 2003 and stein 1972, p. 39. 116 for further references on the "supine demoness" see gyatso 1987, who provides a survey of this myth in multiple contexts, and miller 2003, who discusses this legend in the context of the consolidation of the tibetan empire. for a feminist interpretation, see marko 2003. see also blondeau and gyatso 2003. 60 mythographic landscape of tibet along a buddhist narrative parallel to the symbolic reenvisioning of the tibetan past through a buddhist lens, as discussed in chapter 2. significantly, s

BLACK SERPENT1

see the dark gods as a means of empowerment, of strength over people who have hurt them, and as a force to be reckoned with for those who refuse to bow down in humble servitude. these are the people society thinks of when they hear about satanism and demonolatry. oftentimes people accuse the left hand path community of being unable to give love and compassion for this same reason. once again, the myth rears its ugly head from the bowels of human intolerance and spews forth misconceptions. and yet they move on, in the open, proudly saying "i am a satanist" or "i am a demonolator. we fear no one but ourselves" they feel love and compassion just like anyone else, because they too, are human beings. they've just happened to choose a different path- a path that leads into a world man has yet to

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

n addition to the natural obstacles which impede investigation (in india, there still prevails a dense mist of prejudices and preconceived opinions hovering over the land, and enfolding it as with a veil" caught in that veil, it is no wonder that dr. weber should himself have been led into involuntary errors. let us hope that he knows better now. now whether asuramaya is to be considered a modern myth, a personage who flourished in the day of the macedonian greeks, or as that which he is claimed to be by the occultists, in any case his calculations agree entirely with those of the secret records. from fragments of immensely old works attributed to the atlantean astronomer, and found in southern india, the calendar elsewhere men[[footnote(s* see "lectures on the indian literature" p. 253, b

rd race. that land or continent had disappeared ages before asuramaya lived, since he was an atlantean; but he was a direct descendant of the wise race, the race that never dies. many are the legends concerning this hero, the pupil of surya (the sun-god) himself, as the indian accounts allege. it matters little whether he lived on one or another island, but the question is to prove that he was no myth, as dr. weber and others would make him. the[[vol. 2, page] 68 the secret doctrine. fact of "romaka-pura in the west" being named as the birth-place of this hero of the archaic ages, is the more interesting because it is so very suggestive of the esoteric teaching about the "sweat-born" races, the men born from the pores of their parents "romakupas" means "hair-pores" in sanskrit. in mahabhar

edge and wisdom, step by step, from one "heaven to another" until they were at last fit to be united to the gods in the house of all-father (p. 305. he who knows the doctrines of esoteric budhism (or wisdom, though so imperfectly sketched hitherto, will see clearly the allegory contained in the above. its more philosophical meaning will be better understood if the reader thinks carefully over the myth of prometheus. it is examined[[vol. 2, page] 101 the divine babe, agni. further on in the light of the hindu pramantha. degraded into a purely physiological symbol by some orientalists, and taken in connection with terrestrial fire only, their interpretation is an insult to every religion, including christianity, whose greatest mystery is thus dragged down to matter. the "friction" of divine

ires, i.e. when the astral body becomes covered with more solid flesh, man develops a physical body. the "wing" or the ethereal form that produced its shadow and image, became the shadow of the astral body and its own progeny. the expression is queer but original. as there may be no occasion to refer to this mystery later, it is as well to point out at once the dual meaning contained in the greek myth bearing upon this particular phase of evolution. it is found in the several variants of the allegory of leda and her two sons castor and pollux, which variants have each a special meaning. thus in book xi. of the odyssey, leda is spoken of as the spouse of tyndarus, who gave birth by her husband "to two sons of valiant heart- castor[[vol. 2, page] 122 the secret doctrine. and pollux. jupiter

y live and die, each in turn, and every alternate day[[eteremeroi. as the tyndaridae, the twin brothers are an astronomical symbol, and stand for day and night; their two wives, phoebe and hilasira, the daughters of apollo or the sun, personifying the dawn and the twilight* again, in the allegory where zeus is shown as the father of the two heroes- born from the egg to which leda gives birth- the myth is entirely theogonical. it relates to that group of cosmic allegories in which the world is described as born from an egg. for leda assumes in it the shape of a white swan when uniting herself to the divine swan* leda is the mythical bird, then, to which, in the traditions of various peoples of the aryan race, are attributed various ornithological forms of birds which all lay golden eggs* in

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

[vol. 1, page] xiii contents. page. vi. the mundane egg. 359 egg-born logoi. 363 the winged globe. 365- vii. the days and nights of brahma. 368 human gods and divine men. 369 the rebirth of gods. 371 the puranic prophecy. 377- viii. the lotus as a universal symbol. 379 exoteric and esoteric. 381 the purity of early phallicism. 383 the egyptian lotus. 385- ix. deus lunus. 386 a glance at the lunar myth. 387 a key-note to the moon. 389 copies and originals. 393 the moon bi-sexual. 397- x. tree and serpent and crocodile worship. 403 degeneration of the symbol. 405 the seven-headed dragons. 407 dragon and crocodile. 409- xi. demon est deus inversus. 411 death is life. 413 the fall of the angels. 418 transformation of the legend. 421- xii. the theogony of the creative gods. 424 the point within

re charged with a lack of method and system. the public must be made acquainted with the efforts of many world-adepts, of initiated poets, writers, and classics of every age, to preserve in the records of humanity the knowledge of the existence, at least, of such a philosophy, if not actually of its tenets. the initiates of 1888 would indeed remain incomprehensible and ever a seemingly impossible myth, were not like initiates shown to have lived in every other age of history. this could be done only by naming chapter and verse where may be found mention of these great characters, who were preceded and followed by a long and interminable line of other famous antediluvian and post-diluvian masters in the arts. thus only could be shown, on semi-traditional and semi-historical authority, that

e latter as one of the principles of akasa only, it is as certainly, together with its primary, the cause of sound, only a physical and spiritual, not a material cause by any means. the relations[[footnote continued on next page[[vol. 1, page] 297 nothing new under the sun. many other mysteries, will remain non-existent to the materialists of our age, in the same way as america was a non-existent myth for europeans during the early part of the mediaeval ages, whereas scandinavians and norwegians had actually reached and settled in that very old "new world" several centuries before. but, as a columbus was born to re-discover, and to force the old world to believe in antipodal countries, so will there be born scientists who will discover the marvels now claimed by occultists to exist in the

occupied the greater portion of the present writer's life. she is one of those who feel convinced that no mythological story, no traditional event in the folk-lore of a people has ever been, at any time, pure fiction, but that every one of such narratives has an actual, historical lining to it. in this the writer disagrees with those symbologists, however great their reputation, who find in every myth nothing save additional proofs of the superstitious bent of mind of the ancients, and believe that all mythologies sprung from and are built upon solar myths. such superficial thinkers were admirably disposed of by mr. gerald massey, the poet and egyptologist, in a lecture on "luniolatry, ancient and modern" his pointed criticism is worthy of reproduction in this part of this work, as it echo

ow that mythology is the disease which springs up at a peculiar stage of human culture' such is the shallow explanation of the non-evolutionists, and such explanations are still accepted by the british public, that gets its think[[vol. 1, page] 304 the secret doctrine. ing done by proxy. professor max muller, cox, gubernatis, and other propounders of the solar mythos, have portrayed the primitive myth-maker for us as a sort of germanised-hindu metaphysician, projecting his own shadow on a mental mist, and talking ingeniously concerning smoke, or, at least, cloud; the sky overhead becoming like the dome of dreamland, scribbled over with the imagery of aboriginal nightmares! they conceive the early man in their own likeness, and look upon him as perversely prone to self-mystification, or, as

BOOK OF JASHAR

all, genes and ideas both are patterns that can endure across generations (one stored in chromosomes and the other in synapses. so in a cultural sense, people of seth's family might also be children of abel whom cain foresaw. a desecration of trees by people is the pivotal event leading to the fall of humanity in genesis. the biblical story of the garden of eden is echoed in our modern ecological myth of the great primeval forest that has been destroyed by the growth of civilization. destruction of trees is also a central theme in the jashar apocryphon, but the story here is a complex counterpoint to both genesis and modern ecological thinking. in the first place, the tension is not just between trees and people, but between trees and herbivorous animals. long before the advent of humanity

ransformed into a short philistine general, assassinated by david) thus, our reaction to noah's womanhood in this story may show something fundamental about our own attitudes towards sexual identity. the bible tells us that noah was the first farmer to plant a vineyard. in the jashar version, this development-of-agriculture theme becomes the central focus of the story. the story of noah becomes a myth about the beginnings of the agricultural revolution in the anatolian highlands, and about the origins of the three great linguistic groups (semitic, indo-european, and dravidian) that came out of this period. the hamites (whose identity in the bible seems somewhat ill-defined) are here clearly identified with the dravidians, by the name of ham's wife. similarly, juropa's name clearly links th

ancient israel. many apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts are studied today, but it was jashar that captured my imagination. so i began to work on producing a new english version of the jashar apocryphon, a task that i continued intermittently over several years. having undertaken this project for my own pleasure, i had no reservations about retelling this story in my own words, recasting it as a myth for our time. eventually i came to the conclusion that the jashar apocryphon says in five pages more than i could hope to say in a long monograph on the philosophical foundations of social theory; and thus the world was spared another tedious academic book. i noticed that others did not generally share my appreciation of this text, however, and so i wrote my commentary to explain what i saw i

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

nd it with ishtar's descent and search for tannaz; with sif's loss of her golden tresses; with idunn's loss of her golden apples; with jesus' death and resurrection; with siva's death and resurrection, and many more. basically all represent the coming of fall and winter followed by the return of spring and summer; the lead figure represnting the spirit of vegetation. from witchcraft here are "the myth of the goddess" as found in (a) gardnerian wicca and (b) saxon wicca "now g* had never loved, but she would solve all the mysteries, even the mystery of death; and so she journeyed to the nether lands. the guardians of the portals challenged her 'strip off thy there can be surprises in discovering names used for the deities in different traditions. one very-strongly welsh tradition uses the n

lete book of witchcraft after "death" the initiand then finds himself in the womb, awaiting his new birth. in some societies he finds himself in a hut which represents the world. he is at its center; he inhabits a sacred microcosm. the initiate is in the chthonian great mother mother earth. there are innumerable myths of great heroes' gods and goddesses, descending into mother earth (remember the myth of the seax-wica goddess, given in lesson two) and triumphantly returning. within that earth-womb they invariably find great knowledge, for it is often the home of the dead who, traditionally, can see into the future and therefore know all things. therefore the initiates, by virtue of being in the womb/will learn new knowledge. this is underscored in the congo, for example, where those who ha

the zodiac as we know it is a combined invention of the egyptians and babylonians. above: an ancient egyptian map of the sky, the 'zodiac ofdenderah. astrology originally developed in mesopotamia and was more concerned with kings and peoples than with the destinies of individuals; above: a tablet giving astrological forecasts in cuneiform writing, derived from observations of the moon. from "man, myth& magic" york, would have the s.t. 10 hours 35 mins 54 sees (4:45 pm at g.m.t. the acceleration on interval would be 10 times 4 (hours after noon) seconds. the s.t. for the moment of birth would then be: the next step would then be to convert this gmt-st to new york-st by conversion of the degrees and minutes of longitude into minutes and seconds of time. this can be done by simply multiplying

s with the coven of rhiannon in manchester, england "our main focus is the worship of the great goddess and her consort, the horned god. our coven 228/ buckland's complete book of witchcraft does not limit worship to one particular cultural-ethnic 'tradition. rather, a thorough training in basic gardnerian wica is taught and members are urged, after mastering these basics, to find that particular myth cycle or path consistent with their beliefs" further information is obtainable from deidre, maidenhill, p.o. box 29166, philadelphia, pa 19127. northern way a non-initiatory tradition that works robed "we try to emulate as authentic and traditional re-creation as possible of old norse garb. our god-names are all old norse, not teutonic. we do cast a circle; we do not 'call quarters. our tradi

be able to work a spell? please read: chapters one through six of witchcraft from the inside by raymond buckland. recommended supplementary reading: the cod of the witches dr. margaret a. murray witches: investigating an ancient religion t.c. lethbridge the devil in massachusetts marion starkey lesson two 1. study the two goddess myths given in the lesson and examine their symbolism. in the saxon myth of freya, what does the necklace brosingamene represent? 2. what are the three essentials of magick? 3. have the christians ever believed in reincarnation? 4. according to craft beliefs, if you do an injury to someone (a) will you be able to wait till after death before being punished (b) does that mean the same injury will be done to you in your next life? 5. imagine that you share an apartm

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

shing or binding magick can have a creative focus, diverting or transforming redundant or negative energy, for example by burying a symbol of the negativity or casting herbs to the four winds. magick and responsibility true magick is not like a cake in which everybody must vie for a slice or be left with none: it is more akin to a never-emptying pot. like the legendary cauldron of undry in celtic myth, the more goodness that is put in, the more the mixture increases in richness and quantity. the cauldron of undry, one of the four main celtic treasures, provided an endless supply of nourishment, had great healing powers and could restore the dead to life, in either their former existence or a new life form. located on the isle of arran, it could be accessed by magical means or through spiri

ily and close friends to celebrate with me on the festival days. most solitary witches initiate themselves, though some traditions, such as the saxon seat wicca founded by raymond buckland in the usa, do admit solitary witches. indeed, solitary practitioners are said by some to have been witches in seven previous lifetimes and to possess within them all they need to know about the craft. truth or myth, no one should underestimate the number of private practitioners who do work alone, some coming together occasionally in small, informal groups. solitary witches can use ceremonial magick very successfully, but many do follow the less formal folk magick, linked to the land and the seasons, that was practised by our ancestors in their homes. for this reason, some call themselves hedge-witches

read their mythical stories. because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. for example, diana, the goddess of the moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. so, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. some deities fit into more than one category, so i have listed them under their most significant one [insert pic p059- deities of love and passion [insert pic p060- aphrodite aphrodite is the cretan and greek god

-frozen fields and sacred fires were lit on hilltops to attract the new sun. it is said that brighid went around the fields with her white wand of fire, melting the snows and stirring new life, so it is primarily a festival of light. in both pagan and christian traditions it has involved the lighting of candles and torches, to restore warmth and light into the world. the maiden goddess brighid in myth mated with lugh the young god of light and so, traditionally, a virgin was chosen to mate with the chief of the tribe to ensure the coming of new life to the land. it is said that, like lugh, he embraced cailleach, the old hag of winter who was thus transformed in his arms into the maiden goddess. in medieval times, a girl representing brighid would be brought to the door of the main house or

ocus: the triumph of light over darkness, resurrection, new beginnings and opportunities; spring cleaning and casting out what is no longer of worth; fertility and conception, the winds of change. at the spring equinox, the sun rises precisely in the east and sets precisely in the west, giving exactly 12 hours of daylight and so heralds the longer days and shorter nights. as is so often the case, myth and religion are intertwined in the sources of their festivals that share the same dates. in the old celtic tradition, lugh, the god of light overcame his twin, the god of darkness, and at easter, the christian spring festival most closely associated with the spring equinox, the resurrection of christ is associated with the restoration of light to the world. the first eggs of spring were pain

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

west and central africans would have viewed the cosmos as a heavily populated world in which a reciprocating traffic of invisible and visible beings moved, interacted, and influenced each other. while anglo-american christians utilized a colorful language of "wonder" and "remarkable providences" to bear witness to the proximity of the supernatural in their lives, africans depicted the universe in myth and beckoned the timeless inhabitants of the spiritual world with ritual. in some cases, images from european folklore wove their way into the cosmologies of africa. the earthly reality of witches, demons, and other purveyors of misfortune underwrote the oral traditions and beliefs of both races. stories passed on of restless souls and apparitions.such as "raw head and bloody bones" a fiendis

inea-bissau, and sierra leone, lower guinea (ghana, togo, benin, nigeria, cameroon, and the ivory coast) and angola (including gabon, congo, zaire, and northern angola. although specific african populations would predominate within particular slave societies in the new world, ethnic distinctions were blurred over time as indigenous african american cultures developed. see melville herskovits, the myth of the negro past (boston: beacon press, 1958; robert farris thompson, flash of the spirit: african and afro-american art and philosophy (new york: vintage books, 1983; georgia writers' project, drums and shadows: survival studies among the georgia coastal negroes (athens: university of georgia press, 1940, pp. 195. 249. maude southwell wahlman, signs and symbols: african images in african-am

ted ownby (jackson: university press of mississippi, 1993, pp. 3.22. 17. jon butler, awash in a sea of faith: christianizing the american people (cambridge, mass: harvard university press, 1990; john brooke, the refiner's fire: the making of mormon cosmology, 1644.1844 (new york: cambridge university press, 1994. for a theoretical statement on african-based traditions in america, see herskovits, myth of the negro past, pp. 242.43; and raboteau, slave religion, p. 59. 18. herbert leventhal, in the shadow of the enlightenment: occultism and renaissance science in eighteenth- century america (new york: new york university press, 1976; jon butler "magic, astrology, and the early american religious heritage, 1600.1760" american historical review 84 (1979: 317.46. 19. arna bontemps and langston

practitioners were known as obeah or obi specialists or were so named. see for example in virginia, reference to the trial of "obee" a slave convicted of poisoning("trial of obee, june 29, 1778" spotsylvania order book, cited in morgan, slave counterpoint, p. 441. see also watson "north carolina slave courts" p. 31, for the trial of an "ober" negro for poisoning. 37. see melville herskovits, the myth of the negro past (boston: beacon press, 1958, p. 242. this "moral ambivalence" insists theophus smith, means that conjure cannot be reduced, in such one-dimensional terms, to evil magic, demonic machinations, or "malign occultism".the traditional distinction between white and black magic (theophus h. smith, conjuring culture: biblical\ 183\ formations of black america [new york: oxford unive

ly 10 (1946: 183.90; parsons "tales from guilford county" 209.10; parsons "folklore of the sea islands" p. 63; hyatt, hoodoo.conjuration, vol. 1, p. 141. puckett remarks that the skin motif is unique to african lore in the new world and shows up with a number of variations throughout the american south and in parts of the caribbean (folk beliefs of the southern negro, p. 154; see also herskovits, myth of the negro past, pp. 258.59. on "nightmares" see southern workman 23 (1894: 161; and puckett, folk beliefs of the southern negro, p. 158. puckett traces the connection of witches and horses to england but does make note (p. 159) of the relation between spiritual possession and "horses" appearing in new orleans as well. 64. in the riding belief we glimpse an interpretive link between insomni

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

situated on the major trade route across northern mesopotamia. the name comes from the sumerian and akkadian "harran-u, meaning "journey "caravan, or "crossroad. 2000-1900 abraham, b. in ur, according to bible lived to age of 175. 1857 bc birth of shenrab in the 1st wood male mouse year, the son of king gyal tokar and queen zanga ringum (wangyal: 1993..pg 30) 1800 enuma elish, bablyonian creation myth. 1700 bc 17th and 15th centuries bc..asherah was their mother goddess. the consort of jehovah 'she who treads on the sea-(petty: 1990) 1760 gilgamesh epic. 1600 orig. egyptian book of the dead (book of coming forth by day. 1570 ebers papyrus 1550-1450 o.c. rig-veda, sama-veda and yajur-veda 1500 indo-europeans invade india. vedic culture. 1500 (ca) volcanic destruction of thera, thought to be

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

ld be aware of the special, varied nature of chinese transliterations. who would think, for example, that hsi wang mu and xiwangmu are one and the same? or that kong fuzi is the same as confucius? since any particular transliteration system can go in and out of vogue, it is important to be aware that many possible spellings exist for chinese words. another difficulty is trying to separate chinese myth and chinese history. before the invention of writing, myths had been passed down through the oral tradition for thousands of years. many of these stories were originally based on actual historical events and people; however, mythical elements were soon interwoven into the tales. like many other groups of people, the chinese used myths to explain their history. to make the task of separating m

core of many myths is the story of the people s struggle to survive on this beautiful, fragile, and unsteady planet. chinese mythology 14 1 panku creates the world introduction the earliest chinese texts contain many myths about wondrous rulers of ancient times; however, there are no creation stories to be found among them. the story of panku is probably the closest chinese version of a creation myth. it first appears in the han dynasty (206 b.c. a.d. 220, hundreds of years after the first stories were told about the ancient rulers. many experts believe that the story of panku was molded and influenced by the caravan traders who wound across the deserts and mountains of the middle east, india, africa, and china carrying silk, spices, and other precious items of trade.1 the panku story sha

sha, a primordial being, is sacrificed: his bodily parts then become the many components of the universe, including gods, man and animals. in saharan africa the world was originally made out of the numerous segments of the sacrificed cosmic serpent minia, god s first creation an event remembered in animal sacrifice in the region to this day. there is a similar cosmic drama in an assyro-babylonian myth when the celestial king marduk slaughters the serpent tiamat, the feminine principle of chaos, and divides her enormous corpse: from one half marduk constructs the vault of heaven, from the other the solid earth .2 the story of panku also introduces one of the most important concepts in chinese thought: yin and yang. authors martin palmer and zhao xiaomin of the international consultancy on r

pantheons that most primary gods and goddesses are totally human in appearance.3 professor anne birrell of the university of cambridge finds similarities in the creation of people in other cultures: most etiological [origin] myths of the creation of humankind narrate that the substance from which humans were made was dust, as in genesis [part of the bible, or else earth, or dirt or clay. in this myth of n kua [nuwa, humans are made from the materials of yellow earth and mud.4 professor birrell adds: a second worldwide motif is that of social stratification. in the n kua [nuwa] myth humans are polarized into rich aristocrats made from yellow earth and poor commoners made from mud.5 30 3 fushi teaches the people introduction the earliest myths involve the ten legendary kings (see page 11, g

fire god, ruled the world peacefully before him. when gong became the ruler, he wanted to expand his influence by increasing the amount of water in the universe in the ratio of seventenths water to three-tenths dry land. to achieve his goal, gong sent torrential rains and came close to destroying the world in a fierce power struggle with the fire god.1 nuwa, the creator of people, appears in this myth to counteract the two gods destructive forces. although historically the two warring gods have most often been presented as giants, some paintings show gong as having a snake s body and a human face with red hair. zurong is traditionally shown with a massive human body featuring broad shoulders, red skin, and a red beard. both gods have terrible tempers. in ancient stories, the earth was seen

CROSSING THE DESERT

he is described in the great harris papyrus as xu thenru ast ast a ari-f em suten (translated as "he did many glorious things and mighty deeds as high priest. this phrase was incorporated in the book of coming forth by night to describe anton la vey, and providing a hidden link to the xepera xeper xeperu formula. the spell is not intended for illustrative purposes, although it does illustrate the myth of creation. it was an operative spell for survival across the expanse of the desert. this is an interesting moment. you are leaving behind the known and are entering the unknown. the known is the divine land of khem, before you the unknown desert with its mirages, bandits, scorpions, sandstorms, etc. beyond that are the foreign lands ruled by set. what do you say as a charm? not a prayer to

DARK GODS

manifest when nemicu vibrated. gaubni: related to 2nd path. often called the great demon repulsive smell and appearance. may manifest when nythra vibrated. sapanur: form along the 11th. path. the sudden fire of destruction. a primal atavism of human origin not related to dark gods. darkat: goddess, associated with lunar aspects. the name is traditionally regarded as pre-sumerian in origin of the myth of lilitu/lilith the female counterpart of dagon, remembered as one of the dark gods from their last manifestation on earth. associated with the 10th. and 8th. paths. the dark gods according to tradition, the dark gods are actual entities which exist in the acausal universe. according to our spatial, causal perception, these beings may be regarded as `timeless and chaotic. since our conscious

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

to suit those in power at any given time. this is why you still find elements of this knowledge in all religions. the original core knowledge has been diluted and diverted in countless directions, to manifest as religions such as christianity, islam, judaism, paganism, hinduism, etc. all have retained the themes of the knowledge to some extent, while often destroying its true meaning with dogma, myth, and manipulated make-believe. ironically, paganism has retained far more of the original knowledge than those religions (such as christianity) which condemn it as 'evil. the fourth dimensional prison warders wish to prevent us from knowing who we are, how we have been imprisoned, and how we can get out of prison. making us confused and dividing us into factions, religions, and tongues was pa

ey took many of the babylonian stories and beliefs back to palestine. these found their way into the old testament of the bible and through that into the new testament. today's religions are the recycling of ancient beliefs and symbolic stories which have been added to and twisted under the guidance of the prison warder consciousness, until the original meaning has been lost under an avalanche of myth and invention. so often when you investigate the origin of the foundation stories of the religions, you find the same basic themes with different names for the alleged heroes and villains. for the christian version of jesus, see also bel (sumer, dionysus (greece, mithra (persia and rome, osiris (egypt, quetzalcoatl (central and south america, krishna (india, and so on. in this way, the spirit

h rank at the time of elizabeth i and james i. he was a grand commander of the brotherhood order called the rosicrucians, and very much involved in the underground operations of the knights templar traditions. bacon passed on knowledge secretly in codes contained in works like the shakespearean plays, which he wrote himself. the evidence for this is very substantial and the shakespeare story is a myth. sorry stratford! bacon used the network to encourage the colonising of north america, not the least to stop the spanish getting control of it. more than that, however, he was working from the brotherhood agenda. people like sir walter raleigh were also in bacon's circle, along with other prominent names in elizabethan society. the birth of the brotherhood 31 i stress that not everyone within

rew, polish, and german. the name rothschild came from the red shield, the symbol of the khazar "jews" in eastern europe (german: rotes schild= red shield. the rothschild family have no more an historic link to palestine than an eskimo.33 the 'jewish' hooked nose does not originate from the biblical israel. it has its genetic origins in the caucasus. the classic jewish face of y'shua (jesus) is a myth. he would not have looked anything like that because he was not born in lower russia. as koestler wrote "anthropology concurs with history in refuting the popular belief in a jewish race descended from the biblical tribe. the jewish-born christian bishop, hugh montefiore, said in the church times of january 24th 1992, that "anti-semitism is built on a powerful racial myth, accepted by jews an

iim 57, 6a "the birth rate of non- jews has to be suppressed massively (zohar ii, 4b "as you replace lost cows and donkeys, so you shall replace non-jews (lore dea 377,1. and so it goes on and on. so how often do the "anti-racist" protestors demonstrate outside talmudic events? never. exactly. the irony is that the racism of extreme jews and the racism of adolf hitler are both based on a colossal myth. as alfred m. lilienthal, the jewish writer and researcher, said "there is no reputable anthropologist who will not agree that jewish racialism is as much poppycock as aryan racialism. as far back as 1938, the american anthropological association, at it's annual conference in new york, condemned aryanism as a fallacy and stated that both 'aryan' and 'semitic' were linguistic terms without any

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

story of a time when the north and south polar stars changed places and "went to visit each other. north american traditions refer to great clouds appearing and a heat so powerful that the waters boiled. the greenland eskimos told early missionaries that long ago the earth turned over. peruvian legends say that the andes mountains were ripped apart when the sky made war with the earth. brazilian myth describes how the heavens burst and fragments fell down killing everything and everyone as heaven and earth changed places. and the hopi indians of north america record that "the earth was rent in great chasms, and water covered everything except one narrow ridge of mud."14 atlantis and lemuria all of this closely correlates with the legends of atlantis and lemuria, or mu. these were two vast

e was a third star, which also orbits sirius a, and takes 50 years to complete a circuit. again this was undiscovered at the time, but its existence was confirmed by astronomers in 1995 and it is known as sirius c.16 the illuminati symbolism of three- the trinity- appears to be related, at least in part, to these three stars of the sirius system. the constant reference to the number 50 in ancient myth could relate to these 50-year orbits, temple suggests, and they also symbolised sirius b and c as "the twins" using their combined orbit periods of 100 years as a code for them, he says. certainly there is endless reference to "twin" symbolism throughout the ancient world. the dogon call sirius b, digitaria, and sirius c, sorghun, or the "female star".17 they also call it the "sun of women" o

is also associated with the sirius system. the ancients designed massive temples to point directly at the spot on the horizon where sirius appeared at the "rising" and their key rituals were focused on sirius, just as many of the illuminati's are today. one example of these sirius-aligned structures is the temple of isis at denderah in egypt.24 the goddess, isis, is a symbol of sirius in egyptian myth. robert temple suggests in the sirius mystery that isis is sirius and the "sister-goddess" of isis, nephthys, represents sirius b. isis was said to be visible and nephthys invisible, just like sirius a and b. another sirius symbol was anubis (anpu to the egyptians, the one portrayed as the dog or jackal-headed god and associated with osiris, the "sun god" of egypt.25 there was also a goddess

tablets as an (later anu. he was represented by the jackal or dog. associated with sirius in egyptian belief was orion and, interestingly, modern ufo researchers figure 2: the inverted pentagram, the classic symbol of satanism, and, apparently, a symbol for sirius. ruled by the gods 35 connect the reptilians with both sirius and orion. isis (sirius) was the companion of osiris (orion) in egyptian myth. among the major illuminati symbols to the present day are the eye, the triangle or pyramid, the five-pointed star, the obelisk, and the dome. the egyptian hieroglyph for sirius was the obelisk, dome and fivepointed star; the bozo tribe of mali, cousins to the dogon, call sirius the "eye star; an egyptian hieroglyph for sirius was a triangle- three points representing the three sirius stars;

e five-pointed star, the obelisk, and the dome. the egyptian hieroglyph for sirius was the obelisk, dome and fivepointed star; the bozo tribe of mali, cousins to the dogon, call sirius the "eye star; an egyptian hieroglyph for sirius was a triangle- three points representing the three sirius stars; and the triangle symbolised water in pythagorean code;26 the eye was a symbol of osiris in egyptian myth. the bow and arrow is another symbol used by the ancients for sirius and they knew it as the "bow star. the egyptian word meaning bowman also referred to a "heavy star metal- sirius b- and their word for heavy star metal was close to the words meaning dwarf and weight.27 the sumerian account called the epic of gilamesh tells of a star that is so heavy it cannot be lifted (sirius b. this star

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

ans tell thesame story of a time when the north and south polar stars changed places and went tovisit each other. north american traditions refer to great clouds appearing and a heat sopowerful that the waters boiled. the greenland eskimos told early missionaries thatlong ago the earth turned over. peruvian legend says that the andes were split apartwhen the sky made war with the earth. brazilian myth describes how the heavens burstand fragments fell down killing everything and everyone as heaven and earth changedplaces. and the hopi indians of north america record that: the earth was rent in greatchasms, and water covered everything except one narrow ridge of mud.9all of this closely correlates with the legends of atlantis and mu or lemuria: twovast continents, one in the atlantic and the

ain relates to the45very white skin of the giant watcher-human hybrid babies described in the book ofenoch and elsewhere. and, i should emphasise, the birth of the human-watcher child inthe book of enoch is that of noah. if this be so, noah is, in fact, a reptile-human hybridand many peoples have sought to claim descendence from noah -descendence from thereptilian watchers and anunnaki. in hebrew myth, the nefilim are described as awwimwhich means devastators or serpents. in the dead sea scrolls, noah is described aslooking like the children of the (fallen) angels of heaven whose conception was (due)to the watchers. and to the nefilim. in jewish lore, eve is seen as the ancestral motherof the nefilim and associated with the hebrew words meaning life and snake. eve was,of course, tempted by

which means devastators or serpents. in the dead sea scrolls, noah is described aslooking like the children of the (fallen) angels of heaven whose conception was (due)to the watchers. and to the nefilim. in jewish lore, eve is seen as the ancestral motherof the nefilim and associated with the hebrew words meaning life and snake. eve was,of course, tempted by the serpent according to old testament myth and other sources. inchapter 69 of the book of enoch we find that among the watchers who revealed thesecrets to humans was gadreel, the fallen angel who has been identified with temptingeve. the book of enoch was banned by the roman church which sought to deny theearlier christian belief in the existence of flesh and blood angels and fallen angelsoccupying physical bodies and interbreeding wi

be rather crowded because khrishna, vishnu, buddha,quetzalcoatl and others, will also be there. the star at the birth ofjesus is another multideity story and goes back at least to thebabylonian tale of nimrod who, in a dream, saw a brilliant starrising above the horizon. the soothsayers told him that this foretoldthe birth of a child who would become a great prince.24 its allrecycling. jesus is a myth man.the invented character of jesus was a sun god, symbolic ofgods sun. the light of the world. this very phrase, light of theworld, was used by the aryan-phoenicians to symbolise the onetrue god thousands of years before the alleged birth of abraham, thequite wrongly named creator of the one-god concept.25 they alsosymbolised the one true god, the sun, with the one true cross 26 thechristian

ey higgins inhis epic work, anacalypsis, shows how rome was created as a new babylon. nowonder christianity is so awash with babylonian symbols. the whole thing was a setup to create yet another religion to entrap the human mind, and the hierarchy of thechristian church today know all this! the church elite have always known thisbecause they are part of the secret society stream which created the myth calledchristianity. cynical lies like the turin shroud, which has been connected with theknights templar secret society, have been invented to perpetuate the propaganda. theforce which invented jesus and christianity is the same force which still controls theworld today. for instance, the roman college of architects was a forerunner of todaysfreemasons, only the name has changed. the romans u

DEMONIC BIBLE

ion to each other but made similar claims of possessing hidden knowledge passed down from ancient times or from a race of secret masters in the east. in reality, these lodges had very few secrets to reveal other than hand-shakes and grade signs but masonry was condemned by the church as a form of devil-worship which only added to its popularity. freemasons may have had few hidden secrets, but the myth of masonic secrecy led to more myserious (and occasionally more sinister) occult lodges being established. one such group was the rosicrucians, the brethren of the rosy cross. among them was the magician francis barrett, author of the magus, a classic on the subject of ceremonial magic, and eliphas levi, author of numerous books on the cabala. this was followed a century later by another occu

th. in studying the names for the devil you will find that most can be traced to ancient goddesses who represented various aspects of tiamat, either as goddess of the earth, goddess of fertility and pleasure, or goddess of death. astaroth is a form of ishtar, the babylonian goddess of pleasure who descends into the underworld to conquer her sister ereshkigal, the goddess of death. in this ancient myth, both ishtar and ereshkigal are forms of tiamat. the dark goddess was also often depicted carrying a phallic object a severed penis. the egyptian god set was originally a female deity and was identified with isis. the goddess set carried as a talisman the severed penis of osiris. isis and set, like the babylonian ishtar and ereshkigal, represent life and death and are both aspects of the dark

DIABOLUS

are featured in the yatuk dinoih, and formulas for creation and evocation are given. ahriman created or had fell with seven archdemons who served his will. they were in a prototypical way, the dragon of seven heads. these daevas were listed as the following, aeshma, akoman, nanghaithya, tawrich, savar, andar and zarich. the daevas were authored or created by ahriman as in suggestion of the zurvan myth. these are so-called evil spirits who chose the intellect and individual will as opposed to servitude and conformity. aeshma is the original form of asmodeus, a daeva of ahriman. this demon is known as the one of the wounding spear and was a patron of war and strife. asmodeus along with savar, who is called the leader of devs, both are the controllers under ahriman of the dryvants, who are kn

e avestan words mainyu and geathya, mainyu meaning our own mind and gaethya meaning to live thus from the latin roots as mens and mind. the spiritual or mind cannot be viable to any certainty in the physical realm beyond its will to shape its world around it, therefore the mind contains both elements of darkness and light. ahriman himself was born of light but yet chose darkness. in the zurvanite myth ahriman first perceived his own being and chose to exit the womb before his brother, who was born of light. ahriman was called dark and stinking by his father zurvan, who by casting aside his first born, allowed ahriman to go forth from the heavenly realm to choose his own devices within the physical and spiritual world. ahriman has free will to choose his own path, to become in both planes o

wimming and moving much differently and as a dragon, a serpent which is both cunning and instinctually in tune with its surroundings. it seems that the category of demon simply represents any combination of animal or beast, similar to the plethora of demonic imagery from the earliest times of man. manichaean belief, as it developed from the dualistic religion of zoroastrianism, views the creation myth of mankind slightly different from its zoroastrian counterparts. in manichaean concepts adam was engendered by satan with the traits of desire, cupidity and those concepts which religions always have difficulty with. satan gave unto adam the elements of light which he was said to have stolen, so that he may embody that art in 17 translated by e.w. west, from haug and west, the book of arda vi

witch by michael w. ford, succubus publishing. 37 see witcha by nathan harris. 32 prototype and initiatory model. harris points out also the invocation used to conjure cain in charles leland s aradia gospel of the witches. nathan harris writes also that some claim hereditary witchcraft is that the children are of cain, who in some traditions is also the son of adam and lilith, or the traditional myth of samael (the devil) and eve. a further interesting connection that lilith holds with samael/satan is the star algol which was originally called arabic the ri'b al ohill and later the hebrew rosh ha sitan meaning the head of satan and also lilith. algol can be viewed as a star which represents the essence of satan and lilith, the twin fire of becoming through the left hand path. in luciferia

nd in our ears, nor is there any sign of tears upon the face of any of them. o prince satan, holder of the keys of hell, those thy riches which thou hadst gained by the tree of transgression and the losing of paradise, thou hast lost by the tree of the cross, and all thy gladness hath perished- gospel of nicodemus vii (xxiii) here beelzebub is the tester and accuser of christ, he by having him in myth crucified acted as his initiator and teacher, he tested christ by word and prose and christ proved a powerful student. beelzebub had him face death and christ was then uplifted from flesh to spirit, just as beelzebub has experienced in the fall; yet christ was said to have returned to heaven after gaining a perception of his own being and world. end this essay has intertwined within the basic

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

li orientis [o.t.o] sex magickal secrets, g.d. techniques, his own channeled writings, and his own practical experiences. the order he founded was the argentium astrum [a.a. he is famous for his many writings, including the encyclopedia called the equinox, and magick: parts 1-4. cup: see chalice. curcurbite: in alchemy (q.v, a type of container. in sex magick (q.v) the vagina- d- daemon: in greek myth, an intermediate spirit between men and the gods. daemons such as the one that guided socrates act as counselors and guardians to human beings. dadouchos: from the greek meaning "a torch bearer" originally, a hereditary officer at the mysteries of the eleusian demeter, whose torch symbolized her search for her daughter persephone, the spirit of youth and spring. in the order of the astral sta

ritual actions conducted in order to realize a ritual desire (q.v, such as the performance of the great work (q.v) of alchemy (q.v. a working is an extended series of rituals designed to attain a single object. worlds, four: a traditional way of looking at the tree of life (q.v) as being composed of four divisions or "worlds" there are many variations of this theory. see ha-oh-lahm. world tree: a myth of many different world religions. the great tree at the axis of the world that was believed in shamanism (q.v) to hold up the heavens with it's branches and provide a frame work for the entire universe- x- no "x" terms listed- y- yeh-chee-dah: psychic center just above the head, it is also the deepest level of the subconscious. also called "the higher self" yeheshuah: the pentagrammaton (q.v

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

sources of inspiration. from the intrinsic nature of his poetry, and from many passing references in his works, i think we may be entitled to claim "a. e" as one of that band of students who have been nurtured on the mystical qabalah. at any rate, what he has to say is sound qabalistic doctrine and extremely illuminating to our present argument. 26. dr jung has a great deal to say concerning the myth-making faculty of the human mind, and the occultist knows it to be true. he knows also, however, that its implications are much farther reaching than psychology has yet suspected. the mind of poet or mystic, dwelling upon the great natural forces and factors of the manifested universe, has, by the creative use of the imagination, penetrated far more deeply into their secret causes and springs

fliction. saturn is the resister; but, being a resister, he is also a stabiliser and tester who does not allow us to trust our weight to that which will not bear it. it is an illuminating point that the thirty-second path, which leads from malkuth to yesod and is the first path trodden by the soul striving upwards, is assigned to saturn. he is the god of the most ancient form of matter. the greek myth of chronos, which is simply the greek name for the same principle, looks upon him as one of the old gods; that is to say, the gods that made the gods. he was the father of jupiter-zeus, who was saved from him by a cunning device of his mother, for saturn had an unpleasant habit of eating his chiidren. in this myth we get again the idea of the bringer into life as the giver of death. as we hav

considered netzach from the objective and the subjective points of view; it now remains to study the symbolism assigned to this sephirah in the light of the knowledge we have already obtained. 29. we shall observe at once that the symbolism contains two distinct ideas-the idea of power and the idea of beauty; and we are reminded of the love that existed between venus and mars according to the old myth. now these myths are not fabulous, save in the historical sense, but represent truths of the spirit; and when we find the same idea recurring in different pantheons, when we find hebrew qabalist and greek poet, whose mentalities were as far removed from each other as the poles, presenting the same concept in different forms, we must conclude that it is not accidental, but will repay careful s

DONALDTYSON CORONZON

atan, the archangel who led a rebellion in heaven, and for this crime was cast down by god into an abyss or pit. curiously, in gabriel's account of the fall of man, adam's name is not used, and eve is not mentioned in any way. we might regard gabriel's references to man as signifying mankind or the human race, which would imply more than two human beings in the garden at the time of the fall. the myth of lilith, adam's wife before eve, supports such a speculation, although lilith is often regarded as a demonic spirit rather than a human being. perhaps there was a colony of human beings in the garden. gabriel, who is a servant and messenger of god, naturally portrayed coronzon as envious and spiteful of the happiness of man in the garden, for which reason the serpent "began to assail him, a

DONALDTYSON DEMON

able to gather from other hints in the bible and in christian and jewish folklore that lucifer is free to suggest to human beings that they voluntarily defy god. once a person does so, he or she forfeits the protection of god. then lucifer is permitted to commit injuries upon the person. what is true of lucifer himself applies to his agents, the demons. in a nutshell, this is the christian demon myth. demons are tempters of men because they are forbidden to injure human beings who obey god. but if through the temptation of a demon a person can be induced to disobey god, that person is demon fodder. effectively, they join lucifer's army of apostate fallen angels, although at a very subordinate rank. from a fundamentalist christian point of view, all those who fail to worship christ are dis

le in the ground with a puff of sulfurous smoke, do not make the error of assuming that you have also dismissed the reality that demon represents. rather than assert that demons are unreal because your own preconception of them seems ridiculous, at least consider the possibility of changing your concept of what a demon is. demons in one form or another have been a constant fixture of folklore and myth in all cultures around the world since the dawn of history. while this is not proof that these folk beliefs are literally true, it suggests that a core of truth exists that has sustained and defined the myths of demons over the centuries. it is nothing short of intellectual arrogance to leave unexamined so universal an aspect of human experience. return hcehome resources demons bios fiction t

DONALDTYSON EVILEYE

he man could look upon it. however, if it happened that the man saw the wolf first, the gaze of the wolf would lack its paralyzing effect. it was believed that the ray from the eye of the man extending itself to the wolf prevented the ray from the wolf's eye from reaching the man- the same theory that caused individuals to wear images of eyes on their clothing. no such complication existed in the myth of the basilisk, a serpent whose gaze falling upon a man at once made him immobile. we still have a remnant of this ancient belief in the form of the folk tale that says a snake can charm its prey so that it remains motionless until it is killed. the same sort of belief was also held with regard to the hyena by the ancient romans. belief in the evil eye has never ceased since the dawn of reco

DONALDTYSON NOMICON

ful, and so evil. for if the old ones succeed in forcing a doorway permanently open onto our time and space, they will destroy and enslave the world. the underlying theme of lovecraft's cthulhu mythos has many powerful echoes in the mythologies of ancient cultures around the world. it is probably for this reason that it struck such a chord of response in readers. we find in it similarities to the myth of the archons of gnosticism, who together with the arch devil and god, yaldabaoth, gave shape to the material world and rule over the human race. there are also echoes of the jewish myth of the fall of the angels, and more specifically of the watchers who descended to earth to sin with the daughters of mankind, and to teach their offspring forbidden arts and sciences. the legend of the fall

whom they were conquered in the terrific battle of moytura. but they were by no means crushed by this defeat and continued to harass the gods of light for generations chiefly by employing their undoubted powers of sorcery (spence. magic arts in celtic britain. new york: dover, 1999, pages 25-6) these tales are so primal, so ancient, that they may well be part of our racial memory, just as is the myth of the great flood. if credence is given to the notion that an individual human being can draw upon this racial memory, as the psychologist carl jung believed, then it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that lovecraft in his frequent strange dreams and nightmares glimpsed something true about the distant past of the universe, perhaps so far back in the past that the human race had not ev

DONALDTYSON VAMPIRES

by a vampire. which begs the question, where did the first vampire come from? in older folk tales, a vampire was someone who had lived a very wicked life, and was cursed for his or her evil deeds by being bound to the grave, and forced to wander the earth in search of fresh blood- in this way a vampire could be created without having first been bitten by another vampire. a recent variation on the myth is that a vampire can only be created if the person bitten also drinks the blood of the vampire. this seems to have no historical foundation in folk tales. movie vampires are physical beings who nonetheless possess the power to dematerialize into mist, or change their shape into various creatures of the night, such as the bat and wolf. in the form of mist they can exit and enter their graves

ter their graves through minute cracks in the ground. they cannot see their reflections in mirrors, nor be seen in them. for some unspecified reason, this causes the vampire to hate mirrors, and to shatter any looking glasses that happen to be around. they are equally discomforted by garlic and the christian cross, or the crucifix (cross with the figure of jesus upon it. in modern versions of the myth, vampires sometimes show contempt for the cross rather than fear. the vampires of popular modern fiction can be destroyed in a variety of ways. sunlight and holy water dissolve their flesh and bones like strong acid. in some versions of the legend, sunlight causes them to burst into flames. a stake through their heart also causes them to decay very rapidly. in a modern variation of this detai

ry rapidly. in a modern variation of this detail, the stake merely renders the vampire immobile and apparently dead, but if withdrawn, the vampire immediately reanimates. less common ways to kill a vampire in films and popular fiction are decapitation and a silver bullet through the heart. these animated corpses are condemned to wander the night in search of blood. the older version of the modern myth suggests that only human blood is suitable, but in recent vampire stories animal blood is said to be a poor, temporary substitute. despite their ceaseless craving for blood, vampires are immortal- even if they never drink blood, they remain undead, but are maddened and weakened physically by long periods without this nourishment. obvious contradictions exist in the modern versions of the vamp

suggests that only human blood is suitable, but in recent vampire stories animal blood is said to be a poor, temporary substitute. despite their ceaseless craving for blood, vampires are immortal- even if they never drink blood, they remain undead, but are maddened and weakened physically by long periods without this nourishment. obvious contradictions exist in the modern versions of the vampire myth. these stem from an underlying confusion over whether the vampire is corporeal or spiritual. dracula exhibits characteristics of both a physical and a spiritual being. he can pass through a keyhole or transform into a bat, yet his body must physically rest in a coffin during the day in his native grave earth. he is forced to regularly drink blood, yet can go for an unspecified length of time

DONALDTYSON WEREWOLF

es. it is more difficult, but possible, to destroy the spirit vampire, but this drastic course of action is seldom necessary. return hy.home resources demons bios fiction tyson the truth about werewolves (european werewolf attacking a villager) most people know nothing about werewolves other than what they've seen in old lon channy jr. movies, and their modern-day imitations. the modern cinematic myth of the werewolf states that a person bitten by a werewolf who lives becomes under the light of the full moon a werewolf, which is to say a creature with an overall human shape, but covered in wolf's fur and with a head and limbs that resemble those of a wolf. a movie werewolf has glowing eyes, elongated canine teeth, a hairy face, and claws on its feet and hands. usually it cannot speak, alth

y bit them, and go loping off into the night in search of human prey. once the night of the full moon is past, werewolves revert to their ordinary human form and retain little or no recollection of what they did during their wolf phase. there are usually clues, however, such as clots of drying blood under the fingernails and muddy wolf footprints on the carpet. in the old hollywood version of the myth, a werewolf can be killed with a silver bullet, and is allergic to the herb wolf's bane. more modern films have werewolves being killed by various silver objects. in these latter versions of the myth the werewolf is more often wolf-shaped, although larger and stronger than any ordinary wolf. when not in their changed state, werewolves can be recognized by the bristling or very thick and dark

ncreased vitality causes it to heal much more quickly than an ordinary person, and to be able to tolerate injuries that would incapacitate the average man or woman. it is not always clear in films whether the bite of the werewolf infects the victim with some disease, or whether the person bitten must first be under some sort of curse. the source of this confusion is easy to understand. the modern myth of the werewolf may be traced back in substantially the same form to ancient greece, where it was believed that werewolves were hereditary, and originated from a curse of the gods on particular families or clans. the greek werewolf actually transformed into a wolf, and was condemned to seek out human flesh while in its wolf state. to the old folk tale of a god's curse, the modern disease of r

lk tale of a god's curse, the modern disease of rabies was added. a person bitten by a mad dog or other animal over time becomes mad, and begins to behave like a beast. traditionally, all madness falls under the domain of the moon. in movies, the bite of a werewolf acts in a very similar way to the bite of a mad dog. it is a kind of infection. moonlight triggers it. but enough of the more ancient myth of a god's curse survived to cause some films to hint that the person bitten in some way deserved his or her fate- that it was more than simple chance that led them to that particular spot in the woods on that specific night when the attack took place. as i said, the ancient greek myth is essentially the form of the werewolf legend that was used by hollywood. however, the origins of the werew

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

e group s perceived identity; that is, by believing that the group is superior each follower feels superior and it does not matter to the follower that reality speaks against him or her. focus is thus not on the ideology but on the identity one assumes by being part of the group; or rather, on the identity that one assumes by being part of the story about the group. in short, they create a modern myth (or have it created for them) then play a part in it. consequently, if someone uses the leader s or the group s ideology outside of the story which is lock-stepped with the leader and the group (as is the case if someone founds a new organization that follows the ideology, the followers feel that they have been personally robbed, because their identity has become interwoven with the fictitiou

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

uld go to the grave of the obambo, or ghost, and make a crude image, after which a bamboo bier, on which a body is conveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground were carried into a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth was draped over the door. a curious element of the ritual, which seems to show that these people had a legend something like the old greek myth of charon and the river styx, was a song chanted during the ceremony with the following line: you are well dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other side. possession in most preindustrial cultures, epileptic diseases were assumed to be the result of demoniac possession. in much of africa the sufferer was supposed to be possessed by mbwiri, and the person was relieved onl

co (1923.1988) british scholar who assisted in the deciphering of the dead sea scrolls, and created a sensation with his book the sacred mushroom and the cross (1970, which suggested that the new testament was written in a secret code for the use of a sect built around the hallucinatory properties of a sacred mushroom drug. according to allegro, jesus never existed and the crucifixion story was a myth, symbolic of the ecstasy of a drug cult. in support of this extraordinary theory, allegro strained philology, comparative linguistics, and semantics in a manner that recalled the eccentricities of john belleden ker in the nineteenth century, who wrote several volumes to prove that all british proverbs and nursery rhymes were assonantal equivalents of high dutch invectives against the roman ca

ntioned in the bible that the angel host or army will fight god s cosmic battle. for example, an angel destroyed sennacherib s army encamped around jerusalem. they appeared to the shepards to announce the birth of jesus, and jesus will lead the armies of god in the final conflict at the end of time (revelation 19:14. the idea of angelic armies would come to the forefront during world war i in the myth of the angels of mons. as to the nature of angels, it is essentially the same as that of humans, for not only are understanding and will attributed to them, but they have been mistaken for humans when they appear, and seem capable of disobedience (hebrews 2:7, 16. the latter possibility is exhibited in its greatest extent by jude, who speaks of the angels which kept not their first estate, bu

ation and speculation over the centuries. it entered occult perspectives through the writings of helena petrovna blavatsky, cofounder of the theosophical society, in the nineteenth century and has been a topic of popular speculation in the twentieth century. for many, atlantis has replaced the biblical garden of eden as a mythical original home for the human race. for plato, atlantis was a useful myth for conveying several lessons he wanted to make about government and the nature of city-states. in the twentieth century it has been integrated into a myth about overreliance on technology as opposed to personal spiritual and psychic awareness. plato described atlantis as a large land located beyond the straits of gibraltar. it was a powerful land able to conquer much of the mediterranean bas

plato described atlantis as a large land located beyond the straits of gibraltar. it was a powerful land able to conquer much of the mediterranean basin, but at the height of its power it was destroyed by geologic forces. plato supposedly learned of atlantis as a result of the athenian lawgiver solon, who had brought the story to greece from egypt several centuries earlier. over time the atlantis myth grew in proporition, so that by the middle ages, atlantis had been transformed into a massive mid-atlantic continent. eventually it became one of the destinations visited by explorers in the european fantastic voyage literature, the most prominent being captain nemo in jules verne s twenty thousand leagues under the sea (1870. interest in atlantis was revived in 1882 with the publication of i

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

he heard the first direct voice phenomena, and the manifestations of john king. he followed every new psychic discovery with keen interest. he died january, 10, 1866. maple, eric (william (1915) british author on witchcraft, demonology, the supernatural, and folklore. in addition to his books on such subjects, he also lectured widely and in the late 1960s was a consultant on the publication man, myth, and magic (1967.70. he gave special attention to the role of the so-called white witch in the history of witchcraft persecutions and also showed the interrelationship of witchcraft with ghost lore, spiritism, and the cult of the dead. maple wrote magic is a common bond uniting all races and creeds and therefore, possibly, the most democratic principle in the world. sources: maple, eric. the

claimed by helena petrovna blavatsky, one of the founders of theosophy, were: koot hoomi lal singh (usually signing letters k.h, the master morya (known as master m, master ilarion or hilarion (a greek, djual khul (or d.k, and the maha chohan. sources: jinarajadasa, c. the early teachings of the masters. chicago: theosophical press, 1925. johnson, paul. in search of the masters: behind the occult myth. south boston, va: the author, 1990. leadbeater, charles w. the masters and the path. adyar, india: theosophical publishing house, 1925. masters, robert e. l (1927) co-founder with wife, jean houston, of the foundation for mind research, manhattan, new york, conducting experiments in the borderline between mental and physical experience. masters has a background of poetry and sexology and was

hey knew too much about flying saucers by gray barker (1956. they have since become part of flying saucer mythology, with claimed visitations to other ufo investigators and contactees. some investigators preferred to believe that they were government officials, possibly from the central intelligence agency (cia, determined to suppress information on the reality of ufos. for most, the men in black myth became but a form in which paranoid fears could be expressed within the ufological community. sources: clark, jerome. the emergence of a phenomenon: ufos from the beginning through 1959. vol. 2 of the ufo encyclopedia. detroit: omnigraphics, 1992. rojcewicz, peter m. the men in black experience and tradition: analogues with the traditional devil hypothesis. journal of american folklore 100 (a

ancient peoples that certain demons became visible especially toward midday to those with whom they had a pact. they appeared in the form of men or of beasts, and would allow themselves be enclosed in a symbolic character, a figure, a vial, or in the interior of a hollow ring (see also demonology) the midiwiwin a secret society or exclusive association of the ojibway indians of north america. the myth of the foundation of this society is as follows: michabo, the creator, looking down to earth saw that the forefathers of the ojibway were very helpless. espying a black object floating on the surface of a lake he drew near to it and saw that it was an otter [now one of the sacred animals of the midiwiwin. he instructed it in the mysteries of that caste, and provided it with a sacred rattle, a

is stevenson s dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, in which the possibilities of evil inherent in all human beings are released from the kindly dr. jekyll in the shape of the demonic mr. hyde. stevenson also varied this theme in his short story markheim, where a debauched murderer is confronted by an angelic alter ego. mysterious creatures reported from isolated places, having an existence somewhere between myth and natural history, continue to fascinate and attract while playing on subconscious anxieties. the discovery by western scientists of the gorilla and the colocynth have given substantive hope to the idea that some of the legends of monsters may refer to actual survivors of ancient species. this has generated a new field of research, cryptozoology. loch ness monster a large, aquatic, dinosaur

ESOTERISM AND THE LEFT HAND PATH

ities from these middle regions becomes important in this context, just like thoughts about gurus and initiators. where mysticism views fantasy as an obstacle, esoterism views it as a possibility. faivre describes it in a colourful way: understood in this way fantasy (imaginato is related to magnet, magia, imagio) is a tool for those who wishes to reach knowledge about the self, the world and the myth. it is the eye of fire which penetrates the shell of the outer appearance to make the true significations appear, and uncovers the connections which makes the invisible visible to expand our mundane seeing; the mundus imaginalis to which the mundane eye of flesh has no access. 4) the experience of transmutation. without the experience of transmutation as an important component esoterism could

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

logy, is plainly depicted. in an unconscious, symbolic form. although the author with his somewhat primitive mentality has taken it quite literally as a concrete happening (jung, 1959. see also: contactees further reading angelucci, orfeo, 1955. the secret of the saucers. amherst, wi: amherst press, 1959. son of the sun. los angeles: devorss and company. jung, c. g, 1959. flying saucers: a modern myth of things seen in the skies. new york: harcourt, brace and company. anoah anoah, associated with the melchizedek order of the white brotherhood, consisting of wise extraterrestrial and spiritual entities, channeled through austin, texas, psychic medium jann weiss in the 1980s. the planetary light association, which at its peak had some 3,200 members around the world, distributed books and tap

erences to the lost continent cite plato as the source. some accept plato s account as historical, while others see it as an allegory never meant to be taken literally. plato s own student aristotle took the latter view. during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as european explorers found their way to the americas, several writers, most prominently sir francis bacon (1551 1626, revived the myth of atlantis and theorized that its remains could be found in the newworld. that would be only the beginning of a new round of speculation. at one time or another, a modern chronicler of the legend observes, atlantis has been located in the arctic, nigeria, the caucasus, the crimea, north africa, the sahara, malta, spain, central france, belgium, the netherlands, the north sea, the bahamas, an

t l a n t e a n s and lemurians (from lemuria, the pa c i fic e q u i valent of atlantis) maintain colonies inside mount shasta on the california-ore g o n b o rd e r. with the rise of the internet, web sites devoted to atlantis and related materials have proliferated. one such site, run by the hawaii-based department of interplanetary affairs, provides a densely detailed overview of the atlantis myth as it had evolved by the end of the twentieth century. in this version, atlantis was literally a golden civilization in which gold was so plentiful that it was as common as steel is today in construction and infrastructure. the atlanteans traveled around the globe in fantastic flying ships. these same ships took them to other planets, including mars, where they left evidence of their presence

ion of lore that had already quietly circulated for years, became a major bestseller. that same year two paperbacks, the devil s triangle by richard winer and limbo of the lost by john wallace spencer, fueled public fascination and speculation. but the next year, in 1975, larry kusche s in-depth inquiry into the incidents that underlay the legend, the bermuda triangle mystery solved, undercut the myth-making by documenting the prosaic explanations that would have been apparent if the pro-triangle writers had done original research and not simply rewritten each other s books. the silence of the writers whom kusche criticized effectively ended the discussion. see also: oints further reading begg, paul, 1979. into thin air: people who disap- pear. north pomfret, vt: david and charles. berlitz

oo big for their bodies. they look, in other words, like starving children. ring reads this to mean, the future of the human race symbolized by the archetype of the child is menaced as never before. our planet is experiencing a near-death crisis, and we need to listen to what these extraordinary experiencers are telling us. they are leading us to a cosmic-centered view of our place in creation, a myth that has the power to ignite the fires of a worldwide planetary regeneration and thus to save us from the icy blasts of thanatos s nuclear winter. see also: psychoterrestrials further reading ring, kenneth, 1992. the omega project: ne a r- de a t h experiences, ufo encounters, and mind at large. new yo rk: william mo r row and company. i 129 insectoids some ufo abductees report onboard encoun

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

te (also of the university of rome) concluded that the language was old canaanite, even though written in sumerian cuneiform. he found the language to be closer in vocabulary and grammar to biblical hebrew than any other canaanite dialect, including ugaritic. ebla was destroyed by the akkadians circa 1600bce. the reader is referred to david rohl s controversial book a test of time: the bible from myth to history, century, london, 1995. more recently, archeologists uncovered the ancient city of nabada along the same trade route as ebla in nothwest syria. clay cuneiform tablets were also found there, and like those found at ebla, the language bears great resemblance to biblical hebrew. e "h 5 3 the oldest and fullest surviving manuscript is the codex petropolitanus dating to 916 ce. 4 the se

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

compared with the talisman, the hieroglyph is not magical. it is a deep way of stating hidden truths in the sacred egyptian writing. and it was immensely popular with the humanists, and therefore 1 see karl giehlow "die hieroglyphcnkunde des humanismus in der allegorie der renaissance, in jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen sammlungen des allerhochsten kaiserhauses, xxxii, pt. i, 1915; e. iversen, the myth f egypt and its hieroglyphs, copenhagen, 1961. 2 see the hieroglyphics of horapollo, translated by george boas, bollingen series 23, new york, 1950. 3 "hunc (hermes) asserunt occidisse argum, aegyptiis praefuisse, eisque leges, ac literas tradidissc. literarum uero characteres in anirnalium, arborumque figuris instituisse (ficino, p. 1836) in one of the plotinus commentaries he relates these

believes him to be the true author of the works ascribed to him. he had foreknowledge of the trinity which, however, he did not quite well define, though it cannot be denied that he spoke of it first and better than any subsequent gentile' kircher's great passion is for the egyptian hieroglyphs6 and 1 it was, of course, with continental freemasonry that mozart was in contact (see e. iversen, the myth of egypt and its hieroglyphs, copenhagen, 1961, p. 122. but all continental freemasonry ultimately derived from england; and it was in elizabethan england that giordano bruno had so fervently preached the revival of the egyptian religion. 2 garin, cultura, p. 144. 3 a. kircher, oedipus aegyptiacus, rome, 1652. 4 op. cit, i, p. 103. ibid, ii (2, p. 506. 0 like ficino (see above, p. 163) kirche

le work on the hieroglyphs. hermes trismegistus, the egyptian, who first instituted the hieroglyphs, thus becoming the prince and parent of all egyptian theology and philosophy, was the first and most ancient among the egyptians 1 champollion's discovery, which at last enabled the hieroglyphic inscriptions to be deciphered, was published in 1824. for the history of the discovery, see iversen, the myth of egypt, pp. 137 ff. champollion represents the second phase of the break-up of the egyptian myth, the first phase of which was casaubon's dating of the hermetica. 2 kircher, op. cit, ii (2, pp. 504-5. 3 cf. ficino, opera, pp. 1842, 1843-4. 417 after hermes trismegistus was dated and first rightly thought of divine things; and engraved his opinion for all eternity on lasting stones and huge

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

ey were expelled from this universe by the intervention of forces allied to the cause of order. this cosmic history, which details subsequent battles with other primal life forms, shows an obvious parallel with that described within the cthulhu mythos. in a letter dated march 25, 1933, lovecraft writes, only the other day my new orleans friend e. hoffman price. discovered an intensely picturesque myth-cycle dealing with the earth s early aeons, the lost continent of kusha (atlantis) and shalmali (lemuria& the peopling of the earth from elder planets. there is talk of a secret book in some eastern shrine, parts of which are older than the earth. price assures me it is actual folklore& promises to send further particulars. 7 and in another letter8, lovecraft reveals the identity of the secre

FRATER U D PRACTICAL SIGIL MAGIC

discussed at the end of this study are taken from the work of agrippa nettesheim, who is above all criticism in this respect, a single glance at other standard works about magical symbols will show that most magicians and alchemists in the middle ages (the supposed gpeak h of occidental magic) largely developed their own sigil language using a rather small number of well.established symbols. the myth that there is a small number of gcorrect h sigils and a great variety of gwrong h ones for entities (generally demons, whose names are often little else but mutilations of misunderstood older terms,1 has confused the minds of even highly experienced old hands. such misinformation should no longer be tolerated. of course, even gwrong' dogmas can develop their own, definitely real, magical egre

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

of solomon which inhabited the body of jesus for the high mission it was destined to fulfill; to serve as a vehicle for the unifying unselfish christ spirit, for the purpose of bringing to an end the division between the sons of seth and the sons of cain and uniting them in the brotherhood forming the kingdom of heaven. when faust made the pact with mephistopheles, as recorded in the ancient soul-myth of that name, he was about to sign it in ink but mephisto says "no, sign it in blood" for this request faust asks the reason and mephistopheles says knowingly and cunningly "blood is a most peculiar essence" it is said in the bible that the blood of bulls and calves will not take away sins and that is reasonable, but how then about the blood of jesus, which is extolled as a panacea? to unders

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

, p. 317 "yang is male, positive, and represented by the sun. yin is female, negative, and represented by the moon" paul e. desautels, the gem kingdom, p. 237] the symbol itself dates back at least to the fourth century, b.c, and has he eastern philosophical been identified with t religions of confucianism, buddhim, and taoism. in the western world, it has long been adopted into th e symbolism of myth, magic, astrology and witchcraft [claire chambers, the siecus circle: a humanist revolution, 1977, p. v "another ancient magical sign called the yin-and-yang first appeared sometime before the 3rd century, b.c, in china. this emblem became the favorite of sorcerers and mystics throughout the orient because it, too, embodies so many possible meanings [gary jennings, black magic, white magic, t

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

of any other country. we are not informed as to whether the jewish tree of life was borrowed from the chaldeans or the egyptians, but, as the significance is the same in all countries, it is of little consequence which furnished a copy for the writer in genesis. in dr. inman's ancient faiths, is a drawing from the original, by colonel coombs, of the "temptation" or of the ancient tree-and-serpent myth in genesis. this drawing, in which it is observed that the jewish idea of woman as tempter is reversed, was copied from the inner walls of a cave in southern india. the picture is said to be a faithful representation of the version of the story as accepted in the east. of the myrtle, payne knight says that it "was a symbol both of venus and neptune, the male and female personifications of the

. who knows whether that which is demonstrated living, be not indeed rather dying, and whether that which is styled dying be not rather living" to one who has given attention to the various legends relative to the destruction of the world by a flood, and a storm-tossed mariner saved in an ark or boat, it is plain that they all have the same significance, all are but different versions of the same myth, which in an early age was used to conceal the philosophical doctrines of an ancient people. that the early historic nations understood little concerning the origin and true meaning of the legends which they had inherited from an older race is quite evident. the ignorance of the greeks regarding the significance of these legends is shown by the following: when solon, wishing to acquaint himse

mass of people who in an early age of the human race believed in the superior importance of the female in the office of reproduction, and that esau signifies the male. attention is called to the fact that esau is represented as a "hairy" man, rough-voiced and easily beguiled, while jacob, on the other hand, is smooth-faced, soft-voiced, and the favorite of his mother. there is indeed much in this myth which seems to indicate that it is an allegory beneath which are veiled certain facts connected with the struggle between two early contending sects regarding the relative importance of the sexes in reproduction. of this inman says "my own impression is that esau, or edom, and jacob are mystic names for a man and a woman, and that round these, historians wove a web of fancy; that ultimately t

we have the following from tertullian "if there was a pandora, whom hesiod mentions as the first woman, hers was the first head the graces crowned, for she received gifts from all the gods, whence she got her name pandora. but moses, a prophet, not a poet-shepherd, shows us the first woman eve having her loins more naturally girt about with leaves than her temples with flowers. pandora then is a myth"[98 [98] tertullian, vol. i, p. 341. woman, who was originally the gift of wisdom, or minerva, and who when created was garlanded with flowers as the crown of creation, became, in course of time, an accursed and wicked thing who must henceforth cover herself with leaves to hide her shame. tertullian, who, with the rest of the early fathers in the christian church, had imbibed the latter doctr

a, and who when created was garlanded with flowers as the crown of creation, became, in course of time, an accursed and wicked thing who must henceforth cover herself with leaves to hide her shame. tertullian, who, with the rest of the early fathers in the christian church, had imbibed the latter doctrine concerning her, could not believe the tradition set forth by hesiod; therefore pandora was a myth, while the corrupted fable, that of eve as the tempter, was accepted as a natural representation of womanhood. when woman was created "all the gods conferred a gifted grace "round her fair brow the lovely-tressed hours a garland twined of spring's purpureal flowers: the whole attire minerva's graceful art disposed, adjusted, form'd to every part"[99 [99] hesiod, works and days. later, however

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

. this society, in turn, wasthoughtto have preservedthe ethos, ifnotthe historical continuity, of the original rosicrucian brotherhoodofthe early seventeenth century; that such a brotherhood may never have existed 225 didnottroublethe members of the s.r.i.a: what mattered was that they should preserve its principles.thethree pamphlets (known as the rosicrucian manifestos) on which the rosicrucian myth was founded, were published in germany between 1614 and1616.they were thefamafraternitatis,confessiofraternitatis,andchymischehocnzeit(the chemical wedding; anthoughtto have been theworkof a prominent lutheran scholar, johann valentinandreae, and were possiblyissued with a political intent.whetherornotthis was so, they caught the popular imagination and stimulated theologians, occultists, and

ssiofraternitatis,andchymischehocnzeit(the chemical wedding; anthoughtto have been theworkof a prominent lutheran scholar, johann valentinandreae, and were possiblyissued with a political intent.whetherornotthis was so, they caught the popular imagination and stimulated theologians, occultists, and satirists to write innumerable attacks upon, and defences of, the putative rosicrucians. as for the myth itself, it concerned the life andworkof one christian rosencreutz, a mystic and adept of the fifteenth centurywhofounded, it wasclaimed;a secret fraternitywiththe aimofpropagating the esoteric wisdom he had acquired during his travels in theholyland, egypt, andnorthajrica. in addition to their esoteric studies, the members of his fraternity sought for spiritual development and 'practised acts

ose members engaged in nothing more nefarious than the intellectual pursuit of the occult sciences; and in that year the society gained a new member whose inventive genius in the field of occultism was second to none:drwilliamwynnwestcott.1westcott was, as befitted a rosicrucian, a medicalpractitioneras well as being an active freemason and an enthusiastic believer inthereality of the rosicrucian myth. he was also a kabbalist, a keen theosophist, and a supporter 'from its inception, in 1884, of anna kingsford and edward maitland's 'hermetic society, which laid great emphasis on the western as opposed to the eastern tradition of occultism. all these activities ledhimto recognize the contribution that ladiescould-anddid-maketo the advancement of occult knowledge, and he developed the notion

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

tvonchristianrosencreuz(the chemic255 al wedding, and generally accepted as the work of the lutheran scholar johann valentin andreae.ithas been argued, by frances yates, that the purpose of the pamphlets was political, and certainly they stimulated a stream of replies, both attacking and defending the mysterious order while not producing one scrap of evidence for its real existence.therosicrucian myth, set out in the manifestoes, is this 'according to the "fama fraternitatis benedicti ordinis rosae crucis" and the "confessio fraternitatisrc."the notable mystic and adept known as christian rosenkreuz, the founder of the rosicrucian fraternity, was born in1378,of a noble family, and received his education in a cloister. a certain monk, p.a.l, took him as a companion on a journey to the holy

t and mathers, their follies multiply and fictions about the order's history are taken up eagerly by conspiracy theorists who see the little people of the golden dawn as gigantic villains in a monstrous satanic plot to overthrow christian civilization.thisis the unfortunate legacy of the golden dawn. from innocent speculation on hermetic philosophy and harmless dabbling in quasi-magical ritual, a myth has grown upofultimatetruthshidden from the multitude but readily available to the initiate.theeverydaypeople whowerethe golden dawn are seen now through a distorting lens, and their essential humanityistaken from them.forthose who wish to find it, the hermetic philosophy that the order propagated does have a value; but it is not to be found by adoring the framework of the golden dawn. rather

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

extended knowledge by observation and experiment. i am now to point out certain resemblances, possibly entirely superficial, which seemtome to exist betweenthenarrativeofchristian rosenkreuz and the origin of the theosophic prop255 aganda.letno error be made by you as to what is here said: the rosicrucian establishment, admitting of no demonstration, may be, if it seem good to you, regarded as a myth. theosophy is to us a great fact.butfor myself i studied western mysticism twenty years before i became a pupil of this school, and i esteem it highly, and so for me it is no slight to theosophy to compare it totheworkofchristian rosenkreuz. i admitthatthe present work ofthetheosophical society is exalted in its aim, and is becorr--ig universal in its distribution and so far excels theroleoft

mean jupiter and venus. isaiahxiv,12, the lord speaks of the king of babylon as lucifer, the meaning of which islight-bearer:he givesan'thestar lore ofthebible227astronomicalexpression-'howart thou fallen from heaven, 0 lucifer, son of the morning' the revised versiongives-'oday star' lucifer, a latin name, is taken to mean venus as a morning star.itwas called phosphoros by the greeks, and was in myth called the son of aurora. it has also been associated with satan because of false comparison of st luke x, 18 'i beheld satan as lightning fall from heaven' with the reference to isaiah by tertullian, gregory the great, and other church fathers, later by jerome; the error was perpetuated in poetry by dante.themost notable reference to a star in the new testament is found in st matthew's gospe

san clements. at ostia at the mouth of thetiberfour crypts are known by their ruins, and the one found there by cavaliere lanciana is the most perfect known (see the atheneum, 1886).fromthe details left by the greek and latin authors, supplemented by astudyof the still-existing sculptures, it has been found possible to describe at least five sculptured scenes which. taken together, illustrate the myth or legend of the mithraic cult. 1.thebirth of mithras.heis represented as springing from a rock, wearing a pointed cap and holding a dagger and a torch, sometimes a solitary figure, in other cases two men like shepherds are the witnesses of the miraculous birth: hence m. was called in ancient stone inscriptions -petragenetrix,theosexpetros(firmicus maternus) andpetrogenesmithras.in some desig

ers.thewhole appears to be an allegory, not only of vegatative life of seed and fruit,butofthelife, death, and resurrection of man.thesoul of man has entered upon a new sphere of existence when incarnated in the human body, lives a material life, and then once more gains enlarged powers and higher spiritual conceptions after the change, which is called death. sallust, the platonist, says that the myth of ceres has a four-fold symbolism- divine, noeticofthesoul,vital and physical.thegreater mysteries, giving admission to the grade of epoptes, were held every year in the third attic month named boedromion, from the 15th to the 23rd (corresponding to our modern september, at athens and at eleusis, which is now known as lefsina, and is a place of no importance. on the first day called that ofa

uccessors of today endeavour to show, how man may still more nearly approach the spiritual world which exists beyond the restrictions of matter. as waves of high thought and others of materialism have passed over europe, so in earlier times we observe the same alterations to have occurred in the east; in persia with zoroaster, in india with the promulgation of the vedas, in egypt with the osirian myth, and with moses, david and solomonamong the jews, we have seen spiritual developments,butin each case the search for purity of conduct faded out after a few centuries. india, indeed, notwithstanding that hinduism degenerated into a faith which recognised devas and spirits of every type or debasement, seems alwaysto have produced a stream of learned rishis- men who handed down to their posteri

GILBERT R A CHAOS OUT OF ORDER THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SWEDENBORGIAN RITE

preme grand junior deacon 35[35] brockbank to yarker, 31 january 1887. the letter is in the library of ugle g. turner, v.w. supreme grand pursuivant benjamin cox, v.w. supreme assistant grand pursuivant. at this stage these eleven brethren apparently comprised the entire membership, but more were soon recruited which was just as well since, in theory, the rite already possessed three lodges. from myth to reality the growth of the rite the first two lodges (strictly speaking they were styled lodge and temple, but for convenience i shall describe them simply as lodges, emmanuel no. 1 and egyptian no. 2, were warranted on 13 january 1877, while the third lodge, st. john s no. 3, did not receive its warrant until 6 february. they were to meet, respectively, at bristol, manchester and baildon (

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

rcles" or "orbits" with both material and spiritual characteristics came into being. the total fl a sefiroth is one of the most blatant expressions of the pagan teachings of the kabbalah. the figure composed of circles on the kabbalistic engraving on the right is a sefiroth. kabbalists attempt to explain the process of creation by means of the sefiroth. the scenario they propose is really a pagan myth totally at odds with the facts revealed in holy books. the inside story on the kabbalah number of these things was 32. the first ten represented the solar system and the others represented the masses of stars in space. this particularity of the kabbalah shows that it is closely connected to ancient astrological systems of belief. so, the kabbalah is far removed from jewish religion and much m

dual form as male and female; a supernal father and mother, hokhmah and binah, were god's first emanated forms. kabbalists used frankly sexual metaphors to explain how the creative intercourse of hokhmah and binah generated further creation. 27 an interesting feature of this mystical theology is that, according to it, human beings are not created, but are in some way divine. owens describes this myth: the complex divine image was also visualized by kabbalah as having a unitary, anthropomorphic form. god was, by one kabbalistic recension, adam kadmon: the first primordial or archetypal man. man shared with god both an intrinsic, uncreated divine spark and a complex, organic form. this strange equation of adam as god was supported by a kabbalistic cipher: the numerical value in hebrew of th

freemasonry hi savagery. a total of 120 million people were killed by communist regimes or organizations. it is also evident that the western brand of humanism (capitalist systems) has not succeeded in bringing peace and happiness to their own societies or to other areas of the world. the collapse of humanism's argument on religion has also been manifested in the field of psychology. the freudian myth, a corner-stone of the atheist dogma since early twentieth century, has been invalidated by empirical data. patrick glynn, of the george washington university, explains this fact in his book titled god: the evidence, the reconciliation of faith and reason in a postsecular world: the last quarter of the twentieth century has not been kind to the psychoanalytic vision. most significant has been

dag is much more overt about the influence of ancient egypt on the origins of masonry when he declares "freemasonry is a social and ritual organization whose beginnings go back to ancient egypt."61 many other masonic authorities maintain that the origins of masonry go back to secret societies of ancient pagan cultures, such as those of anglobal freemasonry ke the ancient egyptians believed in the myth that matter was eternal, and that the order of the universe arose due to a mythical "self-organizational" power of matter. cient egypt and greece. asenior turkish mason, celil layiktez, stated in an article in mimar sinan magazine entitled "the masonic secret: what is secrecy and what is not: in ancient greek, egyptian and roman civilizations there were mystery schools( coles de myst res) whi

t by means of scientific laws. but extra-scientific explanations are imaginary descriptions, dogma and vain belief. according to positivist science and reason, there is no spirit apart from the body.81 you will find views identical to those above in the books of materialist thinkers such as k. marx, f. engels, v .i. lenin, g. politzer, c. sagan, and j. monod. they all accept the basic materialist myth that the universe has existed for ever, matter is the one absolute existent entity, human beings are composed of matter and are without spirit, matter evolved in and out of itself, and life appeared as a result of chance. it is right to use the term myth because, contrary to isindag's claim that "these processes are the result of positivist science and reason" all these views have been invali

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

ew of the universe which is not locked in a simple "nuts and bolts" view, but which encompasses the great span of existence from the very heights of spirit to the depths of the infernal realms. the great chain of being while expressed in many cultures is not doctrinally specific, it can be found in hindu, buddhist, platonic, christian and mystical cosmology, it is found throughout literature from myth and legend to the visions of dante" the plan and structure of the world, which, through the middle ages and down to the late eighteenth century most educated men were to accept without question- the conception of the universe as a" great chain of being, composed of an immense or infinite number of links ranging in hierarchical order from the meagerest kinds of existents. through every possibl

of the new testament; who is she, then, but the truest humanity, the purest and most whole of beings, the macrocosmic whole, the living soul of nature and of the universe eternally united and uniting in the process of time with the divine and uniting all that is. the pillar and foundation of the truth, pavel florensky. the importance of sophia can be best understood when we understand the primal myth behind her nature. throughout many cultures there has been the legend of the goddess who is stolen from the world of life and is taken to the underworld. there she is kept captive pinning for her lover who is still in the other world. she waits and pines until at last some salvation is achieved by her hero coming into the underworld to save her. however, this salvation is at a cost and togeth

tions there is a strong emphasis placed on the polarity between the logos and sophia. while many gnostics would tend to avoid overt anthropomorphism and see these more as principles, other traditions place a strong emphasis on the god/goddess nature of the polarity. these traditions range from those of paganism and heathenism to the syzergies of valentinus. while there is nothing wrong with using myth and legend to put flesh on the bones of metaphysical principles, we should note confuse the image with the essence. certainly there is a wide range of god and goddess images which fit nicely on this polarity, they also move down through the planes and have other expressions. if we use the kabbalistic model for a moment we can see how the pagan concept of the horned god and the triple goddess

than there being conflicts between pagan and so called christian, theism and non theism and related contradictions, we find that all alternatives are reconciled within an all encompassing system. this is the insight which gnosticism gives, it shows the esoteric meaning behind religious symbol systems and in some sense bypasses them by divining their true meaning. this does not degrade the role of myth, legend, tales and scriptures but places them in the real position, that is, as the outer flesh or form of the mysteries. scriptures cannot stand alone, within the gnosis at their heart, they become as stone. impersonal to personal as part of the gnostic worldview is the understanding of the role of personalism in religion. by personalism we mean not only theism (the worship of a personal god

r own unique essence and expression, the form they manifest in is due to us, not to them. they are clothed by the language and mythology of our cultures, heritage and traditions. we should always keep this in mind when dealing with different symbol systems, it is not the letter that is the most relevant, but the spirit. it is too easy to confuse the images of the divine as found in literature and myth with the reality and become locked in forms which only partially represent the unique characteristics of a spirit, god or form. in some sense we must transcend the gods to understand them. the gnostic handbook page 35 the solar logos christ the term christ means anointed and it is the force of the spiritual sun. it is represents the completed individual in which sophia and the logos have tran

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

d matter? by association what caused pain, suffering and death? for if there is time, there is entropy and therefore there is decay, suffering and finally cessation of time or death. this alpha event then is the major starting point for how we understand the gnostic system, because how we perceive matter and the development of matter, influences our whole view of life and the world. the nature of myth one of the major problems with comprehending the truth of the alpha event is that in the many diverse gnostic and religious traditions this event is presented in so many different ways and via so many different symbol-systems. on one level we may read the high-browed philosophical approach of the greek mysteries, and on the other, we may read about the bloody battle between "the forces of lig

re symbolic of the seven rays and the seven days of creation etc. they may be related to the mesoteric or intermediate teachings. the multitudes who are symbolic of the exoteric or outer teachings. to understand the alpha event we need to consider the various myths, legends and religious stories and deduce the essential event from behind them. due consideration should be given to the way in which myth and legend form the language or symbol system of the mysteries (see fig 2. myths and legends of cosmic error in the biblical account we read of an archangel who rebels against the cosmic order and is thrown from the heavens. his angelic nature is lost and he becomes a fallen being. his name lucifer means light bearer and accordingly, we have a light bearer who is transformed into a dark force

emissary of the light world. in another tradition satanel (the fallen one) creates the physical world, but his creation is sterile and marred. yahweh as the emissary of light rectifies this false creation by breathing life into shells satanel has formed. however, the fallen world cannot be fully rectified and a mixed system of light and darkness is formed. if we wish to move into another realm of myth, we could try a modern legend. in one fig 2 a multiple views of the central event. each offering a different perspective of the central truth. gnostic theurgy page 17 science fiction like religion, for example, there is a tale of primal spirit beings called thetans who are caught by one of their own who has become corrupt. he sets traps by showing them intricate mind patterns and they become

r entered the universe. when the source of all things began to evolve into multiple levels of being, a plateau was reached, at which stage the cosmic light cast a reflection, an opposite. this reflection took on a life of its own and became the negative of the positive form, this reflection became the essence we understand as evil and as a natural expansion of itself, matter was formed. whichever myth or legend we accept (and we could continue with many from other cultures, traditions and scriptures) the essential truth is that the alpha event was one of cosmic error. the line of time, space and matter should not have come into being. it is a fallen system, one which is a mixture of light and darkness, but with a tendency towards darkness. entropy is the nature of the day, all things suffe

rgy page 32 the hologram of matter now that you have some understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of the universe we need to re-consider our refraction model in the light of the alpha event. when we think back to what we have discussed about the cosmic error, we can summarise it in terms of the creation or action of a secondary spiritual source. in the gnostic interpretation of the biblical myth for example, we have the defection of lucifer and a battle between michael and satan, which results in the creation of matter. in the zoroastrian model we have ahura mazda, the lord of light, and the secondary force as ahriman. depending on the period, the zoroastrian model varies, sometimes we have spenta mainyu battling ahriman, other times we have a more warrior version of ahura mazda doin

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

termining longitudes that was far superior to anything possessed by the peoples of ancient, medieval or modern times until the second half of the eighteenth century. this evidence of a lost technology will support and give credence to many of the other hypotheses that have been brought forward of a lost civilization in remote times. scholars have been able to dismiss most of that evidence as mere myth, but here we have evidence that cannot be dismissed. the evidence requires that all the graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 19 other evidence that has been brought forward in the past should be re-examined with an open mind.12 despite a ringing endorsement from albert einstein (see below, and despite the later admission of john wright, president of the american geographical society, that

d in stylized flight. just as i try to catch my breath, another condor almost close enough to touch materializes out of nowhere, a real condor this time, haughty as a fallen angel riding a thermal back to heaven. my pilot gasps and tries to follow him. for a moment i catch a glimpse of a bright, dispassionate eye that seems to weigh us up and find us wanting. then, like a vision from some ancient myth, the creature banks and glides contemptuously backwards into the sun leaving our single-engined cessna floundering in the lower air. below us now there s a pair of parallel lines almost two miles long, arrow straight all the way to vanishing point. and there, off to the right, a series of abstract shapes on a scale so vast and yet so precisely executed that it seems inconceivable they could h

the mysterious tiahuanaco, i read the following passage summarizing a legend from the cuzco area: for some crime unstated the people who lived in the most ancient times were destroyed by the creator. in a deluge. after the deluge the creator appeared in human form from lake titicaca. he then created the sun and moon and stars. after that he renewed the human population of the earth..2 in another myth the great creator god, viracocha, decided to make a world for men to live in. first he made the earth and sky. then he began to make people to live in it, carving great stone figures of giants which he brought to life. at first all went well but after a time the giants began to fight among themselves and refused to work. viracocha decided that he must destroy them. some he turned back into st

sserts that the boat struck the land with such force it created the river desguardero, which before then did not exist. and on the water so released the holy body was carried many leagues away to the sea coast at africa..3 boats, water and salvation there are curious parallels here to the story of osiris, the ancient egyptian high god of death and resurrection. the fullest account of the original myth defining this mysterious figure is given by plutarch4 and says that, after bringing the gifts of civilization to his people, teaching them all manner of useful skills, abolishing cannibalism and human sacrifice, and providing them with their first legal code, osiris left egypt and travelled about the world to spread the benefits of civilization to other nations as well. he never forced the ba

n his more terrifying aspect as the god-king who could call down fire from heaven. his gentle, fatherly side was still expressed: tears of compassion were running down his cheeks. but his face was set stern and hard, his tiara was regal and imposing, and in either hand he grasped a thunderbolt.17 in the interpretation given by joseph campbell, one of the twentieth century s best-known students of myth, the meaning is that the grace that pours into the universe through the sun door is the same as the energy of the bolt that annihilates and is itself indestructible. 18 i turned my head to right and left, slowly studying the remainder of the frieze. it was a beautifully balanced piece of sculpture with three rows of eight figures, twenty-four in all, lined up on either side of the elevated ce

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

ion and drawing by elmer e. hartman 3 1 the basic premise first, some people among us are in the know about ufo phenomena, which have manifested throughout history. certain people have known the nature of this phenomena, and used its nature, for almost as long. second, those in the know are interactive with the phenomena and have long been so. indeed, separating out the phenomena, the legend, the myth-makers and the illuminati or initiates of the true nature of the phenomena is difficult. third, the phenomena themselves are inherently intangible, but are able to impinge upon our reality in a phenomenological way. because they are archetypal. through mythos, archetypes are quite capable of setting real events into motion. fourth, the illuminati of the phenomena become intertwined with the l

er is loosely based on his novel do androids dream of electric sheep. jung, dr. carl, the famed swiss psychiatrist and creator of analytic psychology, a theory that relies on the importance of archetypes. dr. jung was a member of the national investigations committee on aerial phenomena (nicap) and author of a book about ufos considered from an archetypal and mythic base, flying saucers: a modern myth of things seen in the sky. 12 allen h. greenfield keel, john a, adventurer and author, his early pursuit of occult mysteries are chronicled in jadoo. his interest in ufos led to the development of an ultraterrestrial alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis. a prime investigator of the mothman cases, his ufos: operation trojan horse and the mothman prophecies clearly show the linkage be

er ufology or the occult. i had long noted, for example, that in the earlier contactee cases, when names were given by the purported aliens for themselves, their home world, etc, they often were very odd names. i looked many years ago for puns. i mused that perhaps, for example, woodrow derenberger s 1966 encounter in west virginia with indrid cold from the planet lanulus had something to do with myth and legend. jacques vallee and john keel had both pointed out the connection with mythic names and legends, and i thought lanulus might be a play on land you lost or land you lust a reference to atlantis lore, or legendary shadow lands such as f rie or magonia. but such answers seemed, like the masonic third degree, somehow incomplete. 22 allen h. greenfield i was aware, also, that similar na

ry- for example, medieval tibet or, in more modern times, nazi germany the black lodge has operated more or less openly with characteristic occult symbols of human skulls, lightning bolts, etc. out in the open. but like the great white brotherhood that it actively seeks to subvert and overthrow (as it did in the time of the knights templar, the black lodge has generally communicated by cipher and myth, in silence and secrecy, often within religious, fraternal and political institutions dedicated to the status quo. in the west since at least the early 18th century, the black lodge has tended to operate along crypto-masonic lines, and its development has tended to coincide with and mirror that of the great white brotherhood. this development may, in fact, be attributed to a cosmic principle

llusionment and world weariness. but now, revisionist historians are finding evidence that these groups, usually described in mythic terms, are as material as they are archetypal. they are, in very truth, the inner order in communication with and overlapping with ultraterrestrial sources. 64 allen h. greenfield the reality of the secret chiefs the mythology of the secret masters or chiefs and the myth of the black lodge form an archetypal substratum of modern magical lore which is almost a necessity if magick is not to drift into a kind of bland parapsychological secular humanism or offbeat psychology on the one hand, or a religious fundamentalism grounded in a new faith substituted for christianity. but one should at least allow that the legend of secret chiefs may have some rather litera

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

worst repute, there surely fell a foison of health and wealth, which preserved in nations of a nobler strain their sense of right and law. one has only to recognise the mild and manly spirit of our higher antiquity in the purity and power of the national viii peeface. laws, or the talent inherited by the thirteenth century in its eloquent, inspired poems, in order justly to appreciate legend and myth, which in them had merely struck root once more. but our inquiry ought to have the benefit of this justice both in great thino^s and in small. natural science bears witness, that the smallest may be an index to the greatest; and the reason is discoverable, why in our antiquities, while the main features were effaced, petty and apparently accidental ones have been preserved. i am loth to let e

unfinished) of moe and asbiornsen, with its fresh and full store; and treasures not a few must be lurking in england, scotland, and the netherlands, from all of which mythology may look to receive manifold gain. to indicate briefly the gain she has already derived from the folk-tale (legend: it is plain that to this alone we owe our knowledge of the goddesses holda, berhta and fricka, as also the myth of the wild hunt which leads us straight to wodan. the tale of the old beggar-wife is a reminiscence of grimnir. of the wise-women, of swan-wives, of kings shut up in hills we should have learnt little from written documents, did not legend spread her light over them; even the myths of the sin-flood and xvi preface. the world's destruction she has not lost sight of to this day. but what is mo

eir part: swan-witchen (swan-white) and dorn-roschen (thorn-rose= sleeping beauty, pp. 425, 1204 are a swan-wife and a valkyr; the three spinning-wives, p. 415, are norns; the footstool hurled down from the heavenly seat (p. 136, death as a godfather (p. 853, the player's throw and jack the gamester (pp. 818n, 887) reach back to heathen times. fairy-tales, not legends, have in common with the god-myth a multitude of metamoi'phoses; and they often let animals come upon the stage, and so they trespass on the old animal-epos. in addition to the fairy-tale and folk-tale, which to this day supply healthy nourishment to youth and the common people, and which they will not give up, whatever other pabulum you may place before them, we must take account of rites and customs, which, having sprung ou

an accessory notion of good. frouwa is obviously the fem. to froho, and still asserts her full power in our present frau. almost all names of the female deities have still a transparent meaning; as compared with those of the male, there is something innocent and inviolable in them, and for that reason they seem to have been treated tenderly or tolerated. the delicacy and inoffensive matter of the myth have shielded it longer in popular legend. pkeface. xxi the goddess hellia has exchanged her personal meaning for a local one, that of hell. ostara, eastre, is preserved at least in the name of the high festival; and hreda, if my conjecture be sound, in the word for a bride's gerada (outfit, as zio was in the name of the sword. folia and sindgund have only come to light through the latest dis

ys a striking similarity to features in the odyssey, especially does the angel's mission to shaggy els and to lady breide resemble that of hermes to calypso, when she is commanded to let odysseus go. but such wanderings of heroes and encounters with wise women and giants seem to be a common epic property prevailing everywhere, while the very absence here of all the other main motives of the greek myth excludes the supposition of borrowing. we may surely give their due weight to the many resemblances of wuotan to zeus and apollo, of zio to zeus and ares, we may recognise nerthus in demeter, fx-igg and freyja in hera and aphrodite, wieland in hephaestus and daedalus, without the whole swarm of grecian gods needing therefore to be transported to our soil, or all that this produced having to b

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

lir, true as giants (lyngbye, p. 496. 4 another lay is founded on the conversation that o3inn himself is anxious to hold with a giant of great sense on matters of antiquity (a fornom stofum: vafhrirsnir again is called inn alsvinni iotunn/ 30a 35b; orgelmir and bergelmir f sa iunfroffi 1 the familiar fable of the devil being taken in by a peasant in halving the crop between them, is in the danish myth related of a trold (thiele 4, 122, see chap. xxxiii. 2 on. hum is crepusculum, huma vesperascere, hyma dormiturire; is hymir the sluggish, sleepy? ohg. hiumi? how if the mhu. hiune came from an ohg. liiumi? an m is often attenuated into n, as ohg. sliumi, sniumi (celer, mhg. sliune, sliunic, our schleunig. that would explain why there is no trace of the word hiune in on; it would also be fata

h, and with all heroes giant-fighting alternates with dragon-fighting. 3 king frofti had two captive giant-maidens fenja and menja as mill-maids; the grist they had to grind him out of the quern grotti was gold and peace, and he allowed them no longer time for sleep or rest than while the gowk (cuckoo) held his peace or they sang a song. we have a startling proof of the former pre valence of this myth in germany also, and i find it in the bare proper names. managold, manigold frequently occurs as a man s name, and is to be explained from mani, on. men= monile; more rarely we find fanigold, fenegold, from fani, on. fen= palus, meaning the gold that lies hidden in the fen. one trad, patav. of the first half of the twelfth cent (mb. 28b, pp. 90-1) 1 the skeleton of a giantess struck by lightn

g is produced by the sand which a giantess lets fall through een schortekleed (westendorp s mythol. p. 187. and these tales are not only spread through the teutonic race, but are in vogue with finns and celts and greeks. near pajilnde in hattulasocken of tawastoland there stand some rocks which are said to have been carried by giant s daughters in their aprons and then tossed up (ganander s finn. myth. pp. 29. 30. french traditions put the holy virgin or fays (p. 41 3) in the place of giantesses. notre dame de clery, being ill at ease in the church of mezieres, determined to change the seat of her adora tion, took earth in her apron and carried it to a neighbouring height, pursued by judas: then, to elude the enemy, she took a part of the earth up again, which she deposited at another plac

and 6 to 8 thick: time out of mind two giants were jaunting across country; says the one to the other, this shoe hurts me, some bits of gravel i think it must be/ with that he pulled off the shoe and shook these stones out. in the valley above ilfeld, close to the blihr, stands a huge mass of rock, which a giant once shook out of his shoe, because the grain of sand galled him. i am confident this myth also has a wide circulation, it has even come to be related of a mere set of men: the men of sauerland in westphalia are fine sturdy fellows; they say one of them walked to cologne once, and on arriving at the gate, asked his fellow-traveller to wait a moment, while he looked in his shoe to see what had been teazing him so all the while " nay " said the other " hold out now til

accept his offer, if he would undertake to finish the building by himself without the aid of man, in one winter; if on the first day of summer anything in the castle was left undone, he should forfeit all his claims. how the smith/ with no help but that of his strong horse sva&ilfari, had nearly accomplished the task, but was hindered by loki and slain by thorr, is related in sn. 46-7. well, this myth, obeying that wondrous law of fluctuation so often observed in genuine popular traditions, lives on, under new forms, in other times and places. a german fairy tale puts the devil in the place of the giant (as, in a vast number of tales, it is the devil now that executes buildings, hurls rocks, and so on, precisely as the giant did before him: the devil is to build a house for a peasant, and

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

n did not obtain,thejournalofarosicrucianphilosopher,crystallomancyandtaneachemica,carne into the handsofa. e. waite, who quoted extensivelyfrom the first two in his early works and published a part of the thimathe egyptian world. this map shows the only countries and civilizations known to the egyptians through direct contact up to the end of the second millennium bce. 1 1 introduction what is a myth? if asked this question, most people would reply that a myth is a story that is not true, even though you might want it to be. scholarly arguments about the definition of a myth have been going on for more than 2,000 years. many definitions have been proposed. among the most common are that myths are stories about gods, myths are sacred stories, myths are stories that explain the way the worl

of a myth have been going on for more than 2,000 years. many definitions have been proposed. among the most common are that myths are stories about gods, myths are sacred stories, myths are stories that explain the way the world is, or myths are simply traditional stories that hand on collective knowledge or experience. writers from various disciplines and intellectual movements have interpreted myth in different ways. myths have been seen as a disease of language, as garbled memories of historical events, as a mode of prelogical thought, as expressions of the subconscious mind, as symbolic descriptions of the natural world or symbolic statements about the social order, and as the spoken part of ritual.1 as theories to explain the whole of world mythology, these interpretations all have f

events, as a mode of prelogical thought, as expressions of the subconscious mind, as symbolic descriptions of the natural world or symbolic statements about the social order, and as the spoken part of ritual.1 as theories to explain the whole of world mythology, these interpretations all have flaws, but each of them is applicable to some egyptian myths. in his book on the meaning and functions of myth, g. s. kirk proposed three main categories of myths.2 his first category is myths told for entertainment. this is a reminder that myths may be sacred, but they are not necessarily solemn. the validity of this category might be challenged, but some cultures do seem to have told one version of a myth for entertainment while another, more secret version, was used in rituals.3 kirk s second categ

lways troubled humanity, such as why people die. some myths seem to acknowledge that these questions may be unanswerable but provide strategies for coping with the sorrows and contradictions of human life. examples of all these different categories of myths can be found within egyptian mythology. in order to explore this mythology, we must first look at the geography and history of ancient egypt. myth and geography egypt is a large country in the northeast corner of the continent of africa, but modern geographical terms have little relevance to how the ancient egyptians saw themselves. they had no conception of the huge size of africa. in the third millennium bce the egyptians known world extended only from what are now greece and turkey in the north to what is now ethiopia in the south, a

on, the climate became drier and hotter, and the grasslands gradually turned into desert. the first egyptians built villages on the edges of the nile valley, where they mainly survived by hunting and fishing. by the fourth millennium bce, agriculture-based communities were established in the nile valley and delta. this great climatic and cultural change may have shaped the idea found in egyptian myth that the world had once been different. egypt had become one of the driest places on earth and a hard country to get in or out of. to the north there were marshes, saltwater lakes, and the mediterranean sea. the ancient egyptians were never enthusiastic seafarers and were one of the few coastal cultures to worship no deities of the sea. to the east, west, and south there were deserts that wer

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

mistaken often for a "spirit" a deva, god himself, etc, a nirmanakaya is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian, angel to him who is worthy of his help. whatever objection may be brought forward against this doctrine, however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it has never hitherto been made public in europe, and therefore, since it is unknown to orientalists, it must needs be a "myth of modern invention"-no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping suffering mankind at the price of one's own almost interminable self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever evolved from the human brain. nirvana (sans) according to the orientalists, the entire "blowing-out" like the flame of a candle, the utter extinction of existence. but in the exoter

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

didn t do it. eris has since climbed her way from historical footnote to mythic mega-star, and the discordian movement, if such a thing can be said to exist, is growing on both sides of the atlantic, helped by the discordian tactic of declaring that everyone is a genuine pope. more people are getting into the idea of a religion based on the celebration of confusion and madness. the central greek myth that eris figures prominently in is the ever-continuing soap opera of mount olympus- home of the gods; the episode which inadvertently brought about the trojan war. it seems that zeus was throwing a party and did not want to invite eris because of her reputation as a troublemaker. infuriated by the snub, eris fashioned a golden apple incribed with the word kallisti( to the prettiest one) and

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

celebrants had told them the words meant. this text, as given, ran something like this "in his house at r'lyeh dead cthulhu waits dreaming" and now, in response to a general and urgent demand, inspector legrasse related as fully as possible his experience with the swamp worshippers; telling a story to which i could see my uncle attached profound significance. it savoured of the wildest dreams of myth-maker and theosophist, and disclosed an astonishing degree of cosmic imagination among such half-castes and pariahs as might be least expected to possess it. on november 1st, 1907, there had come to the new orleans police a frantic summons from the swamp and lagoon country to the south. the squatters there, mostly primitive but good-natured descendants of lafitte's men, were in the grip of st

ation aroused by certain local superstitions and by certain old matters he had uncovered. as for the anomalous conditions at the deserted church of federal hill- the shrewd analyst is not slow in attributing them to some charlatanry, conscious or unconscious, with at least some of which blake was secretly connected. for after all, the victim was a writer and painter wholly devoted to the field of myth, dream, terror, and superstition, and avid in his quest for scenes and effects of a bizarre, spectral sort. his earlier stay in the city -a visit to a strange old man as deeply given to occult and forbidden lore as he- had ended amidst death and flame, and it must have been some morbid instinct which drew him back from his home in milwaukee. he may have known of the old stories despite his st

ive on independently by the product of their estate, for occasional lights glimpsed from far-away hills attested their continued presence. these lights were seen as late as 1810, but toward the last they became very infrequent. meanwhile there grew up about the mansion and the mountain a body of diabolic legendry. the place was avoided with doubled assiduousness, and invested with every whispered myth tradition could supply. it remained unvisited till 1816, when the continued absence of lights was noticed by the squatters. at that time a party made investigations, finding the house deserted and partly in ruins. there were no skeletons about, so that departure rather than death was inferred. the clan seemed to have left several years before, and improvised penthouses showed how numerous it

. it is for this latter reason that i urge, with all the force of my being, final abandonment of all the attempts at unearthing those fragments of unknown, primordial masonry which my expedition set out to investigate. assuming that i was sane and awake, my experience on that night was such as has befallen no man before. it was, moreover, a frightful confirmation of all i had sought to dismiss as myth and dream. mercifull there is no proof, for in my fright i lost the awesome object which would- if real and brought out of that noxious abyss- have formed irrefutable evidence. when i came upon the horror i was alone- and i have up to now told no one about it. i could not stop the others from digging in its direction, but chance and the shifting sand have so far saved them from finding it. no

ssured me that, in view of previous examinations and records of consultation of the volumes in question, all of these notations must have been made by myself in my secondary state. this despite the fact that i was and still am ignorant of three of the languages involved. piecing together the scattered records, ancient and modern, anthropological and medical, i found a fairly consistent mixture of myth and hallucination whose scope and wildness left me utterly dazed. only one thing consoled me, the fact that the myths were of such early existence. what lost knowledge could have brought pictures of the palaeozoic or mesozoic landscape into these primitive fables, i could not even guess; but the pictures had been there. thus, a basis existed for the formation of a fixed type of delusion. case

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

ourse, will be jeered at as obvious impostures, notwithstanding a strangeness of technique which art experts ought to remark and puzzle over. in the end i must rely on the judgment and standing of the few scientific leaders who have, on the one hand, sufficient independence of thought to weigh my data on its own hideously convincing merits or in the light of certain primordial and highly baffling myth cycles; and on the other hand, sufficient influence to deter the exploring world in general from any rash and over-ambitious program in the region of those mountains of madness. it is an unfortunate fact that relatively obscure men like myself and my associates, connected only with a small university, have little chance of making an impression where matters of a wildly bizarre or highly contr

ring to one foot at each end. like a barrel with five bulging ridges in place of staves. lateral breakages, as of thinnish stalks, are at equator in middle of these ridges. in furrows between ridges are curious growths- combs or wings that fold up and spread out like fans. all greatly damaged but one, which gives almost seven-foot wing spread. arrangement reminds one of certain monsters of primal myth, especially fabled elder things in necronomicon "their wings seem to be membranous, stretched on frame work of glandular tubing. apparent minute orifices in frame tubing at wing tips. ends of body shriveled, giving no clue to interior or to what has been broken off there. must dissect when we get back to camp. can t decide whether vegetable or animal. many features obviously of almost incredi

ne habitat, but may have use in water navigation. symmetry is curiously vegeta blelike, suggesting vegetable 's essential up-and-down structure rather than animal s fore-and-aft structure. fabulously early date of evolution, preceding even simplest archaean protozoa hitherto known, baffles all conjecture as to origin "complete specimens have such uncanny resemblance to certain creatures of primal myth that suggestion of ancient existence outside antarctic becomes inevitable. dyer and pabodie have read necronomicon and seen clark ashton smith s nightmare paintings based on text, and will understand when i speak of elder things supposed to have created all earth life as jest or mistake. students have always thought conception formed from morbid imaginative treatment of very ancient tropical

ssuance of that warning is a prime necessity. certain lingering influences in that unknown antarctic world of disordered time and alien natural law make it imperative that further exploration be discouraged. vii the full story, so far as deciphered, will eventually appear in an official bulletin of miskatonic university. here i shall sketch only the salient highlights in a formless, rambling way. myth or otherwise, the sculptures told of the coming of those star-headed things to the nascent, lifeless earth out of cosmic space- their coming, and the coming of many other alien entities such as at certain times embark upon spatial pioneering. they seemed able to traverse the interstellar ether on their vast membranous wings- thus oddly confirming some curious hill folklore long ago told me by

HP LOVECRAFT BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP

had now admitted that he sometimes talked queerly, though he knew not why. within a week two more attacks appeared, but from them the doctors learned little. on the source of slater's visions they speculated at length, for since he could neither read nor write, and had apparently never heard a legend or fairy-tale, his gorgeous imagery was quite inexplicable. that it could not come from any known myth or romance was made especially clear by the fact that the unfortunate lunatic expressed himself only in his own simple manner. he raved of things he did not understand and could not interpret; things which he claimed to have experienced, but which he could not have learned through any normal or connected narration. the alienists soon agreed that abnormal dreams were the foundation of the trou

HP LOVECRAFT CELEPHAIS

at by those to whom he showed it, so that after a time he kept his writings to himself, and finally ceased to write. the more he withdrew from the world about him, the more wonderful became his dreams; and it would have been quite futile to try to describe them on paper. kuranes was not modern, and did not think like others who wrote. whilst they strove to strip from life its embroidered robes of myth and to show in naked ugliness the foul thing that is reality, kuranes sought for beauty alone. when truth and experience failed to reveal it, he sought it in fancy and illusion, and found it on his very doorstep, amid the nebulous memories of childhood tales and dreams. there are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as c

HP LOVECRAFT HERBERT WEST REANIMATOR

self- the learned and benevolent dr. allan halsey, whose work in behalf of the stricken is recalled by every old resident of arkham. i had always been exceptionally tolerant of west s pursuits, and we frequently discussed his theories, whose ramifications and corollaries were almost infinite. holding with haeckel that all life is a chemical and physical process, and that the so-called "soul" is a myth, my friend believed that artificial reanimation of the dead can depend only on the condition of the tissues; and that unless actual decomposition has set in, a corpse fully equipped with organs may with suitable measures be set going again in the peculiar fashion known as life. that the psychic or intellectual life might be impaired by the slight deterioration of sensitive brain-cells which e

on west s face. he was ready, i think, to see proof of his increasingly strong opinion that consciousness, reason, and personality can exist independently of the brain- that man has no central connective spirit, but is merely a machine of nervous matter, each section more or less complete in itself. in one triumphant demonstration west was about to relegate the mystery of life to the category of myth. the body now twitched more vigorously, and beneath our avid eyes commenced to heave in a frightful way. the arms stirred disquietingly, the legs drew up, and various muscles contracted in a repulsive kind of writhing. then the headless thing threw out its arms in a gesture which was unmistakably one of desperation- an intelligent desperation apparently sufficient to prove every theory of her

HP LOVECRAFT THE CALL OF CTHULHU

lder celebrants had told them the words meant. this text, as given, ran something like this 'in his house at r'lyeh dead cthulhu waits dreaming' and now, in response to a general urgent demand, inspector legrasse related as fully as possible his experience with the swamp worshippers; telling a story to which i could see my uncle attached profound significance. it savoured of the wildest dreams of myth-maker and theosophist, and disclosed an astonishing degree of cosmic imagination among such half-castes and pariahs as might be least expected to possess it. on 1 november 1907, there had come to new orleans police a frantic summons from the swamp and lagoon country to the south. the squatters there, mostly primitive but good-natured descendants of lafitte's men, were in the grip of stark ter

HP LOVECRAFT THE LURKING FEAR

ive on independently by the product of their estate, for occasional lights glimpsed from far-away hills attested their continued presence. these lights were seen as late as 1810, but toward the last they became very infrequent. meanwhile there grew up about the mansion and the mountain a body of diabolic legendry. the place was avoided with doubled assiduousness, and invested with every whispered myth tradition could supply. it remained unvisited till 1816, when the continued absence of lights was noticed by the squatters. at that time a party made investigations, finding the house deserted and partly m ruins. there were no skeletons about, so that departure rather than death was inferred. the clan seemed to have left several years before, and improvised penthouses showed how numerous it h

HP LOVECRAFT THROUGH THE GATES OF THE SILVER KEY

nd at him. but his spells were effective, and in another moment he was falling away from yaddith, unharmed. chapter seven in that bizarre room in new orleans, from which the old black servant had instinctively fled, the odd voice of swami chandraputta grew hoarser still "gentlemen" he continued "i will not ask you to believe these things until i have shown you special proof. accept it, then, as a myth, when i tell you of the thousands of light-years- thousands of years of time, and uncounted billions of miles that randolph carter hurtled through space as a nameless, alien entity in a thin envelope of electron-activated metal. he timed his period of suspended animation with utmost care, planning to have it end only a few years before the time of landing on the earth in or near 1928 "he will

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

anded down through the years. originally witches were involved in teaching, guiding and healing- all of the highly respected arts. their practices were associated with all the vital phases of man: health, wealth and love. in later years, through fear and ignorance, the stamp of evil was placed upon those who possessed these strange powers, so that today witchcraft is either regarded as a complete myth or the misguided efforts of historic villains. there are so many false ideas about witches that little truth remains in the public mind. yet there are real witches today. contrary to folk tales, they don't go riding about by night on brooms. they don't cavort in the nude unless they have something very normal in mind, and they don't cackle over cauldrons of vintage lsd. they do dabble in spel

ISIS UNVEILED

uitry and masonry the zoaar and rabbi shimon the order of jesuita and iti r^tioo to aome of the muonic ordera, crimes permitted to its memben principles of jesuitry compared with tboae of pagan morallits. trinity erf man in egyptian soak rf iht dtad penecution of templan by the cburch 381 secfet maaonic dpben 3s5 jehovah not the "ineffable nanw' 398 chapter ix -the vedas and the bible ne*rly evwy myth baaed on some gnat truth 405 whence the christian sabbath 406 antiquity of the ved s 410 ^rthasoran doctrine of the potentialities of number* 417 'd*ys of (bnetu and 'days' of brahmi 422 fall ot man and the deluge in the hiadh books 425 antiquity of the mancient egyptians of the aryan race? 434 skmnel. david, and solomon mythicsl powmages 439 ^mbcjiam of noah's ark 447

the potentialities of number* 417 'd*ys of (bnetu and 'days' of brahmi 422 fall ot man and the deluge in the hiadh books 425 antiquity of the mancient egyptians of the aryan race? 434 skmnel. david, and solomon mythicsl powmages 439 ^mbcjiam of noah's ark 447 "nie patriaichs identical with sodiacal signs 459 ad biue legends bdong to univenal history 4c9 chapter x the devil-myth itw devil officially recognised by the church 477 sktan tbe mainstay of sacmdolalism 480 idmtity of staaa irith the e^tiui typhod 483 ifis relatiini to mn>ent-wotship 489 the book of j^ and the book of the dead w3 the hindu devu a met*phystaj abstraction 501 satan ukd tbe prince of hell in the goipel la ntcodemus 519 digitizecoy google chapter xi- the age of philoaophy moducol no sitbeibts ll

is" writes irenaeus, complaining of the gnostics, 816. lepdus: konigibudi. b. 11, tsl. i. 1i7d. 5, h. p. in i peter, a, 3. jcsui b calkd the lord 'crotos' 817. bogal ittuanie cgdopoidia, pp. 206-7. sis. ckrulna, etc, p. 357. 819. ecd. hul.jhxvu. 820. bitf.detjii^i.n,da.20-2i. 821. dt mis conleaipt. 822. dediiu and fait, etc, cfa. zv, note ib2. digitizecoy google origin op the hkaculous-conception myth 32s "they neither consent to scripture nor tradition* and why should we wonder at that, when even the commentators of the nineteenth century, with nothing but fragments of the gnostic manuscripts to compare with the voluminous writings of their calunmiators, have been enabled to de- tect fraud on nearly every page of the latter? how much more clearly must the polished and learned gnostics, wi

rapis a prophetic type ot christ as the lord and creator of all, and judge of the living and the dead" thus, while the 'pagan' philosophers had never viewed sera^hs, or rather the abstract idea which was embodied in him, as otherwise than a representation of the anima mundi, the christians anthropomorphized the' son of god' and his' father' finding no better model for him than the idol of a pagan myth "there can be no doubt" remarks the same author "that the bead of serapis, mailed, as the face is, by a grave and pensive majesty, supplied the first idea fw the conventional portraits of the savior^ is the notes tak l by a traveler whose episode with the monks on mount athos we have mentioned elsewhere we find that, during his early life, jesus had frequent intercourse with the essenes belon

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

ts. 130 chapter the sixteenth. the round towers of ireland. 137 chapter the seventeenth. prismatic investiture of the microcosm. 142 chapter the eighteenth. cabalistic interpretations by the gnostics. 147 chapter the nineteenth. mystic christian figures and talismans. 157 chapter the twentieth. the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman, and medi val monuments. 165 chapter the twenty-first. myth of the scorpion, or the snake, in its many disguises. 173 chapter the twenty-second. ominous character of the colour white to english royalty. 177 contents xv chapter the twenty-third. page. the beliefs of the rosicrucians meaning of lights and of commemorative flambeaux in all worsihp. 186 chapter the twenty-fourth. the great pyramid. 199 chapter the twenty-fifth. history of the tower or ste

save with neglected stars, what was the tower of babel but a gigantic monolith? perhaps to record and to perpetuate this ground-fire of all; to be worshipped, an idol, in its visible form, when it should be alone taken as the invisible thought: fire to be waited for (spirit-possession, not waited on (idolatry. therefore was the speech confounded, that the thing should not be; therefore, under the myth of climbing into heaven by the means of it, was the first colossal monolithic temple (in which the early dwellers upon the earth sought to enshrine the fire) laid prostrate in the thunder of the great god! and the languages were confounded from that day, speech was made babble thence its name, that the secret should remain a secret. it was to be only darkly hinted, and to be fitfully disclose

up in the chief square or place, was there is but little doubt the reiteration of the very earliest monolith. all the obelisks, each often a single stone, of prodigious weight, all the singular, solitary, wonderful pillars and monuments of egypt, as of other lands, are, as it were, only tombstones of the fire! all testify to the great, so darkly hinted secret. in troy was the image of pallas, the myth of knowledge, of the world, of manifestation, of the fire-soul. in athens was pallas- athene, or minerva. in the greek cities, the form of the deity changed variously to bacchus, to hercules, to phoebus- apollo; to the tri-formed minerva, dian, and hecate; to the dusky ceres, or the darker cybele. in the wilds of sarmathia, in the wastes of northern asia, the luminous rays descended from heav

to hercules, to phoebus- apollo; to the tri-formed minerva, dian, and hecate; to the dusky ceres, or the darker cybele. in the wilds of sarmathia, in the wastes of northern asia, the luminous rays descended from heaven, and, animating the lama, or light-born spoke the same story. the flames of the greeks, the towers of the phoenicians, the emblems of the pelasgi; the story of prometheus, and the myth of his stealing the fire from heaven, wherewith to animate the man (or ensoul the visible world; the forges of the cyclops, and the monuments of sicily; the mysteries of the etrurians; the rites of the carthaginians; the torches borne, in all priestly demonstrative processions, at all times, in all countries; the vestal fires of the romans; the very word flamen, as indicative of the office of

e doctrine of the bhudds, taught, even at this day, among the initiate all over the east. thus we see how classic practice and heathen teaching may be made to reconcile, how even the gentile and hebrew, the mythological and the (so-called) christian, doctrine harmonise in the general faith founded in magic. that magic is indeed possible is the moral of our book. we have seen that hercules was the myth of the electric principle. his pillars (calpe and abyla) are the dual upon which may be supposed to rest a world. they stood in the days when giants might really be imagined, indeed, they almost look as impressive of it now, the twin prodigious monoliths, similar in purpose to the artificial pyramids. they must have struck the astonished and awed discoverers gaze, navigating that silent medit

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

misleading tale at cadiz. in the british quarterly review, july 1931, there appeared a story by harold t. wilkins. the dei gratia, on a predatory mission, purposely waited in the middle of the ocean for the brig, somehow induced the crew to come aboard and slaughtered all hands. in nautical magazine, july 1922, d.g. ball tried to wash the log page clear once and for all "the whole story is just a myth without any foundation of fact" he assured his readers that no such ship had ever existed. he regretted that he must divulge this truth for the controversy fascinated him. that the marie celeste did exist is proven by subsequently recorded voyages after her release march10, 1873, by the gibraltar court; and by the court records themselves. extant, still ed: the following has no obvious refere

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

ng divergent goals for mystical intentionality and life. our analysis of thirteenthcentury sources dealing with contemplative prayer and the priestly cult indicate that on the contrary, the theurgic efficacy of a kabbalist fs worship is a product of his experiential adhesion and absorption into divinity. h (from the abstract, p. vii. dauber, jonathan victor. standing on the heads of philosophers: myth and philosophy in early kabbalah. ph.d. dissertation, new york: new york university, 2004. chapters include gthe opening to myth in the thought of abraham bar hiyya, h gmyth and philosophy in sefer ha-bahir, h gascent and decent h (in sefer ha-bahir, r. jacob ben sheshet, and r. azriel of gerona, and gmyth and discursive thinking in r. asher b. david. h. goldberg, joel r= yechiel shalom goldb

nsion of jewish history [modern jewish masters series #2. new york: new york university press, 1988: chapter 5. gthe enigmatic book bahir. h. gmidrash and the dawn of kabbalah, h in midrash and literature, edited by g. hartman and s. budick. new haven: yale university press, 1986; also jmii: chapter 1. dauber, jonathan victor. standing on the heads of philosophers (noted above, page 2- chapter 2. myth and philosophy in sefer ha-bahir- chapter 3: a. sefer ha-bahir: 30- appendix 2. 32 of sefer ha-bahir in light of early kabbalistic sources. eylon, dina ripsman. reincarnation in jewish mysticism and gnosticism [jewish studies, volume 25. lewiston-queenston-lampeter: the edwin mellen press, 2003. green, arthur. keter: the crown of god in early jewish mysticism. princeton: princeton university

feminine images of god from the bible to the early kabbalah. princeton and oxford: princeton university press, 2002. scholem, gershom. kabbalah [articles from encyclopedia judaica. jerusalem- new york: keter publishing house/times books, 1974; rpt. new york: dorset press, 1987 (article) gsefer ha-bahir. h. on the kabbalah and its symbolism. new york: schocken books, 1965: chapter 3. gkabbalah and myth, h ii. wolfson, elliot r. gbefore alef/where beginnings end, h in beginning/again: toward a hermeneutics of jewish texts, edited by aryeh cohen and shaul magid. new york: seven bridges press, 2002. ghebraic and hellenic conceptions of wisdom in sefer ha-bahir, h in poetics today, volume 19, number 1 (spring 1998: hellenism and hebraism reconsidered: the poetics of cultural influence and excha

luence and exchange i, edited by david stern (durham: duke university press. gthe tree that is all: jewish-christian roots of a kabbalistic symbol in sefer ha-bahir, h in 1. the journal of jewish thought and philosophy, vol. 3, issue 1 [special issue: studies in jewish mysticism, esotericism, and hasidism (harwood academic publishers gmbh, 1993; and 2 (idem) along the path: studies in kabbalistic myth, symbolism and hermeneutics (albany: state university of new york press, 1995. 1. b. provence: the fragments of what was to become sefer ha-bahir made their way to provence where they fed the development of a mystical school, ca. 1200. this school fs second generation was headed by r. isaac the blind (d. 1235, g cthe first jewish scholar whom we know by name that dedicated all his creative po

eneum, 1975. van uchelen, nikolaas a. gma easeh merkabah in sefer hasidim, h in jerusalem studies in jewish thought, vol. vi (3-4 [proceedings of the second international conference on the history of jewish mysticism: the beginnings of jewish 20081 24 mysticism in medieval europe, edited by joseph dan (jerusalem: the hebrew university, 1987. wolfson, elliot. along the path: studies in kabbalistic myth, symbolism, and hermeneutics. albany: state university of new york press, 1995: chapter 1. gthe image of jacob engraved upon the throne: further reflection on the esoteric doctrine of the german pietists. h. gthe mystical significance of torah study in german pietism, h in jewish quarterly review, vol. 84, no. 1 (july 1993. through a speculum that shines: chapter five. ghaside ashkenaz: verdi

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

therwise it simply could not happen. 610. another interesting point is that we are told, in the explanation of the t c b c that the f.c.s were paid in specie, which symbolizes the reward of toil not directly remunerated by its results, but that the e.a.s received their wages in corn, wine and oil. 611. corn and wine at once call to mind the sacred elements in the christian eucharist, and also the myth of the sun-god, who rises into mid-heaven to ripen the corn and the grape, and thus gives of his life for the benefit of others. these are types of the things most valuable to man; and to say that anyone is paid in corn and wine thus means that the richest of earth fs treasures are the reward of his work, and that at the same time they carry with them the blessing of god. 612. the oil typifie

the c c the m.m. who keeps his eye on that c c and acts from that p c cannot err. it is on that c c that the r.w.m. opens the lodge. 654. still one point in the conversation remains for consideration. the officers state that their journey is from the east to the west. this may be taken to refer to the path of the sun, which is typical of the path of the initiate. here we have the well-known solar myth again. the sun is new-born at the beginning of the year in the darkness of winter; he struggles through the clouds of the early spring, which seem to threaten his life; in the summer he rises to his highest point in the sky, giving freely of his life to ripen the corn and the grape. but now enemies close around him; autumn hems him in with its shadows, and at last he falls stricken before the

tigated the making of the pillars fully confirm that statement, though they do not find him suffering the sanguinary death which the legend asserts. as i mentioned in an earlier chapter, king solomon himself appears to be responsible for introducing into jewish masonry the original form of the story, but not for the insertion of the name which we now use for its hero. moses brought from egypt the myth of the death and resurrection of osiris, and that persisted in a modified form until the time of david. solomon for patriotic reasons transferred the theatre of the drama to jerusalem, and centred its interest round the temple which he had built, winning popularity at the same time by bringing his ritual into accordance with that of surrounding peoples, who were mostly worshippers of the phoe

ou turn towards mecca for your devotions? i have a very fine temple here; turn to it and not to arabia when you recite your prayers. h they seem to have accepted the suggestion, and in this way arose a variation- in the cult which may well puzzle the historians a century later. 693. bro. ward, in his recent book who was hiram abiff? argues that the whole legend is nothing but an adaptation of the myth of tammuz, that hiram abiff was one of a group of priest-kings, and was slain by the others as a voluntary sacrifice at the dedication of the temple, in order to bring good fortune upon the building. he adduces much evidence in support of this theory, and displays a vast amount of erudition and research, gathering together an amazing collection of the most interesting facts. i strongly recomm

as the reincarnation of his own father osiris, and so as a posthumous child might well be described as a widow fs son. 698. though of the tribe of naphtali, he was born and resided in tyre, and may well therefore have learned from the dionysian fraternity which had a centre there. 699. death and resurrection 700. whatever we may think of the traditional history as a story it is clear that it is a myth of death and rising again. the expression of it is perhaps somewhat clumsy, for no reference is made to the soul; it is merely the body which is raised to its feet, but it is obviously implied that when this was done in the proper manner life returned to it, as was said to be the case when anubis raised osiris from the bier with the very same gesture. 701. in the exoteric religion of egypt tw

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

m either of these sources. 282. this last line was strange and terrible- a line probably perpetuated through savage and primitive tribes who had bloodthirsty customs of mutilation and human sacrifice. i think it must be to this line that bro. ward refers in his remarkable work who was hiram abiff? in which he adduces a vast amount of evidence to show that our traditional history is based upon the myth of the death and resurrection of tammuz, and is in reality an account of the ritual murder of one of the priest-kings of that religion. he points out that most primitive races enact a drama in which some one, usually a priest or king, represents a god who is slain and comes to life again; that in earlier times at any rate such a representative was really killed and offered up as a sacrifice t

nd is in reality an account of the ritual murder of one of the priest-kings of that religion. he points out that most primitive races enact a drama in which some one, usually a priest or king, represents a god who is slain and comes to life again; that in earlier times at any rate such a representative was really killed and offered up as a sacrifice to ensure fertility; that we first hear of this myth of tammuz in connection with babylon, and that the tribes in the neighbourhood of judaea were all addicted to the worship of that deity. in fact, among the jews themselves we find the prophets blaming the hebrew ladies for taking part in the ritual mourning for him(*ezekiel, viii, 14) 283. solomon himself was by no means definitely monotheistic, and his people betrayed a distinct tendency to

ngelist in winter, are only a perpetuation of the feasts of the old fertility cult at the summer and winter solstices; that similar cultural rites are found in other lands, teutonic, celtic and greek, that they also survived among the essenes, and that the knights templars brought back from syria a story very similar to that of the 3. the tale of jonah, he remarks, has always been understood as a myth of death and resurrection, and he also was sacrificed to appease a deity, and obtain salvation for others, just as was the priest-king of old. he quotes many instances of foundation and consecration sacrifices; and, holding as he does that hiram abiff was the father of that other hiram who was king of tyre, he writes: 284. the phoenician and jewish followers of the old tammuz cult no doubt fe

zens took part, afterwards returning quietly to their homes(*les mysteres d eleusis. ch. xi and xii, passim) 365. in the greater mysteries the teaching upon the life after death was extended to the heaven-world; they thus corresponded to some extent to our 2. the initiates were named epoptae, and their ceremonial garment was no longer a fawn-skin, but a golden fleece- whence, naturally, the whole myth of jason and his companions. this symbolized the mental body, and the power definitely to function in it. those who have seen the splendid radiance of all which pertains to that mental plane, who have noticed the innumerable vortices produced by the ceaseless emission and impact of thought-forms, who remember that a brilliant yellow is especially the colour which manifests intellectual activi

s 373. the meaning of various myths was explained in detail in the instruction given to the initiates. the legend of persephone or proserpine (kore) is clearly an occult parable of the descent of the soul into matter. if we remember how the story tells us that proserpine was carried away while she was plucking the flower of the narcissus, at once we have a suggestion of connection with that other myth of the soul s life. narcissus is represented to have been a young man of extraordinary beauty who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, and was so much attracted by it that he fell into the pool and was drowned, and was afterwards changed by the gods into a beautiful flower. it was taught that the soul was not originally immersed in matter, and need not have been so, but fo

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

rominent in the hellenistic mediterranean world that influenced paganism, judaism, and christianity. its core teachings were that this world, and especially the human body, were the products of an evil deity the demiurge who had trapped human spirits in the physical world. our true home is the absolute spirit, referred to as the pleroma, to which we should seek to return. according to the gnostic myth of creation, sophia, one of the spiritual beings (one of the aeons) residing in the pleroma inadvertently creates another entity often called yaldabaoth who creates our familiar world (e.g, the apocryphon of john 2, in robinson 1981, 9f. this creation involves the emanation of the seven levels of the classical cosmos, corresponding to seven planetary spheres of the ptolemaic astronomical sche

a of hell. new york: thomas dunne books, 1998. the beast computer legend according to an urban legend that has been heard and repeated by millions of christians, there is a computer under the control of the european common market in belgium that occupies three stories of an unmarked building. one version of this tale from a letter written by a georgia woman appears on the ship of fools website: a myth i heard as early as 1973, and have heard repeatedly over the years, concerns a giant computer in belgium, taking up the space of a city block, and housed in a building. the name of the computer is the beast, and reportedly information on everyone in the world is kept on it. this means that when we have to take the mark of the beast, the antichrist government can track us down. high school tea

on seems to have arisen from promotional flyers that were propagated in the form of realistic-looking mock newspapers containing stories that supposedly reported such endtime events as the giant computer. see also hellhole for further reading: robinson, b. a. christian urban legends. http//www.religioustolerance.org/chr_cul.htm. ship of fools. the beast of belgium. http//ship-of-fools.com/myths/06myth.html. beast of the yellow night in this 1970 film, a man makes a deal with the devil a plump, cheerful chap for the usual goodies, money, and power. he doesn t realize until it s too late that the price he pays is to become an ugly monster. bedazzled stanley donen s 1967 comedy built around a faust theme was written and performed by comedians peter cook and dudley moore. stumbling and bumblin

ering the medieval concept of the devil s omnipresence in human life in every kind of form. the allusion to demonology in bosch s art reflects the common wisdom of his time, when belief in the devil was fundamental to proper religious devotion. see also demons; hell and heaven for further reading: beagle, peter s, the garden of earthly delights. london: pan books, 1982. cavendish, richard, ed.man,myth& magic. the illustrated encyclopedia of mythology, religion and the unknown. 1983. reprint, new york: marshall cavendish, 1995. encyclopedia ofworld art. london:mcgraw-hill, 1960. linfert, carl, hieronymus bosch. new york: harry n. abrams, 1989. the brotherhood of satan a diabolical coven takes over a small town in this 1971 film. the elderly satan worshipers plan to conduct a ritual for the

orces are unleashed. rituals are regarded as psychodramas and as magical acts focusing upon psychokinetic force. le messe noir, the text used for the traditional black mass ritual, is contained in anton lavey s the satanic rituals (1972. the mass is conceived as a purging ritual during which psychodrama is used to free individuals from the influence of sacred intimidation. contrary to the popular myth that it is a staple rite, the black mass is only rarely performed and then only by individuals who feel christianity has played a negative role in their lives. in 1967 the church received the attention of the media when lavey performed both the first publicized satanic wedding (an earlier one was private and no media was invited) and a satanic funeral for a sailor. membership grew rapidly, th

LIBER 777

et of ra. line 22: ma is more usually spelt maat or ma at. lines 23, 31: auramoth and thoum-aesh-neith were never egyptian deities but were names constructed on qabalistic principles by the golden dawn to refer to water and fire; similarly the name tarpesheth (tharpesht) is unknown prior to g.d. material, although she appears to be a hybrid of bast and sekhet. line 24: typhon was a titan in greek myth (son of tartaros and gaia, probably a personification of destructive forces of nature, who was identified with set in late classical times. add selket, whose symbol was the scorpion. the attribution of khephra is explained by crowley s remarks on this line in the animals column. line 25: add neith (net) who is traditionally depicted with a bow and arrows. line 26: khem is identified by budge

gods had invisible stations in the corners of the temple. the most immediate source for the elemental attributions, though, is the golden dawn paper on enochian chess where the four pawns of each side are referred to these god-forms. it is not clear why crowley omitted tuamutef for water (a g.d. coptic form of this name is cited in connection with the eagle kerub in a ritual in equinox i (3. in a myth recounted by budge (op. cit. vol. i p. 158) these gods are said to have grasped the four pillars of heaven as sceptres: amset the south, hapi the north, tuamutef the east, and qebhsennuf the west. they were also said to guard the canopic jars in which the internal organs of the deceased were preserved, and their g.d. attributions to the crossquarters probably derive from a single find of an e

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

ed. yet deussen is honest enough to admit that vedanta teaching is identical, but clearer! and he quite clearly and sensibly defines faith.surely the most essential quality for the adherent to christian dogma .as .being convinced on insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the central spirit of christianity is far older, in the osiris myth of the egyptians. these ideas are all right, but they have no more to do with christianity than the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth. henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley.shelley!.as a christian .in spirit. talking of shelley:.with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald

per cent, perhaps, of mortals .scape its woes that knock us, and bilk the wily gonococcus. so he is but a simple cynic who takes the world to match his clinic; and he assuredly may err who, keeping cats, think birds have fur. you say .there.s berridge, felkin, mathers, hysteries, epileptoids, blathers, guttersnipe, psychopath, and mattoid, with ceremonial magic that toyed. granted. astronomy.s no myth, but it produced piazzi smyth. what crazes actors? why do surgeons go mad and cut up men like sturgeons (the questions are the late chas. spurgeon .s) of yogi i could quote you hundreds in science, law, art, commerce noted. they fear no lunacy: their on dread.s not for their noddles doom-devoted. they are not like black bulls (that shunned reds in vain) that madly charge the goathead of rural

LIBER SAMEKH

na h and was described as the gbrutal power of demonic force h (i am unaware of any evidence for bes being regarded as a demonic or malignant power in egypt) oddly, in some of the graco-egyptian magical papyri, bes is identified with the headless one. 3 the goetia version has giapos h( fiapoj. apophrasz (apovrac) is a coptic spelling of apep (hellenised as apophis, the monster-serpent of egyptian myth; in the g.d. z documents, another element of the evil persona, dubbed the gstooping dragon h (the third part of the evil person was set-typhon; while not explicitly cited, the opening of section c is almost identically worded in the original greek to the opening of an invocation of set-typhon in the demotic and greek magical papyrus of london and leiden. 4 the goetia version has gmosheh h (mo

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

relevant to the study of scandinavian mythology, broadly defined, span two millennia or more. but even if we limit the discussion to the relatively small body of texts from the viking age and later middle ages about the gods odin, thor, frey, and the others and their constant battles with forces of evil and chaos, it is difficult to reconcile these texts with any one of the narrow definitions of myth suggested above. certainly they had some truth value to the people who composed them and those who wrote them down, but these were not always the same people.usually they were not.and it is obvious that what was true, sacred, and an account of how the world got to be the way it is to a viking age pagan poet can have been none of the above to a christian scribe copying the story in a manuscrip

ways the same people.usually they were not.and it is obvious that what was true, sacred, and an account of how the world got to be the way it is to a viking age pagan poet can have been none of the above to a christian scribe copying the story in a manuscript hundreds of years after the viking age. it is therefore easier and more enlightening to talk of formal criteria and content. in form, then, myth in general, and the texts that comprise scandinavian mythology in particular, are narrative, although this narrative is couched in both verse and prose. in general, one expects myth to recount important events that took place at the beginning of time and helped shape the world, and scandinavian mythology indeed has sequences that tell of the origin of the cosmos and of human beings. the story

and the verse of the other older germanic languages, but they took on a special importance in skaldic poetry because skalds linked them by using one kenning as the modifier of a base word to create another, for example, gtree of the din of spears h for warrior. the examples i have chosen so far are relatively obvious, but skalds also made kennings based on narrative, that is, on heroic legend and myth. for example, they called gold gthe headpiece of sif, h which is only comprehensible if one knows the myth in which loki cuts off sif fs hair and has the dwarfs make golden hair to replace it. kennings can be helpful in dating myths, for a kenning that relies on a myth indicates the myth was known to the skald and his audience at a given time. seeing whether a minor god or goddess is used in

as a member of the audience. it is certainly possible that knowledge of the myths survived the conversion to christianity because of the value early christian iceland placed on the skaldic poems about kings and rulers. in other words, it is possible that the continued transmission of poetry about early kings and battles as historical sources required a continuing knowledge of heroic legend and of myth, not as the object of belief or as something associated with cult but simply as stories that people interested in the history of their own culture had to know. in the same way, students today may study the bible to be able to understand allusions in older literature. it is even possible to imagine that eddic poems continued to be recited for their narrative value in support of the kenning sys

ey, and he conceals his name. har stipulates a wager of heads, but this motif is dropped; indeed, the nearest introduction 19 king gylfi of sweden questions har, jafnhar, and thridi, from dg 11, a fourteenth-century manuscript containing snorri sturluson fs prose edda (werner forman/art resource) analogy to the hall fs disappearance at the end of the text is thor fs visit to utgarda-loki, not any myth of odin. gylfi takes the odin-role in this contest of wisdom, as the traveler under an assumed name, and indeed this assumed name, gangleri, is one of odin fs in grimnismal, stanza 46 and elsewhere. this is somewhat ironic, since har, jafnhar, and even thridi are also names of odin, the latter two also in grimnismal. but as we shall see, har, jafnhar, and thridi probably also, in snorri fs vi

LUCIFERIAN WITCHCRAFT THE MYSTERY REVEALED

re very important to the order, and its works. while some may find interest in the witchcraft tradition developed within toph, some may find especial interest in the medieval black magick systems worked with through the group. finding a strength and beauty in the left hand path allows a balanced and positive ascent into the high mysteries of the goddess and god forms from which flows our inherent myth. much of the doctrine of the order of phosphorus flows directly from the grimoire the book of the witch moon, whic h unites the luciferian witchcraft with the dark and shadow elements of sorcery and magick. written by michael ford, the book of the witch moon is a dangerous tome of black magick that offers a direct gnosis for the individual, while considering they are of stable mind. another a

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

it and use the insight to improve his or her life. the luciferian path is one of knowledge and must be held with an open mind. different paths teach many different things, and should be understood as suucin the united states of america on acid-free paper to all free thinkers, past, present, and ever to be this page intentionally left blank human reason must never be subjugated to a dogma, or to a myth, or to a preconceived idea because for human reason to do so would be for human reason to cease to exist. henri poincare (translated by l.s) scientia vincere tenebras [science will defeat darkness. motto of the free university of brussels (p.f.l. s alma mater) this page intentionally left blank preface america is becoming more and more isolated fromthe rest of the world. this statement is tru

life, or the existence of a particular people, came to be. collected from around the world, these stories constitute rich oral traditions and creative human expressions. they are a form of verbal art, sometimes later written down in religious texts. often, origin myths reflect a peoples view of nature and their place within it. for example, anthropologist william haviland discusses how an origin myth among the abenaki (an indigenous group in new england and canada) reflects the abenaki cultural idea of the unity among all living things. in this myth, a supernatural being, tabaldak, created all life. as for humans in particular, at first he mistakenly tried to make them out of stone, but this did not work because it left their hearts too cold. then tabaldak tried again, using living wood

yths also make statements about the nature of men and women or the relationship between the genders. the genesis account is quite clear about this; god said to eve, your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you (genesis 3:16. some nuer myths blame women for earthly ills; for example, it was women who in mythological times brought mosquitoes to earth. among the navajo, an origin myth describes how navajo deities (holy people) lived in worlds below this one. then one day, escaping a flood, they reached the surface of earth and became the earth surface people, the first navajo. in one story, before this emergence to earth s surface, first man learns of the adultery of his wife and hits her. his wife complains to her mother (woman chief, who scolds first man, telling him tha

the women and live separately on their own. both sexes suffer from the separation, especially from frustrated sexual desire. yet as time passes, women fail at growing food, but the men are successful. the men are thus victorious over women in this battle of the sexes, but they realize they must reunite with the women in order to procreate and perpetuate their group, and so they do so. this navajo myth has been interpreted in different ways. some scholars suggest it may have developed as the navajo were shifting from hunting and gathering to agriculture. in this idea, agriculture was initially conducted mostly by women, depriving males of their roles in subsistence. later, men were active in agriculture, and the myth might represent men s attempts to creationism and intelligent design 19 re

suggest it may have developed as the navajo were shifting from hunting and gathering to agriculture. in this idea, agriculture was initially conducted mostly by women, depriving males of their roles in subsistence. later, men were active in agriculture, and the myth might represent men s attempts to creationism and intelligent design 19 regain their status as providers. other scholars see in this myth the navajo cultural theme of a complementarity of the sexes. it was a woman s adultery that caused the trouble, but in the end both sexes suffer from the separation and reunite, realizing they need each other. either way, as with all myths, this one reflects the history and culture of the mythmakers. anthropologists have also found that origin myths, like folktales and other oral and written

MAGIC AND SPELLS

ny beings experimented with powerful dweomers that produced larger and much more potent effects than are possible today,many minor and major artifacts date back to these times. just as one can find ancient artifacts scattered across faer n, one also can find ancient and powerful magical effects still lingering (and usually functioning erratically) today. the most famous of these is the. mythal of myth drannor (see the section on the forest of cormanthor in chapter 4: geography. a mythal is an ancient form of elven magic created by a group of spellcasters working together to create a lasting magical effect over a large area. mythals that remain today usually are beginning to fail but resist attempts to dispel them. they can produce any number of bizarre effects, including wild magic (see th

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

-abraxas, the gnostic concept of deity--the mysteries of serapis--labyrinth symbolism--the odinic, or gothic, mysteries. 25 the ancient mysteries and secret societies, part iii the eleusinian mysteries--the lesser rites--the greater rites--the orphic mysteries- the bacchic mysteries--the dionysiac mysteries. 29 atlantis and the gods of antiquity plato's atlantis in the light of modern science-the myth of the dying god-the rite of tammuz and ishtar--the mysteries of atys and adonis-the rites of sabazius--the cabiric mysteries of samothrace. 33 the life and writings of thoth hermes trismegistus suppositions concerning identity of hermes--the mutilated hermetic fragments--the book of thoth--poimandres, the vision of hermes--the mystery of universal mind- the seven governors of the world. 37 t

itans, is slain and finally restored to life amidst great rejoicing. the bacchic mysteries were given every three years, and like the eleusinian mysteries, were divided into two degrees. the initiates were crowned with myrtle and ivy, plants which were sacred to bacchus. in the anacalypsis, godfrey higgins conclusively establishes bacchus (dionysos) as one of the early pagan forms of the christos myth "the birthplace of bacchus, called sabazius or sabaoth, was claimed by several places in greece; but on mount zelmisus, in thrace, his worship seems to have been chiefly celebrated. he was born of a virgin on the 25th of december; he performed great miracles for the good of mankind; particularly one in which he changed water into wine; he rode in a triumphal procession on an ass; he was put t

s doomed because it had departed from the path of light, withdrew from the ill-fated continent. carrying with them the sacred and secret doctrine, these atlanteans p. 35 established themselves in egypt, where they became its first "divine" rulers. nearly all the great cosmologic myths forming the foundation of the various sacred books of the world are based upon the atlantean mystery rituals. the myth of the dying god the myth of tammuz and ishtar is one of the earliest examples of the dying-god allegory, probably antedating 4000 b. c (see babylonia and assyria by lewis spence) the imperfect condition of the tablets upon which the legends are inscribed makes it impossible to secure more than a fragmentary account of the tammuz rites. being the esoteric god of the sun, tammuz did not occupy

comply, and the water of life is poured over ishtar. thus cured of the infirmities inflicted on her, she retraces her way upward through the seven gates, at each of which she is reinvested with the article of apparel which the guardians had removed (see the chaldean account of genesis) no record exists that ishtar secured the water of life which would have wrought the resurrection of tammuz. the myth of ishtar symbolizes the descent of the human spirit through the seven worlds, or spheres of the sacred planets, until finally, deprived of its spiritual adornments, it incarnates in the physical body- hades--where the mistress of that body heaps every form of sorrow and misery upon the imprisoned consciousness. the waters of life--the secret doctrine--cure the diseases of ignorance; and the

the cabiri as "the sacred mystery of a brother slain by his brethren" and the "cabiric death" was one of the secret symbols of antiquity. thus the allegory of the self murdered by the not-self is perpetuated through the religious mysticism of all peoples. the philosophic death and the philosophic resurrection are the lesser and the greater mysteries respectively. a curious aspect of the dying-god myth is that of the hanged man. the most important example of this peculiar conception is found in the odinic rituals where odin hangs himself for nine nights from the branches of the world tree and upon the same occasion also pierces his own side with the sacred spear. as the result of this great sacrifice, odin, while suspended over the depths of nifl-heim, discovered by meditation the runes or

MARS COCIDIUS AND THE REDCAPS IN LANCASHIRE

these were the numerus equitum sarmatorum under the command of a consularis singularis or officer of the consul (the provincial governor. these according to the notitia dignitatum had remained in place even after 450. ribchester was also one of the towns where veteran legionaries were regularly settled on demobilisation, and became a centre for the breeding of cavalry horses. contrary to popular myth not all roman troops were withdrawn in 410. only the comitenses or mobile field army was withdrawn, the standing garrisons or limitanaei (at ribchester& carlisle) remained in place as did the foederati or military allies placed at strategic places in the empire in the case of valentia the troops of manau goddodin in lothian (from whence cunedda was sent to retake north wales in the 5th centur

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

or incantation. witches, like poets, painters, and chefs, have always taken a bit from here and a bit from there in the exercise of their craft, so much so that in many cases the original wisdom has been almost totally overlaid. everything that seems to have an inherent power in it, that triggers the emotions strongly, is pressed into use for the purposes of magic. snippets of folklore, religion, myth, and herbal lore, all are blended together with notorious in difference to mixing of styles and cultures. all that matters is the item's effect on you and your deep mind. while on the subject of religious components "words of power" cabalistic names of god and the like, here is a tip for the wise witch: better results will always be obtained if you happen to subscribe to the religion from whi

er till they form a single digit, thus: j o h n+ s m i t h 1+ 6+ 8+ 5 1+ 4+ 9+ 2+ 8= 20= 24= 44= 4+ 4= 8 now numerologically speaking the digits have the following traditional planetary attribution: 1. the sun 2. the moon 3. mars 4. mercury 5. jupiter 6. venus 7. saturn 8. uranus 9. neptune in john smith's case, his name planet will be uranus. his next step would be to consult a book of classical myth and legend, on the subject matter surrounding uranus. there will be ample material to select a name from, especially if the book is one of comparative mythology, showing the interrelations of legends among different cultures. should none of these methods yield results or appeal to you, then you should just go ahead and evolve a name that "feels right" cooking it up for yourself out of the blu

f your raw materials. now the first working tools you should make are the cup and thurible. in fact, as soon as you have made these you will be using them to contain the water and fire respectively, rather than relying on the services of any handy bowl and ashtray. the witches' cup the witches' cup is a variant of the cauldron of ceridwen. this, in turn, was a celtic development of early prytanic myth which later became the central theme of all the legends concerning the holy grail, that mysterious relic which is woven inextricably into the arthurian romances. the cauldron, bowl, or cup symbolizes the receptive passivity of the great womb of nature, out of which all things are born and to which all return. it is seen as female in nature and is analogous with night, darkness, space, and, of

ceres, vesta, egeria, ops, cybele, and rhea; the great earth mothers, in fact. many witches refer to the earth power as hulda, erda, or hertha. our words "earth" and "hearth" are derived from the last two names. hertha is so closely related to habondia that these two goddesses are often related to one another in magical legend as mother and daughter, thus tying in superficially with the old greek myth of demeter and persephone. however, many modern witches consider habondia and hertha to be but different aspects of the same power, which they refer to simply as the goddess. it was mother hertha that you invoked as the third power in the planetary spell of the last chapter. as a beginner witch who intends to pursue the path, it is essential that you place yourself and your home under some so

e to earth, cup to water. the cup seems to be about the one implement about which no one is in any doubt. more traditional, perhaps, is the concept of the sword of fire, rod of air (sometimes an airborne arrow or spear, cup or cauldron of water and pentacle, plate or shield of earth. these are directly analogous with the four magical treasures of pre-celtic lore mentioned earlier; in later celtic myth they became known as the sword of nuada, spear of lugh, cauldron of ceridwen, and the stone of fal (the latter, incidentally, is said to be none other than the stone of scone which at present reposes under king edward's throne in westminster abbey) the way to invoke the lords, or dominant entities, of the four watchtowers is thus: place one of your lamps of art at the east just outside the ci

MEANING OF MASONRY

tand our own doctrine; we can scarcely claim to have been regularly initiated, passed and raised in the higher sense of those expressions, whatever ceremonies we have formally passed through" the letter killeth, the spirit giveth life" let us enquire what the spirit of this puzzle-language is. the method of all great religious and initiatory systems has been to teach their doctrine in the form of myth, legend or allegory. as our first tracing-board lecture says" the philosophers, unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes, meaning concealed their tenets and principles of philosophy under hieroglyphical figures" and our traditional history is one of these hieroglyphical figures. now the literally-minded never see behind the letter of the allegory. the truly initiated mind discerns t

yse the imagination, as darwin lamented in his own case. principles stimulate and illumine the imagination, and enable the mind to interpret facts and adjust them to their proper relation. the greek mythologists were adepts at expressing cosmic and philosophic truths in the guise of fables which at once expressed theosophic teaching to the discerning and veiled it from the car eless and ignorant. myth-making was a science, not an indulgence in irresponsible fiction, and by exhibiting some of these myths in dramatic form candidates were instructed in various fundamental verities of life. one of the chief and best known of the numerous myths was that of demeter and her daughter persephone, annually performed with great ceremony and elaboration at the eleusinia, and of which it may be useful

if the girl had not eaten of the fruit of hades, she should forthwith be restored to her mother for ever, but that if she had so eaten she must abide a third of each year with pluto and return to demeter for the other two thirds. it proved that persephone had unfortunately eaten a pomegranate in the lower world, so that her restoration to her mother could not be permanent, but only periodic. this myth, and the importance once attached to it, will be appreciated only upon understanding its interpretation. it is the story of the soul and is of the same nature as the mosaic myth of adam and eve and the apple, and as the cosmic parable of the prodigal son, neither of these being meant to be regarded as historically true, but as a fiction spiritually true of cosmic facts. persephone is the huma

external delights, there can be no permanent restoration of the soul to its source, but merely the periodic respite and refreshment that death brings when it withdraws the soul from pluto's realm to the heaven-world, to be follo wed again and again b y periodic descents into material limitations and reascents into discarnate conditions, until it becomes finally purged and perfected. by this great myth, therefore, instruction was imparted as to the history of the soul, its destiny and prospects, and the doctrine of reincarnation* was emphasized. how masonry follows this traditional method of instruction by myths. its canon of teaching in the craft degrees contains two myths. one is that of the building of king solomon's temple. the other is that of the death and burial of hiram abiff narrat

the soul, its destiny and prospects, and the doctrine of reincarnation* was emphasized. how masonry follows this traditional method of instruction by myths. its canon of teaching in the craft degrees contains two myths. one is that of the building of king solomon's temple. the other is that of the death and burial of hiram abiff narrated in the traditional history. the royal arch contains a third myth in the story of the return from captivity after the destruction of the first temple, the commencement to build the second, and the discovery then made. this third myth has already been expounded in our paper on the royal arch degree, so that we need now speak only of the craft myths. to the literal-minded the building of solomon's temple at jerusalem (which is of course largely but not entire

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

est will be victim of such a self-created destruction cycle. the circle should be drawn and the proper invocations performed, intent should be pure and of great strength in each individual performing. the morning star is being invoked for the sense of luciferian light and beauty, to dispel that which is of ill intent. to understand the essence of the morning star, one must break down the perverse myth created by the writers of the bible for its devil created of such a light symbol. 80 80 "to the east, o morning star of wisdom and light! unto lilith of night black, i invoke the power of shadow and light of which all that passes from each fountain shall know the balance of life, come forth, the wheel spins and many are born, death is null and life is ecstasy. let thy star guide us in passion

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

redrick handel, gerald massey, alvin boyd kuhn, comyns beaumont, jordanmaxwell, john boorman, werner herzog, rev. paul solomon, l. a. waddell, and camillepaglia. special thanksmy heartfelt gratitude to joan mitromaras for her initial promise and support, and her continued patience and diligence in the editing of this book which would never have existed without her..hail libra!perhaps the greatest myth being purveyed, is that myths are just mythsmichael tsarion atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulationv prefacewe are here to learn to love one another. i do not know what the others are here for (w. h. auden)during the next 10 years, the human race is destined to finally discover the facts aboutits true origins and destiny. as part of this discovery, we have to address the over-whe

scued and preserved. the freed persons moved onto the waters in ships and with theuse of certain devices attempted to relocate their respective lands. some that were notable to do this settled on lands that were unfamiliar. this is clearly the case with thegaels. in fact, it is recorded that they came to ireland from four sacred islands thatwere destroyed because the rulers were corrupt. in irish myth, we read of the succes-sive waves of colonists, each declaring that, although in opposition politically, theywere kindred to those already in situ. the story of the migrations has survived down tomodern times and been retold in masterworks of fiction and non-fiction (see charlessquire, jim fitzpatrick, morgan llewellyn, ursula le guin, frank herbert, and rob-ert holdstock) many of the people

agic. the celtic sagas are full of mentionof magical weapons and treasures. one of the latter was the sacred stone of fal that wasplaced under the throne of the king in tara (drumcain or hill of the serpents. this stone, itwas said, would cry out if a false one sat to be crowned. we might ask what mystery isatlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation23 old world disorder secreted in this myth? the word fal actually means stone and is the root of the word phallic.the stone of fal is, therefore, the stone of stones, probably a powerful crystal thatwould indicate if a person was genetically altered in some way (this stone, like the lingamof the hindus, was believed to be connected to the planet saturn, for whom the earthly kingsruled) in folklore, there are covert references to genet

anach, or master of all the arts, but also the far-shooter. here is a description of his strange lance: he also had a magic spear, whichhe had no need to wield himself, for it was alive andthirsted for bloodwhen battle was near it was drawn out; then it roared and struggledagainst its thongs; fire flashed from itit tore through and through the ranks of the enemy,never tired of slaying (see celtic myth and legend by charles squire; the book of con-quests, and the silver arm by jim fitzpatrick) another weapon of power was the sword of the high king nuada, called retaliator. itis the prototype of excalibur. retaliator was said to vibrate in the presence of negativeforces or enemies. the celts had the strange prohibition that no king could rule whowas blemished. this does not make sense until

ot make sense until we realize what it relates to isgenetic alteration. the high king of the gaels, nuada himself, had to step down asleader after his arm was severed in the titanic war with the formorian hybrids. he sub-sequently had his missing limb replaced with a silver arm. the astonishing accountof this limbs magical replacement clearly bespoke some form of advanced cyber-netics (see celtic myth and legend by charles squire.)the greeks and teutons, as so many others, also have records of hybrid beings thathad the countenance of either great beauty or ugliness (see clash of the titans, jasonand the argonauts, the odyssey, and the amazing v oyages of sinbad) atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation43 the world falls dead the hindu srimad bhagavatam tells of a demon race whi

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

uation in women) and is a destroyer through chaos. az was connected with sexual hunger but also religious doubt, which relates her to a luciferian spirit who broke the chains of dogma by the black light, the torch of self-perception of being. az also represents lilith as the goddess of the beasts of the earth, the very mother of demons and sorcerous beings. az was said to be created in the zurvan myth as a black substance like coal, which would devour all creation, manifesting her as a vampyric being. azazel [hebrew] the first angel who brought the black flame of being to humanity. azazel was the lord of djinn and was said to be made of fire in islamic lore. azazel refused to bow before the clay of adam, 79 saying that it was profane. he was cast from heaven to earth and was indeed the fir

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

civilizations managed to record these tales in writing, forming the many religions and mythologies that we know--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 3 today. giving the subject of religion and mythology no more than a cursory glance, one may be forgiven for believing that these myths of history and creation are the misguided accounts of an ignorant and superstitious people. truly, the stories of myth are easy to dismiss. modern man has, for the most part, accepted the assertions of psychologists regarding these ancient tales. the gate-keepers of psychology, men like sigmund freud and carl jung, have suggested that the stories told by ancient man are no more than symbolic retellings of the conflict occurring in the psyches of the individual. they reason that the gods of ancient man are no

land, proclaiming that a flood was soon to destroy the earth, and that a fortress must be built at the center of the village. he promised to return one day, and after leaving the village the flood waters did come, which protected those who believed him. it s important to note that this tale of a chosen one who travels with 12 guys predates the arrival of europeans to north america. in the african myth from the mande people of mali, an evil god named pemba fell from heaven, and was barred from returning because he stole male seeds from god. pemba spread tainted seeds, borne from incest upon the ground. faro, his righteous twin brother that dwelled in heaven and took the form of a fish, was forced to sacrifice himself for pemba s sin. his body was cut into 60 pieces, and the pieces formed tr

few occultists have given me some insight on this subject (in a most annoyingly hushed-mouth manner. they speak of him as though he represented a major set-back to the plan. and where was the lord those 18 years? was he on a mission of initiation, civilizing, and demon hunting? they speak of him as though he did take a huge risk in coming here, as if jesus guaranteed trip back to heaven is only a myth. i have even heard jesus spoke of as a renegade; a police-like figure who hunted demons. more on this later. if mythology is in fact eccentric tales created to explain creation itself, then why so many corresponding details? if the evolutionists are correct regarding the birth and evolution of humanity (and they re not, then it means these stories stem from the time when man was of one blood

MICHAEL W FORD NOX UMBRA

mpyre shades and demons of the point embrace me as your own! so it is done! by the circle which i evoke nas, shade gateway of the dead- i will walk in the world of shadow and twilight embrace. by the circle of mitrokht, which i evoke vampyre spirit of the eye and the voice, i summon you to encircle my being so it is done! invocation of the vampyre queen lilith lilith is the mother of the vampyrie myth, as well as the symbol of fountainhead of the daemonic feminine. the witch queen is represented as a partial woman with beast like lower half, owl claws and a hypnotic stare. within her caves by the red sea, the darkness of the earth, the gateway of the demonum she breeds phantoms, shades and lilitu, sexual daimons which cater to the sorcerers who work in her veil. the daemonic feminine itsel

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

ven more clearly than before, and that it can recognize things in their true nature far more readily. furthermore, soon after death it faces a "judgment" in which a divine being displays before the soul all the things-=both good and bad-which it has done in its life and makes the soul face them. in book x of the republic perhaps the most striking similarity of all occurs. there plato recounts the myth of er, a greek soldier. er went away to a battle in which many greeks were killed, and when his countrymen went to collect the bodies of their war dead his body was among them. it was lain, along with all the others, upon a funeral pyre to be burned. after some time his body revived, and er described what he had seen in his journey to the realms beyond. first of all, er said, his soul went ou

mpressions of the nature of things. so, our souls cannot see reality in itself until they are liberated from the distractions and inaccuracies of the physical senses. secondly, plato says human language is inadequate to express the ultimate realities directly. words conceal rather than reveal the inner natures of things. it follows that no human words can do more than indicate-by analogy, through myth, and in other indirect ways-the true character of that which lies beyond the physical realm- the tibetan book of the dead this remarkable work was compiled from the teachings of sages over many centuries in prehistoric tibet and passed down through these early generations by word of mouth. it was finally writ. ten down, apparently, in the eighth century a.d, but even then was hidden to keep i

MORALS AND DOGMA

eer, uiro, ghurrah, and the like. the royal name rendered _pharaoh, was phra, that is _pai-ra, the sun. the legend of the contest between _hor-ra_ and _set, or _set-nu-bi, the same as _bar_ or _bal, is older than that of the strife between _osiris_ and _typhon; as old, at least, as the nineteenth dynasty. it is called in the book of the dead "the day of the battle between horus and set" the later myth connects itself with phoenicia and syria. the body of osiris went ashore at _gebal_ or _byblos, sixty miles above tsur. you will not fail to notice that in the name of each murderer of khurum, that of the evil god bal is found* har-oeri was the god of time, as well as of life. the egyptian legend was that the king of byblos cut down the tamarisk-tree containing the body of osiris, and made of

e. we welcome you among us, to this peaceful retreat of virtue, to a participation in our privileges, to a share in our joys and our sorrows [illustration [illustration] xiii. royal arch of solomon. whether the legend and history of this degree are historically true, or but an allegory, containing in itself a deeper truth and a profounder meaning, we shall not now debate. if it be but a legendary myth, you must find out for yourself what it means. it is certain that the word which the hebrews are not now permitted to pronounce was in common use by abraham, lot, isaac, jacob, laban, rebecca, and even among tribes foreign to the hebrews, before the time of moses; and that it recurs a hundred times in the lyrical effusions of david and other hebrew poets. we know that for many centuries the h

it is of little importance whether it is in anywise historical. for its value consists in the lessons which it inculcates, and the duties which it prescribes to those who receive it. the parables and allegories of the scriptures are not less valuable than history. nay, they are more so, because ancient history is little instructive, and truths are concealed in and symbolized by the legend and the myth. there are profounder meanings concealed in the symbols of this degree, connected with the philosophical system of the hebrew kabalists, which you will learn hereafter, if you should be so fortunate as to advance. they are unfolded in the higher degrees. the _lion[[hebrew _arai _araiah, which also means the _altar] still holds in his mouth the key of the enigma of the sphynx. but there is one

t and to extreme antiquity. it reproduces what is far older than itself. it paints, with the strongest colors that the oriental genius ever employed, the closing scenes of the great struggle of light, and truth, and good, against darkness, error, and evil; personified in that between the new religion on one side, and paganism and judaism on the other. it is a particular application of the ancient myth of ormuzd and his genii against ahriman and his devs; and it celebrates the final triumph of truth against the combined powers of men and demons. the ideas and imagery are borrowed from every quarter; and allusions are found in it to the doctrines of all ages. we are continually reminded of the zend-avesta, the jewish codes, philo, and the gnosis. the seven spirits surrounding the throne of t

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

not; while later mary attributed her condition to the agency of a spirit spiritus, breath, or air in the shape of a dove (simple-minded readers must not think for one moment that a. c. is here "admitting the historical existence of the virgin mary; on the contrary, he is obviously putting her on the same footing with europa, semele and others. the virgin birth, like the dying god, is a much older myth than christianity; and the virgin was usually seeded by a god under the form of a beast. far from being original, christian theology is a pot-pourri of stolen goods) but the "small person" of hindu mysticism, the dwarf insane, yet crafty, of many legends in many lands,is also this same "holy ghost, or silent self of a man, or his holy guardian angel. he is almost the "unconscious" of freud, u

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

forth from the ground in fullest plenty, the trees, which late were sered and bare, now donned their brightest emerald robes, and the flowers, so long imprisoned in the hard, dry soil, filled the whole air with their fragrant perfume. thus ends this charming story, which was a favourite theme with all the classic authors. page 59 it is very possible that the poets who first created this graceful myth merely intended it as an allegory to illustrate the change of seasons; in the course of time, however, a literal meaning became attached to this and similar poetical fancies, and thus the people of greece came to regard as an article of religious belief what, in the first instance, was nothing more than a poetic simile. in the temple erected to demeter at eleusis, the famous eleusinian myster

he goddess herself. it is exceedingly difficult, as in the case of all secret societies, to discover anything with certainty concerning these sacred rites. the most plausible supposition is that the doctrines taught by the priests to the favoured few whom they initiated, were religious truths which were deemed unfit for the uninstructed mind of the multitude. for instance, it is supposed that the myth of demeter and persephone was explained by the teachers of the mysteries to signify the temporary loss which mother earth sustains every year when the icy breath of winter robs her of her flowers and fruits and grain. it is believed that in later times a still deeper meaning was conveyed by this beautiful myth, viz, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. the grain, which, as it were, re

hful friend of the unhappy phaethon, felt such overwhelming grief at his terrible fate, that he pined and wasted away. the gods, moved with compassion, transformed him into a swan, which for ever brooded over the fatal spot where the waters had closed over the head of his unfortunate friend. page 71 the chief seat of the worship of helios was the island of rhodes, which according to the following myth was his especial territory. at the time of the titanomachia, when the gods were dividing the world by lot, helios happened to be absent, and consequently received no share. he, therefore, complained to zeus, who page 72 proposed to have a new allotment, but this helios would not allow, saying, that as he pursued his daily journey, his penetrating eye had beheld a lovely, fertile island lying

s became multiplied and we hear of little love-gods (amors, who appear under the most charming and diversified forms. these love-gods, who afforded to artists inexhaustible subjects for the exercise of their imagination, are represented as being engaged in various occupations, such as hunting, fishing, rowing, driving chariots, and even busying themselves in mechanical labour. page 168 perhaps no myth is more charming and interesting than that of eros and psyche, which is as follows:.psyche, the youngest of three princesses, was so transcendently beautiful that aphrodite herself became jealous of her, and no mortal dared to aspire to the honour of her hand. as her sisters, who were by no means equal to her in attractions, were married, and psyche still remained unwedded, her father consult

folly, and then, having persuaded aphrodite to be reconciled to his beloved, he induced zeus to admit her among the immortal gods. their reunion was celebrated amidst the rejoicings of all the olympian deities. the graces shed perfume on [154]their path, the hours sprinkled roses over the sky, apollo added the music of his lyre, and the muses united their voices in a glad chorus of delight. this myth would appear to be an allegory, which signifies that the soul, before it can be reunited to its original divine essence, must be purified by the chastening sorrows and sufferings of its earthly career.[51] page 173 eros is represented as a lovely boy, with rounded limbs, and a merry, roguish expression. he has golden wings, and a quiver slung over his shoulder, which contained his magical and

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

significant immigration into the roman empire, to rome particularly, during the later years of its existence "it was especially in the first century that the syrian exercised his activities, charged with almost all the minor crafts. the syrus (oriental in the broad sense of the term) entered everywhere, introducing with him the tongue and mores of his country."11 indeed* for more on the symbolic myth of hercules and its connection with builders, see my book les loges de saint-jean (paris: editions dervy, 1995, 71 ff. the ancient corporations: colleges of builders in rome 13 the best propagators of christianity in the working classes were the syrians "christianity in the third and fourth centuries was preeminently the religion of syria. after palestine, syria played the greatest role in it

illars of the 230 from the art of building to the art of thinking temple, jachin and boaz "where (was) the noble art or science found when it was lost" this is the meaning it gives them "for ye present ye sons of god have received strength inwardly, for ye time to come god will stablisch so with his spirit of grace yt they shall never wholly depart from him* the legend of hiram and the initiatory myth the legend of hiram is particularly significant with regard to the sacred scope of the masonic ritual. for the masons, who made him both their master and model, hiram was a mythical figure who was the brilliant builder of the temple. haloed by glory and talent, he is a synthesis of two biblical figures: huram or hiram abi, and adoram, adonhiram, or adoniram. according to the kings iii (5:13

ONYX TABLET OF SET

indeed, as a recipient of the ii, you already possess evidence of our recognition and approval of your efforts. there is much that is allegorical concerning lay membership in the church of satan. our activities, communications, and publications all reinforce this. a person can be an accredited satanist and yet consider the prince of darkness no more than an interesting and illustrative figure of myth. with the satanic priesthood the allegory ends. as the ordained representative of our lord satan, you will become a living embodiment of the powers of darkness. you will retain mastery of your own will; indeed you will be strengthened in this regard. nevertheless you will become an agency through which the devil will achieve his ends. by now you should be sufficiently acquainted with the true

a and enkil. this transformed them beyond the normal realms of the flesh. in rice's fictional account there is no further mention of amel. it was as though the nature of "his" existence was transformed through the flesh of humans. akasha and enkil retained their individuality and human souls, and began an entirely different experience of existence. we could apply this metaphorically to a creation-myth for the evidence of higher intelligence in man. as for the prince of darkness: if in fact a similar prismatic shattering occurred within set's relationship with proto-humans, from beyond the realm of perceived sensual reality, that would go far towards explaining any such quickening. if set had indeed existed somehow differently before the dawn of homo sapiens, then the actuality of every set

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

f the original cult of set- and of such survivals as have found their way into the wellsprings of western thought--remains to be seen. xeper. compiled by dakhla sba special thanks to the order of setne khamuast for their help in researching this page. revised 13 march 1997 th lumaluma detail from page 104 japanese dragon detail from page 120 voodoo symbols detail from page 91 introduction what is myth? the word myth derives from the greek mythos, signifying word or story. a myth has different meanings for the believer, the anthropologist, the folklorist, the psychologist, the literary critic. that is one of myth s functions to celebrate ambiguity and contradiction. there is no more point expecting a myth to offer a single, clear, consistent message than there is in trying to turn one of sh

mbiguity and contradiction. there is no more point expecting a myth to offer a single, clear, consistent message than there is in trying to turn one of shakespeare s sonnets into plain prose. like poetry, mythology offers a way of understanding the world through metaphor. stories adapt and change according to the teller and the context; myths are not fixed and dogmatic but fluid and interpretive. myth and time many mythologies start before the dawn of time, with the coming into consciousness of a creator god, such as the egyptian re (see p. 12. re himself is described as the awareness of an all-encompassing divine being, nebertcher, the lord without limit. mythological time, unlike clock time, is cyclical rather than linear. it presupposes what the writer mircea eliade called the myth of t

particular event in egypt, the call of the benu bird as it alighted upon the first land. it will come to an end eventually, and the cycle of creation will begin again. the mythology of the aztec and maya, and of native american nations such as the navajo, describes this world as being the fifth one. for the navajo, the first four worlds were beneath this one, from which humanity climbed up in the myth of the emergence. for the aztec, four suns had shone on previous creations before this, the world of the sun nahui ollin, which is blown across the sky by the breath of the god quetzalcoatl. the maya believed that this current cycle of creation began on august 13, 3114 bce. although they projected events forward until at least 4772 ce, they did not think it would continue forever. their sacre

r the world s mythologies enshrine all the poetry and passion of which the human mind is capable. from ancient egypt to greece and rome, from west africa to siberia, from the hindu concept of brahman and the endless cycle of creation to the eternal dreaming of the australian aboriginals, the same themes recur, as humankind engages with the great mysteries of life and death. the best definition of myth is maya deren s in her book on the voodoo gods: myth, she writes, is the facts of the mind made manifest in the fiction of matter. the first people this west african carving shows the world in the form of a calabash gourd, with the first man and woman and the cosmic serpent. the fon call this serpent aido-hwedo, and he carried the creator in his mouth when the world was made. aido-hwedo is sa

figure is named utnapishtim (see p. 19. the ancient greeks told how zeus tried to destroy mankind with a flood, but prometheus (see p. 24) warned deucalion and pyrrha. manu was saved from the hindu deluge vishnu in the form his fish avatar, matsya (see p. 110. flood myths can be found in peru and in china, among the australian aboriginals and in many native american cultures, including the mandan myth of lone man (see p. 94. even in the 19th century, folklorists could still collect in serbia a cycle of slavonic myths about the great flood from which the sole survivor kranyatz was preserved by the trickster god of wine, kurent. the creator one thing that all mythologies agree on is that the world was created by the deliberate act of a divine being, and that men and women were created especi

PHOSPHORUS THE SHADOWING FORTH OF LUCIFER

ted with water, air and fire. these together lead the individual towards a higher point of understanding and if properly worked, can lead towards holy magick. vampirism is a significant tool in human evolution because it places in perfect harmony the ever-changing self within natural balance. to ascend one must devour the energies that offer themselves. vampirism holds its foundation in dream and myth, forming strongly in a conscious reality, as one may know it. vampiric sorcery is a dangerous magick to control as it tests every point of mental strength one may have developed. if unbroken, can further strengthen the individual who would ascend to godhead. one must delve the depths of the psyche (abyss) in order to balance the holy light. thelema inadvertently supports and provides a signif

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

artakers with us of our treasures (which can never fail or be wasted) in all humility and love, to be eased of this world's labours, and not walk so blindly in the knowledge of the wonderful works of god" fama fraternitatis (1614) foreword and appreciation just about 100 years ago (in 1887) we had the beginnings of the hermetic order of the golden dawn. it was then that (according to history and "myth) dr. william westcott discovered a cipher manuscript that led to the founding of an english branch of die goldene dammerung in 1888. it was this golden dawn that attractedsome of the most talented personalities of the time- including w. 8. yeats, algernon blackwood, arthur machen, florence farr, annie horniman, a. e. waite, s. l. macgregor mathers, dion fortune and aleister crowley. and it wa

ive long meditation, for in them are many clues to the spiritual and psychological problems which beset the traveller on the path, and they resume the entire philosophy of magic. many hints, moreover, which may be found useful as assisting meditation are contained in the 'curse'from a philosophical point of view in the second volume of blavatsky's secret doctrine in connection with the prometheus myth and the awakening of manas, mind. since both of these diagrams mav be found reproduced in the body of the text very little by way of explankon need h&e be said. the first depicts a personified representation of the three fundamental vrincivles in man. each of these is api;arently separate, functioning independently bn its own plane without co <58> operation with, because apparently unaware of

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

of god" but a difficulty then arises as to the person of him whom they designate "sheikh adi" and who there is every reason to believe also represents the deity in their theology. the conversation which i held with the guardians of the temple clearly leads to this conclusion, and the same has been declared to we again and again by many yezeedees. fr. 1 in that case his tomb must be regarded as a myth, and the prefix "sheikh" fn. 1. may not the yezeedee "adi" be cognate with the hebrew hbw ad adh or ad, the two first letters in the original of adonai, the lord, and its compounds adonijah, adonibezek &c? this derivation is open to objection on the ground that the yezeedees write the word with hbw o and not with hbw a. little weight, however, ought to be attached to this fact, since they wri

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

omnipotence in inverse proportion to his material interest; the 12 the ritual of transcendental magic alchemist makes so much the more gold as he is the more resigned to privations, and the more esteems that poverty which protects the secrets of the magnum opus. only the adept whose heart is passionless will dispose of the love and hate of those whom he would make instruments of his science. the myth of genesis is eternally true, and god permits the tree of knowledge to be approached only by those men who are sufficiently strong and self-denying not to covet its fruits: ye therefore who seek in science a means to satisfy your passions, pause in this fatal way: you will find nothing but madness or death. this is the meaning of the vulgar tradition that the devil ends sooner or later by str

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

ales or cycles are found in irish sagas, in the welsh mabinogion and in the vita merlini. we may see them also in the myths of orpheus http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_82.htm (6 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:36:03 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 82-91 (similar in many ways to that of the youthful or mad merlin or to the search for mabon in khllwch and olwen in the mabinogion, or the tragic myth of balder in norse legend. in these tales, the interaction of all life is shown through orders of animals and other entities, all of which depend upon a central figure, usually a divine son or child of light. the cyclical nature of these myths is frequently connected to the seasons of the year, and there are firm analogies or reflections of the cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth of the

s thesis as actual cases, techniques, anti examples from the gaelic traditions of seership, we must beware of taking them as mere examples of the fanatical religion of the time. the first quotation, from philipians 2:10, is a good example of the many levels of meaning found in the biblical citations that kirk lists. the verse refers to the 'harrowing of hell, the christian variant of a widespread myth in which the savior or sacred one descends into the underworld to liberate the spirits entrapped there. the difference between the pagan traditions and the christian one is a difference of http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_82.htm (7 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:36:03 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 82-91) degree rather than actual content: the descent of jesus into the underworld (late

further developed by analogy to the natural abilities of certain birds and animals. the analogy and educational use of bird and animal examples is often found in living wisdom-traditions: nowadays we often call this system one of 'totem beasts' drawing on a term from native american tradition, but it is clear from a mass of evidence that it was highly developed by the pagan celts. much of celtic myth and legend, including early irish texts, the welsh mabinogion, and many of the grail legends, involves transformation through the action of or interaction with magical animals. it seems very likely that the use of bird and animal analogies in explaining the action of the second sight was something that kirk encountered in gaelic tradition, along with the examples discussed earlier (page 26) i

eachings that are non- christian. it is perpetuated in chthonic magical arts even today, where the initiate is warned against the fatal seduction of the otherworld men or women, but may in special circumstances, undertake such partnerships. just as we have co-walkers who advise or mirror the seers, we also have the more concealed tradition of the fairy marriage, with its roots in pagan ritual and myth, but operating as part of a specific otherworldly tradition well into historical times. the perils of having a fairy lover are amply demonstrated by the powerful magical ballad tam lin (see appendix 3. this was preserved in collective oral tradition in scotland at least until the nineteenth or early twentieth century, being sung by ordinary people as part of the vast repertoire of such ballad

ionalist cause. two traditions of his death are extant. the first is that he was murdered for political reasons by the followers of the earl of march, and that he foresaw this death accurately. the second is that he lives on in the hollow eildon hills of his home region in the lowlands. like merlin, or arthur, thomas wears the mantle of the national hero who is also attuned to a deep and powerful myth; politics and magic are woven together in his cloak. http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_138.htm (2 of 11 [10/9/2001 12:37:14 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds the large estates of ercledoune were donated to the church by thomas's son, also called thomas, thus fulfilling one prediction. the magical hawthorn tree of thomas's initiation lived on until 1814, when it was blown down in a gal

RUBY TABLET OF SET

ck magic in theory and practice, in the crystal tablet the gnosis as an integral part of the hermetic science table of contents i. introduction ii. the gnosis as a philosophical hermetism 1. philo, the man and his thought 2. the evidence from hippolytus 3. the old gnostics iii. some basic gnostic methods 1. cosmology 2. anthropology 3. soteriology iv. results of research in gnostic science 1. the myth of pistis sophia 2. the mystery of the first mystery 3. the gnosis of jesus the mystery of the ineffable 4. the degrees of the mysteries 5. the mysteries of mithras 6. the mystic diagrams 7 'inaoca xpiatoa 8. the truth 9. god v. the gnosis as a hermetic science can lead to new-thinking vi. conclusion i. introduction gnosis sounds very much more formidable and technical in english or german th

very important for a student of gnosticism to realize that gnosis in gnostic systems, in spite of a seeming myriad of denotations and explanations, refers to the means, the instrument some men have in and of themselves. they have it by virtue of their generation. they must take hold on this means, and use it to achieve their escape from their cosmic prison and find freedom in the pleroma. 1. the myth of pistis sophia "in the beginning she (pistis sophia) was in the thirteenth aeon with her companion aeons. by order of the first mystery, she gazed into the height and saw the light of the veil of the treasure of light, and desired to ascend into that glorious realm, but could not. she ceased to do the mystery of the thirteenth aeon and ever sang hymns to the light she had seen. hereupon the

ntagonized plato was not that they held different views than his concerning the primal forces of the universe. rather it was the intolerable insult. in plato's eyes. that they were not interested in that topic as a field for rational inquiry. plato must have felt somewhat akin to noah building his ark in the midst of an ignorant and unconcerned society. the chimaera: the noah legend is not in our myth-cycle, if you please. the sphinx: my apologies. the chimaera: and so plato wished to identify the primal forces of the universe. this resulted in his famous theory of the forms, if i am correct. but i sense a weak point here. plato was a finite being, and yet he desired to comprehend universal absolutes. as perfect standards they would necessarily be infinite, since any measure of perfection

of the great pyramid, pages 287-382. 4. cottrell, leonard, life under the pharaohs, pages 189-191. 5. casson, lionel, ancient egypt, page 146. 6. ibid, page 141. 7. tompkins, op. cit, pages 3-4. 8. berlitz, charles, mysteries from forgotten worlds, page 36. 9. compare this to the chinese view of china as the "middle kingdom (chhung kuo, the "focus" of civilization and creativity. 10. clark, r.t, myth and symbol in ancient egypt, page 74. 11. frankfort, henry, ancient egyptian religion, page 62. 12. fairservis, walter a, the ancient kingdoms of the nile, pages 98-99. 13. stanley, thomas, the history of philosophy, page 494. 14. asimov, isaac, asimov's biographical encyclopaedia of science and technology, page 2. 15. stanley, op. cit, page 494. 16. plato, collected dialogues, page 1059. 17

e of individual will, decrying the self as "mere illusion" however, ethical naturalism (the identification of the concepts "good" and "natural) is rejected by the setian philosophy. instead, it is the alien, non-natural aspect of man, seen as setting him apart from the common beasts, which is exalted. in line with this exaltation of the non-natural is an alternative interpretation of the biblical myth of the "fall" there is a great deal of truth in the saying "ignorance is bliss" hackneyed though this phrase might be. thus, because consciousness produces pain, mass humanity looks back to a time of bestial, mindless oblivion with great longing. it is for this reason that the source of man's freedom, self-awareness, and separateness has been slandered, painted red, and given horns and a poin

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

f there was only paper in the toilets and tepid, used water full of mud and soap to step into after taking exercise, even if it meant a lifetime spent amongst winter--naked trees whose fingers clutched despairingly at the few, pale hours of watery, filtered light. on winter nights he, who had never slept beneath more than a sheet, lay beneath mountains of wool and felt like a figure in an ancient myth, condemned by the gods to have a boulder pressing down upon his chest; but never mind, he would be english, even if his classmates giggled at his voice and excluded him from their secrets, because these exclusions only increased his determination, and that was when he began to act, to find masks that these fellows would recognize, paleface masks, clown-masks, until he fooled them into thinkin

o freelances permitted. she stared them down, finished her cigarette, left. fearless. maybe crazy. now in her middle thirties she was a qualified doctor with a consultancy at breach candy hospital, who worked with the city's homeless, who had gone to bhopal the moment the news broke of the invisible american cloud that ate people's eyes and lungs. she was an art critic whose book on the confining myth of authenticity, that folkloristic straitjacket which she sought to replace by an ethic of historically validated eclecticism, for was not the entire national culture based on the principle of borrowing whatever clothes seemed to fit, aryan, mughal, british, take--the-best-and--leave-the-rest- had created a predictable stink, especially because of its title. she had called it _the only good i

nd he was going to use it. o o o "you never married" he said when they both lay sleepless in the small hours. zeeny snorted "you've really been gone too long. can't you see me? i'm a blackie" arching her back and throwing off the sheet to show off her lavishness. when the bandit queen phoolan devi came out of the ravines to surrender and be photographed, the newspapers at once uncreated their own myth of her _legendary beauty. she became _plain, a common creature, unappetizing_ where she had been _toothsome. dark skin in north india "i don't buy it" saladin said "you don't expect me to believe that" she laughed "good, you're not a complete idiot yet. who needs to marry? i had work to do" and after a pause, she threw his question back at him _so, then. and you_ not only married, but rich "s

and an elderly polish woman from the old days when it was the jews who ran the sweatshops round here, who sat all day in a corner with two vegetable samosas, one pun and a glass of milk, announcing to everyone who came in that she was only there because "it was next best to kosher and today you must do the best you can. jumpy sat down with his coffee beneath the lurid painting of a bare-breasted myth-woman with several heads and wisps of clouds obscuring her nipples, done life-size in salmon pink, neon-green and gold, and because the rush hadn't started yet mr. sufyan noticed he was down in the dumps "hey, saint jumpy" he sang out "why you bringing your bad weather into my place? this country isn't full enough of clouds" jumpy blushed as sufyan bounced over to him, his little white cap of

but the people begin to leave. husband and wife stand on their balcony, and the people see them plain. for so long the city has used these two as its mirrors; and because, of late, jahilians have preferred hind's images to the greying grandee, they are suffering, now, from profound shock. a people that has remained convinced of its greatness and invulnerability, that has chosen to believe such a myth in the face of all the evidence, is a people in the grip of a kind of sleep, or madness. now the grandee has awakened them from that sleep; they stand disoriented, rubbing their eyes, unable to believe at first- if we are so mighty, how then have we fallen so fast, so utterly- and then belief comes, and shows them how their confidence has been built on clouds, on the passion of hind's proclam

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

inary? they can't even do the ordinary. if a person can not be loyal to her school, how can she expect the many parts of herself to be loyal to her greater goals *initiation is about specialization, not generality. this is the secret the occult industry would rather you not know. the occult industry has a vested interest in people not becoming deeply interested in anything. they want to promote a myth that you are somehow a better person if you have wide-ranging interests. you know a little of this and a little of that. real self-change doesn't work that way. the parts of yourself that you really need to change are pretty entrenched in you, and finding and learning to use the tools that will work for you (and you alone) is a lifetime quest. if you really want to change yourself, first you

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

inary? they can't even do the ordinary. if a person can not be loyal to her school, how can she expect the many parts of herself to be loyal to her greater goals *initiation is about specialization, not generality. this is the secret the occult industry would rather you not know. the occult industry has a vested interest in people not becoming deeply interested in anything. they want to promote a myth that you are somehow a better person if you have wide-ranging interests. you know a little of this and a little of that. real self-change doesn't work that way. the parts of yourself that you really need to change are pretty entrenched in you, and finding and learning to use the tools that will work for you (and you alone) is a lifetime quest. if you really want to change yourself, first you

SATANGEL

d. in the talmud and targum he is the direct link between humankind and god. he appears in the yakult hadash, where the two egyptian magicians jannes and jambre manage to gain unqualified admission to heaven and refuse to leave. micha-el and gabri-el are sent to expel them but are defeated. after metatron defeats the magicians he is set above micha-el and gabri-el. according to one version of his myth he was once none other than enoch himself, transformed in reward for his recording of the angelic lore for humankind into a fiery angel with six times six wings and countless eyes. in this form he is the angelic scribe who records all in the aetheric archives. in gnostic scripture, metatron is identified as the demiurge, the prince of darkness who is the creator of the material universe. thus

moved to take up the heathen sorceries do so because we are carrying forward the genetic anomaly of the children of cain, whose blood was tainted with that of the grigori. thus these arts are not mere low sorcery, but the profound veneration of our ancestry. it is our embracing of the infernal nature that is within all humankind, and its deliberate awakening within the current of witchcraft. this myth itself is reflected in the earlier babylonian tale where humankind are created from the blood of kingu, first of her brood leader of the dragon tiamat s army of chaos. through us, they walk upon the earth. according to the book of enoch, their identities are as follows; agni-el: who taught of enchantments of roots and the secrets of conjure. anma-el: made a sexual pact with a mortal woman to

for an opponent of any kind, and this was most probably a title of office as in a modern prosecution. it is thus morally neither good nor evil, but rather an agent of neutrality. in enoch i the scribe describes his first meeting with the lord (en xl:6) where he also witnesses uriel arguing against the satans and refusing them permission to come before the lord to accuse those from the earth. the myth of the fall originates in the book of enoch, and is outside of the canon. yet by the time the new testament was compiled the influence of enoch had been absorbed, along with elements of the persian zoroastrian religion, judea being under persian rule from the 6th to 4th centuries b.c. in their cosmology there are two principles of ahura mazda, being creative, and ahriman, being destructive. s

e womb of the mother goddess. compare with isaiah 14:12-14 as we know it now; how hast thou fallen from heaven, helel s son shaher! thou didst say in thy heart, i will ascend to heaven. above the circumpolar stars i will raise my throne and i will dwell on the mount of council in the back of the north. i will mount the back of a cloud. i will be like unto elyon. according to some versions of this myth, the devil has set himself up in competition to god, and has created his own dark counterpart of heaven within the abyss. according to st. augustine the war in heaven was brought about when god created an order of angels and strengthened them with an act of grace that gave them a profound understanding of the cosmos and their place within it. he then created a second order, but withheld his g

the order of dominations, now a demonic king ruling 40 legions, with the heads of a man, a bull, and a ram, with the tail of a serpent. rides a bear, carries a goshawk, speaks hoarsely. tells fortunes, gives invisibility, makes men witty. baphomet this character has long been identified with the devil and the goat of mendes, and as purely male. such has played its part in the continuation of that myth which states that the templars were the agents of darkness. the name baphomet is also that of the goddess of the gnostics, sophia. it is hidden through the cabbalist codes of temurah. in this, the letters of words are substituted, transposed and altered, so that any word may yield a hidden meaning. in writing the twenty two letters of the hebrew alphabet in a special order and in two lines, t

SATANIC BIBLE

rased. a large percentage of people, especially those over forty, cannot emotionally accept the fact that masturbation is natural and healthy, even if they now accept it intellectually; and they, in turn, relate their repugnance, often subconsciously, to their children. it was thought that one would go insane if, despite numerous admonitions, his auto-erotic practices persisted. this preposterous myth grew from reports of wide-spread masturbation by the inmates of mental institutions. it was assumed that since almost all incurably insane people masturbated, it was their masturbation that had driven them mad. no one ever stopped to consider the lack of sexual partners of the opposite sex and the freedom from inhibition, which is a characteristic of extreme insanity, were the real reasons fo

SATANIC RITUALS

ntire mass follows the desecration of the host "vanish into the void of thy empty heaven, for thou wert never, nor shall thou ever be" the possibility that christ was a total invention has occurred to investigators with increasing frequency. many once existing social ramifications might have made this feasible. perhaps the recent last ditch "christ, the man" stand is an attempt to sustain a dying myth through use of a single reinforcing element- one with which all can identify-that shows him a fallible human being! requirements for performance participants consist of a priest (celebrant, his immediate assistant (deacon, a secondary assistant (subdeacon, a nun, an altar, an illuminator who holds a lighted candle where needed for reading, a thurifer, a gong-striker, an additional attendant a

is of christ 1. year 1 c.e. an idea 2. year 100 c.e. the son of god 3. year 1800 c.e. the acme of human perfection 4. year 1900 c.e. a great teacher 5. year 1950 c.e. a revolutionary 6. year 1970 c.e. a fallible, representative man 7. year 1975 c.e. a symbolic image, representative of a human type. 8. year 1985 c.e. a descriptive word with an interesting origin. 9. year 2000 ce. a well-known folk myth. l'air epais the ceremony of the stifling air along the shore the cloud waves break, the twin suns sink behind the lake, the shadows lengthen in carcosa. strange is the night where blade stars rise, and strange moons circle through the skies, but stranger still is lost carcosa. songs that the hyades shall sing, where flap the tatters of the king, must die unheard in dim carcosa. song of my so

an church. they taught that within each human being there dwelt a little divine spark (f nklein. they believed that a simple recognition of this magical essence within each man was enough to liberate one from any restrictions whatsoever, whether social, sexual or intellectual. the russian has been, throughout history, predominantly receptive, though sometimes quixotic and despite the contemporary myth of classlessness, he can easily find his place and remain reconciled to it. intrigue and change have always hailed from alien spheres. the doctrine of the little flame was, therefore, easily adapted to fit the russian "soul" instead of fifty lesser gods of a congregation realizing their divinity, one human leader became divine. to this master, or leader, all bowed with devotion. he was the on

SATANICON

to sin against! if anything, they re sins (offenses) against our fellows via the law of the survival of the fittest: those who become the victims, or prey, to the predators who are more cunning and stronger. there is no such thing as equality in our world, nor should there be. pre-existing factors serve to maintain balance in both the animal kingdom and the social strata of man. so since satan, a myth, is so much like what we actually are, it is he who so to speak keeps us out of mythical heaven and down here where we belong on earth. he represents the instinct within us all. he is the will and the strength to go forward and conquer our enemies and win the -4- most tender affections of those we desire. most don t acknowledge him as representing these aspects of ourselves in the positive, b

quer our enemies and win the -4- most tender affections of those we desire. most don t acknowledge him as representing these aspects of ourselves in the positive, but those who recognize them in these respects will cause the essence of satan to appear, for they will become as satan himself: experiencing life as it should be brutal but honest, and enjoyable with a true hero to admire and worship a myth fashioned after oneself! a final thought on theism: fellow satanists by believing in the actual existenc4e of satan, and consequently his creator god you are no more righteous than a lowly xian, whom i don t consider righteous at all. by believing in the devil and god, you give xians further reason to believe; more of a reason to maintain and grow ever stronger in their beliefs, and justifica

SATANISM AN EXAMINATION OF SATANIC BLACK MAGIC

y of demons. rider: london, 1988. grant, kenneth. nightside of eden. skoob books publishing: london, 1994. holy bible, the. oxford university press: london, 1937. lavey, anton szandor. the satanic bible avon books: new york, 1969. lavey, anton szandor. the satanic rituals avon books: new york, 1972. lurker, manfred. dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons routledge: london, 1988. man, myth& magic. 12 volumes. bpc publishing ltd: london. 1971. newton, toyne, the demonic connection blandford press: poole, 1987. o'grady, joan. the prince of darkness element books: shaftesbury, 1989. order of nine angles. hostia. secret teachings of the o.n.a. volume i thormynd press: shrewsbury, 1992. order of nine angles. hostia. secret teachings of the o.n.a. volume ii. thormynd press: shrewsbur

re-defining satanism by magdalene graham, society of dark lily the slogan "evil is live spelt backwards" was effective (though "devil" on the same principle put us in the past tense) but its shock value and therefore usefulness has long since receded. it is now counter-productive if being evil is regarded as a necessary qualification to be a follower of the left hand path. so let us relegate that myth to the junk-heap, along with the other nonsense about satanism being an offshoot of christianity (even the christians' bible testifies against that. satanism is no longer a hook upon which the unenlightened can hang their guilt complexes. two thousand years of being the "scapegoat" has inevitably left us on the defensive. in any statements for public consumption, we have expanded too much tim

rol others who are susceptible, but they cannot control themselves, or even begin to understand their 'darker' side. in short, they are weak- and generally rather pathetic -individuals, although they may hide behind a "mask" or a "role. such people are not satanists, but rather failures. the satanist aspires to self-mastery, self-overcoming: to knowledge. the popular image of satanism is a lie- a myth invented and fostered by those who have a vested interest in maintaining it. organized religions and under-developed individuals need such myths, as they need stereotyped enemies: for only by such means can such people and such religions survive and flourish. many believe, with that certainty that faith and fanaticism bring, the myths about satanism and the more general myths about ritual 'ch

eir certainty of faith. do we, now- concerning this question of satanic child- abuse- return to the dark age of faith, of believing what certain church people wish us to believe to bolster their religion and rather intolerant view of the world; or do we go forward to greater understanding based on an acceptance of the facts? these facts show that satanic child abuse- and ritual abuse itself- is a myth. satanism- an examination of satanic black magic side 17 af 21 file//c:\windows\skrivebord\nyt%20til%20bibilotek\ona\various\satanism_an_examin. 20-04-03 a collection of sacred-magick.com< the esoteric library appendix 3 the left handed path- an analysis the left handed path and satanism are related insofar as satanism is a particular lhp. the lhp is the name given to describe a system of eso

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

il via http//www.gale.com. world religions: almanac ix reader s guide this page intentionally left blank timeline of events 10,000 400 bce the span of the jomon period in japan, during which shinto first emerged. 3500 2000 bce duration of religion in ancient sumer. 3110 bce 550 ce duration of religion in ancient egypt. 3102 bce emergence of hinduism. 1700 bce the babylonians devise a new creation myth, the enuma elish. c. 1353 34 bce the pharaoh akhenaten rules egypt and enforces the worship of a single god, aten. all evidence of his reign is wiped out after his death. tenth century bce the jewish temple of solomon is constructed in jerusalem. seventh century bce beginning of the milesian school of philosophy in ancient greece. 600 bce official formalization of the rig veda, one of hinduis

hrough jesus, making jesus fully human and fully divine. indigenous: a word that describes a people, culture, or religion that is native to a particular geographical region. indulgence: in the roman catholic church, the belief that paying money to the church would allow a person to get into heaven or be forgiven for sins that were not yet committed. izanagi: the male figure in the shinto creation myth. izanami: the female figure in the shinto creation myth. jinja: shrine. jinn: evil spirits that tempt a person away from dedication to allah. jinn: literally, conquerors; the great teachers of jainism who have conquered their earthly passions. world religions: almanac xxi words to know jiva: the soul. junzi: a gentleman or superior man. ka aba: the shrine built by the prophet abraham in the h

asha: the white shorts worn by sikhs as a symbol of purity. kesh: uncut hair, a symbol of sikhism. kevalnyan: enlightenment. khalsa: the militant brotherhood of sikhism, founded by guru gobind singh. khanda: the emblem of sikhism. kirpan: a sword or dagger worn by sikhs as a symbol of their willingness to fight to defend their faith. kojiki: the chief text of shinto, a work that combines history, myth, and folk belief. kosher: dietary laws, referred to in hebrew as kashrut. kungha: the wooden comb used to groom hair, a symbol of sikhism. kushti: the sacred cord, or belt, that zoroastrians wear. kusti: the holy path one has to follow to be a zoroastrian. laity: body of worshippers who are not members of the clergy. li: the rules of behavior a person must follow to reach the confucian ideal

live, away from the world and following strict religious guidelines. monotheism: belief in one supreme being. morality: following the rules of right behavior and conduct. moshiach: the expected messiah in jewish belief. muezzin: the person who issues the call to prayer. murti: image of a god. muslim: a follower of islam, from the arabic phrase bianna musliman, meaning submitted ourselves to god. myth: a legendary story, often with no basis in historical fact, that frequently tells of the actions of deities and helps to explain some naturally occurring event or some supernatural occurrence. mythology: the collected stories of a culture or religion, especially those dealing with the origins, heroes, gods, and beliefs of a group of people. naam karam: the naming ceremony for children. namask

do not believe in a specific religion. the rest of the world s population, some 5.4 billion people, belongs to one of more than twenty different major religions. the world s major religions range in size from christianity, with 2.1 billion members, to rastafarianism and scientology, with about 1.5 million members each. words to know deity: a god or goddess. monotheism: a religion having one god. myth: a legendary story, often with no basis in historical fact, that frequently tells of the actions of deities and helps to explain some naturally occurring event or some supernatural occurrence. pagan: pre-christian or non-christian; also referring to those who worship many gods. pantheon: the class or collection of all gods and goddesses in a system of belief. polytheism: a religion worshiping

SET IN EGYPTIAN THEOLOGY

ough to dispel this idea. one controversial egyptologist has suggested that the worship of set might have predated the concept of paternity. later cults incorporating a father god would reject this fatherless son. this introduces another bizarre factor in the transformation of the night/day battle between brothers into an inheritance dispute between set and horus the younger. any book on egyptian myth you pick up contains the gory details of this cosmic lawsuit, which includes things that make dynasty look like a prayer breakfast. i have always been intrigued, though, that while all books affirm that set tore osiris to pieces, everybody knows about osiris, and it is quite hard to collect the pieces of the puzzle that is set. egyptologists have never agreed what the animal used to symbolize

SET IT STRAIGHT

h set the egyptian god- knows him as an envious and savage murderer, sexual pervert, and what not that seems to justify condemning his 'followers' as sneaky 'devil worshippers. this sketchy article will focus on whether there is any evidence to support our image of set as the universal god of consciousness and non-nature (the particularizations of which we in a way are- not the butcher of osirian myth. in his lucid account seth: the god of confusion, h. te velde states that the meaning of the name of set is uncertain by modern etymological standards. this in mind we may examine some of the pseudo-etymologies. plutarch offers 'the overmastering' or 'overpowering, and then indicates that in many cases the name may mean 'turning back' or 'overpassing. no egyptian speculation supports the latt

something that didn't belong to that order. if we take into account that at the very least after the xx dynasty set's cult suffered a real persecution mania and that in later theology he was reinterpreted, it seems that nothing certain of his original concept has survived [for hardly would any original egyptian priesthood have been a lettuce-eating bunch of bacchanalian criminals] in the osirian myth he became merely "the enemy of gods and the murderer of osiris, the being who revolted against the order established by the highest god (te velde, p. 150) de lubicz must have seen set through the osirian lense. on the basis of this material, however, i think that we are not at all too far out on the limb if we presume set might indeed have been the god of consciousness, the neter of that whic

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

t been? stripped bare of its cosmic imagery, of its relationship to the forces that early christians imagined were going to bring about the imminent transformation of the world, christianity has turned in upon itself, lost the initiative, lost its sense of direction. rudolf steiner had the advantage of approaching the whole question from a profounder viewpoint. in other circles the rediscovery of myth, of cosmic symbolism and mystery, was taking a more positive course. theologians and academics may have felt the threat to conventional ideas; theosophists saw the need for a new synthesis that took seriously the insights both of buddhism and the evolutionary science of the west, the evidence of recurring 2. rudolf bultmann (1884 1976, a german theologian and professor who attempted to demyth

ts both of buddhism and the evolutionary science of the west, the evidence of recurring 2. rudolf bultmann (1884 1976, a german theologian and professor who attempted to demythologize the new testament by utilizing the modern terminology of existentialist philosophy; his theories became the starting point for most twentieth-century theological debate. xii christianity as mystical fact patterns in myth and research into the hidden structures of the mind. h. p. blavatsky s idea of a unity behind it all touched a nerve of the age, and an attempt to explain the extraordinary and undeniable unity of religious phenomena has remained a central strand in twentieth-century thought, persisting far outside the theosophical circles where it was first nurtured.3 but from the beginning steiner followed

igionist richard reitzenstein were later subjected to devastating criticism (certainly by comparison with reitzenstein, it should be noted, steiner s emphasis on an iranian-zoroastrian thread in the mysteries and, indeed in christianity, is more subtle and restrained) but the arguments against showed, in turn, a failure to exorcise the specter that had been raised. hugo rahner s fascinating greek myth and christian mystery tried to limit the influence of the mysteries to later phases, to the fourth century and after, when the church took over the pagan establishment. looking back on another classic study, samuel angus mystery religions and christianity, theodore gaster protested that many of the things claimed to have come from the mysteries might really xviii christianity as mystical fact

studies suffered from the unfortunate but unavoidable lack of sources and even more perhaps from the attempt to derive the inner significance of the process they described from the external evidence, which involved them in all sorts of excesses. steiner s approach was just the opposite. he recognized a spiritual 6. r. reitzenstein, das iranische erl sungsmysterium, bonn, 1921; hugo rahner, greek myth and christian mystery, london, 1963; s. angus, the mystery religions and christianity (with a new foreword by t. h. gaster, new york, 1966; a. loisy, the birth of the christian religion, london, 1948; for the relevance of rudolf steiner s ideas to the exciting situation since the dead sea scrolls and the nag hammadi library revealed something of the environment of early christianity, see a. w

s of the book is thus explained; but he also clearly wanted to establish a larger perspective than the shortsighted historical approach. later, especially in his lectures, he was to extend his treatment into the details of the gospels and the apocalypse, only touched on here. his evolutionary idea that in christianity the processes of the mysteries, hitherto experienced in vision and expressed in myth, had to become an individual life, already opens the way however for his intimate and deeply moving account of the founder s role. in obedience to his father, the god of history, christ had to be willing to translate that pattern of death and resurrection into personal destiny, thereby opening a new dimension of humanity s relationship to god. all those 7. building stones for an understanding

TECHNICIANS GUIDE TO THE LEFT HAND PATH

, i.e, personal transformation into preferred states of consciousness. this last statement deserves a bit more elucidation to make clear. behaviour modification is a technique that operates as a technique in and of itself regardless of the trappings that the procedure is enshrouded within. this is not meant to imply that the technique can stand alone. rather, that the content of metaphor, symbol, myth and religious doctrine (in most cases) that is placed upon the platen of technique is mutable. the trappings give a personal significance, they also provide sociological and cultural/political importance for the masses who partake, or have knowledge of the conversion. the technique is a blank slate of psychological operations whose importance to the individual is obtained through their cultur

second is the mental processes that occur during this translation of the abstract to the more concrete. finally the third is what comes back to the creator after his/her creation has been set forth. i use the term creation in a fuller sense than is generally understood. these creations are extensions of the psyche built largely out of the application of various principles found hidden within the myth, philosophy and epics of the human condition.the result of the personal application of these vital principles is self transformation. now, transformation- as a process- requires an exchange of energy within the internal and external environments relevant to the individual. these exchanges leave either additions to, subtractions from, or synchronizations with those elements directly involved

ychological construction that reveals the unknown and unseen. the particulars of this decoding process involves affinity. it is through recognition, exploration, circumstance, desire and will to understand personal affinity that the revelatory nature of self exploration yields substance.without affinity, will, desire and activity they are nothing more than intellectual curiousities of literature, myth and opinion. the implication is that there exists a language of higher being that is recognized only by those whose consciousness can become synchronized with the imprints of energy that constitute the various principles, ideas and perceptions of that path. creation is extension, the process that leads to creation, and which results from creation is retraction. retraction can be recognized th

t is what are we talking about when we speak of "aeonic resonance" aeonic resonance is most easily understood as the lhp principles, creations, and ideas that have survived through passing of time into our present moment. these ideas represent the principles that the current lhp setian resurgence has recognized through its research, and the work of its initiates. these ideas have survived through myth, philosophy, literature, culture and through religion. all of these ideas must be understood as the extensions of past energies carried into the present day through countless generational lifetimes over several millenia. many of these ideas are examined in the seven faces of darkness by don webb, further examination of the lords of the left hand path by dr. stephen flowers is also of great in

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

odex magica in his teaching course on ancient masonry, c.c. zain of the brotherhood of light explains that the ritual for this degree requires a keen understanding of astrology. but, its performance is said to be derived from a passage in the scriptures "the sign is made" writes zain "by thrusting the hand into the bosom and again drawing it out."9 the official masonic explanation for this sign a myth intended to divert the profane from the truth is that it refers to the fourth chapter of exodus in the holy bible "and the lord said unto moses, put now thine hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow" leprous, indeed, is the hand of the mason who vainly seeks to hide and coverup his fides oath of allegiance to jahbuh

bestowed upon him by the title and cover art of this recent book indicate. the ivy and holly are his favored vegetation (thus, the ivy-covered buildings on the campuses of harvard, yale, and other elite establishment colleges and the name, hollywood. pan, whose father is hermes, god of secrecy, is often pictured as the green man, a vegetation-covered deity. the tale of the jolly green giant is a myth begun by his admirers. who, really, is pan? well, of course, pan is simply the devil in a new disguise. baphles me! 105 106 codex magica the bearded revolutionary rebel is symbolic of baphomet, who also has a beard. this artist rendition of notorious cuban guerilla leader che gueverra does bear a remarkable resemblance to eliphas levi's famous drawing of baphomet, complete with the stars on t

ro, ayero, eer, uiro, ghurrah, and the like. the royal name rendered pharaoh, was phra, that is, pai-ra, the sun. the legend of the contest between hor-ra and set, or set-nu-bi, the same as bar or bal, is older than that of the strife between osiris and typhon; as old, at least, as the nineteenth dynasty. it is called in the book of the dead "the day of the battle between horus and set" the later myth connects itself with phoenicia and syria. the body of osiris went ashore at gebal or byblos, sixty miles above tsur. you will not fail to notice that in the name of each murderer of khurum, that of the evil god bal is found* har-oeri was the god of time, as well as of life. the egyptian legend was that the king of byblos cut down the tamarisk-tree containing the body of osiris, and made of it

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 1

by partaking of holy food and drink and enacting the ritual drama. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d afterlife mysteries 33 the eleusinian rites were held at a fixed time in the early fall after the seeds had been entrusted to the fields, and were conducted by a hereditary priesthood called the eumolpedie. the eleusinian drama reenacted the myth of the rape, abduction, and marriage of kore (persephone) by hades, god of the underworld, and her separation from her mother, demeter, the goddess of grain and vegetation. when, in her despair, demeter refuses to allow the earth to bear fruit and brings about a time of blight and starvation that threatens to extinguish both humans and the gods, zeus recalls persephone from hades. filled with

living bodies. pythagoras believed in the soul as a thought of god, and he considered the physical body to be simply one of a succession of receptacles for the housing of the soul. many of his followers became vegetarians, for he taught that the soul might live again in animals. because of his importance to early greek culture, pythagoras is among those individuals given the status of becoming a myth in his own lifetime. therefore, the philosopher was said to have been born of the virgin parthenis and fathered by the god apollo. pythagoras s human father, mnesarchus, a ring merchant from samos, and his mother consulted the delphic oracle and were told that he would be born in sidon in phoenicia and that he would produce works and wonders that would benefit all humankind. wishing to please

control conditions were enforced to ensure that fraud of any kind, conscious or unconscious, on the part of the medium could not go undetected. the most controversial aspect of the tests has to do with the role of the famous magician harry houdini in the experiments. houdini was outspoken in his declarations that he had exposed margery as a fraud. the medium s defenders proclaim that the greatest myth in the history of psychical research is that houdini caught margery cheating and exposed her. on one point there is agreement: houdini seemed determined to expose margery as a fake by whatever means necessary. during one night of tests, houdini brought an electric doorbell into the seance room and said that he would challenge the spirit to ring it for the circle. once margery was in a trance

ctively preached the wisdom and insights provided in the secret doctrine and shepherded the movement into steadily larger growth. m delving deeper blavatsky, h. p. collected writings. 16 vols. wheaton, ill: theosophical publishing house, 1950 1985. harris, iverson l. mme. blavatsky defended. santa fe springs, calif: stockton trade press, 1971. meade, marion. madame blavatsky: the woman behind the myth. new york: g. p. putnam s sons, 1980. murphet, howard. when daylight comes: a biography of helena petrovna blavatsky. wheaton, ill: theosophical publishing house, 1975. rudolf steiner (1861 1925) rudolf steiner was born in krajevec austria- hungary (now yugoslavia, on february 27, 1861, the son of a minor railway official. by the age of eight, steiner had experienced the unseen worlds, the in

of apollo at delphi in central greece contained the most prestigious oracle in the graeco-roman world, a favorite of public officials and individuals alike. the oracle was said to relay prophetic messages and words of counsel from python, the wise serpent son of the mother-goddess delphyne or from the moon-goddess artemis through their priestess daughters, the pythonesses or pythia. according to myth, the god apollo murdered delphyne and claimed the shrine and the pythia for himself, imprisoning the serpent seer in the recesses of a cave beneath the temple. the historian plutarch (c. 46 120 c.e, author of plutarch s lives, served for a time as high priest at the delphic oracle and explained why its oracles had remained popular while others had fallen into disrepute. in his opinion, the go

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

icles on such themes. steiger has appeared on such television programs as nightline with ted koppel, abc evening news with peter jennings, nbc evening news with tom brokaw, this week (with david brinkley, sam donaldson, and cokie roberts, the mike douglas show, the david susskind show, the joan rivers show, entertainment tonight, haunted hollywood, inside edition, the unexplained, and giants: the myth and the mystery. sherry hansen steiger is a co-author of 24 books on a variety of topics on the unusual and unexplained with her husband brad. her continual studies in alternative medicine and therapies led to the 1992 official creation of the office of alternative medicine under the institutes of health, education and welfare in bethesda, maryland. both steigers have served as consultants fo

pe, meldrum said that it constitutes significant and compelling new evidence that will hopefully stimulate further serious research and investigation into the presence of these primates in the northwest mountains and elsewhere. m delving deeper bord, janet, and colin bord. unexplained mysteries of the 20th century. chicago: contemporary books, 1989. byrne, peter. the search for big foot: monster, myth or man?washington, d.c: acropolis books, 1976. coleman, loren. mysterious america. boston: faber& faber, 1985. top cryptozoolgical stories of the year 2001. the anomalist, january 4, 2001 [online] http//www.anomalist.com/features/topcz2001. html. green, john. on the track of the bigfoot. new york: ballantine books, 1973. sanderson, ivan t. abominable snowmen: legend come to life. philadelphia

ext to the african elephant is the white rhinoceros, which remained officially unacknowledged t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysterious creatures 85 until 1900. the largest of the apes, the mountain gorilla, was considered a native superstition until 1901. the dragons of komodo island, indonesia, were considered the creations of a strange myth conjured up by the islanders until 1912. and the british zoologist who described the bizarre royal hepard a half-leopard and half-hyena beast long claimed by the natives of rhodesia to be an actual beast of prey wondered how such a large animal, and one so distinct from other species, could have remained unknown for so long. in june 1994, the first living specimen of the vu quang ox was caugh

r? in search of mokele- mbembe. new york: e. j. brill, 1987. searching for hidden animals: an inquiry into zoological mysteries. garden city, n.y: doubleday, 1980. dragons one of the most universal monster myths is that of the dragon. the awesome, reptilelike beasts appear in the folklore of nearly every country. and the fact that the creature was truly regarded as an actual monster rather than a myth can be demonstrated in several t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysterious creatures 87 writings of the day. edward topsell, writing in his historie of serpents (1608, commented that among all the kinds of serpents, there is none comparable to the dragon, or that afforded and yielded so much plentiful matter in history for the ample dis

ly were dragonlike monsters prowling the earth, devouring hapless villagers, receiving periodic sacrifices of young maidens, spreading terror into the hearts of all, and being thwarted only by courageous knights. for years, children have been read tales, seen motion pictures, and heard songs of reluctant dragons, kindly dragons, affectionate dragons, magic dragons, and timid dragons. behind every myth smolders some spark of truth and reality. a few scientists hold the theory that a number of dinosaurs might have survived into the age of man. pick up any book on dinosaurs and it is apparent that a tyrannosaurus rex would have made a terrific dragon in anyone s legend. such a huge reptile thudding about the countryside of early europe or asia could certainly fit even the most dramatic descri

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

icles on such themes. steiger has appeared on such television programs as nightline with ted koppel, abc evening news with peter jennings, nbc evening news with tom brokaw, this week (with david brinkley, sam donaldson, and cokie roberts, the mike douglas show, the david susskind show, the joan rivers show, entertainment tonight, haunted hollywood, inside edition, the unexplained, and giants: the myth and the mystery. sherry hansen steiger is a co-author of 24 books on a variety of topics on the unusual and unexplained with her husband brad. her continual studies in alternative medicine and therapies led to the 1992 official creation of the office of alternative medicine under the institutes of health, education and welfare in bethesda, maryland. both steigers have served as consultants fo

enth century b.c.e) and solomon fs securing the services of the most accomplished architect in the world, hiram abiff, who was said to have designed the magnificent temple according to the precepts of the great architect of the universe. although hiram is mentioned in biblical accounts as a master of the arts of construction, the rites of freemasonry extend beyond the bible and fashion a parallel myth, portraying hiram as a primary figure in the creation of the temple. according to masonic tradition, the ancient builders of solomon fs temple created the rites still practiced in modern lodges, with the various degrees of initiation and their secret symbols and handshakes. while the free and accepted order of freemasons is the oldest fraternity in the world, it doesn ft really extend back to

embership in the illuminati swelled to 300. weishaupt had taken great care to enlist as many young men of wealth and position as possible, maintaining that philanthropy, as well as mysticism, was a principal goal of the society. he had also managed to create around himself a great aura of mystery, permitting himself to be seen by none but those in the highest ranks of the society, encouraging the myth that he was an adept of such great power that he existed largely as an invisible presence. initiates into the ranks of the illuminati underwent secret rites, wore bizarre costumes, and participated in grotesque ceremonies that were designed to give complete obedience to weishaupt. soon the illuminati became a force to be reckoned with behind the scenes in germany fs political life, and its me

-mau. the kikuyu central association, the political party that fronted for the secret activities of the mau-mau, was headed by johnstone kamau, better known as jomo kenyatta (1892.1978. under his leadership, kenya gained independence in 1963. m delving deeper malboa, wunyabari o. mau-mau and kenya: an analysis of a peasant revolt. bloomington: indiana university press, 1998. roseberg, carl g. the myth of mau-mau. new york: meridian, 1970. warwick, mark. gmau-mau: messengers of misery. h [online] http//www. multiline.com. au/ markw/ maumau.html. 21 december 2002. the rosicrucians the citizens of paris awoke one morning in 1622 to find that their city had been ornamented with posters which the brethren of the rosy cross (rosicrucians) had scattered to announce that their secret order was now

passed forbidding any plantation owner to allow gnight dances h among his negroes. in 1791, a slave revolt took place under the leadership of toussaint l fouverture (1743.1803) which was to lead to haiti fs independence from france in 1804. although l fouverture died in a napoleonic prison, his generals had become sufficiently inspired by his example to continue the struggle for freedom until the myth of white supremacy was banished from the island. after the concordat of 1860, when relations were once again reestablished with france, the priests who came to haiti found the vestiges of catholicism kept alive in vodun. the clergy fulminated against vodun from the pulpits but did not actively campaign against their rival priesthood until 1896 when an impatient monseigneur tried to organize a

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

rightly called master or mistress. even though, as has been mentioned, the lightbringer orvendale s re-emergence and perfection (symbolized by the divine child) is timelessly complete, when the master orvendale is met as his other face, that of the dark guardian, he does not appear to mediate the fire s perfected grace, but instead he seems to spread fear and limitation- but, once again, man and myth merge in strange ways, and the mind of a being who is lacking understanding or not ready for the touch of the fire will, through his own ignorance or actions, meet not the bright one, but the dark guardian, a reflection of his own lack of sight and limitations. it s not such a condemnation, for all people must face the guardian, eventually, because all people have conditions in themselves tha

f the daughter is that she (and the feminine mysteries in general) are more representative of the craft worldview, as well as those of the ancient mysteries, all the way up to gnosticism, in which the soul was seen as a feminine power. the kore or persephone of hellenic paganism likewise was a symbol of the human soul- this was part of the key to understanding the hallowed eleusinian mysteries. a myth-pattern for the daughter goes like this: the father, in his rather sky based form of worldly fertility mates with the mother, and the daughter is born. the daughter is then abducted or otherwise seduced/taken down into the underworld by a darker brother of her father (who can esoterically be seen as the darker face of her father, the king of the underworld and death) where she passes through

fearful that occupies our minds. lady de rosilea is often seen and described as riding the fields and tracks- these tracks, of course, representing the ghost roads, to and from the underworld or the otherworld; it is a symbol of the soul moving from one reality to the next, from one phase of life to the next, through birth, life, and death. i mentioned the alchemical child briefly above- and the myth-pattern of the daughter helps us to understand something of the child s origins. as was mentioned, the alchemist who wed their innerworldly or otherworldly mate brought about the birth of the child, and what is important to note here is that the child is born of a union of two worlds- this world, represented by the alche mist, and the otherworld, represented by the spiritual bride or groom. i

he is joined to in a conjunction. when male humans attempt to recreate this mythological pattern in their own mind/world, the whole process is moved out one step, and the male seeker of the mysteries becomes the worldly being and he seeks the daughter, who becomes the fetch wife or the otherworldly mate, who, in conjunction with him, brings forth the child. feminine initiates actually engage this myth on a more immediate level, taking on the role of the daughter themselves, and seeking the spiritual union with the dark lord below, who becomes the fetch husband (and in time, reveals himself to them as the lord of light. it is in this way that the child is born of their union. the rest of the feminine mysteries involve the secret, inner basis of the feminine- the power of motherhood and gene

replacement for the wine, for reasons that we will discuss. the bread and drink are supposed to be dark or red, mostly because the food of the dead, or the food of the underworld was traditionally held to be red; the pomegranate seeds, always a fruit associated with the underworld and the feminine mysteries, were red- the daughter herself ate pomegranate seeds while in the underworld in the greek myth. the color red was traditionally associated with not only blood and life, but with the primal givers of life; some traditions referred to the dame as the bloodmother. the ancients in the british isles were sometimes buried with their bones or bodies smeared with red ochre or some other coloring, as well as the bones of killed animals, like deer, that the community consumed, to ensure that the

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

. every great experience in life, every profbund conflict, evokes the accumulated treasure of these images and brings about their inner constellation. but t h q become accessible to consciousness only when the individual possesses so much self-awareness and power ofunderstanding that he also reflects on what he experiences instead ofjust living it blindly. in the later event he actually lives the myth and the symbol without knowing it.ll consciousness consciousness is that component of waking awareness perceptible to a person at any given instant. it is a state of being mentally awake and observant, of having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts. consciousness is therefore the function which sustains the relationship between psychc content and

ge of the soul (and the imagination) is revealed in symbol, image, and allegory. therefore in all mythologies the many figures, places, and situations are metaphors for different archetypes, as well as different aspects of the psyche and transformative experiences. thus does hermes, representing the soul guide and the transconscious self, communicate to all levels of the psyche through symbol and myth. the imagination is one of the most important tools of magic. a focused imagination is employed by magicians for everything from the consecration of talismans to healing. concentration on a visualized image or symbol is the key to this type of working. in healing, the source of the infection or injury is often visualized as being dissolved, or the sick individual is "imaged as being free from

urs unconsciously. 34. the descent of the neshamah into the individual's field of awareness occurs through the "holy union" of the "king" and the "queenn-the higher and lower self symbolized by tiphareth and malkuth. 35. certain golden dawn t e a h g s, such as the symbolism of the garden of eden before and after the fall, are specifically designed to aid in the integration of the shadow by using myth and metaphor which can be understood on many levels. see our book self-lnitiation into the golden dawn tradition, 367-371 and 554-556. 36. assagioli, psychosynthesis, 39. chapter seven the art of relaxation i n the foreword to the second edition of the middle pillar, regardie expressed a desire to add more material on the art of relaxation and its importance to the individual's well-being. at

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

, via a process of individuation that is active and dynamic (being brought about by the "patient" himself) as opposed to the passive depth analysis of the jungian adepts, lovecraft's cthulhu mythos was meant for entertainment. scholars, of course, are able to find higher, ulterior motives in lovecraft's writings, as can be done with any manifestation of art. lovecraft depicted a kind of christian myth of the struggle between opposing forces of light and darkness, between god and satan, in the cthulhu mythos. some critics may complain that this smacks more of the manichaen heresy than it does of genuine christian dogma; yet, as a priest and former monk, i believe it is fair to say that this dogma is unfortunately very far removed from the majority of the faithful to be of much consequence

tion, as manifest in the famous chinese yin-yang symbol. but what of inanna, the single planetary deity having a female manifestation among the sumerians? she is invoked in the necronomicon and identified as the vanquisher of death, for she descended into the underworld and defeated her sister, the goddess of the abyss, queen ereshkigal (possibly another name for tiamat. interestingly enough, the myth has many parallels with the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmi

the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmic and eternal nature of this myth. therefore, the goddess of the witches has two distinct forms: the ancient one, goddess of the dragon-like telluric power which is raised in magickal rituals, and the elder goddess, defeater of death, who brings the promise of resurrection and rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the "summerland. sumer-land? anot

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

e strength of the sin does not exceed that of the sinner, and if the punishment be greater than the offence, he who inflicts it becomes executioner and is the real criminal, who is wholly inexcusable, and himself alone deserving of eternal punishment. any being who is tortured above measure, enlarged by an infinitude of suffering, would become god, and this is what the ancients represented in the myth of prometheus, immortalized by the devouring vulture, and destined to dethrone jupiter .the mysteries of magic, p. 120. such is the power of love, undaunted, infuriated in the cause of freedom, justice, and truth. charicles plunges into the waves of destiny, gand with his strenuous hands the emerald water gripped. h onward he swims striving against poseidon, god of the ocean, who heaps the se

ith another which is not contained in the former, h and explains the difficulty by assumed knowledge a priori [rendering hume fs position now impregnable, thanks to ethnology, etc, etc; and then kant asks, ghow is pure mathematics possible h [again falling into the fallacy of supposing his own brain to be without a history, it is curious to note that kant fs a priori is but a recasting of the old myth of pallas, wisdom, springing fullarmed from the brain of zeus, and like the legend is a strangely false assertion] thus, into the trap kant sets out to rescue hume from, he himself falls, by asserting that: git is only by means of the form of sensuous intuition that we can intuite things a priori, but in this way we intuite the objects only as they appear to our senses, not as they may be in

THE WITCH CULT OF ZOS VEL THANATOS

generations. it is also possible to connect with pre-human embodiments through such elementals. atavisms exist in the deepest recesses of the mind and often are characterized as half beast, half man. such creatures do not emerge spontaneously; however can be invoked through several methods of automatic "shamanism" and focus pathworkings. an article by kenneth grant published in cavendish's "man, myth and magic" further delves into examples of aos and his magickial abilities "spare's 'formula of atavistic resurgence' was based on the use of symbolic pictures, which gave a visible form to various atavistic urges and desires deep within the mind. he claimed that he had only to visualize one of these pictures for the atavistic impulse to surge up. an example which he gave was an occasion when

TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT

ncis king's observation that before the church of satan began lavey was involved in an occult group which included, among others, underground film maker kenneth anger, a person well known in crowlean circles. of the rites of the church of satan, king states that..most of its teachings and magical techniques were somewhat vulgarized versions of those of aleister crowley's ordo templi orientis (man myth and magic, p 3204) to which we might add that, as with the oto, the rites of the church of satan are manifestly potent, but hardly criminal or murderous. lavey, like gardner and unlike crowley, appears to have "the common touch- perhaps rather more so than gardner. i determined to trace the wiccan rumor to its source. as we shall see, in the very year i "fell" into being a gnostic bishop, i a

ister crowley "the wickedest man in the world" by some accounts, and from crowley's organization, the ordo templi orientis. why gardner chose to do this is speculative, but i've got some idea. but, i'm getting ahead of myself. while turner showed me a blasphemous cross shaped from the body of two nude women (created for the 18th century infamous "hellfire clubs" in england and depicted in the man myth and magic encyclopedia;i bought it, of course) and a statue of beelzebub from the dusty garderian archives, a thought occurred to me" you know" i suggested "if you ever, in all this stuff, happen across a copy of the book of shadows in the handwriting of aleister crowley, it would be of considerable historical value" i understated the case. it would be like finding the book of mormon in josep

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

hose who have gone before it. it uses the symbolic tools and molds made by society-its forebears, its peers, its blood relations-to gain a measure of control over the vast and unmanageable world of emanations. in vulgar terms, it forces the lights of god into bottles and caps them, then stores them away where they can do as little vio- lence to its feelings as possible. this is one meaning of the myth of solomon, who bound the demons of the world by the power of his ring and commanded them to enter a vessel of brass. when something is gained, something is lost. in exchange for sanity and peace, the child gives up its perceptions of much of the subtler emanations of the all. its personal universe is always smaller than the real universe. it can only see as far as the crest of the surroundin

e game has an ancient air about it that suggests its rightful place is in an age long past and forgotten. the great cackler, who lays the cosmic egg, is locked in an eternal battle with the dragon of the abyss, who ever threatens to consume the egg of cosmos. periodically, the cackler is renewed from the cos- mic egg, just as the phoenix was renewed from age to age from its own egg, or by another myth, from its own corpse. the dragon can consume the embryonic cackler while it lies in the cosmic egg, but once hatched, the cackler has power over the dragon. it is the fiery seed of the dragon that impregnates the cackler, giving rise to the egg, which may contain either cackler or dragon, since both bird and serpent are born from eggs. t he square represents the perfect trinity of forces made

y apprehension of the third point, it must rely on the mediation of the other two, which color and distort the nature of the third point even as they trans- mit some secondhand concept of it. so it is in the world, which is a part of the unmanifest yet paradoxically isolat- ed from its highest expression. the absolute can only be viewed indirectly by the effect it has on other created things. the myth of adam and eve represents the transition from triangle to square. adam's sin was to draw a circle around himself and make a separate personal universe apart from the living universe that was god. the clothing he put on was a suit of flesh and ego. in the garden, adam and eve had no circles around them, but were aspects of the unity of the all. table of square elements names of cod letters of

hroughout the cosmos. the christian church of the middle ages grouped them into military ranks behind the great apostate angel, lucifer, the first created being to rebel against divine authority. this was also done by the jewish kabbalists and the islamic philosophers. it is a dark, shadow imitation of the military order that reigns within the army of the angels of heaven. in christian and jewish myth, the fallen angels were responsible for instructing humanity in all the arts and sciences that can be turned to evil. attracted by the beauty of mortal women, these fallen angels descended to the earth, where they dwelt with their human lovers and sired a race of heroes (see genesis 6:4. demons are not so much deliberately hurtful as they are chaotic and irra- tional. they act upon impulse an

, by mistake or foolishness, the ultimate evil. only purity will protect and guide the magus safely around this treacherous reef-purity of purpose, purity of will, and purity of faith-for purity is his or her guardian. t here is only one god who is without form or attribute, who is nameless and faceless, the beginning and the end, the first and last, who was and is and will be. the lesser gods of myth and legend are limited emanations of the single true deity. for this reason they are treated with respect, but never with ado- ration or worship. the magus must not commit the sacrilege of praying to a lesser god. the gods are tools to be used with the authority of the light. since the light is the primary emanation, and all lesser emanations are distinguished only by the degree to which they

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

uman perceptions is intended, so that witches will be able to see and hear herodias, or aradia, allowing her to instruct them in diana's forbidden arts. until spirits manifest on the astral level, they have no existence to human 15. guazzo, compendium maleficarum, 34. 16. scot, bk. 111, chap. 16, p. 37. 17. leland, aradia, 4. 22 soul flight consciousness. there is also an echo here of the gnostic myth of sophia, goddess of wisdom, who incarnated as a mortal woman in order to aid human souls mired in ignorance to regain their divine birthright to dwell among the stars. witch's power of flight witchcraft is ancient in italy, and even in its pagan beginnings involved soul flight. the second-century roman writer lucius apuleius, in his novel the golden ass, described the flight of the witch pa

y by the investigators and judges connected with the inq isition."w i tc hes were solitary practitioners of their shamanic traditions, or at most family practitioners, and never met in large groups. however, it is possible that the story of the blocula as an astral place was derived by the inquisitors from some traditional belief among swedish witches, perhaps a belief that descended from a pagan myth of paradise. methods of flight an interesting aspect of the soul flight of traditional european witches is the methods supposed to have been used to carry them through the air. citing nicolas remy's demonolatry as his source, guazzo mentions numerous forms of transportation- 23. robbins, 288. 24. hansen, witch's garden, 87. 25. robbins, 414-5. 26 soulflight but it must be known that before th

or perhaps if she used a flying ointment, it was from soot in the ointment. the method of applying the ointment, according to lucius apuleius, was to rub it vigorously into the skin all over the body from the soles of the feet to the hairline. for this purpose, the witch was more or less forced to make herself naked. the common image of a nude witch applying the ointment to her body promoted the myth of the lustfulness of witches. reginald scot wrote that the ointment was rubbed into the skin until the skin was reddened by the friction, bringing the blood to just beneath the surface and warming it so that the pores were opened.29 it is likely that it was also rubbed into the genitals. 29. murray, 100. chapter two: witches' flying ointment 29 three recipes for flying ointment margaret a. m

miss it in this cavalier fashion is not to explain it. the changeling is an integral part of the fairy mythology. a related type of abduction was that of nursemaids, who were taken to fairyland for the purpose of nourishing fairy children at their breasts. when their duties were fulfilled, they were either permitted to return to the human world, or were allowed to stay on in the fairy world. this myth suggests that fairies are nourished in some way on the vitality of human beings, which in the tales of the abduction of nursemaids is represented by human milk. we see in this an echo of the witch's familiar imp, asserted by the demonologists to nourish itself by sucking the blood of the witch at a small protrusion similar to a mole that was known as the witch's teat. in both instances, it is

t to being shorter. the dates given for these quarter days are nominal; they vary slightly from year to year. these changes or transitions open occult doorways that allow the fairies to wander the surface of the earth. the astral world of fairies and the material world of mankind overlap in some way on the quarters of the year. they are magic days laden with possibilities. for example, there is a myth that on the equinoxes you may stand an egg up on end on any flat surface, and it will not fall over. while not true physically, it conveys a mythic truth that the equinoxes are days on which magic happens. in the quotation above, robert kirk expressed the opinion of his century that women are less adapted to seership than men. this was a prejudice of the same sort that once held men to be bet

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

nd 12 tetragrammaton years of chaos corresponding to the day of rest, during which the universe is torn down and rebuilt in the pattern of the succeeding sephirah. presently we are living in the shemittah of geburah, the age of strict judgement and severity, which accounts for our unceasing wars. the previous age was that of chesed, a period of happiness and love that is dimly echoed in the greek myth of a golden age of heroes. the next shemittah will be that of tiphareth, characterized by beauty and harmony. at the end of the seven cycles of 49,000 years there is a grand jubilee of a millennium when all the lower worlds together and the seven sephiroth that support them are reabsorbed into binah, and the universe begins to repeat itself. each of these shemittah is said to experience a uni

eparate beings. the messiah figure is the more ancient and more powerful of the two. he appears in the old testament under various guises-in the prophecies of jeremiah, ezekiel, and isaiah, in the figure of moses after his face is made to shine, and as the heavenly adam who is created before the earthly adam (see gen. 1:27 and 2:7. early christians identified their prophet jesus with this messiah myth. when we assume the christ-form, we must put on the identity of this heavenly being, who is the seated authority of metatron, the supreme active power. fortunately, we have an excellent description of the heavenly christ: and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. his head and

es the underlying structure of the world, was considered by some to have twenty-two channels that connected the ten spheres of the sephiroth, and these channels were linked to the letters of the hebrew alphabet. it is called appendix a: the keys 213 a tree because of its vaguely treelike shape, with a central column and "branching" channels that connect the ten fruit of the sephiroth. in teutonic myth, it is the ash that forms the framework of the world, but in celtic lore the oak plays a more important role as the support upon which grows the sacred mistletoe, the symbol of the life force that endures through the darkness of winter. mistletoe was harvested from oaks by the druids, with golden sickles, to serve a ritual function. oak wood was used wherever great mass and strength were need

elation 9:19 influenced the imagery of the key. there is confusion in st. john's vision. previously in this same chapter of revelation, the power of the demons of the pit is said to be that of scorpions, and this power is lodged naturally in the tail. but the tails of the horses of the armies of the four angels released from under euphrates are said to be those of serpents. there is a common folk myth that snakes sting with their tails, but in fact the tails of all snakes are quite harmless. the image is complicated by the additional information that these serpent tails of the horses have heads on them with which they could bite. it may be that the serpent tails on the horses were confused with scorpion tails by st. john, who then had to make them deadly by placing heads on the tails, so t

is creation like a petulant child. little wonder they saw the serpent in eden as an emissary of the true god, who is much higher and more detached than yaldabaoth (as they called the god of moses. that is why the gnostics worshipped the serpent. the serpent was the symbol of freedom and transcendent wisdom, twin birthrights of all human beings, withheld from adam by jealous yaldabaoth. in gnostic myth, the soul of the world voluntarily allows herself to be degraded and abused by the vindictive malice of the inferior yaldabaoth in order to bring about the restoration of human souls to their rightful place in the heavens. this voluntary degradation, or descent into forgetfulness("and the dwelling places, let them forget their names .confound her understanding with darkness) is usually symbol

UNLEASHING THE BEAST

ight (foucault, the history of sexuality, volume i, 45. xxxvipeter gay, the bourgeois experience: victoria to freud, volume i: education of the senses (new york: oxford university press, 1984, 326-27 -176- xxxviii john maynard "victorian discourses on sexuality and religion" university of hartford studies in literature 19 (1987: 61. xxxix"for all that the victorians were not the prudes..of modern myth, their sexual world was not a place were biology went unrestricted..what helped to make sex a potent force..was the victorians' ability both to express and to contain sexuality..those limits were set by the prevailing idea of 'normal sex' that is, heterosexuality..with growing insistence society..demanded the childbearing marital union (patricia anderson, when passion reigned: sex and the vic

VOX SABBATUM

ild of the spiritual union of samael (the dragon) and lilith (the mother of demons) through adam and eve. 22 in some christian gnostic texts, such as the apocryphon of john cain is called the sun. vox sabbatum the witches sabbat 34 cain is the wanderer, the first murderer who tasted blood and became as the off spring of his spiritual mother and father. cain is also the black smith of the forge, a myth which originates in the middle east. cain is the first sorcerer and shape shifter, who drifted from his tribe (antinomianism) to become as a god (self- deification. he in turn was taught witchcraft and sorcery deeper by his spiritual mother, lilith. it was soon after that cain would wander the earth forever, in spirit form, through the blood and psyche of his initiates, and manifest through t

WAITE ASPECTS OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM

g is to some extent artificial, and yet it arises logically, so far as the relation of ideas is concerned. there is, firstly, the candidate's own work, wherein he is taught how he should build himself. the method of instruction is practical within its own measures, but as it is so familiar and open, it is not, properly speaking, the subject-matter of a secret order. there is, secondly, a building myth, and the manner in which it is put forward involves the candidate taking part in a dramatic scene, wherein he represents the master-builder of masonry. there is, thirdly, a masonic quest, connected with the notion of a secret word communicated as an essential part of the master-degree in building. this is perhaps the most important and strangest of the three elements; but the quest after the

WALLIS BUDGE E A LEGENDS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

ween ra and set, the fight between heru-behutet and set, the fight between osiris and set, and the fight between horus, son of isis, and set. in the oldest times the combat was merely the natural opposition of light to darkness, but later the sun-god became the symbol of right and truth as well as of light, and set the symbol of sin and wickedness as well as of darkness, and ultimately the nature myth was forgotten, and the fight between the two gods became the type of the everlasting war which good men wage against sin. in coptic literature we have the well-known legend of the slaughter of the dragon by st. george, and this is nothing but a christian adaptation of the legend of horus and set. after these things horus, son of ra, and horus, son of isis, each took the form of a mighty man

WICCA EIGHT SABBATS OF WITCHCRAFT

ook for free on: www.abika.com 13 l a d y d a y: the vernal equinox= by mike nichols now comes the vernal equinox, and the season of spring reaches it's apex, halfway through its journey from candlemas to beltane. once again, night and day stand in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascendancy. the god of light now wins a victory over his twin, the god of darkness. in the mabinogion myth reconstruction which i have proposed, this is the day on which the restored llew takes his vengeance on goronwy by piercing him with the sunlight spear. for llew was restored/reborn at the winter solstice and is now well/old enough to vanquish his rival/twin and mate with his lover/mother. and the great mother goddess, who has returned to her virgin aspect at candlemas, welcomes the young sun

undown april 28th and reached a crescendo on may 1st. there are other, even older, associations with may 1st in celtic mythology. according to the ancient irish 'book of invasions, the first settler of ireland, partholan, arrived on may 1st; and it was on may 1st that the plague came which destroyed his people. years later, the tuatha de danann were conquered by the milesians on may day. in welsh myth, the perennial battle between gwythur and gwyn for the love of creudylad took place each may day; and it was on may eve that teirnyon lost his colts and found pryderi. may eve was also the occasion of a fearful scream that was heard each year throughout wales, one of the three curses of the coranians lifted by the skill of lludd and llevelys. by the way, due to various calendrical changes dow

puters for making finer calculations, seem to prefer the actual equinox point, beginning the celebration on its eve (this year, sunset on september 21st. mythically, this is the day of the year when the god of light is defeated by his twin and alter-ego, the god of darkness. it is the time of the year when night conquers day. and as i have recently shown in my seasonal reconstruction of the welsh myth of blodeuwedd, the autumnal equinox is the only day of the whole year when llew (light) is vulnerable and it is possible to defeat him. llew now stands on the balance (libra/autumnal equinox, with one foot on the cauldron (cancer/summer solstice) and his other foot on the goat (capricorn/winter solstice. thus he is betrayed by blodeuwedd, the virgin (virgo) and transformed into an eagle (scor

e direction. the druid's reverence for life was so strict that they refused to lift a sword to defend themselves when massacred by roman soldiers on the isle of mona. irish brehon laws forbade a druid to touch a weapon, and any soul rash enough to unsheathe a sword in the presence of a druid would be executed for such an outrage! jesse weston, in her brilliant study of the four hallows of british myth 'from ritual to romance, points out that british folk tradition is, however, full of mock sacrifices. in the case of the wicker-man, such figures were referred to in very personified terms, dressed in clothes, addressed by name, etc. in such a religious ritual drama, everybody played along* they've hired men with scythes so sharp, to cut him off at the knee, they've rolled him and tied him by

f his greatest power, the summer solstice, the longest day. and, like a look in a mirror, his 'shadow self, the lord of darkness, is born at the summer solstice, and his strength waxes with the lengthening nights until the moment of his greatest power, the winter solstice, the longest night. indirect evidence supporting this mirror-birth pattern is strongest in the christianized form of the pagan myth. many writers, from robert graves to stewart farrar, have repeatedly pointed out that jesus was identified with the holly king, while john the baptist was the oak king. that is why 'of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly tree bears the crown' if the birth of jesus, the 'light of the world, is celebrated at mid-winter, christian folk tradition insists that john the oak king (the 'dar

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

north. i have been given no reason for this; but i have an idea that in the old days they thought their paradise lay in the north, as they hold that the northern lights are the lights of their paradise, though this is usually thought of as being underground, or in a hollow hill. it is worth noting, too, that scandinavian mythology makes the north the dwelling-place of the gods, and that in gaelic myth the south, often camouflaged as 'spain, is evil or hell. presumably, therefore, its opposite, the north, is paradise. i have seen one very interesting ceremony: the cauldron of regeneration and the dance of the wheel, or yule, to cause the sun to be reborn, or summer to return. this in theory should be on december 22, but nowadays it is held on the nearest day to that date that is convenient

perform rites to obtain these things. this was probably a matriarchal age, when man was the hunter and woman stayed at home making medicine and magic. historically, the matriarchal period has been tentatively dated from the middle of the ninth to the middle of the seventh millennium b.c, during which time caves, trees, the moon and stars all seem to have been reverenced as female emblems. so the myth of the great mother came into existence and woman was her priestess. probably at the same time the men had a hunter's god, who presided over the animals. later, perhaps, came the idea of a future life and thoughts of the next world as being an unhappy place unless you could attain to the abode of the gods, a sort of paradise. this was thought of as a place cf rest and refreshment where one wo

bring fertility. in the isle of man in 1617 a woman was seen trying to obtain a good harvest in this way. she was tried, convicted and burnt to death in the market place. there was plenty of evidence that she was alone in her fertility-making attempt, but her young son was burnt with her, for it was well known that children were usually initiated when they were quite young. this just shows what a myth the old witch story is. the children were made witches when they were young, therefore witches were of all ages. indeed, reports of the trials often include such items as these 'convicted and burned, two witches, girls of 16, both young and damnably pretty' when practically all the witches were driven underground it is estimated that nine million people were tortured to death during the perse

person might have anything to do with. it is quite possible that it was several of these things at different times and in different parts of the country. my own impression is that it was thought of as the religion of the pre-celtic peoples with their own gods, and the druids thought it good and right that people should have and worship their own gods. but slowly celtic ideas crept in. i think the myth of the goddess is clearly such. that is, a minor celtic goddess crept in and by her beauty and sweetness wrought great changes in a primitive hunters' cult. this is simply a wild guess on my part, and i give these personal opinions because i am not permitted to detail the rites and prayers on which i base them. and, of course, the reverse may have happened; it may have been an orthodox celtic

next world, or of death and resurrection, or of reincarnation, the comforter, the consoler. after life you go gladly to his realms for rest and refreshment, becoming young and strong, waiting for the time to be reborn on earth again, and: you pray to him to send back the spirits of your beloved dead to rejoice with you at your festivals. that they believe something of this sort is clear from the myth of the goddess which forms the central part of one of their rituals. it is a sort of primitive spiritualism. witches have no books on theology, so it is difficult for me to discover all they actually believe. with all the thousands of books there are on christianity i find it difficult to define christian beliefs. transubstantiation, for instance. on the other hand, it is easy to give the cen

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

in the morning zen archery meshing nets the butterflies of chuang tzu the dream what is acceptable? the argument happy fish seven openings look under your feet the sacred tortoise the frog in the well the caged sea-bird swimming boatmen old man fall into water christian selections is god a taoist? christian thoughts john shea and bird monika hellwig catholic on nature and on blood original lilith myth 226 scots gaelic poems the heron the great artist three random pieces brotherhood a starfish an island with two churches wit and wisdom of islam the fool and the king the breaking the stink of greed the claim names the muezzin s call the drum the majesty of the sea ambition acquaintance the guest the man with the really ugly face the mirror is it me? the gypsy and his son where there s a will

y and have to be rebuilt out of matter from the earth (food) and energy from the sun. seven percent per day is the statistical measure of our inter dependence. in view of the consistent recycling of the human body, the epidermis of our skin can be likened ecologically to a pond surface, not so much a shell or wall as a place of exchange. in a very real sense the world is our body. original lilith myth after the holy one created the first human being, adam, god said: it is not good for adam to be alone. god created a woman, also from the earth, and called her lilith. they quarreled immediately. she said: i will not lie below you. he said, i will not lie below you, but above you. for you are fit to be below me and i above you. she responded: we are both equal because we both come from the ea

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

se harmony was looked upon as the wife of cadmus and cadmus meant the sub-lunary world, as olympiodorus says. eight was called also mother, and rhea, cybele and dindymene, from being the first cube, and a cube representing the earth. the eight persons saved from the flood of xisuthrus are synonyms of many octaves of gods, such as the 8 cabiri great gods of samothrace; see bryant and faber on this myth. there are 8 beatitudes of the christian religion, matthew, chap. v. eight is the number of the moons of saturn. there have been several masonic orders concerned with this noachite ogdoad, as the prussian masons, knights of the royal axe, or prince of libanus, the noachites, and the royal ark mariners, which is a subsidiary order to the mark master masons. macrobius says the ogdoad was the ty

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

jesus the role of the chief mediating agent.245 for schelling, the intentional confusion in scripture is proof of the logic of a+ b applied to the godhead, that is, to speak of to imagine the divine essence requires envisioning the essence and the other that comes through that essence but is not identical to it, an ontotheological truth that lies beyond and is the foundation of the christological myth of three persons in the one substance of god. in line with those who viewed kabbalah as a repository of jewish doctrine that confirms christian belief, a strategy that gained particular currency in renaissance humanist and neoplatonist circles advocating a prisca theologia, schelling adduces the trinitarian dogma on the basis of a dyad derived from the mythologic of kabbalistic symbolism. in

resonates with kabbalistic symbolism, based in turn on an earlier aggadic motif regarding the primacy of judgment vis -vis mercy in the creation of the world,248 schelling states explicitly that in the godhead might precedes leniency, stringency precedes gentleness, and wrath precedes love.249 moreover, thinking time/ hermeneutic suppositions 37 in an even more precise analogue to the kabbalistic myth of simsum the primordial withdrawal of the infinite from itself into itself to create the space devoid of itself wherein the emanation of all things in the concatenation of being will unfold250 schelling contends that what is altogether first in god, in the living god, the eternal beginning of itself in itself, is that god restricts itself, denies itself, withdraws its essence from the outsid

l treatment, for the convergence of the three temporal modes is what constitutes the prespatial selfextending that provides the space wherein beings are to be disclosed. temporocentrism/overcoming spatial logic not surprisingly, there has been recent criticism of the subordination of space to time, or what edward casey has called the phenomenon of temporocentrism, that has dominated the modernist myth underlying philosophical and scientific conceptions of the cosmos.312 as a corrective, some thinkers have focused on the primacy of space, rather than time, in the shaping of human perception and memory.313 gaston bachelard, for instance, has written: to localize a memory in time is merely a matter for the biographer and only corresponds to a sort of external history, for external use, to be

eems uniquely related to the distinctive human capacity to narrate coherently events that have been experienced episodically.329 our sense of time proceeds from this capacity for emplotment, 330 in the felicitous idiom of ricoeur, which he aptly characterized as a configurating and judicative act that involves grasping together 331 divergent events and thematizing them into the unified story of a myth. the fictive recounting of factuality is predicated on a presumed reciprocity between narrativity and temporality, a reciprocity that necessarily implies circularity of reasoning. as ricoeur succinctly expressed it, time becomes human to the extent that it is organized after the manner of a narrative; a narrative, in turn, is meaningful to the extent that it portrays the features of temporal

in the words of jonathan z. smith, on a groundless distinction 10 to correlate linear time with the historical and cyclical time with the mythical, and likewise to correlate the former with ancient israel and judaism and the latter with either near eastern or hellenistic models of religious philosophy.11 but underlying the biblical and rabbinic conceptions of time is a convergence of history and myth that endows ritual performance with historical meaning and historical facticity with ritual transcendence. 12 recurrent patterns transpire within the narrative framework of linear succession the timelessness of lived time extending in an attenuated circle of 56 chapter two return13 yielding a temporality where the interminably ephemeral is ephemerally interminable.14 as the philosopher eric v

0 0

ject of the great egyptian ritual, purified by suffering, strengthened by opposition. nor is the 'ritual of the dead' a work of comparatively recent times, for the great egyptologists birch and bunsen assert that its origin is anterior to menes, and belongs probably to the pre-menite dynasty of abydos, between 3100 and 4500 b.c. and it implies that at that period the system of osirian worship and mythology was already in actual existence. of all the chapters in the per-m-hru, the 17th is one of the oldest as shown by its gloss and scholia; and it is the symbols of this chapter and the 125th which form the designs of the pillars before you. at the base of each rises the lotus symbolic of new life, regeneration and metempsychosis. in the papyri which have the hieroglyphical text of this chap

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

earth. hiero: be there peace between us and you, and be ye ready to come when ye are called. all return to their places and face east. hiero: in the name of adonai melekh, i declare this temple closed in the grade of zelator. hiero (knocks 4, 3, 3) hiereus (knocks 4, 3, 3) heg (knocks 4, 3, 3) candidate is led out by hegems >l^ i\ thsologigal divisionj&.l8 go sectioft,i..l^.o g( wo \j\ teutonic mythology. by jacob gkimm. translated from the fourth edition with notes and appendix by james steven stallybrass. vol. i. london: george bell and sons, york street, covent garden. 1882. to professor max muller, m.a, sue &c:^ts ^or^ is eespectfully dedicated by permission. ft. j
r veins, whom doubtless we still resemble in so many ways. there is another point of interest in these scandinavian mythologies, that they have been preserved so well" carlyle's" hero-worship. what mr. carlyle says of the scandinavian will of course apply to all teutonic tradition, so far as it can be recovered; and it was the task of grimm in his deutsche mynwlogie to supplement the scandinavian mythology (of which, thanks to the icelanders, we happen to know most) with all that can be gleaned from other sources, high-dutch and low-dutch, and build it up into a whole. and indeed to prove that it was one connected whole; for, strange as it seems to us, forty years ago it was still considered necessary to prove it. jacob grimm was perhaps the first man who commanded a wide enough view of th

d ce, which he is accustomed to see in anglo- saxon words, for grimm's v and a, as' waeg' instead of' vag. i have also used the words' dutch, mid. dutch' in a wider sense comprehending au the teutonic dialects of the netherlands, instead of coining the awkward adjective' netherlandish. one word on the title of the book. ought not" deutsche mythologie" to be translated german, rather than teutonic mythology? i am bound to admit that the author aimed at building up a deutsch mythology, as distinct from the scandinavian, and that he expressly disclaims the intention of giving a complete account of the latter, because its fulness would have thrown the more meagre remains of the deutsch into the shade. at the same time he necessarily draws so much upon the richer remains of the norse mythology

of the malberg glossary may lead to much. the religion of the slavs and lithuanians would be far more accurately known to us, if these nations, in the centuries immediately following their conversion, had more carefully preserved the memory of their antiquities; as it is, much scattered detail only wants collecting, and traditions still alive in many districts aftbrd rich material. on the finnish mythology we possess somewhat fuller information. germany holds a middle place, peculiar to herself and not unfavourable. while the conversion of gaul and that of slavland were each as a whole decided and finished in the course of a very few centuries, the teutonic races forsook the faith of their fathers very gradually and slowly, from the 4th to the 11th century. eemains of their lano;uage too h

ws that such recollections could not really have died out^ and who will show me in sweden, which clung to heathenism longer and more tenaciously, such a composition as actually appeared in denmark during the twelftli century? but for this fact, would not the doubters declare such a thing impossible in sweden? in truth, the first eight books of saxo are to me the most welcome monument of the norse mythology, not only for their intrinsic worth, but because they show in what an altered light the ancient faith of the people had to be placed before the recent converts. i especially remark, that saxo suppresses all mention of some prominent gods; what right have we then to infer from the non-mention of many deities in the far scantier records of inland germany, that they had never been heard of

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

and outbreaks of disease that were in reality caused by poor hygiene and diet, bad weather, human neglect or simply blind fate. of course, this occurred to some extent before the burning times. the difference was that now the church and state were legalising and even encouraging this persecution. even faeries became associated with witchcraft. the bean-tighe, a faerie housekeeper, popular in the mythology of ireland and scotland, was said to reside with the village wise woman and assist her with chores; in the worst of the wave of hysteria over witchcraft, if an old women had an immaculate house, it was claimed she had faerie help- and so by implication was consorting with the devil. under torture, even the innocent would admit to the vile deeds suggested by their inquisitors. many of the

s listed in further reading, page 301. certainly, i can recall two terrifyingly swarthy aunts who commanded the family, and my father recounted many superstitions and much canal lore when i was young. this included the tale of a terrifying character called kit crewbucket, whose ghostly form would appear on a boat or be seen in the water before it went through a dark tunnel. canal life has a whole mythology, much now lost as the old working boats have been replaced by weekend leisure traffic. you will find more on the details of these old superstitions in my book ghost encounters (blandford, 1998. wicca wicca, as it is performed today, is not modern witchcraft per se, but a contemporary neo-pagan religion. it is, however, one of the major forms of witchcraft. it began in its modern form wit

a pure heart and pure intent, much harder to attain than learning any complex ritual. the goddess as focus many beliefs emphasise the polarity of the female/male, goddess/god and anima/animus energies. the bringing together of these two powers, the sacred marriage that is celebrated symbolically in the great rite of the union of earth and sky, is a ritual that permeates all cultures. in egyptian mythology, isis, the sister-wife of osiris, sought and reassembled his body after his murder and dismemberment by his brother seth. in this connection, she took on the role of the goddess of rebirth, the bone goddess, and restored him in a more evolved form. the annual celebrations of this event coincided with the rising of the dog star, sirius, which heralded the flooding of the nile and the rest

ties of both male and female forms, unless these mean something to you, you may want to exclude them or use names to which you personally relate. you can refer back to the beginning of this chapter, where i listed a number of god and goddess forms, common to magick and drawn from different cultures, that emphasise specific strengths or qualities of the divinity. however, your own list, drawn from mythology or perhaps your own background, may work better for you. the following is a version i have developed using three goddess forms from the celtic tradition, my own favourite, which i have adapted for the three phases of the goddess. so spoke the great mother who has been known in many forms and by many names in countless ages, but is and always will be one and the same. as the maiden, she i

rever a tribe camped. some were 90 feet in diameter, but research suggests that some were much smaller and were placed around ceremonial tepees to be used not only by the shaman but also by anyone seeking a spiritual path. depicted around the wheels are totem, or power, animals, representing each birth month and season, the four main directions and winds. the totems vary according to each tribe's mythology. there are more than 500 different systems in north america alone. in the southern hemisphere, as i explained on page 42, practitioners can re-time the magical associations so that, for example, the midwinter solstice falls in mid-june, rather than december. however, some parts of the world do not have four seasons. for example, parts of australia and other lands in the southern hemisphe

ADDTLS

cross of the lesser angles, l is excluded, and k and the tarot trump, the wheel of fortune, is attributed to kether. the title of this card is lord of the forces of life, and kether is the origin and source of life. to chokmah is attributed b, the tarot key, the magician, magus of power, seeing that chokmah is the distributor of the power from kether, even as b is the messenger of k of classical mythology. to binah is referred the y and the tarot key, priestess of the silver star, even as binah is the completer of the triad of the supernals, and as it were high priestess to the inferior sephiroth.(compare also, says s.r.m.d. the position of the path of g in the tree of life. to chesed, c, and the key of the empress, the daughter of the mighty ones. chesed is, as it were, the first of the

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

isis the virgin mother; but she comes right down at the other end of the scale, to be a symbol of the senses themselves, the mere instrument of the registration of phenomena, incapable of discrimination, incapable of choice. the niyama corresponding to her influence, the first of all, is that quality of aspiration, the positive purity which refuses union with anything less than the all. in greek mythology artemis, the goddess of the moon, is virgin; she yielded only to pan. here is one particular lesson: as the yogi advances, magic powers (siddhi the teachers call them) are offered to the aspirant; if he accepts the least of these- or the greatest- he is lost. 15. at the other end of the scale of the niyama of the moon are the fantastic developments of sensibility which harass the yogi. t

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

itic language of the sumerians; and language which has been closely allied to that of the aryan race, having in fact many words identical to that of sanskrit (and, it is said, to chinese. for no one knows where the sumerians came from, and they vanished just as mysteriously as they appeared, after the assyrian invasions which decimated their culture, yet providing the assyrians with much of their mythology and religion; so much so that sumerian became the official language of the state church, much as latin is today of the roman catholic church. they had a list of their kings before the flood, which even they carefully chronicled, as did many another ancient civilisation around the world. it is believed that they had a sophisticated system of astronomy (and astrology) as well as an equally

ment. yet, though the identity of the victor is clear, there were- and are- certain persons and organisations that dared side with the vanquished, believing the ancient ones to be a source of tremendous, and most unbelievable, power. worship of the ancient ones in history "let them curse it that curse the day, who are skilful to rouse leviathan- job 3:8 s.h. hooke, in his excellent middle eastern mythology, tells us that the leviathan mentioned in job, and elsewhere in the old testament, is the hebrew name given to the serpent tiamat, and reveals that there was in existence either a cult, or scattered individuals, who worshipped or called up the serpent of the sea, or abyss. indeed, the hebrew word for abyss that is found in genesis 1:2 is, hooke tells us, tehom, which the majority of scho

uch the same fashion that the chief of police of amity slays the great white shark in benchley's novel jaws, blowing an evil wind (the oxygen tank) into her mouth and sending in an arrow (bullet) in after it to explode her. surely, the two or three most box-office successful films of the past few years, jaws, the exoricst and, perhaps, the godfather, are an indication that the essence of sumerian mythology is making itself felt in a very real way in this, the latter half of the twentieth century? after the long and poetic magan text, comes the urillia text which might be lovecraft's r'lyeh text, and is subtitled "abominations. it has more specifically to do with the worship of the serpent, and the nature of the cults that participate in the concelebration of sin. again, more conjurations a

1902 de la fuye, a "le pentagramme pythagoricien, sa diffusion, son emploi dans la syllabaire cuneiforme" babyloniaca paris, 1934 genouillac "les dieux de l'elam" recueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a l'archaeologie egyptiennes et assyriennes. paris, 1904 (ed. maspero) grant, k. aleister crowley and the hidden god new york, 1974 the magical revival new york, 1973 gray, j. near eastern mythology new york, 1969 griffith& thompson the leyden papyrus new york, 1974 hooke, s.h. babylonian and assyrian religion oklahoma, 1975 middle eastern mythology new york, 1975 king, l. babylonian magic and sorcery london, 1896 kramer, s.n. history begins at sumer new york, 1959 mythologies of the ancient world (ed) new york, 1961 sumerian mythology pennsylvania, 1972 laurent la magie et la divin

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

-eta omicron-digamma phaeton no. yes. perhaps. o! eye. i. hi! y? no. hail! all ye spavined, gelded, hamstrung horses! ye shall surpass the planets in their courses. how? not by speed, nor strength, nor power to stay, but by the silence that succeeds the neigh! book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 159 [162] commentary( omicron-digamma) phaeton was the charioteer of the sun in greek mythology. at first sight the prose of this chapter, though there is only one dissyllabl e in it, appears difficult; but this is a glamour cast by maya. it is a compendium of various systems of philosophy. no= nihilism; yes= monism, and all dogmatic systems; perhaps= pyrrhonism and agnosticism; o= the system of liber legis (see chapter 0) eye= phallicism (cf. chapters 61 and 70; i= fichteanism; hi

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

d, para 61. only a hideous fudge (to wit (a) mis-spelling the name as ahija (b) writing each letter out in full and (c) counting h in full as ah rather than the more usual hh) can get this name to add to 666. line 7. asmodai. appears in the apocryphal book of tobit. sometimes also known by the latinised form asmodeus. the name is possibly a modification of aeshma deva, an evil spirit from persian mythology. line 8. belial. said to be the chief of the evil spirits in some late jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g. the testament of the 12 patriarchs, but in the old testament the name was a mere term of abuse meaning masterless or worthless. line 9. lilith. she gets everywhere. line 10. naamah. the sister of tubal-cain (see masonic symbolism; but in the zohar she gets turned into another versio

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

w. somerset maugham. an amusing hotchpot of stolen goods. the bible, by various authors unknown. the hebrew and greek originals are of qabalistic value. it contains also many magical apologues, and recounts many tales of folk-lore and magical rites. kim, by rudyard kipling. an admirable study of eastern thought and life. many other stories by this author are highly suggestive and informative. for mythology, as teaching correspondences: books of fairy tales generally. oriental classics generally. sufi poetry generally. scandinavian and teutonic sagas generally. celtic folk-lore generally. this course is of general value to the beginner. while it is not to be taken, in all cases, too seriously, it will give him a general familiarity with the mystical and magical tradition, create a deep inte

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

lence; for his word is the speech of the silence. the new comment aiwass is the name given by ouarda the seer as that of the intelligence communicating. see note to title. hoor-paar-kraat or harpocrates, the "babe in the egg of blue, is not merely the god of silence in a conventional sense. he represents the higher self, the holy guardian angel. the connexion is with the symbolism of the dwarf in mythology. he contains everything in himself, but is unmanifested. see ii:8. he is the first letter of the alphabet, aleph, whose number is one, and his card in the tarot is the fool, numbered zero. aleph is attributed to the "element (in the old classification of things) of air. now as "one" or aleph he represents the male principle, the first cause, and the free breath of life, the sound of the

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

dhism, the fleecy opacity of islam, or the mysterious medium of those ancient faiths which come up in as many colours as their investigator has moods* in order to get over the ethical difficulties presented by the na ve naturalism of many parts of those scriptures, in the divine authority of which he firmly believed, philo borrowed from the stoics (who had been in like straits in respect of greek mythology) that great excalibur which they had forged with infinite pains and skill the method of allegorical interpretation. this mighty two handed engine at the door of the theologian is warranted to make a speedy end of any and every moral or intellectual difficulty, by showing that, taken allegorically, or, as it is otherwise said poetically or in a spiritual sense, the plainest words mean wha

ly our high mysteries; for in thy pen is, as it were, a river of clear water; without vagueness, without ambiguity, 1 aum! the sacred word. 2 qy. j (the cart) becomes o (a wheel. the commentators who have suspected the horrid blasphemy implied by the explanation becomes k, the wheel of fortune, are certainly in error. 3 demeter and persephone. 4 ch= j; h= hades. see the tarot cards, and classical mythology, for the symbols. ambrosii magi hortus rosarum 121 sedes profunda paimonis. oculi nox secreta. portae silentium partitio. without show of learning, without needless darkening of counsel and word, dost thou ever reveal the sacred heights of our mystic mountain. for, as for him that understandeth not thy writing, and that easily and well, be ye well assured all that he is a vile man and a

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

rs is obtained heh-yod-heh aleph-mem-taw "truth was" as if affirming solemnly the presence in the creation of the supernal truth. now let us take the first and last letters of the verse and "cast into the midst thereof the fire of the sun "i.e, hb:vau (6 "the seal of creation- and we have bet-vau-tzaddifinal, an egg. where we see the whole universe enclosed in the cosmic egg of hindu and egyptian mythology: and the formulation of the sphere 178 of the universe (or magical mirror in man. as it were the egg of the black swan of time, the kala hamsa, the triune m a u, or word of power or of seb, the bird of life, whose will was heard in the night of time. the total numeric value of the verse is dalet-taw-nun-tet= 4459, of which the key is 22, the number of the paths from hb:aleph to hb:taw; a

n, not alone the divine white brilliance of the three supernals (heh-vau-aleph, vau-qof-dalet-vau-shin, bet-resh-vau-kophfinal, but even also that gleaming glory which partaketh of the redness, and which cometh from the bornless age, which is beyond kether. as it is written in ancient hindu scripture "in the beginning desire, tanha, arose in it: which was the primal germ of mind" now in the aryan mythology tanha, desire, was the god of love, kama; whereof the symbolic tint was pink: as it were the first pink blush of dawn in the macrocosmic sky: herald of the rising sun of the worlds, when the great night of brahma was over and done. the next word in the great name of god the vast one: aleph-lamed-heh-yod-memfinal. let us meditate upon its mystery! herein behold 182 five letters: in its ce

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

g far away on the main road, the two senses pooling their impressions in a single idea, i attributed to the birds this mysterious brazen chant; i imagined that they sang with a metallic throat. evidently they were talking to me, and chanting hymns to my captivity. gambolling monkeys, buffoon-like satyrs, seemed to amuse themselves at this supine prisoner, doomed to immobility; yet all the gods of mythology looked upon me with an enchanting smile, as if to encourage me to bear the sorcery with patience, and all their eyes slid to the corner of their eyelids as if to fix themselves on me. i came to the conclusion that if some faults of the olden time, some sins unknown to myself, had made necessary this temporary punishment, i could yet count upon an overriding goodness, which, while condemn

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

f this book which we are reviewing, beautiful though it be, will, like a girl's beauty, vanish before forty years are past. our inventions are our curse, they are our destruction. what was coagulated in the minds of barbarians for thousands and tens of thousands of years we shall have destroyed utterly, utterly, in as many days and nights. civilization has driven her plough over stellar and solar mythology, wantonly, and at haphazard, and in their place she has cultivated the unknowable and andrew lang! if the utilitarian progress in the next few years as he has in the last, soon we shall have some socialistic fellah depriving the world of its last great monuments, and building labourers' cottages out of the stones and bricks of the pyramids, because they are so very much more useful "solv

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

of the hindus, who (fearing bodily lust) isolate their acolytes from earth, no futility their doctrine of prana and the tamo-guna. 109 it is not mere faith healing, this hygiene of father kneipp, and his failures are those who retain decorum and melancholy, who follow the letter and not the spirit, cold-blooded treaders upon earth instead of passionate lovers of its strength. it is no accident of mythology that the titans made war upon the gods, and in prometheus overthrew them. it was when canute failed to drive back the sea that his dynasty was lost to that norman william who caught hold of mother earth with both hands. when i was a child i fell; and the scars of the earth are on my forehead at this hour. when i was a boy i was hurt by the explosion of a buried jar of gunpowder; and the

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

herein lies for him the clue. he must remember likewise the fact that every life of every degree, from a god to the most insignificant of the lesser devas, or builders, must at some time or another pass through the human family. as h. p. b. has pointed out,80(246) birds and serpents are closely connected with wisdom, and therefore with the psychic nature of god, of men, and of devas. the study of mythology should reveal certain stages and relationships which will make this matter clearer. the elementals and lesser devas of liquid matter. a very interesting illustration of the interpenetration of all the living matter of creation can be seen in connection with the atmosphere surrounding our planet. in it is to be found: a. moisture, or those living essences which are the liquid elementals

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

punished. father christmas is the embodiment of that which is selfless; he is the symbol of giving and of the christ spirit; he therefore stands to man as a reminder of god, just as this other figment of the imagination, the devil with horns and tail, is a reminder of that which is not god, that which is- 71- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust not divine "the key is supplied by mythology. the myths demand a serious interpretation in correspondence with objective reality, they must not be treated as pure poetry without any solid truth behind them, a mere play of the imagination! the garment which clothes the substance may be as fabulous, as fantastic, as inconsistent and as patchy as you please. but this does not alter the fact that popular mythology tells of an invisible

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

f that synthesis and will; through ray vi, we move forward to complete identification with that synthesis and will, and through ray vii we demonstrate on earth the nature of that synthesis through the medium of the appearing form and the purpose of that underlying will. and so the many are absorbed into the one. appendix suggestions for students astrology in the secret doctrine (third edition) 1. mythology relates to astronomical, theogonical and human struggles; to the adjustment of orbs and the supremacy of nations and tribes. the "struggle for existence" and the "survival of the fittest" reigned supreme from the moment that kosmos manifested into being. hence: a. the incessant fights of the gods in all the old scriptures. b. the war in heaven of the ancient mythologies (s.d. i. 223) 2

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

m and that the twelve labors were laid upon him for fulfilment. we are told that these words were spoken to him "from this day forth thy [23] name shall no more be alkeides- 17- the labours of hercules but herakles. in tirjus shall thou make thy abode, and there, serving, thou shalt accomplish thy labors. when this shall be accomplished then thou shalt become one of the immortals (greek and roman mythology, vol. i, fox) having recovered his sanity, the focus of his life was changed. he no longer lived down where he lived before. the name of the soul became his name, and he was constantly reminded thereby that to express the glory of the soul was his mission. the twelve great labors that were to set the seal of accomplishment upon his life, and which would indicate his right to join the gre

iverse, and around it circles our sun, with its attendant planets. the words of job when he said "canst thou bind the sweet influences of pleiades or loose the bands of orion" thus become clear. the pleiades are the symbol of the soul around which the wheel of life revolves. it is interesting to discover again, in taurus, the triplicity which is so constantly recurrent in astronomical lore and in mythology: taurus, representing form and the attractive pull of matter; the pleiades, representing soul and the vast recurring cycle of experience; and, among the seven pleiades [note the "seven sisters" singing- 30- the labours of hercules about hercules, in the statement of the myth] the lost pleiad (for only six are visible) a symbol of the obscuration of spirit, whilst soul, through desire, ta

of his being and of coordinating, or at-one-ing, soul and body, so that duality gives place to unity and the pairs of opposites are blended [61] the symbols eurystheus, having watched hercules achieve mental control and then ride the bull of desire over into the temple of the soul, now sets him the task of fetching the golden apples from the garden of the hesperides. the apple has long figured in mythology and in symbology. in the garden of eden, as we know, the serpent gave the apple to eve; and with the giving of that apple, and with its acceptance came the knowledge of good and of evil. this is a symbolic method of telling us the story of the appearance of mind, and of how it began to function in that early creature, which was neither animal nor strictly human. with the coming of mind c

ted as to the direction in which the apples should be sought, sending him on his way alone and somewhat discouraged, with only a vague idea as to what he would have to do and where he would have to go. all he knew was that he had to turn south; a symbol of going back into the world, the opposite pole of spirit. he had no sooner done so than he met the serpent with whom he had to wrestle [known in mythology also as the giant, antaeus, the son of poseidon, god of waters, and gea, the earth. hence when in touch with the earth, his mother, he was invincible] in his search for the golden apples on the physical plane, hercules had to conquer, as do all disciples, glamor and illusion; for in the carrying forward of spiritual aspiration, the disciple is very apt to be taken in by astralism and low

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

of shawl and mob-cap with ribbons. she is holding an ordinary candlestick. itis quite the ideal of a common fortune-teller, and it is probable that the words maga circesuggestednothing more or less than such a person to him who made up the book. that of medea is, howev-er, quite correct, even artistic, representing the sorceress as conjuring the magic bath, and wasprobably taken from some work on mythology. it is ever so in italy, where the most grotesque andmodern conceptions of classic subjects are mingled with much that is accurate and beautiful ofwhich indeed this work supplies many examples. page 75 n r r r r r then will weenter in a great hall where thou wilt see many beautiful ladies who will try to fascinatethee; but let thy answer ever be, she whom i love is her of monteroni.and n

den time are bro-ken up into small fairy-tales, and as these drops in turn reuniteen rivire ou sur lestang,(on silent lake or streamlet lone,)as villon hath it, even so minor myths are again formed from the fallen waters. in this story we clear-ly have the dog made by vulcan and the wolf jupiter settled the question by petrifying them asyou may read in julius polluxhis fifth book, or any other on mythology. is canis fuit postea jove inlapidem conversus. page 54 this is pretty, but it is only imitation, and neither in form or spirit really equal to the incantations,which are sincere in faith. and it may here be observed in sorrow, yet in very truth, that in a verygreat number of modern poetical handlings of classic mythic subjects, the writers have, despite alltheir genius as artists, produ

re, byjames russell lowell, and that on the invention of the pipe by pan, by mrs. browning, that whichformed the most exquisite and refined portion of the original myths is omitted by both authors, sim-ply because they missed or did not perceive it. for in the former we are not told that it was thebreathing of the god air(who was the inspiring soul of ancient music, and the bellariaof modernwitch-mythology) on the dried filament of the tortoise, which suggested to hermes the making aninstrument wherewith he made the music of the spheres and guided the course of the planets. as formrs. browning, she leaves out syrinxaltogether, that is to say, the voice of the nymph still lingeringin the pipe which had been her body. now to my mind the old prose narrative of these myths ismuch more deeply p

ch one, which is saying a great deal. it is true that there are in it nodetailed descriptions of scenery, skies, trees, or clouds and a great deal might be made ofvolterra in that way but it is prolonged in a manner which shows a gift for it. however, the narra-tive itself is strangely original and vigorous, for it is such a relic of pure classic heathenism, and sucha survival of faith in the old mythology, as all the reflected second-hand hellenism of the aesthetescannot equal. that a real worship of or belief in classic divinities should have survived to the presentday in the very land of papacy itself, is a much more curious fact than if a living mammoth had beendiscovered in some out of the way corner of the earth, because the former is a human phenomenon.i foresee that the day will co

manners, habits of thought, and especially the nature of witchcraft, and the many super-stitions current among the peasants in lombardy. unfortunately, notwithstanding his extensiveknowledge of the subject, it never seems to have occurred to the narrator that these traditions wereanything but noxious nonsense or abominably un-christian folly. that there exists in them marvel-lousrelics of ancient mythology and valuable folklore, which is the very cor cordiumof history, is asuncared for by him as it would be by a common zoccoloneor tramping franciscan. one would thinkit might have been suspected by a man who knew that a witch really endeavoured to kill seven peo-ple as a ceremony or rite, in order to get the secret of endless wealth, that such a sorceress musthave had a store of wondrous le

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

p, as well as the military might indicative of tibet s period of expansion.92 the intense anger attributed to might demons developed as a mythic response to the fall of the kingdom as well as to any later degradation of the buddhist doctrine. here we have almost an inversion of kapstein s theory. as religion became the prominent force in tibet after political centralization crumbled, the powerful mythology of buddhism remained to reshape early tibetan history. in turn, demons were likewise recast as vicious but nonetheless positive defenders of the buddhist teachings. no doubt parallels were also drawn between tibetan kings and the great buddhist king of ancient india, a.oka (3rd century b.c.e. while the buddha is the conqueror of delusion and vice, the king is the conqueror of men. with a

BLACK WITCHCRAFT

e has began the process of separation, ignorance falls away as clay burnt with blackened flames, the spirit lifts up to dance in twisted widdershins forms, the body and shadow and light copulate to the musick of jubal cain and the sabbat circle is complete. foundations of skir-hand witchcraft the suggestions of the foundation of sorcery and cunning craft is from the earliest legends, memories and mythology of mankind. cain who wandered east to the land of nod became essentially, according to the truth of the circle the first satanist and witch, whose children beget children and the blood line of the cunning were born. it is suggested in some jewish lore that the daughters of cain were the ones to seduce or copulate with the fallen angels, the watchers. it is beginning with the watchers tha

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

r of and the evocator of souls, the "great magician" and the hierophant. virgil depicts him as taking "his wand to evoke from orcus the souls plunged therein- tum virgam capit, hac animas ille evocat orco (see also the 21st fargard of the vendidad on the celestial militia) he is the golden-coloured mercury, the[[chrusophaes hermes] whom the hierophants forbade to name. he is symbolised in grecian mythology by one of the dogs (vigilance, which watch over the celestial flock (occult wisdom, or hermes anubis, or again agathodaemon. he is the argus watching over the earth, and which the latter mistakes for the sun itself. it is through the intercession of mercury that the emperor julian prayed to the occult sun every night; for, as says vossius "all the theologians agree to say that mercury an

only another form of venus (isis[[diagram, and meant, esoterically, that mankind and all animal life bad stepped out of the divine spiritual circle and fallen into physical male and female generation. this sign, from the end of the third race, has the same phallic significance as the "tree[[footnote(s* in the esoteric philosophy it is male and female, or hermaphrodite; hence the bearded venus in mythology* therefore, putting aside its religio-metaphysical aspect, the cross of the christians is symbolically far more phallic than the pagan svastica[[vol. 2, page] 31 the horses of sukra's car. of life" in eden anouki, a form of isis, is the goddess of life; and ank was taken by the hebrews from the egyptians and introduced by moses, one learned in the wisdom of the priests of egypt, with man

this is very plainly shown in various texts of the rig veda- the highest authority for a hindu of any sect whatever. therein asura means "spiritual divine" and the word is used as a synonym for supreme spirit, while in the sense of a "god" the term "asura" is applied to varuna and indra and pre-eminently to agni- the three having been in days of old the three highest gods, before brahmanical theo-mythology distorted the true meaning of almost everything in the archaic scriptures. but, as the key is now lost, the asuras are hardly mentioned. in the zendavesta the same is found. in the mazdean, or magian, religion "asura" is the lord asura visvavedas, the "allknowing" or "omniscient lord; and asura-mazdha, become later ahura-mazdha, is, as benfey shows "the lord who bestows intelligence- asu

. such is the occult meaning of the metaphysical aspect of the allegory. the widely spread modern interpretation of it- so celebrated in antiquity, plutarch tells us* as symbolical of brotherly devotion- namely, that it was an image borrowed from the spectacle of nature- is weak and inadequate to explain the secret meaning. besides the fact that the moon, with the greeks, was feminine in exoteric mythology, and could therefore hardly be regarded as castor- and at the same time be identified with diana- ancient symbologists who held the sun, the king of all sidereal orbs, as the visible image of the highest deity, would not have personified it by pollux, a demi-god only[[footnote(s* pindar. nem. x, 60, dissen* schol. eurip "orestes" 463, dindorf. see decharme's "mythol" etc, p. 654* the mon

rld; purusha (spirit) remains blind without the help of prakrit (matter) in the material spheres; and so does atma-buddhi without manas "morals" p. 484 f* this strange idea and interpretation are accepted by decharme in his "mythologie de la grece antique "castor and pollux" he says "are nothing but the sun and[[footnote continued on next page[[vol. 2, page] 124 the secret doctrine. if from greek mythology we pass to the mosaic allegories and symbolism, we shall find a still more striking corroboration of the same tenet under another form. unable to trace in genesis the "egg-born" we shall still find there unmistakably the androgynes, and the first three races of the secret doctrine hidden under most ingenious symbology in the first four chapters of genesis- the divine hermaphrodite. an im

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

truth. the conflicting views on the subject of chronology, in the case of the vedas, of the various eminent philologists and orientalists, from martin haug down to mr. max muller himself, are an evident proof that the statement has no historical basis to stand upon "internal evidence" being very often a jack-o'lantern, instead of a safe beacon to follow. nor has the science of modern comparative mythology any better proof to show, that those learned writers, who have insisted for the last century or so that there must have been "fragments of a primeval revelation, granted to the ancestors of the whole race of mankind. preserved in the temples of greece and italy" were entirely wrong. for this is what all the eastern initiates and pundits have been proclaiming to the world from time to tim

new nor even the old testament borrowed anything from the more ancient religion of the brahmans and buddhists, it does not follow that the jews have not borrowed all they knew from the chaldean records, the latter being mutilated later on by eusebius. as to the chaldeans, they assuredly got their primitive learning from the brahmans, for rawlinson shows an undeniably vedic influence in the early mythology of babylon; and col. vans kennedy has long since justly declared that babylonia was, from her origin, the seat of sanskrit and brahman learning. but all such proofs must lose their value, in the presence of the latest theory worked out by prof. max muller. what it is everyone knows. the code of phonetic laws has now become a universal solvent for every identification and "connection" bet

ame "creator" is intelligible; they inform and guide it; they are the intelligent beings who adjust and control evolution, embodying in themselves those manifestations of the one law, which we know as "the laws of nature" generically, they are known as the dhyan chohans, though each of the various groups has its own designation in the secret doctrine. this stage of evolution is spoken of in hindu mythology as the "creation" of the gods. in stanza v. the process of world-formation is described- first, diffused cosmic matter, then the fiery "whirlwind" the first stage in the formation of a nebula. that nebula condenses, and after passing through various transformations, forms a solar universe, a planetary chain, or a single planet, as the case may be. the subsequent stages in the formation o

d by one overshadowed by the "spirit of buddha (who is credited by the orientalists with having created the five dhyani-buddhas- a candidate becomes virtually a bodhisattva, created such by the high initiator (c) fohat, being one of the most, if not the most important character in esoteric cosmogony, should be minutely described. as in the oldest grecian cosmogony, differing widely from the later mythology, eros is the third person in the primeval trinity: chaos, gaea, eros: answering to the kabalistic en-soph (for chaos is space[[chaino "void) the boundless all, shekinah and the ancient of days, or the holy ghost; so fohat is one thing in the yet unmanifested universe and another in the phenomenal and cosmic world. in the latter, he is that occult, electric, vital power, which, under the

becomes the propelling force, the active power which causes the one to become two and three- on the cosmic plane of manifestation. the triple one differentiates into the many, and then fohat is transformed into that force which brings together the elemental atoms and makes them aggregate and combine. we find an echo of this primeval teaching[[vol. 1, page] 110 the secret doctrine. in early greek mythology. erebos and nux are born out of chaos, and, under the action of eros, give birth in their turn to ether and hemera, the light of the superior and the light of the inferior or terrestrial regions. darkness generates light. see in the puranas brahma's "will" or desire to create; and in the phoenician cosmogony of sanchoniathon the doctrine that desire[[pothos, is the principle of creation

BLUE EQUINOX

nning with the equinox of spring (march 23) of the vulgar year of 1919. the principal items of the new promulgation are as follows: liber ccxx. the book of the law, which is the foundation of our whole work, and the commentary thereon by the master through whom it was given to the world. liber lxi. a manuscript giving an account of the history of the a.a. in recent times. this history contains no mythology: it is a statement of facts susceptible of rational proof. liber cl. de lege libellum. a short explanation of the law, extolling its sublime virtue. by the master therion. liber lxv. the book of the heart girt with a serpent. this magical treatise describes particularly the pr monstrance of a.a. 13 relation of the aspirant with his higher self. it is, alike in conception and execution, a

m. an amusing hotch-potch of stolen goods. the equinox 26 the bible, by various authors unknown. the hebrew and greek originals are of qabalistic value. it contains also many magical apologues, and recounts many tales of folk-lore and magical rites. kim, by rudyard kipling. an admirable study of eastern thought and life. many other stories by this writer are highly suggestive and informative. for mythology, as teaching correspondences: books of fairy tales generally oriental classics generally sufi poetry generally greek and latin classics generally scandinavian and teutonic sagas generally celtic folk-lore generally. this course is of general value to the beginner. while it is not to be taken, in all cases, too seriously, it will give him a general familiarity with the mystical and magica

sitiveness to normal and wholesome stimulation? it is that insensitiveness which seems to me to account for all that is worst in indian art. it is that insensitiveness which will have to be corrected before india can hope to make the best of her intellectual gifts in a world in which, though all may be illusory, the god-made illusion of nature must in the end prevail over the manmade illusions of mythology and metaphysics. i am perfectly in accord with the political conclusion of this book. he was doubtless paid to write it in this interest. however, i had no idea that mr. william archer was such an unpleasant thing. the publisher says that he was born at perth, scotland. perhaps, he was one of the famous .twin brothers of perth, who were.ready to exhibit a positive wassermann.to the eyes

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

tch name need not be kept a solemn secret but at least respect it. use it only with other witches or, at least, only with those close to you. of course you may be quite happy with your regular, given name. if you want to use that as your witch name also, that is fine. however, check it out numerologically, as describe below, before you make a final decision some witches take names from history or mythology, especially those names associated with their branch of the craft (welsh names in welsh traditions; saxon names in saxon traditions, etc. others make up names. you will be called by your name only; it is not used with the prefix "witch, as in "witch morgan" or "witch hazel, as sometimes found in cheap novels. in some traditions the prefix "lady, or even "lord, is used. in gardnerian the

f witchcraft and the maximum service to humanity. to aid humanities (sic) search in the great spirit's universe for identity, for development and for happiness. to re-link humanity with itself and nature" it is, as its name suggests, a keltic/welsh tradition and was originally organized by bill wheeler, in washington d.c. in 1967, as "the gentle people" it teaches the balance of nature, folklore, mythology and the mysteries and was incorporated as a non-profit (religious) organization, in the state of georgia, in 1977. the church has an "outer circle" of students, who may learn through correspondence, together with its inner core. it is found in many areas of the united states. for further information, contact y tylwyth teg, p.o. box 674884, marietta, ga 30067. church of the crescent moon

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

and outbreaks of disease that were in reality caused by poor hygiene and diet, bad weather, human neglect or simply blind fate. of course, this occurred to some extent before the burning times. the difference was that now the church and state were legalising and even encouraging this persecution. even faeries became associated with witchcraft. the bean-tighe, a faerie housekeeper, popular in the mythology of ireland and scotland, was said to reside with the village wise woman and assist her with chores; in the worst of the wave of hysteria over witchcraft, if an old women had an immaculate house, it was claimed she had faerie help- and so by implication was consorting with the devil. under torture, even the innocent would admit to the vile deeds suggested by their inquisitors. many of the

s listed in further reading, page 301. certainly, i can recall two terrifyingly swarthy aunts who commanded the family, and my father recounted many superstitions and much canal lore when i was young. this included the tale of a terrifying character called kit crewbucket, whose ghostly form would appear on a boat or be seen in the water before it went through a dark tunnel. canal life has a whole mythology, much now lost as the old working boats have been replaced by weekend leisure traffic. you will find more on the details of these old superstitions in my book ghost encounters (blandford, 1998. wicca wicca, as it is performed today, is not modern witchcraft per se, but a contemporary neo-pagan religion. it is, however, one of the major forms of witchcraft. it began in its modern form wit

a pure heart and pure intent, much harder to attain than learning any complex ritual. the goddess as focus many beliefs emphasise the polarity of the female/male, goddess/god and anima/animus energies. the bringing together of these two powers, the sacred marriage that is celebrated symbolically in the great rite of the union of earth and sky, is a ritual that permeates all cultures. in egyptian mythology, isis, the sister-wife of osiris, sought and reassembled his body after his murder and dismemberment by his brother seth. in this connection, she took on the role of the goddess of rebirth, the bone goddess, and restored him in a more evolved form. the annual celebrations of this event coincided with the rising of the dog star, sirius, which heralded the flooding of the nile and the rest

ties of both male and female forms, unless these mean something to you, you may want to exclude them or use names to which you personally relate. you can refer back to the beginning of this chapter, where i listed a number of god and goddess forms, common to magick and drawn from different cultures, that emphasise specific strengths or qualities of the divinity. however, your own list, drawn from mythology or perhaps your own background, may work better for you. the following is a version i have developed using three goddess forms from the celtic seite 46 wicca01.txt tradition, my own favourite, which i have adapted for the three phases of the goddess. so spoke the great mother who has been known in many forms and by many names in countless ages, but is and always will be one and the same

rever a tribe camped. some were 90 feet in diameter, but research suggests that some were much smaller and were placed around ceremonial tepees to be used not only by the shaman but also by anyone seeking a spiritual path. depicted around the wheels are totem, or power, animals, representing each birth month and season, the four main directions and winds. the totems vary according to each tribe's mythology. there are more than 500 different systems in north america alone. seite 150 wicca01.txt [insert pic p247- in the southern hemisphere, as i explained on page 42, practitioners can re-time the magical associations so that, for example, the midwinter solstice falls in mid-june, rather than december. however, some parts of the world do not have four seasons. for example, parts of australia

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

ntinuing my duties as a teacher to the outer order. i further promise and swear, that during the week of corpus christi, i will do everything in my divine power to be physically present at the temple of isis, therefore making the body of christ complete. i further understand this oath to be a clarification, between myself, the chief of the second order, and my higher sean when we speak of chinese mythology we need to be clear that it represents streams flowing together, running parallel, merging or diverging from many places and from many different models of reality.1 myths contain strong influences from chinese folk religion, confucianism, taoism, and buddhism. chinese folk religion, the oldest of the four, pays homage to ancestors who watch from afar and guide the lives of those still li

familiar transliterations of chinese words that appear in older books. in other cases, we have used the pinyin system, which has been promoted by the chinese government since the 1970s. at that time, the government wanted to standardize all foreign language translations using the mandarin dialect of chinese. in pinyin, the letter q is pronounced ch, the letter x is pronounced sh, and the chinese mythology 10 preface 11 ten legendary kings2 after the chinese settled in the yangtze valley in 6500 b.c. after the chinese settled in the yellow river valley in 5000 b.c. early chinese stories refer to a mythical time ruled by the ten legendary kings. these rulers are half-human, half-animal. they have magical powers and introduce knowledge to humans such as writing, agriculture, hunting, fire, a

settled in the yellow river valley in 5000 b.c. early chinese stories refer to a mythical time ruled by the ten legendary kings. these rulers are half-human, half-animal. they have magical powers and introduce knowledge to humans such as writing, agriculture, hunting, fire, and flood control. although no archeological evidence exists to prove they really lived, these kings dominated early chinese mythology. fushi shen nung yen di huang di (yellow emperor) shao hao kao yang yao ti (divine yao) k u shun yu the great fire, hunting, trigrams, domestication of animals 3000 b.c 2737 2598 b.c. agriculture, medicine overthrown by his brother, huang di 2697 2598 b.c. dams, compass, calendar, coins 2598 2591 b.c. few accomplishments uncertain accomplishments indeterminate time father of eight famous

7 2598 b.c. dams, compass, calendar, coins 2598 2591 b.c. few accomplishments uncertain accomplishments indeterminate time father of eight famous sons indeterminate time 2357 2255 b.c. astronomy, canal building 2317 2208 b.c. dams 2205 2197 b.c. mapping, flood control, founder of the legendary xia dynasty, 2005 1520, which has not yet been verified. b.c. brief rule name: dates: known for: chinese mythology 12 major historical dynasties3 shang zhou [joh] qin [chin] han six dynasties sui song tang yuan ming qing [ching] period of modern government 1523 1027 b.c. high bronze age 1027 221 b.c. feudalism, confucius, great classics 206 b.c. a.d. 220 trade along the silk road, art, science 220 589 disunity, buddhism firmly established 590 617 great canal 618 906 golden age, literature, art 960 12

nters, chinese opera and theater troupes, puppeteers, and novelists. preface 13 in the 1920s, the chinese government finally attempted to collect myths told by the peasants. scholars were astounded by the volume and variety of the stories they found. by then, each province had developed its own beloved version, or several versions, of the ancient stories. there was little consistency found in the mythology. unlike the greeks, whose pantheon, or collection of gods and heroes, is well defined and frozen in time with the passing of their civilization, the chinese are still changing and evolving their mythology, just as their country s history also continues to evolve. today, television producers, moviemakers, animation artists, and computer game designers carry out the tradition of reinventin

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

purported to come. i believe that the pleiades (maybe in our 'future) is a base for the positive extraterrestrial support we are being given at this time, and quite possibly the home of extraterrestrials who have abused the earth and humanity, too. as with the earth, the pleiades will have those of positive and negative intent. it is no coincidence, either, that the pleiades was the focus of much mythology in the ancient civilisations of greece, china, and others. the astronomer, jose comas sola, made a special study of the pleiades- the "seven sisters" as they are called- and he suggested that they form a system which includes our sun and a number of others. each sun, he said, had its own planetary system. in his study of the star system, paul otto hesse claimed to have discovered a belt

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

ing else and ultimately all is an expression of the same whole or energy. scientists call this the unified field theory. this is a common theme of atlantean myths and legends- a civilisation that began with positive intent and in harmony with the natural laws, but was taken over by forces that transformed it into a very dark place indeed. samsel suggests that the "war between the gods" in ancient mythology, was a war between extraterrestrial races over the question of intervention or non-intervention in earth affairs. he says that midway through the early atlantian age, extraterrestrials with a human-like appearance "very tall, light haired, light skinned, albino-like people- made contact with the atlanteans.18 they began to manipulate atlantean society, he says, and interbreed with humans

merian tablets could be these beings from sirius. he further proposes that the body of the sphinx is that of a dog and not a lion, thus symbolising the dog star, sirius,9 and some researchers also suggest that the face of the sphinx is that of a woman, not a pharaoh. the egyptians certainly depicted their lion bodies very differently to that of the sphinx and the dog is a common symbol in ancient mythology.10 in fact, ancient egyptians revered the dog and their dog symbol was a code for sirius" the sirius system was symbolised as feminine and so a dog's body with a woman's face would make* it is the reptilian bloodline that most concerns us in this book, but there are others of extraterrestrial origin, also. cherokee and mayan records in north and central america and the greek historians

e often, in cold damp places where there is lots of water. the netherlands is a major centre for them and that is one of the dampest countries in the world with much of it reclaimed from the sea. also, the cold and damp castles and palaces of the aristocracy in europe are their preferred habitat. the recurrence of anu, as in the anunnaki (and an or anu, their "leader, is a common theme in ancient mythology. we have anubis and anukis, and in the ancient sanskrit language the word anu-pa means "a watery country".33 the ancient legends and beliefs suggest that the sirius system is very watery with dense vegetation- perfect for amphibians and the reptilian species. chinese traditions claim that their civilisation was founded by an amphibious being called fu-hsi or fuxi in 3322bc. one descripti

including "ufo" sightings, tend to happen mostly at or near these magnetic faults in her book, where science and magic meet (element books, shaftesbury, england, 1991, serena roney-dougal points out that of the 286 stone circles in britain, 235 are built on rocks more than 250 million years old, the statistical chances of which are more than a million to one. robert graves, the poet and writer on mythology and mysticism, said "there are some sacred places made so by the radiation created by magnetic ores. my village, for example, is a kind of natural amphitheatre enclosed by mountains containing iron ore, which makes a magnetic field. most holy places in the world- holy not by some accident, like a hero dying or being born there- are of this sort. delphi was a heavily charged holy place."4

the eve story that involves a great male serpent, and a hindu legend tells of the sacred mountain of meru, guarded by a dreadful dragon. this was said of so many ancient places. the belief in a serpent or half-reptile, half-human, giving knowledge to humanity is also a universal story. asian serpents the indus valley culture of the sumer empire and the lemurians, and the hindu religion and indian mythology that emerged there, are full of references to the serpent gods and flying dragons who brought knowledge and fought with each other in the sky. they called them the nagas, as we have seen, and they said they could take either reptilian or human form whenever they chose.10 the nagas, who originated in lemuria, seeded the "royal" families, we are told, and interbred with the white peoples

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

by hecate and the crossroads.the death of dodi fayed was also crucial to the satanic symbolism. given thecircumstances of his death, it is quite a coincidence that his real name, emad el din, isarabic for pillar of faith. dodi was a nickname he was given as a toddler by his family.this, too, is interesting. it is very close to dido and in fact dido was the nickname hegave to diana. dido in greek mythology was the legendary founder and queen ofcarthage (an aryan people connected to the phoenicians) and she was the daughter ofbelus, king of the phoenician city of tyre. when didos husband was killed by herbrother, pygmalion, she fled with her followers to north africa where she purchasedcarthage from the native ruler, larbus. he later threatened dido with war unless shemarried him, but inste

DEITUS

any of the spirits and a listing of the archetypal devils, demons, and dark gods i have invoked using this formula. the wording of the invocation is not important and sigils, or seals, for the spirits are not necessary. a name when written is a word composed of letters each signifying a sound. the syllables (and sounds) which make up a name identify a particular being which religion, metaphysics, mythology, demonology, folklore, or legend has said to exist. each name represents a unique archetypal being which the magician may identify himself with, bringing about various changes within his psyche. even where different names have been given to the same archetypal being or where one name is derived from another, each name is a unique creation. some of the archetypes may be similar in nature

archetypal forms. the archetypal spheres and archetypal spirits i have described thus far exist (subjectively) because man has defined them to exist. some will argue that these gods and demons are real beings who have revealed their existence in the past and that the knowledge of these beings together with the knowledge of the astral planes on which they dwell has been passed down in religion and mythology. it is more likely, however, that these beings take on an apparent existence because people believe in them. the psychologist carl jung, fascinated with metaphysics, alchemy, and dream interpretation, considered that gods and demons existed as symbolic forms in the subconscious mind. further, he suggested that there was a collective subconscious shared by all humanity and that symbols in

th the natural world and the dominant religions involved the worship of nature. he was referring, of course, to the pre-christian pagan world. this was followed, he said, by the aeon of osirus, a time of restriction in which man rejected the natural world and in its place chose denial of the ego and mortification of the flesh. he believed that a new aeon, the aeon of horus, had begun. in egyptian mythology, isis was the goddess of fertility, osirus was the god of death, and horus was the god of rebirth. the period of restriction, he said, had ended and the life-energies had returned to the world. the pre-christian pagan world was more, however, than simply a time of nature worship. men lived in greater harmony with the natural world than they did during the cycle of restriction which follo

DEMONIC BIBLE

the name lucifer becoming associated with the devil satan. if jesus is the light and truth, reasoned the christian, then lucifer must be a false light, a deceiver, even a fallen angel. christianity condemned paganism, goddess-worship, and sexuality as evil; and the cult of lucifer could be associated with all of these. lucifer became the latin name for the devil of hebrew origin, satan. in hebrew mythology, satan was an angel who accused men before god in order to bring about their punishment. he was never the enemy of god but at times the enemy of man. the name satan in hebrew means adversary. it is recounted in the bible that the jews were carried away as captives into babylon. when later freed by the persians, the jews were exposed to the religion of zoroaster. the jews adopted zoroastr

it is recounted in the bible that the jews were carried away as captives into babylon. when later freed by the persians, the jews were exposed to the religion of zoroaster. the jews adopted zoroastrian belief of a war in heaven between ahura-mazda and ahriman, the serpent, with yahweh taking the role of ahura-mazda and satan assuming the part of the serpent ahriman. satan, a minor angel in hebrew mythology, became equal in power with god. the belief of a war in heaven between god and satan was carried into europe by the early christians. in christian mythology, lucifer became the highest of the angels, created in the perfect image of god, who fell from grace because of his pride. during the spread of christianity in europe the devil began to take on the form most often associated with him

ed with paranormal events in themselves than with the spiritual reality which paranormal events suggested. he realized that parapsychologists would never find the scientific and rational explanation they sought since they had blinded themselves to the mystic and spiritual reality which was the cause of the very events these researchers witnessed. at the age of fourteen, he turned his attention to mythology and folklore and has said that he fell in love with the goddess diana of greek mythology. his fascination with mythology quickly combined with his belief in the supernatural and drew him into the study of witchcraft and magic. where parapsychology sought a rational explanation for occult phenomena, magic offered an answer. as sixteen, he read the satanic bible by anton lavey. like many o

come forth, cronus, and manifest thyself. come forth, cronus, and manifest thyself (drink from chalice, then say) i have crossed the sanguine sphere. planetary demonic spirits once the magician has crossed the planetary spheres, he may wish to invoke demonic spirits associated with each of these spheres. the 50 names of marduk, listed in the necronomicon and refered to in sumerian and babylonian mythology, are an example of spirits associated with the jovial sphere. i have invoked these spirits using the formula given in this book. the first name is marduk the lord of lords, master of magicians. his name should not be called except when no other will do, and it is the most terrible responsibility to do so. the word of his calling is dugga. this is his seal: the second name is marukka know

repared. come forth n. and manifest thyself. come forth n. and manifest thyself (drink from chalice, then say) i call all the forces of darkness into myself. i call all the forces of darkness into myself. the spirits which may be called this is a listing of the spirits which i have invoked using this formula. their names are derived from various sources should you wish to consult further works on mythology and demonology. each name possesses a power in itself. it is not necessary for you to research a spirit before invoking it. there are countless other spirits which may be invoked and their names may be found in other books and grimoire l1 d i a b o l u s the dragon within the triangle of darkness an exploration of the adversary within magick michael w. ford 2004 michael w. ford for the o

DIABOLUS

crystallization of the form and function of the praxis of sorcery that i began, to present a concise view of the practice of left hand path magical practice from a luciferian viewpoint. the dragon within the triangle of darkness is a reference made to the evocation circle as the meeting place of the daemon and man, but also the luciferian rite of azi dahaka, the sorcerer-dragon king from persian mythology called zohak, an original son of satan. the black triangle by more common knowledge is related to the concentration of will to evoke the daemon of man and woman, to uplift and envenom their spirit with the adversarial gnosis (an illustration is found in the paitisha. it must be considered appropriate that we explore the traits and descriptions of the adversary or opposer from a historica

movement and motion; storms, chaos and order which arises from it. to drink the venom of this cup is cursing and blessing be prepared to change and mutate into something greater; or seal your fate to a mindless death. 1 see the suggested reading list at the end. 4 i. set the egyptian god of darkness i am set, the father of the gods. i shall never come to an end -the book of the dead the egyptian mythology of gods and powerful deities is perhaps history s most elaborate and evasive within the conception of their opposing powers. the egyptian god of chaos and storms, set, called also sutekh, set-heh or seth-an was revered in the 3rd millennia b.c. and forward, originally as a positive force of movement and foreign lands. it was later on that set became a form of the opposer, with red being

ainted. whilst god declared his will to seth by the mediation of angels, cain was gone from the sight of the lord and sought aid from the infernal one. the offspring of cain were deceived by the workings of satan so that they worshipped him. thus was diabolism born, and cain was equated as the first witch and satanist. nathaniel j. harris, witcha, a book of cunning here we are able to discern the mythology which holds cain as the first of witch blood, the fire and water embodiment of samael and lilith, that which has born cain as our 33 called algol, the sigil of the order of phosphorus, the authors current magical guild. 34 the book of thoth the moon by aleister crowley 35 secrets of the horse whisperers, by peter bayliss 36 the toad rite, a grimoire of the toad witch by michael w. ford

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

in the astral star, a primate of a state curia, and the senior member of the general synod for a given state or commonwealth. archetype: a universal and imageless concept; here, in the sense coined and used by carl g. jung, psychiatrist, such a concept existing within the collective unconscious mind of humanity. archetypal image: the form in which an archetype is clothed by a particular culture, mythology, religion, or individual. aries "the ram" in astrology (q.v, the first sign of the zodiac (q.v) having the qualities of cardinal (q.v) and fire (q.v) and is ruled by the planet mars (q.v. on the rainbow wand (q.v) and on the lotus wand aries is represented by the color red. keywords include: courage, forceful, animation, outgoing, ardently, egotistically, ardently, impulsively, vigorousl

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

all the corn goddesses refer to malkuth, and all the lunar goddesses to yesod. the war gods and destructive gods, or divine devils, refer to geburah, and the goddesses of love to netzach. the initiator gods of wisdom are referred to hod, and the sacrificed gods and redeemers to tiphareth. so great an authority as richard payne knight in his valuable book, the symbolic language of ancient art and mythology, speaks of "the remarkable concurrence of the allegories, symbols, and titles of ancient mythology in favour of the mystic system of emanations" with this clue we sort out the pantheons, thus enabling ourselves to compare like with like and make the one illuminate the other. 15. in the system he gives in his book of correspondences, 777" crowley assigns the gods to the paths as well as t

ated in the yet ziratic text of malkuth, in which it says "she sitteth upon the throne of binah" it is for this reason that a hard and fast attribution of the gods of other pantheons to the different sephiroth is impracticable. aspects of isis are to be found in binah, netzach, yesod, and malkuth. aspects of osiris are to be found in chokmah, chesed, and tiphareth. this comes out clearly in greek mythology, wherein the different gods and goddesses are given descnptive titles. for instance, diana, the moon-goddess, the virgin huntress, was worshipped at ephesus as the many-breasted; venus, the goddess of female beauty and of love, had a temple where she was worshipped as the bearded venus. these things teach us some important truths. they teach us to look for the principle behind the multif

ided figure, and five is looked upon in the qabalistic system as the number of mars. consequently the pentagon, the five-sided figure, is the symbol of mars, and any altar to mars should be pentagonal or five-sided, likewise any talisman. the fivepetalled tudor rose, which is another symbol of mars, requires more explanation; but when we remember the intimate association between mars and venus in mythology, and that the rose is the flower of venus, we get a clue to the significance of the symbolism. the lines of force, crossing over on the tree, go from geburahmars to netzach-venus through tiphareth, the place of the redeemer, the centre of equilibrium, in the same way that caesed and hod connect up, as is clearly indicated in the yetziratic text, which says of hod that it has its root in

we should regard matter as we know it as earth of malkuth. the different types of physical activity, whether in molecules or masses, can be classified under the two headings of anabolism and katabolism, that is to say the building-up and the breaking down processes; these can he classified in esoteric terminology as the water or air of malkuth, and whatever is said by esoteric philosophy or pagan mythology in relation to these elements will be applicable to these two metabolic processes and fonctions. the fire of malkuth is that subtle electro-magnetic aspect of matter which is the link with the processes of consciousness and life, and to it all life-myths apply. 25. when this principle of classification is understood, the terminology of the alchemists becomes less recondite and absurd, fo

DONALDTYSON DEMON

old testament. in christianity, a demon is not just a malicious spirit, but a spirit of hell sent to earth by the devil to enforce his authority or to carry out his purposes. just as angels are the agents of god who act with divine authority to do good works among men, so demons are the agents of lucifer who act with infernal authority to do works of evil. indeed, in jewish, islamic and christian mythology, lucifer was himself once an angel of heaven who defied god. seeking to overthrow god and rule heaven, lucifer assembled an army of apostate angels and initiated a war in heaven. he and his angels were defeated by michael and the angels who remained loyal to god, and were thrown down from heaven to hell. in their fallen state these angels of hell are supposed in christian lore to be of h

rvent prayers. in christian writings demons in the strictest sense- those fallen angels who remained loyal to lucifer in hell- were continually being confused with pagan deities and with nature spirits. thus we find mention of the demon satyr who incites men and women to lust, and the demon theutus, who induces the urge to gamble for money with cards or dice. the satyr is a nature spirit of greek mythology, and theutus is a degenerate variation on the name of the egyptian god thoth, who was associated by the greeks with numbers, and by extension with money. in the dark ages and middle ages, demons were thought able to travel on the earth invisibly, but to assume physical bodies at will. the same was understood concerning angels. this has a certain logic. in order to tempt human beings, dem

DONALDTYSON WEREWOLF

hat it was more than simple chance that led them to that particular spot in the woods on that specific night when the attack took place. as i said, the ancient greek myth is essentially the form of the werewolf legend that was used by hollywood. however, the origins of the werewolf are lost in the mists of pre-history. werewolves are only one form of a whole host of were animals that exist in the mythology of cultures all around the globe. in northern europe there are tales of were-bears. the japanese had were-cats, the malaysians and indians were-tigers. almost every beast has been a were-beast to some culture. shape-changers in the east were usually said to be evil magicians or evil witches who used their magic to cause harm to others. shape-changing into animal form is a feature of sham

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

to have existed another and larger work, which was divided into an indefinite number of sections or chapters comprising chiefly prayers, and which dealt on a larger scale with the welfare of the departed in the next world, and described the state of existence therein and the dangers which must be passed successfully before it could be reached, and was founded generally on the religious dogmas and mythology of the egyptians. the title of "book of the dead" is usually given by egyptologists to the editions of the larger work which were made in the xviiith and following dynasties, but in this introduction the term is intended to include the general body of texts which have reference to the burial of the dead and to the new life in the world beyond the grave, and which are known to have existe

epset declared herself to be "the creator of things which came into being like khepera,[3] and in later times the scribes were exceedingly fond of playing upon the word used as a noun, adjective, verb and proper name.[4] tum or atemu i.e "the closer" was the great god of annu, and the head of the great company of the gods of that place. it would seem that he usurped the position of ra in egyptian mythology, or at any rate that the priests of annu succeeded in causing their local god, either separately or joined with ra, to be accepted as the leader of the divine group. he represented the evening or night sun, and as such he is called in the xvth chapter of the book of the dead "divine god "self-created "maker of the gods "creator of men" who stretched out the heavens "the lightener of the

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

put a stop to thunder and lightning. it was also said to dispose the wearer to solitude, promote eloquence, and secure the favor of princes. it gave victory over enemies to those who wore it. agathion a familiar spirit that was said to appear only at midday. it took the shape of a man or a beast, or even enclosed itself in a talisman, bottle, or magic ring. agathodaemon benevolent deity in greek mythology, the good spirit of vineyards and cornfields. according to aristophanes, agathodaemon was honored by drinking a cup of wine at the end of a meal. he was represented pictorially in the form of a serpent or sometimes as a young man holding a horn of plenty, a bowl, and ears of corn. winged serpents were also venerated by the ancient egyptians, chinese, and other peoples (see also dragon) a

come spiritualist mediums) claimed to have met the occupants of these spacecrafts, taken trips in their crafts, and/or received psychic communications from space intelligences. with many thousands of claimed sightings, ufo groups sprang up all over the united states and interest spread to other countries of the world. at its lowest level, the flying saucer phenomenon has become something of a new mythology, comparable with other modern preoccupations such as near-death experiences. at a more responsible level, there remains a residuum of inexplicable phenomena that deserves closer investigation. the emergence of a post-enlightenment occult belief has been opposed at every level by leaders in the scientific community. the ongoing controversy has most recently led to the formation of the com

is amoymon according to an ancient grimoire, amoymon is one of the four kings of hades, of which the eastern part falls to his share. he may be invoked in the morning from nine o clock till midday and in the evening from three o clock till six. he has been identified with amaimon (or amaymon. asmodeus is his lieutenant and first prince of his dominions. amphiaraus a famous soothsayer of classical mythology, son of oicles and hypermnestra. he hid himself so that he might not have to go to the war of thebes, because he had foreseen that he should die there. this indeed happened, but he came to life again. a temple was raised to him in attica, near a sacred fountain by which he had left hades. he healed the sick by showing them in a dream the remedies they must use. he also founded many oracl

from the scene and disbanded. anthropology of consciousness quarterly publication (formerly the aasc newsletter) of the society for the anthropology of consciousness (formerly the association for the anthropological study of consciousness, covering such topics as multiple personality, shamanism, pastlife regression, psi-related processes, altered states of consciousness, healing, and symbolism of mythology. address: 4350 n. fairfax dr, ste. 640, arlington, va 22203. anthropomancy ancient practice of divination by the entrails of men or women. herodotus said that menelaus, detained in egypt by poor winds, sacrificed two children of the country to discover his destiny by means of anthropomancy. heliogabalus practiced this means of divination. it is said that in his magical operations, julian

s, 1966. document received from the hands of gavin arthur and its authenticity vouched for by allen ginsberg, san francisco 1967 [previously unpublished. gay sunshine: a journal of gay liberation 35 (winter 1978. 29. arthur, king legendary king of england, son of uther pendragon and igraine. it seems likely that arthur was a sixth-century leader whose life and deeds became interwoven with romance mythology. the character of king arthur is strongly identified with occult legends. not only do we find his court a veritable center of happenings more or less supernatural, but his mysterious origin and the subsequent events of his career contain matter of considerable interest from an occult standpoint. he is connected with one of the greatest magical names of early times.merlin the enchanter. i

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

tudies in the mantra-shastra. madras, india: ganesh, 1951. manu according to theosophy, a grade in the theosophical hierarchy below the planetary logoi, or rulers of the seven chains. the charge given to manus is that of forming the different races of humanity and guiding humanity s evolution. each race has its own manu, who represents the racial type. this theosophical concept derives from hindu mythology of manu (man; thinker, a series of fourteen progenitors of the human race, each creation being destroyed in a mahayuga (vast cycle of time) involving a deluge. the manu of the present creation is manu vaivasvata, who built an ark during a cosmic deluge and afterward renewed the human race. he is the reputed author of the manava dharma shastra, or laws of manu, an ancient hindu treatise t

y: university books, 1960. pistis sophia. london: theosophical publishing society, 1921. simon magus. london: theosophical publishing society, 1892. thrice greatest hermes. london: theosophical society, 1906. meddelande fran sallskapet fur parapsykologis publication in swedish of the swedish society for psychical research. last known address: p.o. box 7045, stockholm 10386, sweden. medea in greek mythology, an enchantress and daughter of the king of colchis who fell in love with jason when he came to that country. medea enabled him to slay the sleepless dragon that guarded the golden fleece. she fled from colchis with jason, who made her his wife, and from whom she exacted a pledge never to love another woman. they were pursued by her father, but she delayed the pursuit by the cruel expedi

goddesses as derceto (atergatis) and semiramis have been represented in mermaid form. the classic venus, goddess of love, was born out of the sea foam, it is told, and was propitiated by barren couples who desired children. the mexican coxcox or teocipactli was a fish god, as were some peruvian deities. north american indians have a legend that they were led from asia by a man-fish. in classical mythology the tritons and sirens are represented as half-fish, half-human. in addition to legends of mythology and folklore, however, there are many claimed accounts of sightings and contact with actual mermaids and mermen throughout history. the twelfthcentury speculum regale of iceland describes a mermaid called the margygr found near greenland: this creature appears like a woman as far down as

oddesses, though primarily the latter. in hindu astrology, the moon was associated with the god nanna, though the more common associations are with the greek artemis, the roman luna, or the moonlight-giving mother of the zuni. it was especially associated with females as they identified the lunar cycle with the menstrual cycle. in the contemporary world, the moon has assumed a central role in the mythology developed by neo- paganism, especially its feminist element. the most comprehensive system for gathering the many observations about the moon, attempting to understand its significance and drawing implications for behavior from it, was astrology. the 28-day cycle of the moon became a convenient way of dividing the solar year into more manageable units we have come to know as months (actu

ion of a newspaper editor, who derived it from the batman comic book hero, then the subject of a popular television series. in his book the mothman prophecies: an investigation into the mysterious american visits of the infamous feathery garuda (1975, author john a. keel suggests that these and other occult appearances might be the work of evil entities. the term garuda derives from ancient hindu mythology, where garuda is king of the birds, half-man, half-bird, the vehicle of the god vishnu. in the religious epic the ramayana, jatayu is the son of vishnu s garuda, and dies fighting against the demon ravana in an attempt to prevent the abduction of the princess sita. in february 1976, three schoolteachers in texas reported sightings of a big bird, discussed in grey barker s newsletter (no

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

he leviathan are, as it were, numberless dragon forms united together. so that each of his scales is like a separate evil serpent (an instructional paper for students of the golden dawn isis-urania temple. transcribed by w.e.h. humphreys, july 2,190n extraordinary encounters have been reported for as long as human beings have been around, and they are richly documented in the world s folklore and mythology. a full accounting of traditions of otherworldly belief would easily fill many fat volumes. this book, however, is not about traditions but about experiences, or perceived experiences, of otherworldly forces as claimed by a wide range of individuals over the past two centuries (with the rare look farther back if the occasion calls for it. in other words, it is about things that people, m

fleshy areas of her body, sucked, and left round, red marks in their wake. some seemed to be taking energy, others blood. they would come into her bedroom at night, and she was too terrified to resist them. she lay paralyzed while they did their work, and she did not resume activity in this case, screaming until they were gone. further reading oakman, lisa [pseud, 1999. ufo beings, folklore, and mythology: personal experiences. in- ternational ufo reporter 24, 4 (winter: 7 12. andolo andolo was a being channeled by contactee trevor james constable. andolo, a member of the council of seven lights, a kind of cosmic governing board consisting of wise space people, communicated from a vast extraterrestrial satellite, shan-chea, in orbit around earth. in the mid-1950s, concerned about mysterio

hat was swallowed up by the sea in a great cataclysm, and every remnant of it de- atlantis 33 stroyed. like the iliad and the odyssey, it has managed to survive for more than two millennia. but unlike homer s epic poems, plato s tale rarely considered an important part of his voluminous output has not only survived as a demonstration of the storyteller s art, but also has become a part of our own mythology. see also: bermuda triangle; channelings; hollow earth; lemuria; mount shasta; shaver mystery further reading cayce, edgar, 1968. edgar cayce on atlantis. new york: paperback library. de camp, l. sprague, 1970. lost continents: the at- lantis theme in history, science, and literature. new york: dover publications. donnelly, ignatius, 1882. atlantis: the antediluvian world. new york: harp

hed. nixon, stuart, 1973. w. b. smith the man behind project magnet. ufo quarterly review 1, 1 (january/march: 2 11. smith, wilbert b, 1953. project magnet report. ottawa, ontario: department of transport, 1954. project magnet, the canadian flying saucer study. ottawa, ontario: self-published, 1958. the philosophy of the saucers. fly- ing saucer review 4, 3 (may/june: 10 11. brodie s deros in the mythology of the shaver mystery, the creation of richard sharpe shaver, deros are cannibalistic, sadistic idiots who live in caves underneath the earth. as the degenerated descendants of an advanced race of extraterrestrials that thousands of years ago colonized our planet, they have access to the elders advanced technology. they use it, however, for destructive and even perverted purposes on 48 b

igator (june: 3. evans, alex, 1978. encounters with little men. fate 31, 11 (november: 83 86. evans-wentz, w. y, 1966. the fairy-faith in celtic countries. new york: university books. galde, phyllis, 1993. i see by the papers: more fairies seen. fate 46, 4 (april: 14 15. jones, t. gwynn, 1979. welsh folklore and folk-cus- tom. totowa, nj: rowman and littlefield. keightley, thomas, 1878. the fairy mythology. london: g. bell. macmanus, d. a, 1959. the middle kingdom: the faerie world of ireland. london: max parrish. marwick, ernest w, 1975. the folklore of orkney and shetland. london: b. t. batsford. narvaez, peter, ed, 1997. the good people: new fairylore essays. lexington: university press of kentucky. rojcewicz, peter m, 1984. the boundaries of ortho- doxy: a folkloric look at the ufo phe

FAUST

my soul as poet chiefly would delight and cheer? sing and say, if i dared do it, that which none would like to hear. the poets of night and churchyards excuse themselves, because they are just engaged in a most interesting conversation with newly-arisen vampire, and from it a new school of poetry may perhaps arise; the herald is obliged to accept their apologies and meanwhile he calls forth greek mythology which, in modern masks, loses neither its character nor its charm. the graces. aglaia. charm we re bringing into living, so be charming in your giving! hegemone. charming be ye in receiving! lovely is desire s achieving. euphrosyne. and when peacefully ye re living, be most charming your thanksgiving! the fates. atropos. i, the eldest fate, from yonder for the while to spin am bidden. mu

ble blocks heroes leap into life in flocks, wherethe phorkyads silence! stir in us no longings new! what would it profit if we better knew? we, born in night, akin to night alone, are almost to ourselves, to others quite, unknown. mephistopheles in such a case there is not much to say. to others, though, one can one s self convey. one eye, one tooth, suffices for you three, so it would tally with mythology if into two the being of you three were blended and your third form to me were lended for a brief time. one phorkyad what think you? should we try? the other phorkyads let s try it! but without the tooth or eye. mephistopheles take these away? the essence then you ll take, for it s the perfect image that they make. one phorkyad press one eye to- quite easily it s doneand of your tusks sh

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

tellation images beside the letterpress describing their shameful mythological associations (one of bruno's later mnemonic works is illustrated by cuts of the gods of the planets which are identical with those of an edition of hyginus published in 1578 in paris.)3 at any rate, the student of the spaccio will find it useful to have an illustrated hyginus beside him, for bruno has taken much of his mythology from that work, and it is to the images of the constellations, reviewed in their order, that he attaches the theme of his amazing work, which is about a universal religious and moral reform. as each constellation image is discussed, vices associated with it are deplored and the virtues opposite to these vices are praised. more than that, there is an active movement of ascent and descent

when bruno's influence in england has been fully explored, it may turn out to be one of the major ironies of history that his mission in england looked to the natives something like an occult counter reformation. 357 giordano bruno: return to italy meeting on parnassus under the presidency of apollo. this work is, to my mind, reminiscent of bruno's spaccio in the lucianic touch with which it uses mythology to present a similar political attitude. boccalini was a venetian liberal and strongly anti- spanish, and the hero of his work is navarre (henri iv. the "news from parnassus" seems to me to use a number of bruno's themes, discussing grammarians who are starting a reformation, and also spanish enormities. when news of the assassination of henri iv was brought to parnassus, apollo veiled h

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

e for me but not for you. we are wandering the mazes, all of us, and we cannot hope to escape until we learn to tell the difference between what is real and what is real for someone else. t t there lies the madness, and truth as well- p.o.pciauthor named h. p. lovecraft. as his contributions to the magazine grew more regular, the stories began to form an internally consistent and self-referential mythology, created from the literary realisation of the author s dreams and intuitive impulses. although he outwardly espoused a wholly rational and sceptical view of the universe, his dream-world experiences allowed him glimpses of places and entities beyond the world of mundane reality, and behind his stilted and often excessive prose there lies a vision and an understanding of occult forces whi

years under the guidance of his mother and two maiden aunts, who shielded him completely from the rigours and demands of everyday life, whilst at the same time tormenting him because of his supposed ugliness. lovecraft soon began to show signs of being different he could read fluently at the age of four, and would spend hours in his grandfather s extensive library, studying volumes of history and mythology. his grandfather also introduced him to local folk tales and myths which he would later draw upon in his evocations of the imaginary new england landscapes of arkham, dunwich and innsmouth. he began his formal studies at hope high school, providence, but was largely self-educated due to an unstable constitution, which lead to long periods of absence from school. he preferred the company

ft s contemporary, aleister crowley. the main distinction is one of moral interpretation whereas lovecraft regarded his ancient gods as essentially evil, crowley saw the return of such atavistic deities as being in full accord with the progression of the aeons. following the call of cthulhu, lovecraft produced a series of a dozen or more stories which contain the central core of the inter-related mythology which later became known as the cthulhu mythos. in these stories, he describes various rites surviving on earth since the primordial reign of the old ones, and preserved in more recent times in esoteric grimoires such as the necronomicon through which the evocation of the alien gods could be effected. in the case of charles dexter ward, he suggests that the very roots of the magical arts

ct of nyarlathotep is aether, the communicating medium of interstellar space (or in lovecraft s terminology, the audient void. shub-niggurath is the black goat of the woods with a thousand young a title inferring the geometric proliferation of creatures upon the earth. he is the horned god of the pagan agricultural societies of the ancient world, representing fertility and sexual energy. in greek mythology his archetype is pan, half-man and half-goat. as christianity began to replace paganism, the pan-image became the prototype for the christian devil, and was associated with the practise of satanism, though the worship of the horned god had pre-dated christianity by at least a thousand years. in 1919, aleister crowley published a poem entitled a hymn to pan, in which he evoked this curren

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

rth and increase sufficiently to keep the fauna of our planet at normal. according to the masonic legend, hiram abiff, the grand master, used a hammer to call his workmen, and it is significant that the symbol of the sign aries, where this wonderful creative activity commences, is shaped like a double ram's horn, which also resembles a hammer. it is also worthy of notice that in the ancient norse mythology, the vanir or water deities are said to have been conquered by the assir, or fire gods. the hammer wherewith the norse god thor struck fire from the sky finds its counterpart in the thunderbolt of jove; like hiram, the assir belong to the hierarchy of fire, the lucifer spirits, the sons of cain, striving for positive mastership through individual effort, and therefore upholding the male

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

is one of the greek gods, does he not? and, we know conclusively that tubal-cain is vulcan of the pagans. let us review who vulcan of the pagans is, by looking within occult sources "vulcan was a sun deity who was associated with fire, thunderbolts and light. the festival in honor of him was called the vulcania in which human sacrifices were offered [percival george woodcock, short dictionary of mythology, new york, philosophical library, p. 152 "according to diel, he bears a family relationship to the christian devil [j.e. cirlot, translated by jack sage, a dictionary of symbols, new york, dorset press, 1991, p. 362 "it is fascinating to know that he married venus, another name for lucifer or the devil [woodcock, op. cit, p. 150-151; emphasis added] manly p. hall tells the mason that he

eastern star and freemasonry. it contains many levels of meanings. the initiate is told that the broken column signifies an early death. the mason learns later on that columns represent gods[ joseph fort newton, the builders: a story and study of masonry, cedar rapids, iowa, the torch press, 1914, p. 9] a different hidden meaning for the broken column is learned later on by the mason "in egyptian mythology, isis is sometimes pictured weeping over the broken column, which conceals the body of her husband, osiris, while behind her stands horus, or time, pouring ambrosia over her hair" isis was both virgin and mother, so the 'beautiful virgin is isis weeping. the broken column is the missing member of osiris, the phallus [short talk bulletin "the broken column" feb, 1956, p. 6-7; also edmond

tammuz, a worship highly condemned in the bible. thus, once again, we can see that freemasonry is always lining up against god of the bible, and for satan of paganism, even though their propaganda machine continues to churn out the opposite claim that they are christian. sex at the end of the masonic rainbow masonic author, george oliver states "it is remarkable that in all the ancient systems of mythology, the great father, or the male generative principle [phallus] was uniformly symbolized by a point within a circle. this emblem was placed by the scandinavian priests and poets on the central summit of a rainbow, which was fabled to be a bridge leading from earth [female vulva] to heaven [great father's pha llus [oliver, signs and symbols, macoy publishing and masonic supply co, p. 14; al

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

sublimated air or atmosphere. ii. the son, bel, el or baal, the sublimated fire, answering to 'hokhmah, wisdom. iii. the mother, immah, to ea, the sublimated water, to binah, the comprehending intellect. above all these is ao, llu or el, the unknown ideal deity; which parallels the ain soph, endless, to man's comprehension no- thing. this unknown ideal deity held the highest place in the chaldean mythology. under these were the seven planets in their seven orbits, or spheres; the probable germ of the idea of the sephiroth, or media between the highest and lowest worlds. 12 historically interesting as these general origins are, philosophically the most important correspondences are those connected with the sephirah 'hokmah; for in many places in the old testament and in the new, especially

(sight, and earth (touch. also it includes in its mysterious nature the four letters of tetragrammaton as follows: y (lion, h (man, v (eagle, and h (bull. but as in itself kether is also the shekinah (the glory of god, in it is hidden the shin (w, which symbolizes spirit. as the ain soph is represented by the closed eye, so is kether represented by the open eye (compare the eye of shiva in hindu mythology) as long as this eye remains open the universe is maintained in being, but when it shuts it vanishes into non-being, that is no-thingness. in the threefold division of man's nature, kether represents the neshamah or spirit (2) rnyb binah, mind. this sephirah is sometimes placed second and sometimes third, and it is generally called the understanding. it is feminine and negative- the matt

ne and negative- the matter, as it were, in which kether can take form and propagates itself. binah is often called the heavenly mother or holy spirit. her letter is h (heh, the numerical value of which is 5. binah possesses 50 gates, which is symbolical of the heh multiplied by the od; her symbol is the dove; her dimension is depth, whilst kether's is length (compare the lingam and yoni in hindu mythology; and her colour is sky blue, the colour of the virgin mary. from the union between kether and binah emanates 'hokmah (3) hmkc 'hokmah, wisdom. the third sephirah is the son or logos and the firstborn. it represents abstract ideas, the fruit of the gi am h forming in the mind. in the qabalah it is often called gthe only begotten son h. gin the beginning was the word, and the word was with

humna of hindu yoga. the whole scheme is symbolized in the temple of solomon, the temple itself being the central pillar, whilst its two pylons, yakhin and boaz, the white and the black, the right and the left, represent the tree of the knowledge of good and evil- the eternal complementary forces in life without which nothing can be. this symbolism is an excessively ancient one thus, in the norse mythology we find the mystic tree yggdrasil, the roots of which are in the material world and the branches of which reach up to asgard, the happy dwelling of the gods. again, amongst the akkadians, chaldeans, and babylonians we find the world tree, or tree of life, which gstood mid-way between the deep and zikum h- the primordial heaven above. in hindu mythology there is also a world tree- the lin

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

reate were combined or correlated all the mental qualities and attributes of the two sexes. in fact the whole universe was contained in the mother idea--the child, which was sometimes female, sometimes male, being a scion or offshoot from the eternal or universal unit. underlying all ancient mythologies may be observed the idea that the earth, from which all things proceed, is female. even in the mythology of the finns, lapps, and esths, mother earth is the divinity adored. tylor calls attention to the same idea in the mythology of england "from the days when the anglo-saxon called upon the earth 'hal wes thu folde fira modor (hail, thou earth, men's mother, to the time when mediaeval englishmen made a riddle of her asking 'who is adam's mother' and poetry continued what mythology was lett

supposed, belong exclusively to the romish christian church, but, on the contrary, that it constitutes the most remote idea of a creator extant. as has been hinted, there is little doubt that the earliest worship of the woman and child was much simpler than was that which came to prevail in later ages, at a time when every religious conception was closely veiled beneath a mixture of astrology and mythology. after the planets came to be regarded as active agencies in reproduction, and powerful in directing all mundane affairs, the virgin of the sphere while she represented nature was also the constellation which appeared above the horizon at the winter solstice, or at the time when the sun had reached its lowest point and had begun to return. at this time, the 25th of december, and just as

the female energy in the deity comprehended not alone the power to bring forth, but that it involved all the natural powers, attributes, and possibilities of human nature, it was portrayed by a pure virgin who was also a mother. according to herodotus, the worship of minerva was indigenous in lybia, whence it travelled to egypt and was carried from thence to greece. among the remnants of egyptian mythology, the figure of a mother and child is everywhere observed. it is thought by various writers that the worship of the black virgin and child found its way to italy from egypt. the change noted in the growth of the religious idea by which the male principle assumes the more important position in the deity may, by a close investigation of the facts at hand, be easily traced, and, as has befor

h of which was female and male. we have observed that, according to higgins, when this trinity was spoken of collectively, it was called after the feminine plural. by the various writers who have dealt with this subject during the last century, much surprise has been manifested over the fact that for untold ages the people of the earth have worshipped a trinity. forster, in his sketches of hindoo mythology, says "one circumstance which forcibly struck my attention was the hindoo belief of a trinity" maurice, in his indian antiquities, observes that the idea of three persons in the deity was diffused amongst all the nations of the earth, in regions as distant as japan and peru, that it was memorially acknowledged throughout the whole extent of egypt and india "flourishing with equal vigor a

nd from the germs of a former world, which had been absorbed by themselves, created again the earth and everything upon it. in other words "the earth sprang from the navel of vishnu or brahme" according to the buddhists of ceylon, the universe has perished ten different times, and each time has been renewed by the operations of nature, or by the preservation of germs from a former world. in their mythology these germs are represented by a parent and a triplicated offspring. it is perhaps unnecessary to add that this monad trinity is the creator, preserver, and destroyer with their great parent, the mother of the gods, which in process of time came to be regarded as male. according to wilford, hindoo chronology presents fourteen different periods, six of which have already elapsed; we are i

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

ngrather than attempt to live by literature, browning had urged waite in 1876,butitwasnoteasy for an eageryoungpoettofollow such sober advice, and it becamedoublydifficult after 1878whenhe reachedtheageoftwenty-one and wasadmittedtothereadingroomofthebritishmuseumlibrary. there,forfiveyears-except for interludes by the sea-waite busiedhimselfwithalchemy,theology, magic(in the guiseofeliphas levi, mythology.astronomy,and poetry;reading, annotating, and dreaming.butwhilethereadingroomgavehimthe.appearanceofapolymathit didnotgivehiman income.hecouldnotlive for ever ondwindlinglegacies and onthegoodwillofhismother, and as therewasno'anything'towhichhe couldturnhis hand,writingfor pleasuremustneeds becomewritingfor profit, waite's first forayintocommercialjournalismwas ashortpiece onsomesacredt

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

ody. the modern theosophist describes this system as the descent of the supernal triad into the lower quaternary. these principles, however, are not quite definite; for some thinkers divide manas, mind, into a higher and a lower, and speak of an antahkarana or thread soul uniting them; other compli255 cations are also heard of, such as the mysterious vehicle called the auric egg. ancient egyptian mythology alsoexhibitsa beliefin several indistinct principles, such as the ka, the ren or name, the ba or soul, the ab and sahu, all dwelling in the khat, the material body. the romans spoke of corpus the body, vita the life essence, animus or mens the mind, and anima the soul: the greeks recognised several principles, such as the psyche the soul, nous or phren the mind, thumos the life, eidolon

d ham, who peopled the four quarters of the ancient world.thelater kabalists referred the four letters ihvh again to the human relations of father, mother, son and daughter, and to birth, life, death and resurrection: the four letters also to the river of eden, euphrates, hiddekel, gihon and pison, and the four spheres of creation, the worlds of atziluth, briah, yetzirah, and assiah. grseco-roman mythology had four rivers in itshell-styx,acheron, cocytus and phlegethon. in this matter of rivers, w.j. colville ends an analogy with four parts of the arterial system of the human body: springing from the heart is first the innominate artery feeding the right side, then the left carotid artery, then the left sub-clavian, and lastly the descending aorta, feeding the bodily organs and lower limbs

riot through the sky, but the sun was not an olympian god, and held a minor rank in the earliest pantheon. venus, the planet, was called hesperus, as the evening star, and there was the morning star eosphorus,butit was not until the time at any rate of pythagoras circa 612b.c.,that they were consideredtobe the same heavenly body.ithas been asserted by muller, the german savant, in his treatise on mythology, that the astro255 nomical greek myths were few, and they werenotclosely related to their religion. in the iliad of homer, neither the sun nor moon is spoken of as driving a chariot,butin the odyssey aurora, the dawn is so described. according to the much later roman author manilius, the chariot of the sun had four horses, and the chariot of the moon only two. aristotle is the earliest w

embers flap their wings like birds, imitate the cries of ravens, and others growl like lions; his remarks are all intended to be contemp255 tuous and insulting to these mystics. some old authors explained these practices as being illustra255 tions of astronomical details, and so related to the zodiacal signs, and to gods of the planets which had mostly animal secondary attributions in greco-roman mythology. cumont remarks that many cults of ancient nations of asia minor, mysteries of greece and egypt, consecrated animals to definite gods, goddesses, and religious ideals; perhaps this practice was a survival of prehistoric forms of belief, and related to thetotems,which were animal forms related tocertain tribes, sects, and families. we remember, of course, that the four quarters of the ear

and had only three principal grades, followed by the manifestation of the initiate, which latter was not deemed a grade' this ritual is of great interest, and one can only regret thatitis founded on so much imagination, and so little history or even legend. greece no definite date can be given for the origin of the eleusinian mysteries. several more orless mythical founders are named in works on mythology. diodorus siculus and isocrates tell us that the inhabitants of athens and eleusis believed that thean essay ontheancient mysteries 277goddess demeter (ceres) herself founded the institution.thecredit has been given also in a fabulous mannertoinachos, a sonofoceanos, the ancestoroftheargives and pelasgians, and called the first king of argos, about 1800b.c.others refer to eumolpus, a poe

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

bject of the great egyptian ritual, purified by suffering, strengthened by opposition, nor is the 'ritual of the dead' a work of comparatively recent times, for the great egyptolog255 ists birch and bunsen, assert that its origin is anterior to menes, and belongs probably to the pre-menite dynasty of abydos, between 3100 and 4500bcanditimplies that at that period the system of osirian worship and mythology was already in actual existence. of all the chapters in the per-m-hru, the 17th is one of the oldest as shown by its gloss and scholia; and it is the symbolsofthis chapter and the 125th which form the designs of the pillars before you. at the base of each rises the lotus symbolic of new life, regeneration and metempsychosis.inthe papyri which have the hieroglyphical text of this chapter

esfrom which a complete system of the rules of life and death can be constructed.[willhere allude to one phase only of witchcraft, that to which themindmost readily recurs in considering the question, namely the formulae of cursing, often thought to be the sole manifestation. of the evil powers of witches and wizards, and which is the dark reverse of the powers of healing and blessing .inegyptian mythology the great bad god was typhon apophis. he it was who obstructed and destroyed the benefits bestowed on manbyrathe sun.therationale, therefore, of the rituals.for.banishing evil things was. to devote them to typhon apophis, from whom they came, and then to expel and banishhimand them bag and baggage, in order that the power of ra to bless the earth and the dwellers thereon might be re-esta

us incarnation. this is a most important key to the difference between the two systems.[substance of a paper read on 22 october 1892. reprinted fromtransactionsof thescottishlodgeof thetheosophicalsociety,vol. i,part vi (1892, pp. 84-7.]18.thescience of numbers kabalisticandhermeticthe subject of numbers is a very wide one, branching out into every possible domain of science, history, legend, and mythology, and also of occultism.ifone knew the whole symbology of numbers, and the whole meaning and interrela255 tion of numbers,itwould notbenecessary to know anything more; for then would be known absolutely the top and bottom, the ground-work as well as the consummation, of every science on earth. in various systems different numbers are given, which at first blush appear to be irreconcilable

..the lamb slain before the foundation of the .184 the sorcerer and his apprenticeworld, showing, too, the moon, his mate- is the glyph of the whole period, the supreme glyph. the lamb of god is the glyph, one supreme glyphofthechristian church all over the world now just as much as the pascal lamb in the time of moses, the ram symbol of zeus, the ram of phryxos helle, and the ram of many another mythology of the same date. this is also the meaning of the horned moses. many people have asked, and some have asked in vain, unless from an occultist, what the horns of moses mean? it is easy to say that we are told there was a glory on his face when he came down from the mount, so that a veil had to be placed on his face. that may be one reason, but that would be pictorially represented by a ha

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

ation of adam as god was supported by a kabbalistic cipher: the numerical value in hebrew of the names adam and jehovah (the tetragrammaton, yod he vav he) was both 45. thus in kabbalistic exegesis jehovah equaled adam: adam was god. with this affirmation went the as- gj the inside story on the kabbalah sertion that all humankind in highest realization was like god.28 this theology comprises of a mythology of paganism, and formed the basis of the degeneration of judaism. jewish kabbalists breached the limits of common sense to such an extent that they even tried to make human beings into gods. in addition, according to this theology, not only was humanity divine, but it consisted only of jews; other races were not considered human. as a result, within judaism, which was originally founded

oitation, hunger, and moral degradation, basically, were products of irreligious philosophies and ideologies (for details, see harun yahya's the disasters darwinism brought to humanity) in short, the philosophy of masonry has yielded bitter fruit. it could not be otherwise as it is a divine law. historically, those pagan peoples who rejected the religion of god, in preference of their traditional mythology and the religion of their ancestors, followed the road to destruction. freemasonry, a contemporary manifestation of this paganism, is drawing the whole world, and themselves, into ruin. it is for this reason that human beings must protect themselves from this potential calamity, by overcoming the intimations of what bediuzzaman said nursi, a renowned islamic scholar, referred to as "the

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

mary of the basic principles of the gnostic tradition. we realize that what we outline in this text is unusual and rightly so, gnosticism is a unique form of perception and hence offers a very different worldview from that found in christian, pagan or esoteric and occult traditions. gnosticism is the essence behind such outer forms and hence offers the framework from which religion, occultism and mythology create the form. in recent times with the advent of fundamentalism of all forms, a clear and precise explanation of the ideals of gnosticism is not only useful, but mandatory. at the onset it should be made clear that gnosticism is a personal experience of religion. the term gnosis means "an experience of knowledge" and religion (from the latin religio) means "to bind back to the point o

raditions. indeed as early as 6th century bce heraclitus stated that the logos was shared by all. while orpheus stated behold the logos divine, thread well the narrow path of life and gaze of him. it is from this tradition that the gospel of st.john derives it model as expressed in the early verse in the beginning was the logos. the logos was known as spenta mainyu in the zoroastrian tradition in mythology it is sometimes the pre existed state of the son of god. there are many positions in the great chain of being for the logos and sophia and as we study further complex myths and legends of their power will be discussed. however, in their most primal form they work within the triangle of force in the upper world. what about jesus? one of the major debates in christianity has been about the

l. the model of the underworld also brings to mind the ancient polarity of earth and sky. the earth and sky polarity was probably the most ancient model of the universe, while the logos and sophia model is central to gnosticism, this older structure is found in many nature religions. the divine will is seen as either the cosmic father or mother and the earth is the wife, husband or lover. in this mythology the underworld is intricately connected to the earth, even seen as part of it. in the norse tradition the god is odin or tyr (much earlier) and he is the lord of the upper world (asgard) and hel is the goddess of the underworld and earth. hel and freya are much the same goddess, she simply split into two and was demoted due to strong patriarchal and later christian influences. she was th

of the upper world (asgard) and hel is the goddess of the underworld and earth. hel and freya are much the same goddess, she simply split into two and was demoted due to strong patriarchal and later christian influences. she was the goddess of death and rebirth, fertility and suffering, she guards the dead and sends them back to life, she compliments and completes the lord or tyr/odin. in celtic mythology she guards the great cauldron and in the norse this cauldron is the seething cauldron from which the drizzle formed from fire and ice coalesces and from which life is formulated. we can see a cross over with sophia, she too is the goddess of the departed and the earth. this system also embraces the logos and sophia model but expresses it in a different way. the danger with overtly nature

e drizzle formed from fire and ice coalesces and from which life is formulated. we can see a cross over with sophia, she too is the goddess of the departed and the earth. this system also embraces the logos and sophia model but expresses it in a different way. the danger with overtly nature oriented symbolism is that it genderizes the principles and while this offers some beautiful literature and mythology, it can also transform the gods so that they appear in our own image, which degenerates the principles into warring, fighting and marauding reflections of ourselves (and this is certainly true with the viking tradition. so once again we can marvel at the imagery, but should be aware of its limitations. the immortals the immortals are those beings which work within the force of the seven

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

satan, which results in the creation of matter. in the zoroastrian model we have ahura mazda, the lord of light, and the secondary force as ahriman. depending on the period, the zoroastrian model varies, sometimes we have spenta mainyu battling ahriman, other times we have a more warrior version of ahura mazda doing battle, however, the duality is still the same. if we decide to use the biblical mythology for its symbolic value, we would arrive at a structure like that seen illustrated in fig 6. what is interesting about this structure is that if we spent a little time and some imagination, it can be readily translated into terms of light and relations between objects. when we undertake such an interpolation we find we have all the elements for the creation of a hologram (fig 7. while i a

retation, one of the more complete is futhark. in futhark there is a fully developed symbol system which correlates sound, letters, bodily postures, dates and timing as many other correspondences. both the druidic traditions and the runic seem to have much in common with the ariosophic hebraic forms. while the outer form may vary, the essential gnosis remains the same. the legend of odin in norse mythology odin is the god of magic, his name originates from the anglo-saxon and means pure spirit. he may be equated with thoth and mercury, but has many discrete and unique characteristics. odin is believed to be responsible for bringing runecraft to humanity. as part of his initiatory quest he hung on the world tree (ygdrassill) for nine days and nights and finally, falling from the tree, grasp

are unsympathetic to your development. the adaptations are endless. familiars a rather fun technique is to create your own elementals. the way to do this is to visualise the four elements and attribute to each of them a small creature. you may use a salamander for fire, a frog for water, a bird for air and a mouse for earth it is totally up to you. you can even manifest creatures from fantasy or mythology. you can even name them. you can, and indeed should, spend regular sessions visualising each creature, giving them power and programming them to respond in unique gnostic theurgy page 181 ways to psychic attacks. you can create a division of labour, whereby each creature responds to different types of attacks in their own way. this is a very personal process, which is open to your own in

modern cycle. there has been much pioneering work done to show that egypt was not some middle eastern backwater, but was a thriving cosmopolitan empire which had satellites around the world. it formed the nucleus in which much of the esoteric tradition developed. while much of the form of modern kabbalah originated in medieval mysticism, alchemy and hermeticism, we can clearly see that the basic mythology and forms was egyptian in origin. the recorded history of egypt covers an immense period of time. even the earliest forms of egyptian civilisation- which concentrated on the stellar worship of the star goddess had a highly evolved structure and form. by the first dynasty a wide range of esoteric and religious cults could be found, and a complex system of burial was evolved to guide the d

ing to the new testament these forces were kept in a spiritual dimension called tartaros. this is the meaning of verses six and seven in the new testament book of jude, these uniquely destructive demons are chained until the last days. this story may seem unbelievable, but the strange thing is that it is not just found in biblical literature. another source of this legend is found in the old arab mythology which centres on the necronomicon. this unusual tale is central to many modern science fiction mythologies as well as to several occult orders. yet when we examine modern renditions of the tale they have much in common with the biblical epic. probably one of the better known modern adaptations of the tale is found in the work of h.p lovecraft. he is one of the more unusual observers of t

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

orn also fashioned out of gold.7 i could not help but be reminded of solomon s temple in far-off jerusalem, also reputed to have been adorned 3 encyclopaedia britannica, 1991, 6:276-7. 4 paul devereux, secrets of ancient and sacred places, blandford books, london, 1992, p. 76. see also peru, lonely planet publications, hawthorne, australia, 1991, p. 168. 5 the facts on file encyclopaedia of world mythology and legend, london and oxford, 1988, p. 657. 6 macrobius, cited in giorgio de santillana and hertha von dechend, hamlet's mill, david r. godine, publisher, boston, 1992, p. 134. see also a. r. hope moncreiff, the illustrated guide to classical mythology, bca, london, 1992, p. 153. 7 peru, p. 181. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 52 with sheets of gold and a marvellous orchard of g

and which viracocha was said in all the legends to have promised. this happy coincidence gave pizarro s conquistadores the decisive strategic and psychological edge that they needed to overcome the numerically superior inca forces in the battles that followed. who had provided the model for the viracochas? 10 the facts on file encyclopaedia, p. 658. 11 see, for example, h. osborne, south american mythology, paul hamlyn, london, 1968, p. 81. 12 for further evidence and argument in this regard, see constance irwin, fair gods and stone faces, w. h. allen, london, 1964, pp. 31-2. 13 j. alden mason, the ancient civilizations of peru, penguin books, london, 1991, p. 135. see also garcilaso de la vega, the royal commentaries of the incas, orion press, new york, 1961, pp. 132-3, 147-8. graham hanc

uaracocha, con, con ticci or kon tiki, thunupa, taapac, tupaca and illa.3 he was a scientist, an architect of surpassing skills, a sculptor and an engineer: he caused terraces and fields to be formed on the steep sides of ravines, and sustaining walls to rise up and support them. he also made irrigating channels to flow. and he went in various directions, arranging many things. 4 1 south american mythology, p. 74. 2 ibid. 3 arthur cotterell, the illustrated encyclopaedia of myths and legends, guild publishing, london, 1989, p. 174. see also south american mythology, p. 69-88. 4 francisco de avila 'a narrative of the errors, false gods, and other superstitions and diabolical rites in which the indians of the province of huarochiri lived in ancient times, in narratives of the rites and laws

earance, blue-eyed, bearded, without headgear and wearing a cusma, a jerkin or sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees. in yet another, which seemed to refer to a later phase of his life, he was revered as a wise counsellor in matters of state and depicted as an old man with a beard and long hair wearing a long tunic .10 markhem, hakluyt society, london, 1873, vol. xlviii, p. 124. 5 south american mythology, p. 74. 6 ibid, p. 74-6. 7 ibid, p. 78. 8 ibid, p. 81. 9 john hemming, the conquest of the incas, macmillan, london, 1993, p. 97. 10 south american mythology, p. 87. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 56 civilizing mission above all else, viracocha was remembered in the legends as a teacher. before his coming, it was said, men lived in a condition of disorder, many went naked like s

from 13 ignatius donnelly, atlantis: the antediluvian world, harper& brothers, new york, 1882, p. 394. 14 from the 'relacion anonyma de los costumbres antiguos de los naturales del piru, reported in the facts on file encyclopaedia, p. 657. 15 pears encyclopaedia of myths and legends: oceania, australia and the americas (ed. sheila savill, pelham books, london, 1978, pp. 179-80. 16 south american mythology, p. 76. 17 ibid. 18 the conquest of the incas, p. 191. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 58 distant quarries? by what means had they made walls of them, shuffling the individual blocks around and raising them high above the ground with such apparent ease? these people weren t even supposed to have had the wheel, let alone machinery capable of lifting and manipulating dozens of irre

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

you, ufos and rumors of them have seemingly been around as long as human beings have looked up and wondered at the vast fantasia playing itself out every day and night in the sky. as the old song says, at night the sky puts on a show for free. in the process of looking at the then-unpolluted skies, the babylonian, mayan, chinese and egyptian astronomers and magi developed both a vast and complex mythology of gods and heroes and a means of foretelling the future, or, as they would have it, the will of heaven. in time they would also learn that knowledge of the sky led to the ability to predict the seasons and impressive celestial events, such as lunar and solar eclipses. with this knowledge came power over humanity, and the magi were not mere philosophers and stargazers, but priest-kings f

and why. here we have the beginning of a two-class system consisting of those who know and those who do not know. while this was developing, millennia were passing, aeons giving way to one an20 allen h. greenfield other, and new observations of phenomena in the sky continued. new cults arose, only to intermesh with older ones through conquest or exchange of information. a rich and ever-developing mythology became more and more complex. the question arises, were there new contacts with the divine beings, or only new legends and variations of old legends? i suggest to you that present-day contact cases and sightings indicate ongoing communication. in fact, modern ufology emerged from a narrow circle of survivors in possession of all or part of the old knowledge trying to look into the new si

rre twist, the mark-age metacenter in miami soon began to receive channelings alleged to be from gloria lee shortly after her untimely death at age 37. if there is a hidden cipher of mediumship showing up in the somewhat comic and sometimes tragic lore of contacteeism and trance channeling in modern times, what does it mean? the clue, i think, lies in the handful of common denominators in all the mythology that has emerged in the nearly 150 years since the fox sisters heard rapping sounds in the walls, and the ship of spiritualism was launched. in presenting certain ancient holy texts, willis barnstone notes that, to use a secret language for purposes of exegesis is a common linguistic practice, and is actually a characteristic embedded in virtually all religious texts. thus, perhaps, ciph

tists and gnostics. likewise, lanulus= 58= seth, the name of the control in the first major modern trance channeling case, but also hadit and hawk s head, with similar occult meanings to those for carl ardo. kimi= 76= night. clinnel= 93 (a special number for occultists, representing the will -current of the new aeon= wrath of god, or simply time. time, as a concept, is closely associated with the mythology of set, seth or saturn. cerenabus, clinnel s home world, carries the value 132= prey of gods but also orthon+ markon, key names from contactee lore. the occult connections, drawn without straining directly from contactee lore and 44 allen h. greenfield magical mythos, are startling. examine, for example, ric williamson s mark iii. mark= 43= ra hoor. iii= 69= caliph. keep in mind that, as

men in black case, at the end of the shaver mystery era) palmer converted shaver s untutored erratic manuscripts into haunting and unforgettable stories of ancient space-faring races who first settled the earth aeons ago, turning the entire planet inside and out into a technological marvel. pal- mer brought out the great potential of shaver s intense and striking imagery the stuff that makes true mythology. the shaverian mythos had it that our sun developed a form of detrimental radiation which horrified the elder races, as this type of radiation is the source of mutation, aging and death in this otherwise ageless and deathless race. abandoning the earth to mutants long ago, these beings, called atlans and titans and remembered now only as legends, rejoined the nortans, a race of beings wh

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

orces, for they have a place and a duty, and in this consisteth their right to be. but check their usurpation, and cast them down unto their plane."10 10 the golden dawn (the original account of the teachings, rites, and ceremonies of the hermetic order of the golden dawn [1937, revealed by israel regardie, 6th ed (st. paul: llewellyn, 1989, p. 1 e i'axloitoit' v* fv v* cection..grj5>fe7 teutonic mythology. jacob geimm. teutonic mythology by jacob grimm. translated from the fourth edition. with notes and appendix james steven stallybrass, vol. iii \c london: george bell& sons, york street, covent garden. 1883. butler& tanner, the sclu'ood priiiting workst frome, and london, q'u^ al..io- preface to the second edition (1844) now that i am able to put my germinated sprout of germau mythology

ence, blindly or wilfully overlooking its connexion with the relics of eld in germany proper, and thinking to set it all down to nurses and spinning-wives (p. 1230, whose very name seemed, to those unacquainted with the essence of folk-lore, to sound the lowest note of contempt. they have had their revenge now, those norns and spindle-bearers. one may faii'ly say, that to deny the reality of this mythology is as much as to impugn the high antiquity and the continuity of our language: to every nation a belief in gods was as necessary as language. no one will argue from the absence or poverty of memorials, that our forefathers at any given time did not practise their tongue, did not hand it down; yet the lack or scantiness of information is thoughtlessly alleged as a reason for despoiling ou

the fifth stand higher still, it may be presumed that german populations of the first three centuries of our era, whose very names have never reached us, must have spoken a more perfect language than the gothic itself. now if such inferences as to what is non-extant are valid in language, if its present condition carries us far back to an older and oldest; a like proceeding must be justifiable in mythology too, and from its dry watercourses we may guess the copious spring, from its stagnant swamps the ancient river. nations hold fast by prescription: we shall never comprehend their tradition, their superstition, unless we spread under it a bed on still heathen soil. and these views are confirmed by what we know to be true of poetry and legend. if the heathens already possessed a finely art

ars witness, that the smallest may be an index to the greatest; and the reason is discoverable, why in our antiquities, while the main features were effaced, petty and apparently accidental ones have been preserved. i am loth to let even slight analogies escape me, such as that between bregowine, freawine, and gotes friunt (p. 93. true to my original purpose, i have this time also taken the norse mythology merely as woof, not as warp. it lies near to us, like the norse tongue, which, having stood longer undisturbed in its integrity, gives us a deeper insight into the nature of our own, yet not so that either loses itself wholly in the other, or that we can deny to the german language excellences of its own, and to the gothic a strength superior to both of them together. so the norse view o

ed, more important diversities have revealed themselves too. to the norse antiquarians in particular, i hope my procedure will be acceptable: as we gladly give to them in return for what we have received, they ought no less to receive than to give. our memorials are preface. ix scantier, but older; theirs are younger and purer; two things it was important here to hold fast: fii'st, that the norse mythology is genuine, and so must the german be; then, that the german is old, and so must the norse be. we have never had an edda come down to us, nor did any one of our early writers attempt to collect the remains of the heathen faith. such of the christians as had sucked german milk were soon weaned under roman training from memories of home, and endeavoured not to preserve, but to efface the l

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

our glance to simple phenomena of nature, which at all times in their silent greatness wield an immediate power over the human mind. these all-penetrating, all-absorbing primitive substances, which precede the creation of all other things and meet us again everywhere, must be sacred in themselves, even without being brought into closer relation to divine beings. such relation is not absent in any mythology, but it need not stand in the way of the elements receiving a homage to some extent independent of it and peculiar to themselves. on the other hand, it is not the religion, properly speaking, of a nation, that ever springs from the soil of this elemental worship; the faith itself originates in a mysterious store of supersensual ideas, that has nothing in common with those substances, but

tthesius, windsprauch (schm. 4, 110, have arisen out of the endeavour to substitute some new meaning for the no longer intelligible mythic notion. they say it is a woman snatching up a napkin from the bleaching ground and falling down with it, moneys anz. 8, 278. so in the netherlands the whirlwind is called barende frauw, wolf nos. 518-520 (see suppl. this windvbride is a whirlwind, at which our mythology brings the highest gods into play. even wuotan s furious host/ what is it but an explanation of the stormwind howling through the air? the ohg. ziu, turbines, we have traced to zio, pp. 203. 285; and the storm-cloud was called maganwetar (p. 332 last 1. but the whirlwind appears to be associated with phol also (pp. 229. 285, and with an opprobrious name for the devil (schweinezagel, sauz

cular gods, and to some extent in their service, as the boar belongs to fro, the wolf and raven to wuotan; or there lies at the basis the metamorphosis of a higher being into some animal shape, on the strength of which the whole species comes to be invested with a halo of honour. that is how we may in some instances have to take a bear, bull, cow or snake, presupposing an in carnation, though our mythology may have long ceased to reach so far back as to give a full account of it. then, bordering close upon such a lowering of the god into the animal, comes the penal degradation of m&lt;an into a beast, the old doctrine of transmigration, in which we discover a third reason for the consecration of animals, though it does not warrant an actual worship of them. those myths, e.g. of the cuc

sh a fund of beautiful tales, which enter largely into the hero-worship (see suppl. quadeupeds. foremost of animals i name the horse, the noblest, wisest, trustiest of domestic animals, with whom the hero holds friendly talk (p. 392, who sympathizes in his griefs and rejoices in his victories. as some heroes are named after the horse (hengest, hors, the horse too has proper names given him; norse mythology assigns to nearly every god his separate horse, endowed with miraculous powers. osin s steed is named sleipnir (p. 154, and is, like some giants and heroes, an octopod. 1 the other horses of the ases are enumerated by saem. 44a and sn. 18, without specifying to which they belonged. several names are formed with faxi (jubatus, comatus, ohg. vahso, as smnfam (seem. 32. sn.ll, gullfaxi (sn

infiotli are sent to meet him (miiller s sagabibl. 2, 375. the hakonarmal is a celebrated poem on hakon s wel come in valholl. bnt even the hall of a king on earth, where heroes carouse as in the heavenly one, bears the same name valholl (saem. 244a. 246a anent atli. the abodes and pleasures of the gods and those of men are necessarily mirrored in each other; conf. pp. 336. 393 (see suppl. indian mythology has a heaven for heroes, and that of greece assigns them an elysium in the far west, on the happy isles of okeanos; we may with perfect confidence assert, that a belief in walhaila was not confined to our north, but was common to all teutonic nations. a vita idae in pertz 2, 571 uses the ex pression coelorum palatinae sedes, implying that a court is maintained like the king s palatium, w

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

made up about 90 percent of egypt s territory. the egyptians called them the red land in contrast to the black land of the valley.6 the mountainous areas of the deserts contained gold, gemstones, and types of hard stone that could be used to make long-lasting buildings and artifacts. the south of the country often went without rain for many years at a stretch. when rain did 2 handbook of egyptian mythology come, it was in the form of violent desert storms that could lead to destructive flash floods. the usually cloudless skies made it particularly easy for the egyptians to observe the stars and planets. much early mythology may have developed to explain the movement of celestial bodies. the habitable part of egypt was effectively a giant oasis created by the nile and its annual flood, whic

eaning, is characteristic of egyptian thought. 8 much of this confusion can be resolved if the myths are examined in the contexts in which they occur, rather than in isolation. history and the sources of egyptian myth ancient egyptian religion had no official holy book equivalent to the bible or the koran (quran. the relationships between deities did not become fixed at one 4 handbook of egyptian mythology moment in time but went on changing and developing for thousands of years. egyptian mythology was never gathered by priests into one authorized version or harmonized in any long literary work comparable to hesiod s theogony, an important source for the study of greek mythology. comparatively few literary treatments of myths survive from any stage of the egyptian language. the mythology o

ages or the king s participation in rituals, such as visiting the sacred lake of the god heryshef( he who is upon his lake) or spearing the hippopotamus. 15 there is plenty of evidence by the early dynastic period for a complex pantheon of egyptian deities who could be represented in a variety of human, animal, or semihuman forms. whether myths about these deities were cur- 6 handbook of egyptian mythology rent at this stage is hard to say. the unification of the country and the subsequent patronage of local cults by each king must have led to some kind of organization of the pantheon at this time. deities began to be grouped into pairs, groups, or hierarchies. the creation of relationships between deities who had previously been worshipped in isolation may have generated myths. among the

orded in later times. some of these myths could already have been current, but whether they were written down or existed only in oral form is not clear. a type of religious text that does seem to have developed in this period was the topographical list.17 this listed deities according to their cult places and summarized their functions and qualities with epithets. some epi- 8 handbook of egyptian mythology thets, such as horus, protector of his father, suggest the existence of a story behind them. in the fourth dynasty the king s role was redefined as being the son of ra, the deputy of the sun god on earth. sneferu, the first king of the fourth dynasty, was one of egypt s greatest builders. three pyramids were completed in his reign, each with two temples for the funerary cult of the king

pyramid complexes of this era seem to concentrate wholly on the divinity of the king, but this is partly an accident of preservation. reliefs and statues in the badly damaged pyramid temples did once show the king interacting with many of the deities of egypt. pyramid complexes have been interpreted as resurrection machines for the king and as models of the egyptian cosmos, making them a kind of mythology in solid form.18 the kings of the fifth dynasty had smaller pyramids, but several of them built magnificent temples for the sun god. the favored elite who served old kingdom rulers were rewarded with beautifully decorated tombs in the royal cemeteries. many of these tomb owners had personal names that linked them with deities, such as ptah-hotep( the god ptah is satisfied. the inscriptio

HEAVEN HELL

ebes; here we have eleven out of the twelve sections of the book am-tuat, and the first six divisions of the summary of the work. the texts and pictures of this fine copy have been completely published by m. lef bure, assisted by mm. bouriant, loret, 1 and naville, and m. maspero has translated and discussed the work at length in one of the most important of his luminous dissertations on egyptian mythology. 2 the next fullest copy is found in the tomb of rameses vi, 3 and provides us with eleven divisions, but the drawings are less careful, and the texts are less accurate, and contain numerous additions which appear to represent beliefs of a later period. the history of the book am-tuat shows us that the egyptians treated it as they treated their older books of the dead; they first copied

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

aim eternity for the duration of the punishment ofcondemned sinners. he perceived tantalus forgetting his never-ceasing thirst, and smacking his lips as hedrank in the heaven-born melody; the stone of sisyphus becoming motionless, the furies themselves smilingon him, and the sovereign of the gloomy regions delighted, and awarding preference to his violin over thelyre of orpheus. taken au serieux, mythology thus seems a decided antidote to fear, in the face of theologicalthreats, especially when strengthened with an insane and passionate love of music, with franz, euterpeproved always victorious in every contest, aye, even with hell itself! but there is an end to everything, and very soon franz had to give up uninterrupted dreaming. he had reachedthe university town where dwelt his old viol

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

now said to have been lost. to theosophists, the most interesting of all the works of origen is his doctrine of the preexistence of souls. he was a pupil of ammonius saccas, and for a long time attended the lectures of this great teacher of philosophy. page 165 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt panaenus a platonic philosopher in the alexandrian school of the philaletheians. pandora in greek mythology, the first woman on earth, created by vulcan out of clay to punish prometheus and counteract his gift to mortals. each god having made her a present of some virtue, she was made to carry them in a box to prometheus, who, however, being endowed with foresight, sent her away, changing the gifts into evils. thus, when his brother epimetheus saw and married her, when he opened the box, all t

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

channeling communications from gods that didn t exist five minutes ago. so you might see why using this sort of thing as a basis for serious magical work raises one or two eyebrows in some quarters. isn t after all, the lovecraft stuff fiction? what about linking in with inner planes contacts, traditions, etc- surely you can t do magick with something that doesn t bear any relation to history or mythology? in the past, such criticisms have been raised over the subject of magicians working with fictional entities. in this section, i hope to argue the case against these objections. the first point to make is that magick requires a belief system within which to work. the belief system is the symbolic& linguistic construct through which the magician learns to interpret her experiences and can

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

ace of all because it alone had conquered the secret of time. it had learned all things that ever were known or ever would be known on the earth, through the power of its keener minds to project themselves into the past and future, even through gulfs of millions of years, and study the lore of every age. from the accomplishments of this race arose all legends of prophets, including those in human mythology. in its vast libraries were volumes of texts and pictures holding the whole of earth's annals-histories and descriptions of every species that had ever been or that ever would be, with full records of their arts, their achievements, their languages, and their psychologies. with this aeon-embracing knowledge, the great race chose from every era and life-form such thoughts, arts, and proce

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

owed decadence rather than higher evolution. the size of the pseudofeet had decreased, and the whole morphology seemed coarsened and simplified. moreover, the nerves and organs just examined held singular suggestions of retrogression from forms still more complex. atrophied and vestigial parts were surprisingly prevalent. altogether, little could be said to have been solved; and lake fell back on mythology for a provisional name- jocosely dubbing his finds "the elder ones" at about 2:30 a.m, having decided to postpone further work and get a little rest, he covered the dissected organism with a tarpaulin, emerged from the laboratory tent, and studied the intact specimens with renewed interest. the ceaseless antarctic sun had begun to limber up their tissues a trifle, so that the head points

raversed. were it not for the support of those flashlights soon to be made public, i would refrain from telling what i found and inferred, lest i be confined as a madman. of course, the infinitely early parts of the patchwork tale- representing the preterrestrial life of the star-headed beings on other planets, in other galaxies, and in other universes- can readily be interpreted as the fantastic mythology of those beings themselves; yet such parts sometimes involved designs and diagrams so uncannily close to the latest findings of mathematics and astrophysics that i scarcely know what to think. let others judge when they see the photographs i shall publish. naturally, no one set of carvings which we encountered told more than a fraction of any connected story, nor did we even begin to com

pace. the old ones, but for their abnormal toughness and peculiar vital properties, were strictly material, and must have had their absolute origin within the known space-time continuum- whereas the first sources of the other beings can only be guessed at with bated breath. all this, of course, assuming that the non-terrestrial linkages and the anomalies ascribed to the invading foes are not pure mythology. conceivably, the old ones might have invented a cosmic framework to account for their occasional defeats, since historical interest and pride obviously formed their chief psychological element. it is significant that their annals failed to mention many advanced and potent races of beings whose mighty cultures and towering cities figure persistently in certain obscure legends. the changi

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

tory and in legend, has been as varied as the imagination of the witch or personality involved dared. little in common can be seen between snow white's beautiful but wicked stepmother with her "mirror, mirror, on the wall" and joan of arc with her dedication to a cause, unrelenting drive, thirst for adventure and celestial voices. and certainly these two women would never have felt a rapport with mythology's medea, the sorceress who, when scorned by jason, gifted his new and very much younger love with a gown of magical cloth that burned as fire. however little there may be to bind these women in a community of interests, it is not too difficult to categorize them by virtue of the "esprit de corps" that motivates any enchantress: those who wish to alter circumstances must be intense, emoti

INFERNAL UNION

oo much and falling into liliths trap. charms were created to protect against the threat of succubus attacks (lilith is in the qlippothic sphere, lust) and infants from being killed by lilith or her children. her earlier origins are somewhat vague though she appears to have always been related somewhat to being a goddess/spirit of the night/air whether in sumerian/assyrian/babylonian or cainanite mythology. lilith is the queen of demons and the wife of samael, from whom came the succubi. she is the infernal moon and queen of the infernal sabbat. she does have a lighter side as well, that of being a protectress to mothers and children. her nature is that of feminine fertility,seduction ,the cycles of the moon, and perhaps one of the reasons she is considered evil being her ability to seduce

INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW CHUMBLEY

arly modern witches or historically attested cunning folk, rather it points toward the fact that the very mythos which had been generated about both witches and their ritual gatherings has been appropriated and re-orientated by contemporary successors of cunning-craft observance, and then knowingly applied for their own purposes. the term describes the way in which elements of witch-lore, sabbath mythology and imagery were being employed in the cunning-craft tradition into which i was originally inducted. from what i have learned of previous generations in this and kindred streams of traditional craft, the utilisation of sabbath- imagery had been in process for some time, but during the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century became fully self-conscious. when mythic imagery and d

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

of her unhallowed doings, but in a fit of passion because her interpretation of coming events, by which he may have allowed himself to be guided, turned out wrongly. we have already alluded to gerald, the fourth earl of desmond. his namesake, the sixteenth holder of the title, commonly known as the "great earl" who was betrayed and killed in 1583, has passed from the region of history to that of mythology, p. 70 as he is credited with being the husband (or son) of a goddess. not many miles from the city of limerick is a lonely, picturesque lake, lough gur, which was included in his extensive possessions, and at the bottom of which he is supposed to lie enchanted. according to the legend 1 he was a very potent magician, and usually resided in a castle which was built on a small island in t

ISIS UNVEILED

ginning. during the last fifty years the authentic docu- roents of the most important religions in the world ktat been recovered in a nu t unexpected and almoat miraeulotu manner* we have now before us the canonical books of buddhism; the zend avetta of zoro- aster is no longer a sealed book; and the hymns of the rig-veda have revealed a state of religions anterior to the first beginnings of that mythology which in homer and hesiod stands before us as a mouldering ruin* in their insatiable desire to extend the dominion of blind faith, the early architects of christian theology had been forced to conceal, as much as it was possible, the true sources of the same. to this end they are said to have bunted or otherwise destroyed all the original manuscripts on the kabala, magic, and occult scie

maximum, the keys fa janus and cybele, and adorning his christian head with the cap of the magna mater, copied from that of the tiara of brahvmnut, the supreme pontiff of the initiates of old india, became the successor of the pagan high priest, the real peter-roma, or peiroma "nte roman catholic church has two far mightier enemies than the 'heretics' and the 'infidels; and these are comparative mythology and philology. when such eminent divines as the rev. james free- man clarke go so much out of their way to prove to their readers that "critical theology from the time of origen and jerome. and the controversial theology during fifteen centuries, has not consisted in accepting on authority the opinions of other people" but has shown, on the contrary, much "acute and comprehen^ve reasonin

in abandoning belief in the reality of divine revdation. whilst we retain pure and unimpaired the li^t of christian morality, we relinquish nothing but the debasing elements added to it by fatmian superstition. we are no longer bound to believe a theology which outrages reason and moral sense. we are freed from base anthropomorphic views of god and his government of the universe; and from jewish mythology we rise to higher conceptions of an infinitely wise and beneficent being, hidden from our finite minds, it is true, in the impenetrable glory of divinity, but whose laws of wondrous comprehensiveness and perfection we ever perceive in operation around us. the argument so often employed by theologians, that divine revelation is necessary for man, and that certain views contained in that r

eietate, p. 141. digitizecoy google/ all woeld-religions fundamentally edenltcal 215 tion of later and still mate material powers" in the hindfl cos- mogony, svajfamihil emits nam and ndri, its bisexual emanation, and dividing its parts into two halves, male and female, these fecundate the mmidane egg, within which develops brahmft, or rather viraj, the creator "the starting-point of the egyptian mythology" says champollton "ia a triad. namely, kneph, neith, and pht; and ammon, the male, the father; muth, the female and mother; and khons. the son" the ten sq>hiroth are copies taken from the ten prajdpatu created by virdj, called the 'lords of ail beings' and answering to the biblical fatriardis. justin martyr explains some of the 'heresies' of the day, but in a very unsatisfactory manner

the return from babylon, and were anything more than migratory septs of hindq pariahs cannot be carried back a day beyond moses; and if this ex-egyptian priest must from theological necessity be transformed into a hebrew patriarch, we must insist that the jewish nation was lifted with that smiling infant out of the bulrushes of lake moeris. abraham, their alleged father, belongs to the univeisal mythology. most likely be is but one of the numerous aliases of zenum(^tum, the king of the golden age, who is also called the dd man (emblem of time" it is now demonstrated by assyriologists that in the old chaldaean books abraham is called zeru-an, or zerb-an meaning one very rich in gold and silver, and a mighty prince" he is also called zarouan and zarman a decrepit old man" s12. dial, witk tr

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

speckled beetle was flung into hot water to avert storms (pliny, nat. hist, lib. xxxvii, ch. x) the antiquary pignorius has a beetle crowned with the sun and encircled with the serpent. amongst the gnostic illustrations published by abraham gorl eus is that of a talisman of the more abstruse gnostics an onyx carved with a beetle which threatens to gnaw at a thunderbolt. see notes and queries; bee mythology. the lilies are said not to have appeared in the french arms until the time of philip augustus. see montfau on s monumens de la monarchie fran aise, paris, 1729, also jean-jacques chifflet, anutasis de childerie, 1655. see also notes and queries, 1856, london, 2d series, for some under the stone or the mystic human possibility, is the infant saviour, born in the mysterious month of the p

ng light, in the theosophic glimmer, amidst the world s knowledge-lights. it was to reappear, like a spirit, to the initiate, in the glimpse of reverie, in the snatches of sight, in the profoundest wisdom, through the studies of the ages. we find, in the religious administration of the ancient world, the most abundant proofs of the secret fire-tradition. schweigger shows, in his introduction into mythology (pp. 132, 228, that the phoenician cabiri and the greek dioscuri, the curetes, corybantes, telchini, were originally of the same nature, and are only different in trifling particulars. all these symbols represent electric and magnetic pheno92 the rosicrucians. mena, and that under the ancient name of twin-fires, hermaphrodite fire. the dioscuri is a phrase equivalent to the sons of heave

, which was almost of the redness of coral. amber has always been a substance (or gem, or gum) closely mingling with superstitions, from runes and runic remains. 133 the most ancient times. for further connected ideas of the word amber and the substance amber in relation to magic and sorcery, and for the recurrence of the word amber and its varieties in matters referring to the myssteries and the mythology generally of ancient times, the reader will please to refer to other parts of this volume. while excavations were in progress at a mound in orkney, described by mr. john stuart, secretary of the society of antiquaries of scotland, on july 18th, 1861, numerous lines of runes of various sizes were found on the walls and on the roof of a large vaulted chamber in the earth. when the discover

the union of which, as intersecting triangles, forms the famous hexalpha, or solomon s seal, or wizard s foot, which, according to the eastern allegory, is placed (as that of st. michael) upon the rebellious spirits in their abyss, or prison. pyr is the greek name of fire (thence pyramid, and mythologically of the sun, who was the same as hercules. 156 the rosicrucians. and the great analyser of mythology assures us that pur was the ancient name of latian jupiter, the father of hercules; that he was the deity of fire; that his name was particularly retained amongst the people of prasneste, who had been addicted to the rites of fire. fire, in short, in these mythologies, as also in all the christian churches, meets us at every turn. but we must not mix up heathen ideas and christian ideas

which represents harpocrates seated upon the lotus, springing from a double lamp, formed of two phalli united at the base. above his head is his title abraxas, and over that is the name iao. in the field are the seven planets. the sacred animals the scarab, ibis, asp, goat, crocodile, vulture, emblems of so many deities (viz. phre, thoth, isis, merides, bebys, neith) the principal in the egyptian mythology, arranged by threes, form a frame to the design. neatly engraved on a large, bright loadstone (the gnostics, p. 211. origin of the tricolor. theory of sacramental mysticism, adapted from the speculations of the sophists or gnostics. blue (b.v.m) baptism by water. natural. bread( host) body. white (s.s) air or light. intermediate. nexus. and red (f, fire) supernatural. wine (cup denied to

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

e more fantastic than the phenomenon itself. it is unbelievable, to me at least, that people intelligent enough to make a living among their fellows would try to interpret a linear sequence of exactly duplicated marks, crossing roof tops, walls and haystack unfalteringly and indiscriminately as animal tracks. these marks were equally spaced, occurring singly, not in twos or fours. even in the old mythology there is no tale of a one-legged animal. the measure-marker was accidently left idling, that time.nowadays, measure-markeres are not used, except by undersea-explorers (italics by a) here is something clearly mechanical. with equal clarity it is something maneuvering in the sky. since the mysterious phenomenon occurred half a century before our race developed mechanical flight, this, to

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

the 13th century, a circle of kabbalists grew around the brothers r. jacob and r. isaac ha-cohen (or kohen. scholem refers to their developments as gthe gnostic reaction h.reaction, that is, to the philosophic leanings of the gerona mystics (ref. scholem, kabbalah [1974, pp. 55-6. references to the cohens. ek pp. 36-7; translations 151-182; ok pp. 355-64. dan, joseph. gthe emergence of messianic mythology in 13th-century kabbalah in spain, h in occident to orient: a tribute to the memory of a. scheiber, edited by robert dan (budapest: akademiai kiaido/ leiden: e. j. brill, 1988. also jmii: chapter 9. gsamael, lilith, and the concept of evil in early kabbalah, h in ajs review, vol. 5 (cambridge: association of jewish studies, 1980; in essential papers on kabbalah, edited by lawrence fine (

KASAK VEEDE UNDERSTANDING PLANETS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

n used interchangeably. the moon the moon, akkadian sin (but (w)arhu as a celestial body only) is generally the first planet in texts, and moongod is the personification of wisdom and father of sungod. from the beginning of mesopotamian history till the end of cuneiform cultures he was considered the eldest of the planetary gods, thus his cult proliferated although he never played a great role in mythology. this archetypal place in the pantheon could be the reason why in the main parts of mesopotamia there never were alternative moongods (though there were some in the periphery, e.g. among the hittites and aramaic. sin was depicted as a horned bull (qarnu) and a efruit that grows by itself f (enbu .a ina ram ni.u ibbanu; a reference to the belief that the moon regenerates itself after each

.erru esmall f, etiny f, ewee f. saturn fs connection to the sun is indirectly proved by the appellation mul2genna, akkadian kakkab kit-tu u mi-.ar estar of law and justice f; cf nissinen (1998: 92: gsaturn is star of the sun, sun is star of the king h. although saturn has been also written as mul kurmar.(tu).ki, this does not denote ewild/barbaric god f martu who represents amorites in sumerian mythology, but saturn as the star of their land amurru; this is apparent from the determinative of land kur and the use of the same name to denote mars, which is related to all things evil and foreign. figure 11. some variants of saturn in cuneiform: muludu.idim.sag.u, mul2genna and dnin-urta, which was earlier read as dnin.ib (g69. genna consists of two symbols (ge/inna, which could also be read

d also be read as tur.di (or tur.ti. 27 mars of all the names of mars, at first glance two gods strike the eye at once: nergal and gibil. nergal was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) of the gods of underworld, whose cult disappeared only when it melt into the cult of hercules in the hellenistic period. nergal, whose portfolio also included some fertility functions, also occurred widely in mythology and absorbed in time many smaller gods. it is interesting that mars is not referred to by nergal fs most widespread designations dgir3.unu.gal and du.gar, although in some later texts we can find dnergal. his name does not seem to be originally sumerian: babylonian theologians constructed a derivation from ne3.eri.gal elord of the underworld f (leick 1991: 127. one of the most popular na

a square measure. as iku has been identified with mars and mars in its turn with the plough (apin (gossmann 1950: 13, 79, we could suggest that mars has also been a gploughing star h. the less common names are mul/dim.dugud.mu.en or mul/danzu which are connected to anzu who (according to most sources) is a giant bird with a lion fs head (supposedly a relative of the roc-bird of the later arabian mythology; the determinative of a god marks it rather as belonging to lower celestial fauna, not having a widespread cult. the appellation mulka5.a. lebu refers. besides mars. also to the still not identified constellation of fox (supposedly one of the names of ursa majoris (brown 2000: 54. figure 12. the most widespread variants of mars in the cuneiform: mulsal-bata- nu, mulnu.me.a (g304) and uln

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

ne of the most important qualifications for the office was the possession of a beautiful and resonant voice, with which the sacred chants might be correctly intoned(*les mysteres d eleusis. paul foucart. paris, 1914, p. 170) 325. the gods of greece 326. the greek idea of worship was very different from our modern conceptions. it must not be supposed that any of the educated greeks believed in the mythology of their religion as literal fact. men sometimes wonder how it was possible for great nations like rome or greece to remain satisfied with what we commonly call their religion- a chaos of unseemly myths, many of them not even decent, describing gods and goddesses who were distinctly human in their actions and passions, and were constantly quarrelling amongst themselves. the truth is that

was rectangular, with a raised platform at the east end, often apsidal in form; continuous benches ran along its walls on the longer sides for the accommodation of the brn, and the ceiling was made to symbolize the firmament. 419. jerome (epist. cvii) tells us that the system consisted of seven degrees: corax, the raven, so-called not only because the raven was the servant of the sun in mithraic mythology, but because the raven can only imitate speech and not originate ideas for himself(*cf. the akoustikoi of the pytagoreans, and the fact that the due-gard of the 1 shows that the e.a. must confine himself to what is taught in the v.s.l) cryphius, the occult, a degree in the taking of which the mystic was perhaps hidden from others in the sanctuary by a veil, the removal of which was a sol

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

romantic writers like blake and other literary figures like baudelaire. beginning in 1966, religious satanism emerged out of the occult subculture with the formation of the church of satan. anton lavey, founder of the church, was indebted to a number of different sources for his synthesis. especially important were: 1. traditional folklore about the devil and various adversarial figures in world mythology. 2. certain romantic poets who, as a literary device, created a noble, promethean satan at odds with the dehumanizing aspects of modern society and traditional religiosity. 3. the ritual magic tradition, particularly as that tradition was interpreted by the occultist aleister crowley. 4. and a wide variety of popular culture sources literature, film and music about the devil. despite the

gel of death is moved by compassion to spare someone s life or otherwise to act benevolently. in many of these narratives, the confrontation with the angel of death occurs on a wedding night, during which one of the two betrothed is fated to die. see also hinduism; judaism; satan for further reading: encyclopaedia judaica. vol. 2. new york:macmillan, 1971. sykes, egerton. who s who: non-classical mythology. new york: oxford, 1993. wigoder, geoffrey. the encyclopedia of judaism. new york:macmillan, 1989. angel on my shoulder this 1946 film was first made as a comedy then remade for television in 1980. the central narrative is built around the timeworn theme of making a bargain with the devil. the plot involves freeing criminals to harass society. the remake was about the resurrection of a c

shapeshifters who are fond of bathing. the apsaras are also singers and dancing girls. alternately, in the vedas, the most ancient religious texts of hinduism, the apsaras performed the role of valkyries, escorting the valiant warriors slain in battle to heaven. unlike the valkyries, however, the apsaras would true to their nature seduce the heroes as they were flown to heaven. although in hindu mythology the apsaras are not demonic, they perform certain functions reserved for demons in western religions. specifically, they were often sent to earth to seduce ascetics who seemed to be on the verge of break12 aquinas, thomas ing through into a divine state, and thus posing a threat to the status of the gods. in buddhism, the best-known story involving mara, the buddhist satan, portrays the

ia. 1962. reprint, ann arbor: university of michigan press, 1967. garg, ganga ram, ed. encyclopaedia of the hindu world. vol. 2. new delhi: concept publishing, 1992. ronner, john. know your angels: the angel almanac with biographies of 100 prominent angels in legend and folklore, and much more. murfreesboro, tn:mamre, 1993. stutley,margaret, and james stutley. harper s dictionary of hinduism: its mythology, folklore, philosophy, literature, and history. new york: harper& row, 1977. aquinas, thomas anyone assailed is exercised by fighting against opposition. it was fitting for this procuring of man s welfare to be brought about through the wicked angels, lest they should cease to be of service in the natural order after their fall. aquinas, summa theologica the catholic theologian and philo

became the senior coordinator of grotto activities throughout the united states. in 1975, because of a decision by anton lavey to give away church priesthoods,aquino and most of the existing national leadership of the church resigned. shortly thereafter they founded the temple of set as an intended continuation and evolution of the church into a context intentionally divorced from judeo-christian mythology. aquino served as the temple of set s high priest until 1996, at which time he retired from the office, while remaining an active member. the temple of set teaches that what christianity has called satan is a corruption of the egyptian figure of set. set is not understood as a god of evil, but rather the personification of the individual consciousness or psyche. members( setians) can exp

LIBER 777

d, para 61. only a hideous fudge (to wit (a) mis-spelling the name as ahija (b) writing each letter out in full and (c) counting h in full as ah rather than the more usual hh) can get this name to add to 666. line 7. asmodai. appears in the apocryphal book of tobit. sometimes also known by the latinised form asmodeus. the name is possibly a modification of aeshma deva, an evil spirit from persian mythology. line 8. belial. said to be the chief of the evil spirits in some late jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g. the testament of the 12 patriarchs, but in the old testament the name was a mere term of abuse meaning masterless or worthless. line 9. lilith. she gets everywhere. line 10. naamah. the sister of tubal-cain (see masonic symbolism; but in the zohar she gets turned into another versio

LIBER LVII

rsons and attributes of god. of these some are male and some are female. now, for some reason or other best known to themselves, the translators of the bible have crowded out of existence and smothered up every 11 [in passages mercifully omitted by crowley from the present article. t.s] 12 [yeah, right. pythagoras: fl. 6th century b.c.e. estimated date of earliest known qabalistic texts (ignoring mythology: 4th or 5th century c.e. who derived from whom, mr. mathers. t.s] on the qabalah 11 reference to the fact that the deity is both masculine and feminine. they have translated a feminine plural by a masculine singular in the case of the word elohim. they have, however, left an inadvertent admission of their knowledge that it was plural in genesis i, 26 .and the elohim said: let us make man

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

dhism, the fleecy opacity of islam, or the mysterious medium of those ancient faiths which come up in as many colours as their investigator has moods .in order to get over the ethical difficulties presented by the na ve naturalism of many parts of those scriptures, in the divine authority of which he firmly believed, philo borrowed from the stoics (who had been in like straits in respect of greek mythology) that great excalibur which they had forged with infinite pains and skill.the method of allegorical interpretation. this mighty .two handed engine at the door. of the theologian is warranted to make a speedy end of any and every moral or intellectual difficulty, by showing that, taken allegorically, or, as it is otherwise said .poetically. or .in a spiritual sense. the plainest words mea

y our high mysteries; for in thy pen is, as it were, a river of clear water; without vagueness, without ambiguity, 1 aum! the sacred word. 2 qy. j (the cart) becomes o (a wheel. the commentators who have suspected the horrid blasphemy implied by the explanation .becomes k, the wheel of fortune. are certainly in error. 3 demeter and persephone. 4 ch= j; h= hades. see the tarot cards, and classical mythology, for the symbols. mirabilia. i. signum. ii. signum. iii. signum alia signa. pater jubet: scientiam scribe. ambrosii magi hortis rosarum 89 without show of learning, without needless darkening of counsel and word, dost thou ever reveal the sacred heights of our mystic mountain. for, as for him that understandeth not thy writing, and that easily and well, be ye well assured all that he is

LIBER MMCMXI NOTE ON GENESIS

on. but by metathesis of these six letters is obtained tma hyh .truth was. as if affirming solemnly the presence in the creation of the supernal truth. now let us take the first and last letters of the verse and .cast into the midst thereof the fire of the sun..i.e, w (6 .the seal of creation .and we have wb, an egg. where we see the whole universe enclosed in the cosmic egg of hindu and egyptian mythology: and the formulation of the sphere of the universe (or magical mirror in man. as it were the egg of the black swan of time, the kala hamsa, the triune a m u, or word of power or of seb, the bird of life, whose will was heard in the night of time. the total numeric value of the verse is fntd= 4459, of which the key is 22, the number of the paths from a to t; and the key of 22 is 4, the te

ar. wherefore in them lieth concealed and hidden, not alone the divine white brilliance of the three supernals (awh, cwdqw [wrb, but even also that gleaming glory which partaketh of the redness, and which cometh from the bornless age, which is beyond kether. as it is written in ancient hindu scripture .in the beginning desire, t.nh, arose in it: which was the primal germ of mind. now in the aryan mythology t.nh, desire, was the god of love, k.m; whereof the symbolic tint was pink: as it were the first pink blush of dawn in the macrocosmic sky: herald of the rising sun of the worlds, when the great night of brahma was over and done. liber mmcmxi 16 the next word in the great name of god the vast one \yhla. let us meditate upon its mystery! herein behold five letters: in its centre is the gr

LIBER V VEL REGULI

gmwa= 100) is an extension of the formula of aum discussed in chapter vii v of mtp. 2 it is not clear from this description whether the right hand should be open or closed, not that it matters that much. if one is going on depictions of egyptian deities an argument could be made for either: compare for example the statue of anhur and the carving of min as shown in the new larousse encylopedia of mythology. 3 the reference is to a photograph of crowley titled .the student. which appears at the start of .aha. and not as the frontispiece to the volume as a whole. 4 there is some uncertainty about this sign. the .lesser man of vitruvius. is depicted (e.g. in the illustrations from caersarino.s edition, reproduced in the canon) as a male human figure framed by a square, the legs spread, feet t

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

it without, as was and is and it to come, for ever and ever [lit .in generations of generations, six in one through the name seven in one ararita] 10 [commentary by crowley on this chapter as printed in the second edition of the book of lie cdivert from the aim of the work, namely, to let the texts speak for themselves and to give the reader an idea of the main issues in the study of scandinavian mythology. xv a note on orthography this page intentionally left blank 1 introduction when most of us use the word gmyth h in conversation, we refer to something that is not true. when historians of religion use it, they generally refer to a representation of the sacred in words. when anthropologists use it, they often refer to narratives that tell about the formation of some social institution or

h and indeed the word often has the feel in mythological texts of an extended kin group or tribe rather than of a collective of deities. and the other group, the ones who aim for the destruction of the cosmos and disruption of order, are certainly not ggiant h in the sense that they are demonstrably larger than the gods. they are usually called the gjotnar, h and again as the term is used in the mythology it feels more like a tribal or kin group than anything else. the world in which the asir and jotnar play out their struggle has its own set of place-names but is essentially recognizable as scandinavia. there are rivers, mountains, forests, oceans, storms, cold weather, fierce winters, eagles, ravens, salmon, and snakes. people get about on ships and on horseback. they eat slaughtered me

ar play out their struggle has its own set of place-names but is essentially recognizable as scandinavia. there are rivers, mountains, forests, oceans, storms, cold weather, fierce winters, eagles, ravens, salmon, and snakes. people get about on ships and on horseback. they eat slaughtered meat and drink beer. as in scandinavia, north is a difficult direction, and so is east, probably because our mythology comes from west scandinavia (norway and iceland, where travel to the east required going over mountains, and going west on a ship was far easier for this seafaring culture. it is helpful to think of three time periods in which the mythology takes place. in the mythic past, the asir created and ordered the world and joined with another group, the vanir, to make up the community of gods. s

ts gentle baltic sea coast and a great deal of fertile land, especially in the central parts of sweden, around the lakes malaren, vannern, and vattern, and to the south. on the west lies norway, where tall mountains spring from the coast, which is protected from the atlantic by a series of small islands. to the south lies denmark, which until 1658 included not only jutland and the islands 2 norse mythology but also southern portions of the scandinavian peninsula. the names are indicative: norway, the northern way, the sea route up and down the coast; denmark, the forest of the danes, which separated them from the saxons; sweden, the kingdom of the svear, the people around malaren who at some point during the viking age subdued their southern neighbors in gotaland. the name gscandinavia h a

ction 3 the period circa 600.800 c.e. is usually called the younger germanic iron age, although swedish archaeologists usually called it the vendel period because of the wealth of finds from vendel, an area northeast of lake malaren. during this period, too, there was extensive trade from across the baltic centered at helgo, then an island in the southern part of lake malaren. and in den- 4 norse mythology buckle clasp in silver, gold, and precious stones from admark, norway, seventh century c.e (the art archive/historiska museet norway/dagli orti) mark it appears that a danish state was already beginning to establish itself in jutland. between circa 600 and 800 c.e, a number of linguistic changes occurred in the northern area of the germanic speech community, and by the end of this period

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY

ference (in vayeze 153a) about the rider upon the serpent is the evil azazel. in islamic lore, azazel is the same as eblis and considered by other lore as the first star (in reference to any angels) which would reveal him as lucifer. azoth the beginning and end in its spiritual aspect, azoth is a form of life and death. from between comes the possibility of manifestation. ba- the soul in egyptian mythology. when the immortal physically dies, the ba, which is the astral body, lives on within the tomb and beyond. ba may be seen as the evil 34 genius of earth bound force often presented in egyptian lore as a human headed bird. the ba is the psyche and force which exists beyond the veil. balefire ritual fire used in coven gatherings. black flame the illuminated essence of being, the concept th

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY AND SET TYPHON

dered in the developing luciferian gnosis as the adversary, an early form of the adversary. the crocodile god sebak in the egyptian book of the dead draws some aspects similar in nature to set, such as the forms he would take. seemingly, it is considered by the initiatory focus into the symbol and traits of set, verily the greatest of the gods embodied many different aspects and forms in egyptian mythology. seker seems to also be a god associated with the early manifestation of set, in the tuat, one of the tunnels which were under the control of seker were guarded by a serpent with four legs, scorpions, vipers and other winged demons. the arabic word tawfan according to e.a. wallis budge may hold a connection to the name typhon, considering the arabic means storm. apep was known universall

its of his nature are clear. consider the nature of typho as the greeks called him, his nature was of the beast and he corrupted the natural order, the course of nature. set was of this nature as well, an anti-nature in that his spirit was against the natural laws and went forth upon its own course. in the luciferian path, the common element of practice is to forge with your own identification of mythology, your own path against others. that is, by antinomian practice from a spiritual foundation, the adept becomes like set or ahriman, not in any western evil definition, rather in the spiritual sense. the names of the adversary in ancient egypt (as set and apophis) were many, a few examples are: nak, sabau, apophis, suti, baba, smy, hemhemti, pakerbeth, saatet-ta, qerneru, tutu, nesht, hau

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

ict with teleology-oriented id thinking. creationism and intelligent design 17 the final parts of this chapter move to discussion of religion, broadly speaking, in relation to questions of evolution. we begin with discussion of origin myths in general what are they? are they universal? and how similar is the creation story in genesis to origin myths in countless other cultures? creation myths and mythology all cultures of the world have origin myths, or religious stories of how the world, life, and especially human life, or the existence of a particular people, came to be. collected from around the world, these stories constitute rich oral traditions and creative human expressions. they are a form of verbal art, sometimes later written down in religious texts. often, origin myths reflect a

can also provide explanations of why life is as it is or how many things came to be as they are. for example, the nuer people of east africa provide a mythological account of why some people have white skin and others have black skin. here, a high god, kwoth (spirit of the sky, gave europeans white skin as punishment for an act of mother-son incest committed by a pair of their ancestors. in nuer mythology, we also have an explanation for death. at one time there was no death. earth was connected to heaven by a rope; when people became old, they climbed up the rope to reach kwoth in heaven, 18 evolution and religious creation myths where they were rejuvenated and then returned to earth. but then one day a bad hyena managed to climb the rope and reach heaven. kwoth commanded the hyena to ne

olution) as represented by the 10 incarnations (dash avatars) of vishnu, the protector. in addition, as a colleague from hindu india pointed out, the idea of humans descending from a long line of animal ancestors would not be a problem in hinduism, where there is such a high value on animal life and some animals (cows, for example) are considered sacred. one great god, hanuman, is a monkey. hindu mythology is also replete with animals taking human forms and vice versa. in addition, the hindu idea of reincarnation includes humans 26 evolution and religious creation myths reincarnating into animals and animals reincarnating as humans in endless cycles. buddhism buddhism is an offshoot of vedism (the precursor of hinduism) that appeared between 600 and 500 b.c.e. it is traditionally associate

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

ism and conquest of individual will. his own religious viewpoints resembled closely the buddhistic. to him nirvana represented the subjugation of will. life--the manifestation of the blind will to live--he viewed as a misfortune, claiming that the true philosopher was one who, recognizing the wisdom of death, resisted the inherent urge to reproduce his kind. click to enlarge the tree of classical mythology. from hort's the new pantheon. before a proper appreciation of the deeper scientific aspects of greek mythology is possible, it is necessary to organize the greek pantheon and arrange its gods, goddesses, and various superhuman hierarchies in concatenated order. proclus, the great neo-platonist, in his commentaries on the theology of plato, gives an invaluable key to the sequence of the

formul that others, too, might attain to understanding. but, lest these secret processes fall into uncultured hands and be perverted, the great arcanum was always concealed in symbol or allegory; and those who can today discover its lost keys may open with them a treasure house of philosophic, scientific, and religious truths. click to enlarge the orphic egg. from bryant's an analysis of ancient mythology. the ancient symbol of the orphic mysteries was the serpent-entwined egg, which signified cosmos as encircled by the fiery creative spirit. the egg also represents the soul of the philosopher; the serpent, the mysteries. at the time of initiation the shell is broke. and man emerges from the embryonic state of physical existence wherein he had remained through the fetal period of philosop

vehicles. the other sect viewed the demiurgus as being divinely inspired and merely fulfilling the dictates of the invisible lord. some gnostics were of the opinion that the jewish god, jehovah, was the demiurgus. this concept, under a slightly different name, apparently influenced medi val rosicrucianism, which viewed jehovah as the lord of the material universe rather than as the supreme deity. mythology abounds with the stories of gods who partook of both celestial and terrestrial natures. odin, of scandinavia, is a good example of a deity subject to mortality, bowing before the laws of nature and yet being, in certain senses at least, a supreme deity. the gnostic viewpoint concerning the christ is well worthy of consideration. this order claimed to be the only sect to have actual pictu

fter the pious christians had razed the serapeum at alexandria and scattered the demons who dwelt there under the guise of gods, beneath the foundations was found the monogram of christ! two quotations will further establish the relationship existing between the mysteries of serapis and those of other ancient peoples. the first is from richard payne knight's symbolical language of ancient art and mythology "hence varro [in de lingua latina] says that coelum and terra, that is universal mind and productive body, were the great gods of the samothracian mysteries; and the same as the serapis and isis of the later gyptians: the taautos and astarte of the phoenicians, and the saturn and ops of the latins" the second quotation is from albert pike's morals and dogma"'thee' says martianus capella

ahmins, after which they were patterned. the drottars, who symbolized the signs of the zodiac, were the custodians of the arts and sciences, which they revealed to those who passed successfully the ordeals of initiation. like many other pagan cults, the odinic mysteries, as an institution, were destroyed by christianity, but the underlying cause of their fall was the corruption of the priesthood. mythology is nearly always the ritual and the symbolism of a mystery school. briefly stated, the sacred drama which formed the basis of the odinic mysteries was as follows: the supreme, invisible creator of all things was called all-father. his regent in nature was odin, the one-eyed god. like quetzalcoatl, odin was elevated to the dignity of the supreme deity. according to the drottars, the unive

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

ood and evil, the opening of the waters, the flood sweeping the giants away, how they suffered, and died, that race who hated the ruler of us all, and received judgement from his hands, surging waves that found them wherever they fled] beowulf, translated by burton raffel (mentor books u.s.a. 1963- we again find traces of this lore in the norse legend of the giants' revolt, and similarly in greek mythology concerning the gods' dealings with the rebellious titans. it is a persistent theme. the zohar intimates, however, that though most of the giants yielded up their lives in the flood, many of their spirits partaking as they did of the angelic nature of their fathers, proved indestructible, and lived on, invisible yet powerful even in their disembodied state. on occasion, these shades are s

f emergency or until such a time as you have reached a degree of sureness in your practice. the sun and the moon are the two great hands of our cosmic clock. whereas the hour hand or sun governs the seasons of the year, the moon or minute hand governs the sea tides and the hidden workings of the deep mind. as such, this heavenly body rather than the sun is the main concern of witches. in european mythology the sun has always been seen as a symbol of a male divinity, the moon a female one. however, worship of the moon as a supreme deity evolved much earlier than that of the sun. it is said among witches that in england at least the cult of the moon goddess predated the druidic, solar religion, and that it is from this early prytanic religion that four of the great annual witch festivals are

arnuphis, or maybe something really complicated like diancecht, osmandine, or ansuperomin! the choice is yours. you must find one that appeals to you, that calls forth your feeling for the unseen world, gives you a thrill, and frankly makes you feel considerably powerful and no less sinister! should you not wish to use a name from legend, you may try toying with those of the gods and demigods of mythology. greek, roman, norse, celtic whichever you wish. a very good lead in these matters can be provided by finding out your astrological birth sign and planet and looking up the legends that surround them. for instance, if you are an artist or craftsman born under the sign of taurus, you may well decide on the name of daedalus, being that of the wizard-craftsman of king minos, leader of the c

ercury hermes odin thoth" whichever you prefer. the only important thing to remember is that the charm should summon up a mental image in your mind which in some way strikes your fancy and links the work in hand with an idea concerning mercury, such as wisdom, speed, starlight, the air, a crossroads at night, or even one of the classical images of mercury. it might be as well to consult a book of mythology at this point to acquaint yourself with some of mercury's traditional forms and attributes. sample of rune divination showing placement on a horoscope chart when you reach the number 64, finish by "sealing" the talisman with the words "so mote it be" and drawing three crosses in the air with your right forefinger above the paper (this is a very old method of sealing, or benediction, whic

act with mother hertha; a simple desire to worship the powers of love maybe indicates a bias towards the lady habondia. all of these witch beings, whether they are seen as independent entities or aspects of two single deities, possess animals and symbols special to themselves, and it is from these appropriate images that you should draw your coven "totems" and "logo" or composite symbol. books of mythology can be very helpful here- for those of european inclination, the norse myths; the welsh-celtic traditions as presented in the mabinogion, the irish-celtic in the book of the dun cow, the yellow book of lecan, and the book of leinster; and, finally, the matter of britain as presented in such works of the arthurian cycle as the high history of the holy grail, and the like (see the bibliogr

MICHAEL FORD A RITE OF THE WEREWOLF

e witches sabbat -the adversarial foundations of sorceryby michael w. ford to look into the possibilities of models and how one may shape and assist in self-transformation, it is imperative to study and understand the foundations of the very gods which emerge from us. nightside or shadowside as a term is defined in witches sabbat and luciferian9 terminology as averse dreaming practice. in islamic mythology and lore, shaitan is the lord of rebellious spirits, a djinn made of fire. it is this fire10 which leads the individual towards the wall looking down into the abyss, and the infinite possibilities of being. the sorcerer thus begins to adopt the god form of shaitan to master the spirits and djinn of the self all of those elements which command mastery of the self. night is the in-between

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

folklore, the creature would always incarnate in it's old flesh or the flesh of some dead near it. the term ghost would often be used to describe it, despite it's manifestation in a dead body. the draugr was said as well to have the psychic powers of foreseeing the future, controlling weather (which other vampiric beings and witches always seemed to have control over) and shape shifting. in norse mythology the belief in such creatures is frequently encountered. it so seemed that these beings were spawn of hel (2, of which many could not escape from their graves and existed in a similar way to central european nosferatu, nachzehrer and so on. such creatures in norse mythology were called "haugbui" which translates to "barrow, being mound dweller. germany holds a large amount of folklore rel

and sailors, goddess of the crossroads (which would draw a parallel towards baron samedhi of several voudoo traditions, being the lord of the crossroads and the mysteries of death) as well as the sender of nocturnal visions (dreaming visitation. hecate is depicted as a woman or hag with three heads, each facing a different direction. it is said that hecate is seen in all three phases of the moon. mythology has painted a vision of the witch mother with two or sometimes all three heads being that of beasts. each animal represents an atavistic desire which manifests in her current of lunar energy. this power would propel her towards the goddess incarnation of the witch cult and many lines of sorcery. the moon is represented as a significant feminine force, based and connected with the element

n, unpublished. chapter three 1. the devil or baphomet. 2. atavistic resurgence is the recalling of a past ancestral quality, or an obtained one with the karma of another animal. such atavisms appear demonic or bestial. see images and oracles of austin osman spare by kenneth grant. 3. the petro tradition of voodoo is based in the element fire, thus aligned with sex and death workings. in parallel mythology the gods thanatos and eros in union, opposites non-existent in the combination. 4. black isis is the egyptian equivalent of the goddess kali, being a figure of both death and birth. black isis is also a formula which combines the goddesses kali, hecate, lilith and babalon into one specific goddess form. 5. the waking flesh of day side activities. 6. the book of pleasure 7. widdershins is

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

ataclysm .the apache indians tell stories of tunnels between their lands and the city of tiahuan-aco and claim that their ancestors traveled for years by this route. the indian chiefsalso assured that the tunnels were..carved out by rays that destroy the living rock. and that their creators were..beings who live near the stars (from uriel s machine by christopher knight and robertlomas) in celtic mythology, the tuatha de danaan, a powerful tribe of druid warriors,descended into the underworld through what are called the sidhes. we could fill vol-umes with the references of alien visitation in connection with the hollow earth.atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation13 earths first deluge these accounts of the ancients have been dismissed for centuries and often ridiculedand misu

eators who, from that time onward,would consider their first born avowed adversaries. atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation27 chapter 5the race of adam in a late sumerian mythit is declared that men were created to relieve the gods of the oner-ous task of tilling their fields. men were to do that work for them and provide them with foodthrough sacrifice (joseph campbell, occidental mythology)the serpent masters deduced that the first time round they had made a fundamentalmistake. they had given their progeny the same intellectual capacities that they them-selves possessed, which meant their creations also understood all about genetic sci-ence. this time, it was decided that such invaluable knowledge would be completelywithheld and that the biological and cerebral centers of

and above every beast of thefield; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shall you eat all the days of thy life (genesis 3:14) in eve s scene at the treenothing is said to indicate that the serpent who appeared andspoke to her was a deity in his own right, who had been revered in the levant for at leastseven thousand years before the composition of the book of genesis (joseph campbell,occidental mythology)the appellation satan, in hebrewbelongs by right to the first and cruelest adversary ofall other godsjehovah, not in the serpent which spoke only words of sympathy and wisdom.(madame helena petrovna blavatsky)woman have always been marginalized and degraded in post-diluvian times, because oftheir allegiance to the first born. the book of genesis reveals the intense hatred that thebent on

reduce them any more. behold it, the(eye) will be stronger than all the gods. it has mastered those who dwellest at the ends of theearth, it is sovereign over every god. they will fall howling on their faces, all mankind willcringe beneath you and your might, they will respect you when they behold you in vigorousform which the master of the primeval gods gave you. this same eye turns up in irish mythology as balors evil eye, which needed tobe operated, that is, opened and closed by balors nine specially trained bodyguards.the descriptions clearly relate to some kind of lethal device.the world falls dead42atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation the celtic legends are very lucid in respect to magical weaponry and powers. we readof weapons of strange power and magical properties

ater. they ask for the waters to be gathered for they only have a little garden onwhich to dwell (p. 374)the miztec barbariansthey considered themselves descendants of the fallen ones from the sky.the fire of the godsthe legends speak of certain chosen mortals that would be transformed into gods once they had enteredinto a special flame or light. there is a clear legend relating this in the aztec mythology (see p. 215)the four ages of the quichesclearly mentions the coming of a time when advanced gods walked the planet, populated the earth andwere with great intelligence but without conscience.the babyloniansin the babylonian genesis tablets we have the same references to the man or people who, after the greatdisaster, divided the heavens into constellations, and regulated, that is, discov

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

ness. so it is done and the ritual is complete. 67 the ritual of fearsome rays the astral body of the beast as previously mentioned, the vampyre magickian who wants to drain astral energy to the highest effect should consider doing so in a seductive or terrifying aspect. if it is terrifying, one should consider taking the form as a beast/demonic figure from the traditional demonic descriptions of mythology. if going forth to drink from another, the ritual of fearsome rays will align your mind set with tiamat the dragon mother of vampires. have a mirror in front of your altar, which you can glare into. you will also want to have the sigil of varcolaci- astwihad above it or somehow attached to it, symbolizing the power of the predator. this mirror represents the gateway to lilith, our bestia

and shaitan. azazel is a name of lucifer, who is the solar aspect of the dragon, the bringer of light. azhi [avestan/pahlavi] serpent, snake azhi dahaka [avestan/pahlavi] the son of angra mainyu/ahriman. azhi dahaka as the storm fiend has six eyes, three heads and three pairs of fangs. in human form, he was zohak, an ancient babylonian/scythian/assyrian king or shah, who according to zoroastrian mythology, was transformed into the immortal storm fiend by a pact with ahriman. azhi dahaka is said to be filled with serpents, scorpions, toads and other insects and reptiles. azothoz a sigillic word formula which represent the golden dawn definition of the beginning and end, alpha and omega. azothoz is a reversed form which is a symbol and glyph of the adversary, shaitan/set and lilith. this is

the shadow by dream and ritual, growing stronger. the eye is both a symbol of vampirism and luciferian practice, predatory 88 spirituality. vampirism is based in the foundations of early egyptian texts and charles darwin theories of natural selection. not referring to the religion of vampirism. see predatory spiritualism. yatukih [avestan/pahlavi] term denoting relevance of sorcery within persian mythology. directly relating to the title of the practice of ahrimanic/satanic sorcery and the practitioner in a modern sense. see yatuk dinoih. yatuk dinoih [avestan/pahlavi] witchcraft and sorcery. the development and practice of adversarial and opposing sorcery to encircle the witch or wizard in self-developed energy. the principle of darkness and the deva/druj (demon) worship of this sect was

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

alifications go, aside from being the maker of a little-known documentary series called "hollywood insiders" i have none. nor will i claim that all recorded here is true. but without the mind of god, all you'll ever know are but shades of the truth. if you can't be content with that arrangement (god's glorious prank, at least get used to it! as for "what" this book is, it is a revisionist look at mythology and the occult. it is the compilation of occult knowledge derived from numerous sources. written here is a story i don't relish telling. you will find yourself disagreeing. often "prove it" you'll say, demanding that i use quotes from well-known sources to support my claims and deductions. i m afraid i cannot indulge you at every turn. what good are regurgitated thoughts? what good is th

, accepted the assertions of psychologists regarding these ancient tales. the gate-keepers of psychology, men like sigmund freud and carl jung, have suggested that the stories told by ancient man are no more than symbolic retellings of the conflict occurring in the psyches of the individual. they reason that the gods of ancient man are no more than different aspects of the self. for example, each mythology seems to have at least 1 good god, and one trickster or villain god, and these 2 gods represent the internal (and external) battle of good versus evil within the heart of the every individual. with the wild tales of mythology being food for the incredulous, and often describing impossible happenings, this view of mythology is understandable. this interpretation of mythology, that mytholo

planation. the gapping hole in this reasoning comes from the incredible consistencies woven into man s many creation stories. these consistencies are so numerous and remarkable that they invite the curious mind to explore them if for no other reason than to explain the similarities away. since the internal conflict in the hearts and minds of man can be symbolized by any implements, and since each mythology is retold in a way peculiar to that civilization, it s curious that ancient man would still tell a collective story regarding creation and history. the most well-known and prototypical of these creation stories comes from the bible. in the first book of the bible, god creates the universe, earth, animals, and humanity in 6 days, resting on the seventh day. the first 2 humans, named adam

g choice considering that the serpent is mostly instinctual. egypt, a civilization dating back to 2500bc (allegedly, also has a pantheon of gods associated with the serpent. in fact it is nearly unheard of for an egyptian god to be depicted without a serpent. even the pharaohs (kings) of egypt wore a ureaus on their headpiece. the ureaus was a serpent which symbolized the immortals. gods of greek mythology are likewise associated, and often depicted, with snakes. meanwhile, here in the new world, the mythologies of the mayans, aztecs, incas, and native americans is replete with serpent symbolism. hinduism, the prevailing religion of india, is yet another religion whose gods are consistently associated with snakes. in china, and the whole of the orient, the immortal gods are connected to, o

(2500bc, allegedly, a man named utnapishtim is warned by the god ea that another god enlil intends to flood the earth. utnapishtim then built a massive boat, and loaded his wife and 2 of every creature aboard. as the flood began to subside, utnapishtim released a dove, as noah did, to see if there was dry land nearby. and like noah from the bible, the boat finally rested on a mountain. in chinese mythology, gong the serpent-looking water god, wanted to expand his sphere of influence and so contrived to flood the world. gong nearly succeeded but was stopped by the righteous god zurong. in greek mythology, zeus is enraged by the evil mankind was partaking in and so therefore plotted to destroy everything on earth in a great flood. but wily prometheus warned a man named deucalion, who builds

MORALS AND DOGMA

experience or science, or that which degrades the character of the deity, and would make him revengeful, malignant, cruel, or unjust. a man's faith is as much his own as his reason is. his freedom consists as much in his faith being free as in his will being uncontrolled by power. all the priests and augurs of rome or greece had not the right to require cicero or socrates to believe in the absurd mythology of the vulgar. all the imaums of mohammedanism have not the right to require a pagan to believe that gabriel dictated the koran to the prophet. all the brahmins that ever lived, if assembled in one conclave like the cardinals, could not gain a right to compel a single human being to believe in the hindu cosmogony. no man or body of men _can_ be infallible, and authorized to decide what o

word _noble_ or _free-born: khur_ meaning _white, noble. it also means the opening of a window, the socket of the eye _khri_ also means _white, or an _opening; and _khris, the orb of the sun, in _job_ viii. 13 and x. 7 _krishna_ is the hindu sun-god _khur, the parsi word, is the literal name of the sun. from _kur_ or _khur, the sun, comes khora, a name of lower egypt. the sun, bryant says in his mythology, was called _kur; and plutarch says that the persians called the sun _kuros. kurios, lord, in greek, like _adona, lord, in ph nician and hebrew, was applied to the sun. many places were sacred to the sun, and called _kura, kuria, kuropolis, kurene, kureschata, kuresta, and _corusia_ in scythia. the egyptian deity called by the greeks"_horus" was _her-ra. or _har-oeris, hor_ or _har, the

ver, in every direction, with a handwriting older and more significant and sublime than all the ancient ruins and all the overthrown and buried cities that past generations have left upon the earth; for it is the handwriting of the almighty. a mason's great business with life is to read the book of its teaching; to find that life is not the doing of drudgeries, but the hearing of oracles. the old mythology is but a leaf in that book; for it peopled the world with spiritual natures; and science, many-leaved, still spreads before us the same tale of wonder. we shall be just as happy hereafter, as we are pure and upright, and no more, just as happy as our character prepares us to be, and no more. our moral, like our mental character, is not formed in a moment; it is the habit of our minds; th

erly upon the beliefs and doctrines of the east--the jews and egyptians, before then the most exclusive of all peoples, yielded to that eclecticism which prevailed among their masters, the greeks and romans. under the same influences of toleration, even those who embraced christianity, mingled together the old and the new, christianity and philosophy, the apostolic teachings and the traditions of mythology. the man of intellect, devotee of one system, rarely displaces it with another in all its purity. the people take such a creed as is offered them. accordingly, the distinction between the esoteric and the exoteric doctrine, immemorial in other creeds, easily gained a foothold among many of the christians; and it was held by a vast number, even during the preaching of paul, that the writi

th devised this faith; that the ideas, conceptions, or manifestations of the deity were so many creations, so many beings, all god, nothing without him, but more than what we now understand by the word _ideas. they emanated from and were again merged in god. they had a kind of middle existence between our modern ideas, and the intelligences or ideas, elevated to the rank of genii, of the oriental mythology. these personified attributes of deity, in the theory of basilides, were the [greek??t] or _first-born [greek[_nous_ or _mind: from it emanates [greek[_logos, or the word] from it [greek: f??s[_phronesis, intellect: from it [greek: s?f?a[_sophia, wisdom: from it [greek ?a[_dunamis, power: and from it [greek??a??s[_dikaiosune, righteousness: to which latter the jews gave the name of [gree

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

, protected on either side by the letter of air, and followed by the letter of fire twice over. he declares himself, in this verse 7, the "minister of hoor-paar kraat" hoor-paar-kraat, or harpocrates, the "babe in the egg of blue, is not merely the god of silence in the conventional sense. he represents the higher self, the holy guardian angel. the connection is with the symbolism of the dwarf in mythology. he contains everything in himself, but is unmanifested. see chapter two, verse 8. he is the first letter of the alphabet, aleph, whose number is one, and his card in the tarot is the fool, numbered zero. aleph is attributed to the "element (in the old classification of things) of air. now, as one, or aleph, he represents the male principle, the first cause, and the free breath of life

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

livened by the sweet strains of apollo's lyre, whilst the beautiful voices of the muses poured forth their rich melodies to his harmonious accompaniment. magnificent temples were erected to their honour, where they were worshipped with the greatest solemnity; rich gifts were presented to them, and animals, and indeed sometimes human beings, were sacrificed on their altars. in the study of grecian mythology we meet with some [9]curious, and what may at first sight appear unaccountable notions. thus we hear of terrible giants hurling rocks, upheaving mountains, and raising earthquakes which engulf whole armies; these ideas, however, may be accounted for by the awful convulsions of nature, which were in operation in pre-historic times. again, the daily recurring phenomena, which to us, who kn

o his music supernatural influence over animate and inanimate nature. thus we hear of wild beasts tamed, of mighty rivers arrested in their course, and of mountains being moved by the sweet tones of his voice. the theory here advanced may possibly prove useful in the future, in suggesting to the reader the probable basis of many of the extraordinary accounts we meet with in the study of classical mythology. and now a few words will be necessary concerning the religious beliefs of the romans. when the greeks first settled in italy they found in the country they colonized a mythology belonging to the celtic inhabitants, which, according to the greek custom of paying reverence to all gods, known or unknown, they readily adopted, selecting and appropriating those divinities which had the great

nhabitants, which, according to the greek custom of paying reverence to all gods, known or unknown, they readily adopted, selecting and appropriating those divinities which had the greatest affinity to their own, and thus they formed a religious belief which naturally bore the impress of its ancient greek source. as the primitive celts, however, were a less civilized people than the greeks, their mythology was of a more barbarous character, and this circumstance, combined with the fact that the romans were not gifted with the vivid imagination of their greek neighbours, leaves its mark on the roman mythology, which is far less fertile in fanciful conceits, and deficient in all those fairy-like stories and wonderfully poetic ideas which so strongly characterize that of the greeks. origin of

ill be seen that the realm of each of these gods was enveloped in mystery. olympus was shrouded in mists, hades was wrapt in gloomy darkness, and the sea was, and indeed still is, a source of wonder and deep interest. hence we see that what to other nations were merely strange phenomena, served this poetical and imaginative people as a foundation upon which to build the wonderful stories of their mythology. the division of the world being now satisfactorily arranged, it would seem that all things ought to have gone on smoothly, but such was not the case. trouble arose in an unlooked-for quarter. the giants, those hideous monsters (some with legs formed of serpents) who had sprung from the earth and the blood of uranus, declared war against the triumphant deities of olympus, and a struggle

is unhappy condition, exerted her divine power, and changed him into a grasshopper, which is, as it were, all voice, and whose monotonous, ceaseless chirpings may not inaptly be compared to the meaningless babble of extreme old age. phoebus-apollo. phoebus-apollo, the god of light, prophecy, music, poetry, and the arts and sciences, is by far the noblest conception within the whole range of greek mythology, and his worship, which not only extended to all the states of greece, but also to asia minor and to every greek colony throughout the world, stands out among the most ancient and strongly-marked features of grecian history, and page 74 exerted a more decided influence over the greek nation, than that of any other deity, not excepting zeus himself. apollo was the son of zeus and leto, an

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

and woman and the cosmic serpent. the fon call this serpent aido-hwedo, and he carried the creator in his mouth when the world was made. aido-hwedo is said to have accompanied the first man and woman to earth. introduction 7 our notion of time, the limited time of creation, is merely a trick of ahura mazda s to limit the power of ahriman. at the end of time, all will be purified, and as in norse mythology a fresh, new creation will arise. the flood just as many mythologies look forward to the destruction of this world in a catastrophe, such as the norse cataclysm called ragnarok, so many record a time, within this creation, when the gods grew angry with humankind, and attempted to destroy them with a flood. the biblical story of the deluge is one of many such accounts, and owes much to th

may be tricksters who introduce an element of chance, play, and humor into humanity s relationship with the gods. obatala, the creator, is hymned by the yoruba as the father of laughter, who rests in the sky like a swarm of bees. the mandans believe that first creator actually turned into the trickster god coyote. such tricksters, whose mischief may lead them into wickedness, are found throughout mythology, from the greek dionysus to the norse loki to the japanese susano (see pp. 58, 69, and 123. but another theme is the creator s care for the beings he has made. it is this care that leads vishnu, the hindu preserver of the world, to take on his many avatar forms in order to help humanity in times of crisis. his final avatar, kalkin, the white horse, will appear at the end of this era, to

ching for her husband, osiris (see p. 16. in the egyptian story the prince dies, but in the greek, the boy, triptolemus, becomes a benefactor of humankind a cultural hero when demeter gave him grain, a plow, and the knowledge of agriculture to teach to humankind. triptolemus had his own cult and temple at eleusis. the role of the gods in giving the gift of knowledge to humankind is found in every mythology. greek prometheus, aboriginal ancestors, mandan lone man, aztec quetzalcoatl, polynesian maui all are revered for teaching us how to live in the world. alongside such figures stand the heroes who teach us by their example their bravery, virtues, persistence and, sometimes, their flaws. the exploits of the greek heroes such as heracles and theseus, who are half-human, half-divine (see pp

om the primeval waters of nun. she created the gods by saying their names, and then (in cow form) gave birth to the all-powerful re. re was born in an egg, and when he emerged from the egg he was dazzled by the light, and cried: mankind was formed from his tears. nun, fertility of the nile the god nun, who represents the primeval waters or flood, holds up the barque of the sun. to some extent the mythology of ancient egypt simply reflects the land of egypt itself. egypt was described by the greek historian herodotus as the gift of the nile, and without the annual flooding of the nile, which made a strip either side of the river fertile, egypt could not have survived. the importance of the sun god s journey from east to west, and the primeval flood represented by the god nun, is clear. horu

d them to create a being to venture into the land of death and revive ishtar with the food and water of life. so ishtar was brought back to life, but she had to pay a price. for six months of each year, tammuz must live in the land of the dead. while he is there, ishtar laments his loss; when he rises in the spring, all rejoice. ahura mazda and ahriman 20 ahura mazda and ahrima n in the dualistic mythology of zoroastrianism, twin brothers ahura mazda, who lived in the light, and ahriman, who lurked in the dark, are in opposition. between them there was nothing but air. the twins were born from the god zurvan, time, the ultimate being who existed in the primal void. ahura mazda, the wise and all-knowing, created the sun, moon, and stars. he brought into being the good mind that works within

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

-god ptah. gthe priests at memphis kept a real bull that was thoguht be the god fs living image. the bull lived in luxurious accomodations near the temple of ptah, and at regular festivals the egyptian upper classes were allowed to come and view the bull. when the bull died, it was mummified in a solemn ceremony and buried in underground catacombs h (philip wilkinson, dk illustrated dictionary of mythology [london: dorling kindersley, 1998, pp. 31, 35. the arizal on parashat beshalach (2) 11 rather [g-d] acted with mercy at the sea, and judged [the jews] only according to their deeds at that time. thus, the word for gwill be silent h is written without [an expected] yud, so that it may be read, gthe ox descended, h i.e, in order to assist in their salvation. in fact, in our text of the bib

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

ded to study this ritual again and again, until almost it becomes a part of his very life, incorporated into the fabric of his being, for herein are highly important and significant formulae of mystical aspiration and of practical magic. in it is exemplified the technical "dying god formula about which in the golden bough frazer has written so eloquently. examples of this are to be found in every mythology and every mystical <68> religion that our world has ever known. but i doubt that it has ever attained to a more clarified and definite espression than in this ceremony of the adeptus minor grade. for we are clearly taught by precept and by example that we are, in essence, gods of great power and spirituality who died to the land of our birth in the garden of hesperides, and mystically dy

s-urania temple on july 2,1900, called "the qlippoth of the qabalah (and reprinted in the sorcerer and his apprentice, by ra. gilbert. h.s. zhere is a powerful key to the magical cosmogony of the secret tradition operating in the darkness and silence behind the inner order of the golden dawn. for insight into these matters, go to book five, page 150-151 of vol. 111, and study the egyptian-gnostic mythology behiid the opening exordium and particular exordium of the z-documents. then you can profit by pursuing florence fam (s.s.d.d, book on egyptian mngic, and from there to the gnostic religion by hans jonas. h.s. ritual of the portal 203 3rd ad. gives phil. candle and takes his station on the left hand of phil. 2nd ad. honoured frater pharos illuminans, we are here assembled to open for you

ods the symbolism of the four genii of the hall of the neophytes by g. h. fratrseu b spe in a temple of the grade of neophyte, the four gods, ameshet, ahephi, tmoumathaph, kabexnuf, said also to be vice-gerants of the elements, and answering to the rivers of eden as drawn in the warrant of the temple, are said to rule in the four comers of the hall between the stations of the kerubim. in egyptian mythology, these gods are also said to be the children of horus, and to partake of his symbology. if now, we regard the neophyte ceremony as representing the entrance into a new life, regeneration -mors janua vitae- the egyptian symbology wherein that idea was so clearly and exactly worked out becomes important. bear in mind that a new life means a new plane or a higher world, a passing, say, from

her world, a passing, say, from the kether of assiah to the malkuth of yetzirah. now as behind kether depend the veils of the negative existence: ain, ain soph and ain soph aour, so through negative existence must pass the soul that goes from assiah to yetzirah, or vice-versa. this process is illustrated by the neophyte ceremony as described in 2-3, and as seen by the clairvoyant eye. in egyptian mythology, the dead, when the ceremonies are complete, the soul weighed and passed, the body mummied and preserved from corruption, became one with osiris, and is called an osirian. hence, the hierophant, who represents osiris when the candidate is placed in the north, speaks to him in the character of his higher soul "the voice of my undying and secret soul said unto me" etc. osiris, however, is

dy of columba. 0'-10' of u y feet of canis major, prow argo, part equuleus pictoris. 10"-20" of d legs of canis major. part of prow of argo. 20'-30' of 0 hind quarters of canis major, part of prow of argo. 0"-10" of c3 q prow argo. tail canis major. 10"-20" of o prow of argo. 20"-30" of d prow of argo (note: that while the greater number of the northern constellations are connected with classical mythology, the titles of many of the southern constellations, and especially of those near the south pole, are of more <229> or less recent nomenclature, and bear witness to absence of reference to occult knowledge; such names for instance as reticulum, and caelum scluptoris, odans, etc.-s.r.m.d. recapitulation in the dominion of the various forces, the rule of each may be divided into three porti

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

rent category to the seers, and do not seem to receive aid from the subterranean or underworld the aim of the commentary although the secret commonwealth is only a short book, making a detailed and properly cross-referred commentary upon kirk's thesis would be a monumental task, fit to occupy the work of a polymath scholar, or perhaps a number of scholars from varied disciplines such as folklore, mythology, celtic studies, and jacobean and carolingian literature, science and history, for a number of years. such a project is well beyond the scope and intention of the present author. having considered the prospect of rendering the original text into modern english for the general reader, yet without seriously detracting from the charm and skill of the original it remained to establish a set

iry ally first: he may be deliberately scaling his descriptions, for the higher forms of the co-walker and prophetic ally are described later in the text. the concept of interaction and polarity or mirroring, which is central to fairy and underworld traditions, is introduced immediately in this, at first humble, context (page 22: when we have plenty, they have scarcity at their homes. in terms of mythology and folklore we have two possible sources of derivation for these lower orders of fairy described by kirk: the first is that of the range or hierarchy of fairy entities and helpers, of which he gives further examples in more exalted circumstances. a parallel is found in the simple household gods of pagan cultures: small shrines and offerings were kept in roman households, for example, to

fairies are frequently associated with death and events surrounding death, though kirk takes pains to separate the fairies, with their own orders and tribes and polity (page 28) and the spirits or departed souls of dead humans. the use of the phrase middle-earth is worth noting, both in its use by kirk and its preservations in scottish-english dialect and early english. in norse and scandinavian mythology15 the term is used for the middle world, that of humans. the concept is rooted in a primal magical cosmology of three worlds: over-world, middle- world and under-world. humans dwell in the middle-world, certain gods and goddesses, angels, and divine messengers or spirits in the over-world, while other deities, fairies and ancestral spirits dwell in the under-world. at its simplest level

t, therefore he includes science and firm analysis and discussion, with irrefutable biblical evidence. we need to remember that the bible http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_112.htm (5 of 9 [10/9/2001 12:36:43 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 112-121) was taken literally by most people of the seventeenth century, and that to suggest that most of it was a carefully edited reworking of mythology and semitic folklore would have been shocking, sacrilegious and, of course, punishable. furthermore, no such commentary 118 sacrilegious thought was ever in kirk's mind: he was a deeply christian priest, seeking the fusion of undeniable seership and healing powers with the christian spiritual revelation and code of ethics. kirk suggests the ancient division of good, evil, and intermediat

angle or nangle: adamnan, in his life of columba, records that the saint opened his books and 'read them on the hill of the angels, where once on a time the citizens of the heavenly country were seen to descend to hold conversation with the blessed man. upon this his editor comments 'this is the knoll called "great fairies hill. not far away is the "little fairies hill. the fairies hills of pagan mythology became angels hills in the minds of the early christian saints' one may be permitted to question whether this metamorphosis really occurred, and whether the idea of angels or angles is not actually older than even the onslows or ange lows. the irish trinity of st patrick, st bride, and st columba, are said all to lie buried in one spot at dunence, and the place-name dunence seemingly imp

RUBY TABLET OF SET

rich, fertile earth upon the ground. each force of nature, each personality, was given a name, a face, and a story. the most powerful stories, faces, and names are those that belong to the creator gods. there are so many creator gods, that it's really difficult to pin down an actual order of precedence. this brings up the fact that there are many apparently conflicting stories within the egyptian mythology. the grand master pointed out that in several egyptian myths, shu and tefnut are selfcreated. in others they were created by tears of the master creator god (whoever he happened to be according to the story teller. in yet others they were created by the master god's masturbation. shu and tefnut by definition are the first male and female. the master god's masturbation in these latter sto

e master god's masturbation in these latter stories was always male masturbation, but shu is the first male. shu and tefnut begat geb and nut, but nut was the all-pervasive universal sky that preceded the first god. this confusion is the result of centuries of egyptian story telling, and while some of it appears to be contraditory, most of it is useful. we certainly must hesitate to consider this mythology as one consistent symbolism, and must be careful if we wish to communicate consistent meanings using these symbols, but we have found value in this mythology. each story is a different way of looking at the world, a different way of looking at the first cause, and of looking at the symbols. by using these symbols, we can then indicate not only a symbol, but also which way we are looking

c movement of the 1800s dramatized the christian devil as a heroic, miltonian symbol, thus setting the stage for the eventual formation of the church of satan in 1966. the temple of set was founded in 1975 by the international priesthood of the church of satan to supersede that institution (whose founder, anton lavey, had announced intentions to commercialize it. simultaneously the anti-christian mythology and orientation of the church of satan were discarded in favor of the completely distinct character of the original egyptian priesthood of set. the temple of set was incorporated as a non-profit church in california in 1975, and qualified for u.s. federal and state tax- exempt status that same year. basic beliefs: the temple considers itself to be consecrated by and dedicated to set, ori

use with ease when encountering the barbs of the right hand path. in analyzing the commonly known ancient religions, i found the following basic characteristics to appear consistently in each. these four categories have proven useful in quickly analyzing any system for purposes of discussion, or to simply form a picture for future reference: 1) deities, 2) mysteries, 3) initiatory states, and 4) mythology. while examining these four areas, keep in mind the basic question 'what does this religion do for the individual' a brief explanation of these follows, and then this model is applied consecutively to paganism, neo-paganism, christianity, judaism, and setianism. the purpose is to assist the setian in communicating clearly and confidently with people who have divergent religious viewpoint

o-paganism, christianity, judaism, and setianism. the purpose is to assist the setian in communicating clearly and confidently with people who have divergent religious viewpoints. the passionate world of apologetics is one that someday will involve every setian, perhaps in their own home. but if one looks for basic concepts such as these four categories: deities, mysteries, initiatory states, and mythology, plus considering the basic question, it is far easier to try to sort out the morass of religious differences to discuss them rationally. it isn't necessary to be well versed in any other religion either. just kindly question the opponent, and then fit those responses to the appropriate category, never forgetting the most basic question: what is the goal of this system for the individual

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

ke a wild man to the rhythm of the crowd's chanting _we shall fight, we shall win, long live ho chi minh "saladin started yelling at me to get off, partly because the crowd was full of special branch types converging on the limo, but mainly because he was so damn embarrassed" but he kept leaping, up higher and down harder, drenched to the bone, long hair flying: jumpy the jumper, leaping into the mythology of those antique years. and wilson and marcia cowered in the back seat _ho! ho! ho chi minh_ at the last possible moment jumpy took a deep breath, and dived head-first into a sea of wet and friendly faces; and vanished. they never caught him: fuzz pigs filth "saladin wouldn't speak to me for over a week" jumpy remembered "and when he did, all he said was 'i hope you realize those cops co

SATANIC BIBLE

are the weak whose insecurity makes them vile, for they shall serve and suffer! 13. the angel of self-deceit is camped in the souls of the "righteous- the eternal flame of power through joy dwelleth within the flesh of the satanist (air) the book of lucifer the enlightenment the roman god, lucifer, was the bearer of light, the spirit of the air, the personification of enlightenment. in christian mythology he became synonymous with evil, which was only to have been expected from a religion whose very existence is perpetuated by clouded definitions and bogus values! it is time to set the record straight. false moralisms and occult inaccuracies must be corrected. entertaining as they might be, most stories and plays about devil worship must be recognized as the obsolete absurdities they are

SATANIC RITUALS

hrall to the orthodox church. if questions were asked, the answer was invariably that russian black magic was either nonexistent or a discipline cloaked in christian euphemism. the latter assumption is, of course, the most accurate. there is no culture more steeped in dark forces and deities than the slavonic in general and the russian in particular. the proportion of satanic entities in slavonic mythology far exceeds the usual quota. what is remarkable is that, unlike die shunned forces of darkness so often encountered in mythology and religion, russian devils were regarded with great reverence and/or enjoyment. for this reason, the christian church had a very difficult time fighting the devil in its eastern rite. the persistence of satan, especially among the muzhiks (peasants, in the ea

the russian equivalent of pan, provided fecundity and was particularly honored in spring during the initial sowing. zorya, patroness of warriors, rode out on her black hone accompanying pyerun, and offered protection and invisibility beneath her long veil as it trailed in the wind-the wind provided by stribog, who was also a wrathful deity. though the dualistic principles common to most primitive mythology were present in pre-christian russian myths, the dark side (tchomibog) distinctly predominated. the white god, byelobog (not an enemy of the black god, incidentally; both were considered essential, found greatest favor in white russia, where his gentle attributes-he guided lost travelers and helped weary peasants with their work in the fields-were welcome. as was to be expected, the chri

SATANICON

n afford us the opportunity to herald the word of satan. we must propagate the satanic doctrines to those who can hear those who have the intelligence, self-knowledge, and the will to stand and take action against the xian church and its masses. the times of opportunity are with us; it s time to expose xianity for what it truly is: a religion based upon outrageous falsehoods and utterly fantastic mythology; a religion which gains adherents through guilt and fear; a religion which defies reason and logic! as antichrists we must work to destroy the very foundation of its existence: faith! we must educate our children about the falsehoods and dangers of the doctrines of deceit and their insidious effects upon man throughout history. through the communication of our truth; the establishment of

st noble beast whose number is 666 that invisible (and perhaps indiscernible) number spoken of in revelation this requires wisdom. for those who have perception the ascension of satan in the third year of the age of evil as a religious philosopher of evil, i don t fell the need to stay within a strict set of traditional rules (isn t that an affliction of xianity) regarding our satan/reality-based mythology and symbolism. it s time we evolve (an inability of xianity) into a new phase of religious reverence: satan will be actively represented and recognized by more than the one traditional aspect of fire. it s only proper and becoming that he be symbolized also by the nightsky, darkness moreover, as our apocalyptic creed continues its prophetic trek, it s also time we symbolically, and liter

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

oral code, or rules for good behavior. they were loyal to friends and family, honest, and brave. about a century later, the poet hesiod, in his poems called the theogony (a family tree of the gods) and works and days established the olympian gods at the 210 world religions: almanac greco-roman religion and philosophy center of greek religion. similarly, two roman poets created a mixed greco-roman mythology and pantheon of gods by adapting the greek myths. these two writers were virgil (70 19 bce) and ovid (43 bce 17 ce. virgil was the author of the aeneid, a kind of sequel to homer s iliad, which tells the tale of aeneas and the founding of rome, while ovid is best known for the metamorphoses, an epic collection and expansion ot greek and roman myths. the olympian gods remained at the cent

these numerical relationships. italy was also home to the eleatic school, named for the location of its major thinkers in elea, italy. some say the founder of this tradition was xenophanes (c. 570 c. 480 bce) of colophon. others give credit to parmenides (born c. 511 bce. xenophanes was the first of the so-called pantheists, who found god in everything. for him, the deities of greek religion and mythology were misrepresentations of the reality of the universe. god, he insisted, was in no way similar to the humanlike pantheon of greek deities. rather, god had no physical being and was eternal and universal. parmenides, on the other hand, argued that being itself was the one and only constant reality. all changes were simply illusions of the senses. therefore, only the use of reason, withou

was forbidden from looking behind himself on his way back to the surface. orpheus was unable to keep from looking back and as a result lost euridice forever. just like the eleusinian mysteries, the orphic mysteries celebrated a process of death and rebirth, offering its initiates a chance at life beyond death. the greek gods and goddesses are shown at their home on mount olympus. greek and roman mythology had a lasting impact on the arts and literature. arte& immagini srl/corbis. world religions: almanac 225 greco-roman religion and philosophy while historians know of other mystery cults active in ancient greece, such as the pythagorean mysteries, details are sketchy or missing. one exception to this was the cult of dionysius. a fertility god, dionysius was honored by rituals fully as uni

s and large tombstones erected. sad songs were sung and played on instruments as the body was put into the ground. later in roman history, however, these funerals were held only at night so as to discourage too many people from attending. the souls of the dead were called lares, and the romans believed that they watched over and protected the household. greco-romanism s influences greek and roman mythology has had a lasting effect in the modern world, especially in literature and art. without these sources, such works as the divine comedy by dante alighieri (1265 1321) or the faerie queen by edmund spenser (c. 1552 1599, or even the works of william shakespeare (1564 1616) would be unthinkable, for all of them borrowed themes from mythology. sigmund freud (1856 1939, the founder of psychoa

that of gods. imbolc: neo-pagan holiday generally held on february 2 to mark the lengthening of the days and the emergence of the world from winter. lughnasadh: neo-pagan harvest festival on august 1. mabon: neo-pagan celebration of the autumn equinox; the completion of the harvest season. magick: the ability to focus mental and physical energies to affect the natural world or to achieve a goal. mythology: the collected stories of a culture or religion, especially those dealing with the origins, heroes, gods, and beliefs of a group of people. neo-paganism: a term referring to modern religions based on ancient pagan religions. ostara: neo-pagan holiday held at the time of the spring equinox. sabbat: holidays practiced by wiccans throughout the year, including the summer and winter solstice

SET IN EGYPTIAN THEOLOGY

l used to symbolize set actually is. since the sages of ancient egypt did not use an unrecognizable creature to represent any other major deity, we may guess that this is intentional, and points, like the tcham sceptre, to an esoteric meaning. references: budge, e.a. wallis. the gods of the egyptians. grant, kenneth. cults of the shadow. graves, robert. the white goddess. ions, veronica. egyptian mythology. massey, gerald. the natural genesis. russell, jeffrey burton. the devviset it straight! by denytenamun this article discusses set as portrayed in ancient egypt and as understood in the modern day temple of set. this was denytenamun's first article on set. every setian is sooner or later bound to form some sort of opinion on the entity whose name s/he has taken as a part of her/himself

SIFRA DETZNIYUTHA

the great sabbath by jews, christians, and muslims. 30 these twelve hours are the hours spent by the letters in atziluth alone i.e. witness states of alef worlds. 31 isaiah 2:17. 23 32 this serpent, or leviathan, is an allusion to the border of the tzimtzum (circular contraction, the totality of the chayot: n, s, e, w, up, down. this serpent is also called ananta in sanskrit, and astrid in roman mythology. 33 psalms 74:14. 34 thaninim is indicated to be singular, with the letter indicating the plural form missing. 35 ezekiel 1:22. these chayot are the directional sefiroth traveling at the velocity of light in a four dimensional space-time continuum. 36 torah b reshith 1: 3. 37 avh (he) is pronounced hoo. 38 psalms 33:9, yhyv and it was. 39 the letters yhyv are transposed into y vhy. 40 in

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

desolate, gloomy villages which are found in the interior of the neapolitan dominions: and now he came upon a small chapel on one side the road, with a gaudily painted image of the virgin in the open shrine. around this spot, which, in the heart of a christian land, retained the vestige of the old idolatry (for just such were the chapels that in the pagan age were dedicated to the demon-saints of mythology, gathered six or seven miserable and squalid wretches, whom the curse of the leper had cut off from mankind. they set up a shrill cry as they turned their ghastly visages towards the horseman; and, without stirring from the spot, stretched out their gaunt arms, and implored charity in the name of the merciful mother! glyndon hastily threw them some small coins, and, turning away his face

s to the sense. what pliny tells us of a great painter of old, is true of most great painters "their works express something beyond the works "more felt than understood" this belongs to the concentration of intellect which high art demands, and which, of all the arts, sculpture best illustrates. take thorwaldsen's statue of mercury, it is but a single figure, yet it tells to those conversant with mythology a whole legend. the god has removed the pipe from his lips, because he has already lulled to sleep the argus, whom you do not see. he is pressing his heel against his sword, because the moment is come when he may slay his victim. apply the principle of this noble concentration of art to the moral writer: he, too, gives to your eye but a single figure; yet each attitude, each expression

SIR WALLIS BUDGE EGYPTIAN MAGIC

me conspicuous place in a courtyard or in a house to protect the building and its inmates from the attacks of hostile beings, visible and invisible, and its power was believed to be invincible. there is not a god of any importance whose figure is not on it, and there is not a demon, or evil animal or reptile, who is not depicted upon it in a vanquished state; the knowledge of the ancient egyptian mythology p. 152 and the skill shewn by the designer of this talisman are very remarkable. the small cippi of horus contain nothing but extracts from the scenes and texts which we find on the "metternichstele" and it, or similar objects, undoubtedly formed the source from which so many of the figures of the strange gods which are found on gnostic gems were derived. certain of the figures of the go

SPENSER THE CULT OF THE ALL SEEING EYE 1960

ce. in the encircled serpent (howey, op. cit, the chapter on the caduceus contains references (page 72) to the ancient use of the symbol without wings, as seen in the mural. the caduceus is also the symbol of peace, the propaganda term associated with the u.n. the serpents are male and female; the sun-god and the moon-god; and are symbols of generation. buddha was symbolized by the serpent and in mythology is identical with mercury. the center sphere and the outer circles around it form the all-seeing eye. this bisected sphere overlays an isoceles triangle bounded on one side by the diagonal line. according to manly palmer hall, in his occult treatise -18- on the secret destiny of america,24 the all-seeing eye is that of the great architect of the universe (whenever it appears as a symbol

of a six-pointed feudal star is wholly unknown to our flag whose new constellation it purports to represent."26 after the third die was cut in 1885 totten commented that "the incongruous if not still ominous sixpointed constellation continues to over shadow the eagle, and its talons are so enormously out of proportion that they look as if they belonged to the well-known monstrous bird of arabian mythology, the roc."27 a curious fact concerning the original great seal seems to have eluded the notice of all the writers who have concerned themselves with its history and significance. the face of the seal contains the number 13 repeated 6 times (as totten noted. 13 x 6 equals 78. the 13 six-pointed stars on the original die also repeated this figure (13 x 6: 78, thus establishing an exact num

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

d. but then we must win through to a further platonic mysteries 61 understanding. we must be able to take the divine creative power that is present in ourselves from which the images of the gods are derived and form that power itself into divine images, so that behind the world of the gods we shape an image of the divine mother. this is none other than the archetypal power of the human soul. thus mythology places the goddesses alongside the male gods. our interpretation of this may be exemplified in a study of the myths about dionysus. dionysus is the son of zeus and a mortal mother, semele. but the mother is killed by lightning. zeus, however, snatches the still unformed child and allows it to grow within his own thigh where it lies concealed. hera, the mother of the gods, stirs up the en

nings the stormwind caught the princess and blew her over the edge of the cliff. socrates comments: 68 christianity as mystical fact such explanations are too ingenious and labored, it seems to me, and i don t altogether envy the man who devotes himself to this sort of work, if only because when he has finished with oreithyia, he must go on to put into proper shape. all the other such monsters of mythology. a skeptic who proposes to force each one of them into a plausible shape with the aid of a sort of rough ingenuity will need a great deal of leisure. so i let these things alone and acquiesce in the popular attitude toward them; as i ve already said, i make myself, rather than them, the object of my investigations, and i try to discover whether i am a more complicated and puffed-up sort

r, looking upon the archetypes and shaping forms in accordance with them.173 thus it is not of merely personal significance for someone to give expression to these forms; rather they are the eternal wisdom the life of the world. his view accords with the mysteryattitude toward the familiar myths. the mystai looked for the deeper reality behind the myths, and what they did in the case of the pagan mythology, philo does with the tale of origins contained in the books attributed to moses. the old testament narratives he treats as images of internal, psychic processes. take the creation of the world recounted in the bible. to read it as expressing things that happened in an external way is to grasp only one half of its meaning. it does indeed say: 156 christianity as mystical fact in the begin

that has freed itself from the impressions of the senses, but is not yet secure within itself. if it takes hold inwardly of the lower nature alone, it will inevitably be destroyed. the man must assemble a boat that will take him from the shore of sense-perceptible nature across the river of transience to the other shore, that of eternity and the divine (r.st) 77. for more on the background of the mythology of osiris, see steiner, egyptian myths and mysteries (anthroposophic press, hudson, ny, 1990; also mysteries of the east and christianity (rudolf steiner press, london, 1972, which relates it to the stages of initiation-experience which are hinted at in the account of his voluntary death and new birth by apuleius, the golden ass or, metamorphoses xi. the latter text is translated in meye

SYMBOLISM

ich, fertile earth upon the ground. each force of nature, each personality, was given a name, a face, and a story. the most powerful stories, faces, and names are those tha t belong to the creator gods. there are so many creator gods, that it's really difficult to pin down an actual order of precedence. this brings up the fact that there are many apparently conflicting stories within the egyptian mythology. the grand master pointed out that in several egyptian myths, shu and tefnut are self-created. in others they were created by tears of the master creator god (whoever he happened to be according to the story teller. in yet others they were created by the master god's masturbation. shu and tefnut by definition are the first male and female. the master god's masturbation in these latter st

e master god's masturbation in these latter stories was always male masturbation, but shu is the first male. shu and tefnut begat geb and nut, but nut was the all-pervasive universal sky that preceded the first god. this confusion is the result of centuries of egyptian story telling, and while some of it appears to be contraditory, most of it is useful. we certainly must hesitate to consider this mythology as one consistent symbolism, and must be careful if we wish to communicate consistent meanings using these symbols, but we have found value in this mythology. each story is a different way of looking at the world, a different way of looking at the first cause, and of looking at the symbols. by using these symbols, we can then indicate not only a symbol, but also which way we are looking

TECHNICIANS GUIDE TO THE LEFT HAND PATH

ckdrops" represent unique ways of expressing the same principles, dreams and ideas. understand then, that within the lhp this is a perfectly acceptable state of affairs. this is because an emphasis is placed upon the actual principles themselves- not the particular way and form in which they are expressed. if you understand a principle you will recognize its essential idea. whether cloaked in the mythology of the norse gods, the platitudes of a pythagoras, or the enneads of plotinus- it is the essential extension of the idea into human consciousness that stands. the gloss it is covered within is a question of time, psychological disposition, genetics, culture, religious indoctrination and heritage. understanding is an art as much as it is a process. as long as culture, its myths, history c

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

t seal of the united states 279 the dragon is, of course, a mythical form of serpent. indeed, the holy bible in the book of revelation describes satan as "that old serpent, the dragon" well, for those who wish to pay homage to the dragon, the pyramid collection catalog offers such jewelry items as this pendant, ring, and arm band. the llluminati serpent: in the two babylons, hislop writes "in the mythology of the primitive world, the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun. as the sun was the enlightener of the world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind knowledge of good and evil. 280 codex magica revealing drawing from a new age magical publication, new moon rising. the yin/yang circle at top has the backward "s" and the blac

e sun solar signs, circles, and serpents it is he (god) that sitteth upon the circle of the earth- isaiah 40:22 (written about 1,000 years before columbus proved the earth was not flat) it would not be impossible to prove, with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned, that a square is, in fact, a circle. joseph goebbels propaganda minister nazi germany in the mythology of the primitive world, the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun..the serpent was universally represented by the sun symbol, the circle or disk. bishop alexander hislop the two babylons t h e sun has ever been at the center of false religion. the ancient mystery religions venerated the sun, the solar disk, as deity. the greeks honored apollo as the child of the sun. the romans pa

th planet from the sun (i.e. lucifer (from manly hall's secret teachings of all ages) from a recent catalog offering a multitude of talismans and charms, were these two products offered for sale. in this ad (left) in magical blend, a new age magazine, we see many occultic and pagan symbols, including the 5- pointed star above the goddess' head. the shell represents the love goddess aphrodite who, mythology says, rose out of the sea (see revelation 13:1 for a prophecy about the beast that rises up out of the sea. the goddess figure in this ad sits in the familiar lotus position with the flame in her genital area and her arms and hands arranged symbolically. every man and woman is a star h 547 this ad in magical blend magazine touts that for just $1,400 you can order this pentarle star-shape

THAGIRION

. tiphereth corresponds with the sun in the form of light, while thagirion represents the black sun. the black sun represents the sun in its inner form where it shines inside man and reveals the hidden qliphotic worlds. the ordinary sun is the outer sun that shines on the ordinary world. the black sun is the god set in the typhonian alchemy, while the ordinary sun is sets twin horus. in old norse mythology balder corresponds with the ordinary sun and his blind brother h der or loke with the black sun. h der is similar with odin and also odin corresponds with the black sun. thagirion is the sun of the shadow side, which can be interpretated as the sun in the underworld balder in hel, ra in amenti etc. the sun is the symbol of the unity of the whole self that can be aware of itself only when

ll normal light.this black sun can be connected with the highest qliphotic principal thaumiel, rather than with thagirion. the black sun is generating the power called vril, od or the world kundalini or the dragon power. it can be described as the principal that is manifestating the powers of chaos. in the bible and in other mythological descriptions this principal acts as the beast. in old norse mythology it is the fenriz wolf, in the goetic qabalah it is the phallic belfegor. in the book of revelation 13:2 is is written: the dragon gave the beast its throne and authority. we can later read that the number of the beast is a human number. this can be understood as the dragon (chaos) is manifested through thagirion by a man, or by mankind. the fact that the number of the beast is a human nu

THE CANOPIC GODS SYMBOLISM

sub spe (supplement to z1) the symbolism of the four genii of the hall of the neophyte in a temple of the grade of neophyte, the four gods, ameshett, ahephi, tmo-oumathu, kabexnuv, are said to be vice-gerants of the elements, and answering to the rivers of eden as drawn in the warrant of the temple, are said to rule in the four corners of the hall between the stations of the kerubim. in egyptian mythology, these gods are also said to be the children of horus, and partake of his symbolism. if now, we regard the neophyte ceremony as representing the entrance into a new life, regeneration- mors janua vitae- the egyptian symbolism wherein that idea was so clearly and exactly worked out becomes important. bear in mind that a new life means a new plane or a higher world, a passing, say, from th

e means a new plane or a higher world, a passing, say, from the rtk of hycu to the twklm of hryxy. now, as behind rtk depend the veils of negative existence: ya [ws ya and rwa [ws ya, so through negative existence must pass the soul that goes from hycu to hryxy, or vice-versa. this process is illustrated by the neophyte ceremony as described in z-3, and as seen by the clairvoyant eye. in egyptian mythology, the dead, when the ceremonies are complete, the soul weighed and passed, the body mummied and preserved from corruption, then become one with osiris and are called osirian. hence, the hierophant, who represents osiris when the candidate is placed in the north, speaks to him in the character of his higher soul- the voice of my undying and secret soul said unto me, etc. osiris, however, i

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 1

of the mystery feeling that they were now superior to the problems that the uninitiated faced concerning life, death, and immortality. not only did the initiates believe that their communion with the patron god or goddess would continue after death, but that they would eventually leave hades to be born again in another life experience. m delving deeper cotterell, arthur, ed. encyclopedia of world mythology. london: dempsey parr, 1999. ferm, vergilius, ed. ancient religions. new york: the philosophical library, 1950. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 32 afterlife mysteries the rites of dionysus often featured animal sacrifice. this was meant to symbolize the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the divinity. fox, robin lane. pagans

to be provided with nourishment. some tribal members burned the best part of their food as an offering to the souls of the departed. m delving deeper emerson, ellen russell. indian myths. minneapolis: ross& haines, 1965. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 40 afterlife mysteries gill, sam d, and irene f. sullivan. dictionary of native american mythology. new york: oxford university press, 1992. how the major religions view reincarnation reincarnation, the belief that the soul of a man or woman who has died will later be born again into another physical body, is an ancient doctrine, ancient even at the time of the greek and roman empires. plato (c. 428 348 b.c.e) alludes to reincarnation in many of his essays, and he seems to be speaking

next life or series of lives. in this philosophy, it is a natural moral law rather than a divine judgment which provides the process of development, enabling the soul into higher or lower states, according to the laws of cause and effect to be met. manitou a supernatural force, or spirit that suffuses various living things, as well as inanimate objects, according to the algonquian peoples. in the mythology of the ojibwa of the eastern united states, manitou is the name of the supreme deity, or god, and means great spirit. precognition the direct knowledge of the ability to foresee what is going to happen in the future, especially if this perception is gained through other than the normal human senses or extrasensory. retrocognition the mental process or faculty of knowing, seeing, or perce

nkind and its relationship to the cosmos. the hierophants created theological constructs and formulated esoteric answers that brought initiates and aspirants to the great religious cities of heliopolis, memphis, hermopolis magna, abydos, and thebes. m delving deeper brandon, s. g. f. religion in ancient history. new york: charles scribner s sons, 1969. cotterell, arthur, ed. encyclopedia of world mythology. london: dempsey parr book, 1999. crim, keith, ed. the perennial dictionary of world religions. san francisco: harper collins, 1989. ferm, vergilious, ed. ancient religions. new york: philosophical library, 1950. grimal, nicolas. a history of ancient egypt.cambridge: blackwell publishers, 1994. akhenaten some scholars credit the pharaoh amenhotep iv, who ruled egypt (c. 1358 1340 b.c.e

e at her breast, wearing a crown of seven rays, and holding her son horus in her arms, the aspirant would take oaths of silence and submission as a disciple of isis. from that day forward, he would be a recipient of the mysteries of isis. m delving deeper brandon, s. g. f. religion in ancient history. new york: charles scribner s sons, 1969. imel, martha ann, and dorothy myers. goddesses in world mythology. new york: oxford university press, 1995. schure, edouard. the great initiates. new york: harper& row, 1961. stone, merlin. when god was a woman. new york: barnes& noble books, 1993. walker, barbara g. the woman s encyclopedia of myths and secrets. san francisco: harper& row, 1983. young, dudley. origins of the sacred. new york: st. martins, 1991. osiris the god osiris appears in the pyr

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

illustration of a leprechaun from a treasury of irish stories (elsie lennox) from time to time, native inhabitants and tourists to the islands claim to caught a glimpse of the menehune as they scurry from bush to bush in the forested regions. most people describe the little people with light or slightly reddish-colored skin and large fuzzy mops of hair. m delving deeper beckwith, martha. hawaiian mythology. honolulu: university of hawaii press, 1970, 1989. grant, glen. obake files: ghostly encounters in supernatural hawaii. honolulu: mutual publishing, 1996. westervelt, william d. hawaiian legends of ghosts and ghost-gods. rutland, vt; tokyo: charles e. tuttle co, 1963, 1971. mermaids there are few tales of the fairy folks friends that are as captivating as those that deal with the mermaid

tales. new york: gramercy books, 1984. jones, alison, ed. larousse dictionary of world lore. new york: larousse, 1995. mack, carol k, and dinah mack. a field guide to demons, fairies, fallen angels, and other subversive spirits. new york: henry holt, 1999. rose, carol. spirits, fairies, leprechauns, and goblins: an encyclopedia. new york: w. w. norton, 1998. simek, rudolf. dictionary of northern mythology. trans. by angela hall. rochester, n.y: d. s. brewer, 1993. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 108 mysterious creatures selkies selkies, the seal people of the orkney and shetland islands, wish to live harmoniously with those humans who love the sea as much as they do. they have sometimes been confused with the sirens of greek lore t

times, the troll is regarded as a denizen of mountain caves, larger than the average human, and exceedingly ugly, who often crouches under bridges waiting for unsuspecting victims. m delving deeper booss, claire, ed. scandinavian folk& fairy tales. new york: gramercy books, 1984. jones, alison, ed. larousse dictionary of world lore. new york: larousse, 1995. simek, rudolf. dictionary of northern mythology. translated by angela hall. rochester, n.y: d. s. brewer, 1993. actors who faced (or became) movie monsters even the most casual fan of hollywood horror films is familiar with the classic creatures of movie monsterdom and the actors who portrayed them such as the frankenstein monster, as enacted by boris karloff (1887 1969; the wolf man, as played by lon chaney, jr (1906 1973; and the va

28:11 19. since that seminal experience, dreams or visions of ladders have been associated with communication with a higher source or with the rites of passage. numbers one of the most widespread of superstitious beliefs is that the number 13 is unlucky. so pervasive is this notion that many hotels and office buildings in europe and the united states do not have a room number 13. in scandinavian mythology there were 12 aesir or gods living in relative harmony until the god loki came among them, making the 13th. loki was cruel and evil, and according to the myths, he took special delight in causing human misfortunes. because he was evil, and because he was the 13th member of the hierarchy of the gods, the number 13 came to be looked upon as an omen of ill luck. another explanation for the

harmony until the god loki came among them, making the 13th. loki was cruel and evil, and according to the myths, he took special delight in causing human misfortunes. because he was evil, and because he was the 13th member of the hierarchy of the gods, the number 13 came to be looked upon as an omen of ill luck. another explanation for the origin of this superstition also comes from scandinavian mythology, which states the winged valkyries, who waited to escort the heroes fallen in battle to valhalla, were 13 in number. the most popular explanation for the superstition surrounding the number 13 is that there were 12 apostles and their master jesus (c. 6 b.c.e. c. 30 c.e) who partook of the last supper, judas iscariot being represented as the 13th guest. according to christian tradition, j

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

ough he never realized his goal of a german republic and the overthrowing of the european monarchies, the sparks that he had ignited with the illuminati would soon burst into the flames of the french revolution in 1789. m delving deeper carroll, robert todd. gilluminati, the new world order& paranoid conspiracy theorists, h the skeptics dictionary. http//skepdic.com/ illuminati. html. roberts, j. mythology of the secret societies. new york: macmillan, 1972. vankin, jonathan and john whalen. the seventy greatest conspiracies of all time: history fs biggest mysteries, coverups, and cabals. new york: citadel, 1998. wilgus, neal. the illuminoids. new york: pocket books, 1978. wilson, robert anton. masks of the illuminati. new york: pocket books, 1981. the knights templar the two principal orde

al startling prophecy that comes to pass and attract transient devotees until the next prophet comes along with an even more startling prediction, the trend at the onset of the twenty-first century appears to be individuals relying upon their own powers of prophecy and the insights gained from utilizing their own methods of divination. m delving deeper cotterell, arthur, ed. encyclopedia of world mythology. london: dempsey parr books, 1999. gaskell, g. a. dictionary of all scriptures& myths. avenel, n.j: gramercy books, 1981. seligmann, kurt. the history of magic. new york: pantheon books, 1960. spence, lewis. an encyclopedia of occultism. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1960. edgar cayce (1877.1945) according to many, edgar cayce was one of the greatest clairvoyants of all time. bef

d by many persons as the only true engagement ring, portending love and happiness throughout life. m delving deeper eichler, lillian. the customs of mankind. garden city, n.y: doubleday, 1937. mintz, ruth finer. auguries, charms, amulets. middle village, n.y: jonathan david publishers, 1983. nelson, felicitas h. talismans& amulets of the world. new york: sterling publishers, 2000. salt in finnish mythology, the mighty god of the sky, ukko, struck fire in the heavens. a spark from this celestial fire fell into the ocean and turned to salt. another old legend is that the oceans are made up of the tears of all those who have suffered since the world began; and as tears are salt, the oceans f waters are salt. salt was used long before the contemporary era, and it was highly valued by those who

. in his view, surveying the contributions made over the centuries by those nontechnological societies and their tribal empowerments, humankind must be guided by ggreat, universal minds which are closer to the secrets of the transcendental and throw more into the scales than mere weight of technological progress. h m delving deeper gill, sam d, and irene f. sullivan. dictionary of native american mythology. new york: oxford university press, 1992. gregor, arthur s. amulets, talismans, and fetishes. new york: scribner, 1975. harner, michael.the way of the shaman. new york: bantam books, 1982. lissner, ivar. man, god and magic. new york: g. p. putnam fs sons, 1961. neihardt, john g. black elk speaks. new york: william morrow, 1932. reprint, new york: pocket books, 1972. crystal skulls crysta

ing that g cthe road to supernatural powers is easier to follow in animal shape and that spirits can only be reached with an animal fs assistance. h for countless centuries, those people who trust their totems have relied upon the assistance of their personal animal totem to lead them to higher spiritual awareness. m delving deeper gill, sam d, and irene f. sullivan. dictionary of native american mythology. new york: oxford university press, 1992. gregor, arthur s. amulets, talismans, and fetishes. new york: scribner, 1975. harner, michael. the way of the shaman. new york: bantam books, 1982. lissner, ivar. man, god and magic. new york: g. p. putnam fs sons, 1961. steiger, brad. totems: the transformative power of your personal animal totem. san francisco: harpersanfranciso, 1997. things o

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

incarnate.viewed in the light of a pagan religion the characters and deaths of rufus, becket, joan and gilles arereasonable and consistent. in each of them the dying god was incarnate; rufus died as the actual king, theother three as substitutes in order that their royal masters might live and reign for a further term of years.referencesintroduction1. sinistrari de amecothe golden essence: craft mythology and the deep theology of the housle copyright 2004 by robin artisson all rights reserved simple and perfect: the sum of all mysteries i have described the housle in my other essays as the basic rite of the old faith. such a statement is quite correct, but many people automatically interpret the word basic in such a way that they think the housle to be simple or even shallow somehow. noth

er, deeper level to the housle, in which that regeneration can be understood and accessed on a higher harmonic or level, if you so choose. you can understand why the housle is an act of regeneration, and then you can understand on what levels you can experience it, and how you can turn the housle into a more broad expression of other mysteries. and, apropos of that being said, we can move on. the mythology of regeneration there has never been a human religion that has not included a concept of regeneration or renewal. from the earliest of times, the first religions may have arisen from an animistic sense of duty towards crops or animals, and the necessity of their fertility and renewal after hunts or long winters; and perhaps it was thought that humans too were reborn or renewed in some ma

ds crops or animals, and the necessity of their fertility and renewal after hunts or long winters; and perhaps it was thought that humans too were reborn or renewed in some manner at the transformation of death. the basic notion that all things come into being, exist, pass away finally, and experience regeneration or renewal, is the basic and central concept that is behind all indo-european pagan mythology (the same mythological tradition that is the true ancestor of the old faith or witchcraft. primal christianity, influenced mainly by the primal tradition of ancestral veneration and regeneration of pagan europe, likewise embraced (in their own peculiar way) a central theme of life, sacrifice, and regeneration, with their ultimate eschatological concept of resurrection and a new heaven an

s the true ancestor of the old faith or witchcraft. primal christianity, influenced mainly by the primal tradition of ancestral veneration and regeneration of pagan europe, likewise embraced (in their own peculiar way) a central theme of life, sacrifice, and regeneration, with their ultimate eschatological concept of resurrection and a new heaven and earth. the more ancient and wise indo-european mythology taught that the universe was generated from the great all-potential-containing void of chaos, and when the newly born universe found its pristine and golden order, the evolutiona ry passage of time and events, ordained by fate, began. these events included the birth and struggles of the divine beings or gods, the birth/creation of humankind, the gradual decline, degeneration, and final d

s, were not exempt from the cosmic drama, from the fate of cyclical existence, for humans and all things else were not separate from the cosmos or the world, but part of it, sharing in its fate. all indo-europeans, and many non-indo europeans, believed in the great life, death, and renewal of the cosmos; the hindus certainly come to mind, with the kalpa and regeneration system; the norse ragnarok mythology shows the world being destroyed by fire and ice, the very primal elements from which they believed the world was created from, before the new, perfected world was born; the zoroastrians believed that the forces of light and darkness would destroy each other and the whole world in a cataclysmic battle at the end of time, cleansing the world for a re-emergence and regeneration; the celtic

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

earning, mr. p. lacour, in his book on the elohim or mosaic god, has thrown a great light on that question, and has rediscovered in the symbols of egypt all the allegorical figures of genesis. more recently, another courageous student of vast erudition, mr. vincent (de l'yonne, has published a treatise upon idolatry among both the ancients and the moderns, in which he raises the veil of universal mythology. we invite conscientious students to read these various 183 works, and we confine ourselves to the special study of the qabalah among the hebrews. the logos, or the word, being according to the initiates of that science the complete revelation, the principles of the holy qabalah ought to be found reunited in the signs themselves of which the primitive alphabet is composed. now, this is w

THE LUCIFERIAN PATH THE WITCHES SABBAT MICHAEL W FORD

ches sabbat -the adversarial foundations of sorcery- by michael w. ford 14 to look into the possibilities of models and how one may shape and assist in self-transformation, it is imperative to study and understand the foundations of the very gods which emerge from us. nightside or shadowside as a term is defined in witches sabbat and luciferian1 terminology as averse dreaming practice. in islamic mythology and lore, shaitan is the lord of rebellious spirits, a djinn made of fire. it is this fire2 which leads the individual towards the wall looking down into the abyss, and the infinite possibilities of being. the sorcerer thus begins to adopt the god form of shaitan to master the spirits and djinn of the self all of those elements which command mastery of the self. night is the in-between p

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

e self-aware one. the angel of temperance again presides over this choice, and in the older decks is shown by a man choosing between two women (or choosing whether to be associated with one woman or not, with the advice of another, depending on ones interpretation of the glyph, and in the waite deck by the biblical garden of eden, where this "choice" is made as the "original sin" of the christian mythology. empress: the empress embodies nature, and thus relates to the generative aspect of yesod as the "foundation" or "ground" of growth. it is important that yesod is maintained as a firm foundation, otherwise the state of the blasted tower is brought about continually, and ones interactions with the world of assiah (malkuth) become confused and ultimately destructive. thus the ego is "trans

we naturally order the environment around us. this ordering also takes place automatically as the brain processes the results of our vision, hearing and other senses. 5. the following areas have a great deal of literature associated with them and are all useful adjuncts to a practically-based study of the kabbalah; astrology astrophysics& cosmology fractals gaia theory holograms morphic resonance mythology (egyptian, greek, roman, christian) networks numerology platonic& pythagorean philosophy quantum physics sacred geometry science of chaos& dynamic systems science of complexity systems analysis tarot chapter two 1. choose any real-life situation you are involved with, and separate it out into the four worlds as follows; azilut: what are the highest, most abstract, aspects of the situatio

binah) of the universe; what does your idealised temple tell you about yourself and what you want from the universe? the temple could be a grove of trees, an elaborate grecian villa, a medieval alchemists workshop, or even a futuristic space station! this temple can also be used in visualisation work, dream work and ritual work. chapter four 1. using a reference work on greek legends, or egyptian mythology, or celtic stories and the like, choose a god or goddess who appeals to you. create a representation of this deity, be it a picture, or even their name written on a sheet of paper, and place it somewhere convenient with a candle in front of it. light the candle each morning for a few minutes, and spend that time imagining the deity. note any synchroncities that occur with connection to t

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

the precise nature of the original conflict by a consideration of that part of the organism to the symptoms of whch our attention is attracted. for example, consider one troubled by nephntis.22 one of the most si&cant aspects of the magical tradition is astrology. in this latter science the kidneys are referred to the operation of the the two pillars of the temple 15 planet venus. as we know from mythology, venus is the deity concerned with love, feeling, and emotion. we would surmise therefore that in the event that the love or emotional life of an individual has been frustrated or repressed to such a point where the psyche finally refused to continue living wlrulst hampered by such a neurosis, some expression of that frustration could be transferred to the neighborhood of the kidneys. we

definite impression upon others, and, on the other, to conceal the true nature of the individual.9 psychology and magic 109 next, the individual encounters his "soul image" the anima or the animus. the final step is the manifestation in dreams, visions, or fantasies of appropriate archetypes-primordial images such as the wise old man, or the great mother, images that appear as themes in religion, mythology, and folklore. the process of individuation contains many particular aspects which collectively might be termed "outer psychology" ths category includes jung's separation of introverted and extroverted personality types as well as his organization of types in accordance with their conjunction of the faculties of sensing, thnking, feeling, and intuition. all of jung's ideas were of vital

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

unters often saw his tracks, tracks that appeared suddenly and vanished suddenly, in such a. way that they could only be possible if the "man" alighted on the ground, then took off again into the air. in mexico there are stories of the ikals, tiny black men endowed with the power of flight who live in caves and kidnap humans. in india the giant bird known as the garuda is an important part of the mythology. the gods vishnu and krishna traveled around the heavens on the back of a great garuda. north american indians have extensive legends about the thunderbird, a huge bird said to carry off children and old people. it was accompanied by loud noises, hums, buzzes and, apparently, rumbles from the infrasonic and ultrasonic levels. known as piasa to the indians of the dakotas, it was supposed

materialistic level, assuming that the presence of unlikely objects and entities in our atmosphere is evidence of some extraterrestrial civilization. xenophanes, one of the first great philosophers (sixth century b.c, observed that the ethiopians thought their gods were black and snub-nosed like themselves. today many of us no longer believe in direct visits with our god, so we have shaped a new mythology based upon the belief in spacemen carved in our own image. when the ancients sighted giant, shambling bipeds covered with hair, their eyes blazing like fierce coals, they assumed they were confronting demons. early investigators eventually concluded that such demons did not really exist, even though they often left footprints behind and caused physical damage. they coined the word khimai

detail yet one that is most significant. cold or one of his partners would pick woody up in a volkswagen and drive him to the rendezvous point. his world was now thickly populated with space people named kemi, clinnel, demo, ardo, kletaw, etc. they assumed real personalities and were very real to him. but i knew that in most ufo contacts the entities use names adopted from ancient greek and from mythology, so i was puzzled by these "fairy" names. however, many of woody's experiences had definite fairy tale overtones. and two of his friends had a classic fairy experience. a young man named jim hacket, and his cousin daria sartor, were out sky-watching at a place called bogle ridge one night when they saw a group of red, green, and white lights descend from the sky and drop into a gully clo

yers a cent. adamski, a california eccentric, found the backside of the moon rich in vegetation and water. others observed cunningly concealed underground cities there. still others have traveled to scores of unknown planets in distant galaxies. planets with exotic-sounding names adopted from ancient greek, just as most of the entities who stop lone drivers on isolated back yards claim names from mythology. for example, on wednesday, july 26, 1967, mrs. marts de long and michael kisner were driving in a park near california's big tujunga canyon when they heard a bodiless voice which instructed them to watch for something unusual. there was a flash of light in the sky and a glowing disc twenty feet in diameter appeared. soon they were chatting with "kronin" master of the kronian race. he wa

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

itic language of the sumerians; and language which has been closely allied to that of the aryan race, having in fact many words identical to that of sanskrit (and, it is said, to chinese. for no one knows where the sumerians came from, and they vanished just as mysteriously as they appeared, after the assyrian invasions which decimated their culture, yet providing the assyrians with much of their mythology and religion; so much so that sumerian became the official language of the state church, much as latin is today of the roman catholic church. they had a list of their kings before the flood, which even they carefully chronicled, as did many another ancient civilisation around the world. it is believed that they had a sophisticated system of astronomy (and astrology) as well as an equally

ment. yet, though the identity of the victor is clear, there were- and are- certain persons and organisations that dared side with the vanquished, believing the ancient ones to be a source of tremendous, and most unbelievable, power. worship of the ancient ones in history "let them curse it that curse the day, who are skilful to rouse leviathan- job 3:8 s.h. hooke, in his excellent middle eastern mythology, tells us that the leviathan mentioned in job, and elsewhere in the old testament, is the hebrew name given to the serpent tiamat, and reveals that there was in existence either a cult, or scattered individuals, who worshipped or called up the serpent of the sea, or abyss. indeed, the hebrew word for abyss that is found in genesis 1:2 is, hooke tells us, tehom, which the majority of scho

uch the same fashion that the chief of police of amity slays the great white shark in benchley's novel jaws, blowing an evil wind (the oxygen tank) into her mouth and sending in an arrow (bullet) in after it to explode her. surely, the two or three most box-office successful films of the past few years, jaws, the exoricst and, perhaps, the godfather, are an indication that the essence of sumerian mythology is making itself felt in a very real way in this, the latter half of the twentieth century? after the long and poetic magan text, comes the urillia text which might be lovecraft's r'lyeh text, and is subtitled "abominations. it has more specifically to do with the worship of the serpent, and the nature of the cults that participate in the concelebration of sin. again, more conjurations a

1902 de la fuye, a "le pentagramme pythagoricien, sa diffusion, son emploi dans la syllabaire cuneiforme" babyloniaca paris, 1934 genouillac "les dieux de l'elam" recueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a l'archaeologie egyptiennes et assyriennes. paris, 1904 (ed. maspero) grant, k. aleister crowley and the hidden god new york, 1974 the magical revival new york, 1973 gray, j. near eastern mythology new york, 1969 griffith& thompson the leyden papyrus new york, 1974 hooke, s.h. babylonian and assyrian religion oklahoma, 1975 middle eastern mythology new york, 1975 king, l. babylonian magic and sorcery london, 1896 history begins at sumer new york, 1959 kramer, s.n. mythologies of the ancient world (ed) new york, 1961 sumerian mythology pennsylvania, 1972 laurent la magie et la divin

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

mbol of all numbers. 0 (zero, we shall deal. in a slender pamphlet entitled gberashith, h aleister crowley ontologically asserts the absoluteness of the qabalstic zero* let us as shortly as possible now see how he arrives at this ultimate genesis *berashith, vol. ii, p. 236. the ancient hebrew qabalah was as closely connected with assyriology, as it was with babylonian and egyptian thought, hindu mythology, and the philosophy of the vedas and upanishads; its conception of the supreme god was ineffable, for he bore neither name nor attribute, being beyond the power of human conception. over the face of the whole world we find earnest thought arriving at or towards such a conclusion. in ancient china we hear lao-tze declaring: gwhat is there superior in heaven and earth, and from which heave

THE ABYSS AND TABAET

n, for therein is the ascension to the luciferic angel. in death we find new life, a flame still exists where once heat did rage. as the elixir falls, she is always there to catch it, greedily, to speed forth a new child born from the darkness of the circle. in the dream do our bodies change with our desires, yet pleasure may be known to a deeper ecstalethe abyss and tabaet a study of adversarial mythology in magick by michael w. ford introduction the purpose of the following essay is to not only examine masks worn by the fallen angels throughout history as well as to examine the etymology of the spirit of self-liberation and opposition from the praxis of occult thought. the very passing of power in the circle of witchcraft and sorcery is the averse way of bringing into union daemon and ma

irst in that of youth, because it is filled with ignorance, and leadeth the youth as a blind man to a pit, and as a beast to a precipice -the testaments of the twelve patriarchs the septuagint follows a specific hebraic consideration that belial, being beli ol is the one who has thrown off the yoke of heaven and is thus without a master. the luciferian finds connections in the path of history and mythology and seeks to make them work for he or she in the modern world. the spirit of belial is of the mastery of the earth, identified with the element of earth and the north, from which ahriman is identical. consider the four elements however and their association with the adversary as a spirit of self-deification and self-mastery. samael is known in the talmudic texts as being the same as sata

THOUGHTS ON SETH

(in het-nuit temple work) by fra. ananael od caosgo[ from: www.osogd.org] since we've placed seth on the throne of the west, i'd like to do more research on him since it's (obviously) lacking in the original gd materials. seth only gets mentioned as horus' evil uncle, and implies simply that horus kicked seth's butt and that makes him the baddest god of all and the avenger of evil, etc. etc. the mythology we discussed on saturday morning tells how horus made peace with seth after thoth helps him rediscover his true nature. this is nowhere in any gd materials i can find. as far as the stella matutina (as recorded in regardie's books) goes, seth is simply the golden dawn's "satan" in the christian sense of the word. this won't do (note: the idea that horus could ever completely defeat and d

TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT

erein the woman confesses under pain, recants when the pain is removed, only to be moved by more pain to confess again, she is asked "how did she influence the weather? she does not know what to say and can only whisper, oh, heavenly queen, protect me" was the victim calling upon "the goddess? or, as seems more likely, upon that aforementioned transfiguration of all ancient goddesses in christian mythology, the virgin mary. one more quote from dr. robbins, and i will cease to parade late medieval history before you. it comes from yet another priest, father cornelius loos, who observed, in 1592 that "wretched creatures are compelled by the severity of the torture to confess things they have never done, and so by cruel butchery innocent lives are taken (ibid, p 16. the "evidence" of the witc

tutions and obligations which, on the other hand, may be infinitely ancient are of no value at all unless they work. the devil, you say before we move on, though, in light of the furor over real and imagined "satanism" that has overtaken parts of the popular press in recent years, i would feel a bit remiss in this account if i did not take momentary note of that other strain of left-handed occult mythology, satanism. wiccans are correct when they say that modern wicca is not satanic, that satanism is "reverse christianity" whereas wicca is a separate, nonchristian religion. still, it should be noted, so much of our society has been grounded in the repressiveness and authoritarian moralism of christianity that a liberal dose of "counterchristianity" is to a true history of witchcraft get an

TWO ESSAYS ON THE WORSHIP OF PRIAPUS

some fundamental principle of their faith. what this was, it is difficult to obtain any direct information, on account of the secrecy under which this part of their religion was guarded. plutarch tells us, that the egyptians represented osiris with the organ of generation erect, to show his generative and prolific power: he also tells us, that osiris was the same deity as the bacchus of the greek mythology; who was also the same as the first begotten love (erwj prwtogonoj) of orpheus and hesiod.2 this deity is celebrated by the ancient poets as the creator of all things, the father of gods and men;3 and it appears, by the passage above referred to, that the organ of generation was the symbol of his great characteristic attribute. this is perfectly consistent with the general practice of th

mysteries. we may therefore be assured, that whatever theological and mythological allusions are found upon them were part of the ancient religion of greece. it is from these that many of the orphic hymns and fragments are proved to contain the pure theology or mystic faith of the ancients, which is called orphic by pausanias (lib. i, c. 39, and which is so unlike the vulgar religion, or poetical mythology, that one can scarcely imagine at first sight that it belonged to the same people; but which will nevertheless appear, upon accurate investigation, to be the source from whence it flowed, and the cause of all its extravagance. the history of orpheus himself is so confused and obscured by fable, that it is impossible to obtain any certain information concerning him. according to general t

e goat, the symbol of the creative power, by which matter was fructified and regulated. to this is sometimes added the organ of generation, of an enormous magnitude, to signify the application of this power to its noblest end, the procreation of sensitive and rational beings. this composition forms the common priapus of the roman poets, who was worshipped among the other personages of the heathen mythology, but understood by few of his ancient votaries any better than by the good women of isernia. his characteristic organ is sometimes represented by the artists in that state of tension and rigidity, which it assumes when about to discharge its functions,1 and at other times in that state of tumid languor, which immediately succeeds the performance.2 in the latter case he appears loaded wit

the system alluded to in the orphic verses quoted in the argonautics, is in all probability the true one; for it is not only consistent in all its parts, but contains a physical truth, which the greatest of the modern discoveries has only con-firmed and explained. the others seem to have been only poetical corruptions of it, which, extending by degrees, produced that un-wieldly system of poetical mythology, which constituted the vulgar religion of greece. the fauns and satyrs, which accompany the androgynous figures on the ancient sculptures, are usually represented as ministering to the creator by exerting their characteristic attributes upon them, as well as upon the nymphs, the passive agents of procreation: but what has puzzled the learned in these monuments, and seems a contradiction

active and passive powers of procreation, which mutually cherish and invigorate each other. the hindoos still represent the creative powers of the deity by these ancient symbols, the male and female organs of generation; and worship them with the same pious reverence as the greeks and egyptians did.2 like them too they have buried the original principles of their theology under a mass of poetical mythology, so that few of them can give any more perfect account of their faith, than that they mean to worship one first cause, to whom the subordinate deities are merely agents, or more properly personified modes of action.3 this is the doctrine inculcated, and very fully explained, in the bagvat geeta; a moral and metaphysical work lately translated from the sanscrit language, and said to have

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

us was a cross. the teutonic god woden, or odin, crucified himself on the eternal ash yggdrasill in order to peer into the mysteries of the timeless realm where magic is born. in other cultures the same mystical message is conveyed in slightly different forms. the sioux indians used to suspend their braves by their pectoral muscles so that they might receive illumination through suffering. in the mythology of the maya, the severed head of the sacrificed divine being hun-hunahpu, when placed in a tree, caused the tree to flower. one prominent western interpretation of the cross is endurance-to stand against time and change with a fixed purpose, unbroken and unbreakable. the germanic rune nauthiz (nyd, which means roughly "the will to endure' takes its form from an irregular cross: q. the ch

ac- tion, wise magi will use their power to tilt probability with circumspection. they will not expect a direct physical solution to a problem unless it is the only possible answer. most important of all, they will never seek pleasure through the pain of others lest their own agony become a source of amusement for the gods at some future time. the prime symbol of the balance of fate occurs in the mythology of ancient egypt. it is the great scale of judgment that is presided over by osiris. on it he commands the weighing of the heart of the newly dead person, symbolizing the sum of that person's actions in life, against the cosmic law, which is represented by the single ostrich feather of mayet (maat, goddess of justice and truth. she stands guard against the forces of chaos. if the heart o

n the mind of the magus as a stereoscopic technicolor movie, as clear as the inside of a dream. if group magic is conducted, the imagery of the astral temple is reinforced by a verbal interchange describing the architectural details and furnishings of the temple. in this way all members of the group are sure to visualize much the same setting. middle temples can be drawn from personal experience, mythology, dreams- even travelogues. often an ancient temple site that agrees with the magic being worked is chosen and recreated in the mind. for example, an adept might picture him or herself conducting a ritual in the parthenon or within the ring of stonehenge. or a natural setting such as the shore of a tibetan mountain lake or a shadowy grove of ancient oaks might be used. even settings that

he opposite sex, the magus may learn a great deal of useful information about the other side of his or her nature, which is probably suppressed during ordinary consciousness. before attempting to assume a god-form, the magus should have a thorough knowledge of the basics of ritual working, the ability to compose a personal rite of invocation that is viable, and a complete knowledge of the gods of mythology (their strengths and weaknesses, associated materials and colors, familiar animals, symbols, scents, and so on. it is best to practice by assuming the forms of the angels, as these are unlikely to prove harmful. then the more benevolent gods should be assumed &st. invocation of a god-form is a type of voluntary possession. for a period of time limited by the protective safeguards of the

us has a personal affinity. for a white european to assume an african tribal god would be foolish, unless he or she were completely in harmony with the culture and beliefs of that african tribe. for the same reason, a black amer- ican might be better off assuming the gods of egypt or greece, since his or her living culture (the culture actually experienced every day) is american, not african. the mythology and mysticism of the east fascinates westerners, but the west- ern magus will probably have better success dealing with western pantheons, rather than trying to invoke krishna or kuan-yin. there are no hard and fast rules in this matter. the true affinities of the magus must always be left to his or her per- sonal judgment. i n everyday magic it may be necessary to conceptualize and empo

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

udent action or careless words. they were known by various euphemistic titles, among them the good neighbors, the good people, the people of peace, the fair family, and the gentry. this might lead someone coming across these titles to conclude that fairies are a jolly and pleasant band of spirits with whom to have dealings. however, if that person thought for a moment, and reflected that in greek mythology the furies, or erinyes, were commonly known as the eumenides (the gracious ones, and if he considered why this should be so, he might begin to see fairies in a less rosy light. robert kirk, who wrote about fairies and fairyland in 1691, made this important point in the opening paragraph of his treatise, in which he describes the nature of fairies. these siths, or fairies, they call sleag

the souls of the dead, it might well have been necessary to place them on specific power points on the surface of the earth, and to make them large enough to accommodate their sacred functions. they may have acted as junctions between our material world and the astral world, where spirits and humans could meet and hold commerce of various kinds. it is possible that the celts did not originate the mythology of the fairies that is so closely bound up with celtic culture, but instead inherited it along with the stone circles of the much more ancient inhabitants of the lands they occupied. chapter f o u r religious bilocatio d escriptions of soul flight and communications with spirits are often encountered in the writings of saints, martyrs, priests, monks, and nuns. the church accepted the re

are drawn from the roots of yggdrasil and are in their fundamental essence infernal. the second door of the elevator may be conceived to open directly upon the world of the rune on the keycard. each rune world is dominated by its ruling god or goddess, whose name is the same as the name of the rune. these deities may also have other names by which they are more commonly known. it was usual in the mythology of northern europe for the gods to have many names or titles that were descriptive of various aspects of their personalities. woden in particular had dozens of different names. it is not possible to be certain that in their earliest beginnings all twenty-four runes were named after deities, but this seems likely. it was the usual practice to personify the forces of nature as spiritual be

manner of strange and exotic spiritual beings. one of the most common types was the fairies. interactions with angels were also frequent. ritual magicians and witches sometimes projected into infernal realms and held commerce with spirits they believed to be demonic. mythic creatures such as the sphinx, harpie, satyr, centaur, and water nymph were also encountered on a regular basis, since greek mythology was a part of any classical education. expectation allowed astral travelers to reach the realms in which these creatures dwell and to interact with them. the general belief in the nineteenth century that these esoteric creatures do not exist was in large measure responsible for inhibiting spiritualists from reaching their realms or perceiving them. the spirit guide if you understand soul

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

tion 4, which so often surfaces in the enochian keys as a cosmic timepiece. the clock is reproduced by t. wynne griffon in history of the occult (london: appendix a: the keys 197 bison books, 1991, p. 39. i am not suggesting a direct link between this clock and john dee, but i wish to point out that the symbolism of the throne as cosmic clock is of primal importance in both christian and enochian mythology. the face of this old clock represents the blue vault of heaven speckled with stars. in the exact center is a small sphere, representing the axis of the world, fixed upon a disk divided radially into six parts, like the symbol for spirit. around this, a larger, second ring turns. it has twelve radial divisions and is flecked all over with stars. upon it, a sphere representing the moon po

ofs the earth"(r ev. 17:5. the fact that the lady babylon is called the mother of the abominations of the earth is significant, since in the key is written "woe be to the earth, for her iniquity is, was, and shall be, great" aleister crowley, who did considerable work with the keys and with the enochian language, made babylon (spelled "babalon) one of the prime figures in his personal apocalyptic mythology and considered himself to be the great beast incarnate. it is possible that he grasped the connection between the lady babylon in the apocalypse and the goddess of the world in the keys, although i have not myself seen any explicit mention of this link in his writings. it should be noted that the enochian word for "wicked" is babalon and the word for "harlot" is babalond. the observation

UNCLE SETNAKT SEZ PERFORM A RITUAL TOASTING

. this continues the principle of invocation. if you wish to effect a work in the world that requires- let's say the use of words- you may wish to say something like "i raise my drinking horn to wodenhaz, who through sacrifice of self brought us the runes by which we may change the wyrd of the world through our writing" drink deeply and become wodenhaz. if you prefer not to use the stimulation of mythology you might simply invoke a principle- as in "i drink to communication through which i cast my will upon other men and by which i establish a link with the other secret side of the universe" 5. drink to a human you wish to honor. this continues the principle of invocation as well as forging links between the living and the dead (if you've chosen a dead hero to honor) or between the work yo

UNCLE SETNAKT SEZ PRACTICE DIVINITY IN YOUR OWN LIFE

irth as the manifestation of the divine. you may wish to use a number of different masks in this. see yourself as a tribal hero returned, a god incarnated, or a visitor from another world. play with these mythologies- remembering to discard them once they've awakened in you the true knowledge that you are beyond the circumstances of flesh and history. seek out the facts of your birth to feed your mythology with facts, create a mental list of all the historical things that had to happen in order for you to be born; for example in uncle setnakt's case the irish potato famine and the temporary existence of an ice bridge. these stories will allow you to work upon yourself and the world from the same basis as the aforementioned magi, but it will keep you from losing yourself to any mythology no

VOX SABBATUM

ed consciousness. in a left hand path perspective, the witch or sorcerer by calling baphomet or cain within, becomes like this symbol they perceive thus allowing a permission to channel the anthropomorphic and deific power within themselves, thus becoming a source or axis pole of this idea. lilith az the mother of witches the queen of the witches sabbat is none other than lilith, known in persian mythology as az or jeh, the harlot who is the embodiment of sexual power. she is known through many cultures, hebrew, persian and european as hecate, triple goddess of the crossroads, who is mother of death, shades, witchcraft and necromancy. in the manichaean religious tradition, az came first to the blackness of hell, before the fallen angels came to earth. she was scorned and angry at the limit

az is a conceptual view of what is the cause of concupiscence, which is connected to the buddhist term, trshna, being thirst. this is in such terms defining of desiring continued existence in time, thus isolate consciousness. in such aspects of the left hand path, az lilith is the mother of daemons, isolate and self-deified spirits, those who become through the mirror of self the mirror in hebrew mythology is also symbolic of lilith, being a gateway to her caves near the red sea, or the darkness of hell of which she dwells. lilith az is illustrated in the book of cain, azothoz and nox umbra as part beast, part woman. she is the unrestrained sexual force, laylah being night and death. she is the bride of oz, azazel, the masculine and solar phallic force of fire and creation. she drains the

WAITE ASPECTS OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM

a die resurrexit "the third day he rose again from the dead" so also the adept of the greater mysteries rose from the pastos in the imputed glory of an inward illumination. the mystical fact there was a period not so long ago when these analogies were recognized and applied to place a fabulous construction upon the central doctrines of christian religion, just as there was a period when the solar mythology was adapted in the same direction. we have no call to consider these aberrations of a partially digested learning; but they had their excuses in their period. the point on which i would insist is that in the symbolism of the old initiations, and in the pageant of the christian mythos, there is held to be the accurate delineation of a mystical experience, the heads and sections of which c

WALLIS BUDGE E A LEGENDS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

ed to the murder by set of osiris, or of the subsequent events which resulted in his becoming the king of heaven and judge of the dead. however carefully we piece together the fragments of information which we can extract from native egyptian literature, there still remains a series of gaps which can only be filled by guesswork. plutarch, as a learned man and a student of comparative religion and mythology was most anxious to understand the history of isis and osiris, which greek and roman scholars talked about freely, and which none of them comprehended, and he made enquiries of priests and others, and examined critically such information as he could obtain, believing and hoping that he would penetrate the mystery in which these gods were wrapped. as a result of his labours he collected a

settled in nearly all mankind from their infancy. it would be to open a wide door for atheism to enter in at, and to encourage the attempts of those who would humanize the divine nature. more particularly it would give a clear sanction and authority to the impostures of euhemerus the messenian, who from mere imagination, and without the least appearance of truth to support it, has invented a new mythology of his own, asserting that "all those in general who are called and declared to be gods are none other than so many ancient generals and sea-captains and kings" now, he says that he found this statement written in the panchaean dialect in letters of gold, though in what part of the globe his panchaeans dwell, any more than the tryphillians, whom he mentions at the same time with them, he

in mankind. in like manner, the wars of the giants and the titans which are so much spoken of by the greeks, the detestable actions of kronos, the combats between apollo and the python, the flights of dionysos, and the wanderings of demeter, are exactly of the same nature as the adventures of osiris and typhon. therefore, they all are to be accounted for in the same manner, and every treatise of mythology will readily furnish us with an abundance of other similar instances. the same thing may also be affirmed of those other things which are so carefully concealed under the cover of mysteries and imitations [in sec. xxvi. plutarch points out that homer calls great and good men "god-like" and "god's compeers" but the word daemon is applied to the good and bad indifferently (see odyssey, vi

WEOR SAMAEL AUN ESOTERIC COURSE OF KABBLAH

ars; copper is the metal of venus; quicksilver is mercury s metal, tin is jupiter s metal and lead is the metal of saturn. perfect pentacles [talismans] can be prepared with the proper stones and metals. the lord's prayer is the most perfect prayer because it has seven magical petitions. 11 cynocephalus (from latin canus [dog+ cephalus [head: the dog-headed ape (simia hamadryas) which in egyptian mythology was called amemet (eater of the dead) whose master was thoth or tehuti. 12 it is unclear what the original term "heli ca" means or implies los siete signos kabal sticos de los planetas son: para la luna un globo cortado por dos medias lunas. para mercurio un caduceo y el cinoc falo. para venus un lingam sexual. para el sol una serpiente con cabeza de le n. para marte un drag n mordiendo

WESTERN MANDALAS OF TRANSFORMATION SR AL

that your descendants shall be aliens in a land not their own" this refers to the time that the israelites would be in egypt, but in an esoteric sense, it can be taken for the mysterious alien territory of daath, about which we can only make strange guesses as to its real nature. it is interesting to note that gareth knight assigns the mundane chakra sothis to daath, as this was the deep esoteric mythology that most inspired the ancient egyptians.it was said to be the home of isis herself (sirius. isis is the high priestess in the tarot and this is the only path, it is said by the masters, that one can use to safely cross the abyss. although some have placed daath in the throat center (visualizing the tree within one's body) or in the head, in this system, as we will see in the chapter on

WICCA EIGHT SABBATS OF WITCHCRAFT

ms to be confined to america, where it has gained widespread acceptance among certain segments of the craft population. this rather startling departure from tradition would seem to indicate an unfamiliarity with european calendar customs, as well as a lax attitude toward scholarship among too many pagans. a simple glance at a dictionary('webster's 3rd' or o.e.d, encyclopedia('benet's, or standard mythology reference (jobe's 'dictionary of mythology, folklore& symbols) would confirm the correct date for lady day as the vernal equinox. by celtic reckoning, the actual beltane celebration begins on sundown of the preceding day, april 30, because the celts always figured their days from sundown to sundown. and sundown was the proper time for druids to kindle the great bel-fires on the tops of t

say. suffice it to say here, that i disagree with the generally accepted idea that the sun-god meets his death at the summer solstice. i believe there is good reason to see the sun-god at his zenith- his peak of power- on this day, and that his death at the hands of his rival would not occur for another quarter of a year. material drawn from the welsh mythos seems to support this thesis. in irish mythology, midsummer is the occasion of the first battle between the fir bolgs and the tuatha eight sabbats of witchcraft get any book for free on: www.abika.com 24 de danaan. altogether, midsummer is a favorite holiday for many witches in that it is so hospitable to outdoor celebrations. the warm summer night seems to invite it. and if the celebrants are not in fact skyclad, then you may be fairl

sly (to me, at least, it must be at the two equinoxes. at the autumnal equinox, the hours of light in the day are eclipsed by the hours of darkness. at the vernal equinox, the process is reversed. also, the autumnal equinox, called 'harvest home, is already associated with sacrifice, principally that of the spirit of grain or vegetation. in this case, the god of light would be identical. in welsh mythology in particular, there is a startling vindication of the seasonal placement of the sun god's death, the significance of which occurred to me in a recent dream, and which i haven't seen elsewhere. llew is the welsh god of light, and his name means 'lion (the lion is often the symbol of a sun god) he is betrayed by his 'virgin' wife blodeuwedd, into standing with one foot on the rim of a cau

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

o an independent stone age cult whose rites were a mixture of superstition and reality and had no connection with any other system. but during my short stay in new orleans, though i did not succeed in getting into voodoo, i noticed some suspicious resemblances which made me think that voodoo was not solely african in origin but had been compounded in america out of european witchcraft and african mythology; and when i visited the villa of the mysteries at pompeii i realised the great resemblance to the cult. apparently these people were using the witches' processes. i know, of course, that ancient and modern writers have agreed that the greek mysteries of dionysus, zeus, orpheus, zagreus and eleusis were similar; therefore since each mystery had different rites and myths but was the same

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

rred it to physiology; it is the cause of all that has triple dimension. it is also cause of good counsel, intelligence and knowledge, and is a mistress of music, mistress also of geometry, possesses authority in whatever pertains to astronomy and the nature and knowledge of the heavenly bodies, connects and leads them into effects. every virtue also is suspended from it, and proceeds from it. in mythology it is referred by nicomachus to: 1. saturn, time, past, present and future. 2. latona. 3. the horn of amalthea, the nurse of jupiter. 4. polyhymnia, among the muses. number being more increased by multiplication than it is by addition, the number 3, is, properly speaking, the numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott first number, as neither the dyad nor

der this notice of the triad we may refer to the emblem of the isle of man, three legs united at the hips. this is supposed to have been derived from sicilian mariners at an early date, for the same emblem is found at palermo in sicily, and this design is there to be seen on an old public building. sicily was anciently named trinacria, from its three promontories. three is a notable number in the mythology of the norseman. the great ash-tree ygddrasil supported the world. it had three roots, one extended into asgard, the numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott abode of the gods. one into jotenheim, the home of the giants and the third into nifleheim, the region of the unknown. the three norns (fates) attend to the root in asgard. they were urda--the past;

li, the investment and declared free. the tribe of naphtali had a peculiar freedom given by moses. 11. to joseph, the n.e. corner because ephraim and manasseh (grandsons) represented him, newest comers. 12. to benjamin, the closing of the lodge as being the last son of the patriarch. the following associations of birds, animals and flowers with heavenly bodies has the authority of the greco-roman mythology- numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott table of biiirds, aniiimals and flowers greek latin bird animal vegetable pallas minerva owl she-goat olive aphrodite venus dove he-goat myrtle helios sol cock bull laurel hermes mercury ibis dog hazel zeus jupiter eagle hart horsechestnut demeter ceres sparrow sow apple hephaistos vulcan goose ass box aries mars

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

. 328 329. for a more comprehensive study of this topic, see schulte, zimzum, pp. 21 40. the similarity between lurianic kabbalah (as presented by scholem) and schelling s later philosophy is alluded to as well by marx, philosophy of f. w. j. schelling, p. 95 n. 20. it is also of interest to recall the passing comment of derrida, dissemination, p. 344, that the doctrine of simsum is linked to the mythology of louria, but it can also arise by way of hegel, boehme, etc. 251. schelling, ages, p. 17. 252. ibid, p. 19. 253. ibid, p. 86. 254. see wolfson, divine suffering, pp. 110 117. 255. schelling, ages, pp. 86 87 (emphasis in original. 256. b hme, vom dreyfachen leben des menschen, 1.35, cited in walsh, mysticism, p. 58. 257. schelling, ages, p. 16. 258. ibid, p. 79. 259. ibid, p. 83. 260. i

0 0

ed down from the godhead to the manifested world are: kether (crown) chokmah (wisdom) binah (understanding) chesed (mercy) geburah (power strength tiphareth (beauty/ harmony) netzach (victory) hod (splendor) yesod (foundation) malkuth (kingdom) occultists in the hermetic order of the golden dawn use the qabalistic tree of life as a matrix or grid for comparing the archetypal images of different mythologies that could be adapted to ceremonial magic. for example, the merciful father (chesed) has parallels in other pantheons, namely odin (scandinavia) zeus (greece) jupiter (rome) and ra (egypt) this system of comparison became known as mythological correspondences. it has become common in the occult tradition to link the ten sephiroth of the tree of life with the twenty-two paths between th

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

tem of norse mythology. by such limitation i hope to gain clearness and space, and to sharpen our vision for a criticism of the old german faith, so far as it stands opposed to the norse, or aloof from it; so that we need only concern ourselves with -the latter, where in substance or tendency it coincides with that of inland germany. the antiquity, originality and affinity of the german and norse mythologies rest on the following grounds: 1. the undisputed and very close affinity of speech between the two races, and the now irrefutably demonstrated identity of form in their oldest poetry. it is impossible that nations speaking languages which had sprung from the same stock' whose songs all wore the badge of an alliteration either unknown or quite differently applied by their neighbours, sh

ermixture of the old religious doctrine with the system of law; for the latter, even after the adoption of^ conf. our' donner! hammer' the sei-v' lele! lado' the lat' pol! aedepol! me herole! me castor! medius^lidius &c. 12 introduction. tlie new faith, would not part with certain old forms and usages (see suppl. in unravelling these complex relations, it appears indispensable not to overlook the mythologies of neighbouring nations, especially of the celts, slavs, lithuanians and finns, wherever they afford confirmation or elucidation. this extension of our scope would find ample reason and justification in the mere contact (so fruitful in many ways) of the languages of those nationalities with teutonic ones, particularly of the celtic with old frankish, of the finnish and lithuanian with

nic ones, particularly of the celtic with old frankish, of the finnish and lithuanian with gothic, and of the slavic with high german. but also the myths and superstitions of these very nations are peculiarly adapted to throw light on the course taken by our domestic heathenism in its duration and decadence. against the error which has so frequently done damage to the study of the norse and greek mythologies, i mean the mania of foisting metaphysical or astronomical solutions on but half-discovered historical data, i am sufficiently guarded by the incompleteness and loose connexion of all that has been preserved. my object is, faithfully and simply to collect what the distortions early introduced by the nations themselves, and afterwards the scorn and aversion of christians have left remai

d proserpina, or even her mother demeter; of sun and moon. mary could replace the divine mother and the goddess of beauty; verbally frigg agrees better with libera, and adam of bremen's fricco, if he was god of love, answers in name to liber, in character to freyr. the passage quoted from paul diac. is one of the clearest and most convincing testimonies to the harmony between the german and norse mythologies. an author of charles the great's time tells us that the langobards named wodan's wife frca, and she is called frigy in the edda, he cannot have drawn this from norse tradition, much less can his narrative through saxo's intermediacy have become the source of the northern faith. but in favour of freyja too we possess a weighty piece of external evidence. the edda makes her the owner of

able bird, sn. 113, and when athene starts to fly, she is a swallow (see suppl. the mighty gods would doubtless have moved whithersoever it pleased them, without wings or sandals, but simple antiquity was not content with even these: the human race used carriages and horses, and the gods cannot do without them either. on this point a sensible difference is to be found between the greek and german mythologies. all the higher divinities of the greeks have a chariot and pair ascribed to them, as their kings and heroes in battle also fight in chariots. an 6xni^ for the god of thunder would at once be suggested by the natural phenomenon itself; and the conception of the sun-chariot driven by helios must also be very ancient. tlie' 0. miiller's archaeol. 559. 328 condition of gods. car of here

ABRAMELIN1

move, and have their being; though superior to the immediate and particular part of it which they direct. such races, superior to man in intuition, and magical powers; inferior to him in other ways; superior to him in their power in a particular current of an element; inferior to him in only partaking of the nature of that one element; are of necessity to be found constantly recurring in all the mythologies of antiquity. the dwarfs and elves of the scandinavians; the nymphs, hamadryads, and nature spirits of the greeks; the fairies good and bad of the legends dear to our childish days the host of mermaids, satyrs, fauns, sylphs, and fays; the forces intended to be attracted and propitiated by the fetishes of the negro-race; are for the most part no other thing than the ill-understood mani

ALEE J BOOK OF AIWASS

and received an inspirational message in a dream which helped change the course of their life, i simply smile and nod. when daemons walk among us, they choose the time and the place, unlike younger souls, but there are no virgin births or "immaculate conceptions" it must be stressed that, as a race, the ancient ones come infrequently and they are not fighting a turf war in heaven as our primitive mythologies suggest. joan of arc was an incarnated daemon, as were christ and buddha, but then, so was charles manson. a juvenile nursery rhyme goes "there was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead (third eye. and when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid" passions are magnified in those who are more awakened spiritually. i

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

s by the earliest sumerian religion. it should be noted, however, that all of the planetary deities, termed "the zoned ones" or zonei in greek, and indeed all of the sumerian deities, had both male and female manifestations, showing that the sumerians definitely recognised a yin-yang composition if the universe (the "male moon" idea is, the editor is given to understand, common to so-called aryan mythologies. there is also evidence to show that every god and goddess also had both a good and an evil nature, and evil gods were banished in the exorcism formulae of that civilisation as well as the lesser forms of demon. the horned moon as mentioned, the god of the moon was called nanna by the sumerians. by the later sumerians and assyrians, he was called sin. in both cases, he was the father o

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

produces our solar system. perhaps these two types of energy, one from the pleiades and the other from the great bear, meet, and in their conjunction produce that blazing forth in the heavens which we call our solar system. the relationship of these two constellations, or rather their subjective relationship, must surely have some basis in fact, or we would not have it hinted at in the different mythologies. there must be something that connects them, out of all the myriads of constellations, with our solar system. but when we endeavour to give it a purely physical application we go astray. if we work it out along the lines of the subjective life, and connect it with energy, quality, or force, we are liable to stumble upon truth, and find out some of the reality which may underlie what ap

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

lem as to the purpose of all reptilian life, and, secondly, the specific connection of the bird evolution with the deva kingdom. the secret of the reptile kingdom is one of the mysteries of the second round, and there is a profound significance connected with the expression "the serpents of wisdom" which is applied to all adepts of the good law. the reptile kingdom has an interesting place in all mythologies, and all ancient forms of truth impartation, and this for no arbitrary reason. it is not possible to enlarge upon the underlying truth which is hidden in the karmic history of our planetary logos, and is revealed as part of the teaching given to initiates of the second degree. the second great life impulse, or life wave, initiated by our planetary logos, when brought in conjunction wit

e second globe in the second chain. a group of special devas (connected with a particular open sound in the planetary word, work with the reptile evolution. it should be noted here that this evolution on the etheric planes has a closer effect upon man than on the physical. if students will apply themselves to the consideration of these facts, to the investigation of the serpent lore in all lands, mythologies and scriptures, and if they will link up all this knowledge with that concerning those heavenly constellations which have a serpent appellation (such as, for instance, the dragon, much illumination may come. if the intuition suffices, knowledge may then be imparted which will make clearer the connection between the physical bodies with their centres, and the psychic nature. the bird ki

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

rayed for us symbolically the story of the child which shall be born, suffer and die and come again. there is the group of stars called coma berenice, the woman with the child. there is centaurus, the centaur, and bo tes, whose name in the hebrew language means the "coming one" first, the child born of the woman and that woman a virgin; then the centaur, ever the symbol of humanity in the ancient mythologies, for man is an animal, plus a god, and therefore a human being. then he who shall come looms over them all, overshadowing them, pointing to the fulfilment which shall come through birth and human incarnation. truly the picture book of the heavens holds eternal truth for those who have eyes to see and the intuition developed rightly to interpret. prophecy is not confined to the bible bu

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

ery power" this is hazy and evasive enough; but see what hargrave jennings writes in his weird, staccato-like style "both saint michael and saint george are types. they are sainted personages, or dignified heroes, or powers apotheosized. they are each represented with their appropriate faculties and attributes. these are reproduced and stand multiplied- distinguished by different names in all the mythologies (including the christian. the idea regarding each is a general one. this idea and representative notion is that of the all-powerful champion- child-like in his 'virgin innocence- so powerful that this god-filled innocence (the seraphim 'know most' the cherubim 'love most) can shatter the world (articulated, so to use the word- in the magic of lucifer, but condemned) in opposition to th

yone can read in the french translation "when the mao-tse("that antediluvian and perverted race" explains the annotator "which had retired in the days of old to the rocky caves, and the descendants of whom are said to be still found in the neighbourhood of canton[[footnote(s* treating of the chinese dragon and the literature of china, mr. ch. gould writes in his "mythical monsters" on p. 212 "its mythologies, histories, religions, popular stories and proverbs, all teem with references to a mysterious being who has a physical nature and spiritual attributes. gifted with an accepted form, which he has the supernatural power of casting off for the assumption of others, he has the power of influencing the weather, producing droughts or fertilizing rains at pleasure, of raising tempests and all

and in ecuador, who combated gods and men. these old beliefs, which term certain localities "los campos de los gigantes "the fields of giants" are always concomitant with the existence of pliocene mammalia and the occurrence of pliocene raised beaches "all the giants are not under mount ossa" and it would be poor anthropology indeed that would restrict the traditions of giants to greek and bible mythologies. slavonian countries, russia especially, teem with legends about the bogaterey (mighty giants[[vol. 2, page] 755 races of giants. of old; and their folklore, most of which has served for the foundation of national histories, their oldest songs, and their most archaic traditions, speak of the giants of old. thus we may safely reject the modern theory that would make of the titans mere s

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

head hovering over the waters, which it incubates with its breath. in this case the serpent is the agathodaemon, the good spirit: in its opposite aspect, it is the kakodaemon- the bad one. in the scandinavian eddas, the honey dew, the fruit of the gods and of the creative busy yggdrasill (bees, falls during the hours of night, when the atmosphere is impregnated with humidity; and in the northern mythologies, as the passive principle of creation, it typifies the[[vol. 1, page] 345 the birth of mind. creation of the universe out of water; this dew is the astral light in one of its combinations, and possesses creative as well as destructive properties. in the chaldean legend of berosus, oannes or dagon, the man-fish, instructing the people, shows the infant world created out of water, and al

the creation of the world according to the bible chronology. creuzer believes it very easy to show that most of the theogonies are intimately connected with religious calendars, and point to the zodiac as their prime origin- if not identical with the zodiac known to us now, then something very analogous to it. he feels certain that the zodiac and its mystic relations are at the bottom of all the mythologies, under one form or the other, and that it had existed in the old form for ages before; owing to some singular co-ordination of events, it was brought out in the present defined astronomical garb (creuzer, book iii, page 930) whether "the genii of the planets (our dhyan chohans of supra-mundane spheres) showed themselves to "holy prophets" or not, as claimed in the dabistan, it would se

BLUE EQUINOX

do not know that at any time they were the scenes of great cruelty or other abominations, though certainly they present the completest mise-en-scene for such excesses. what i do know is that, from the cornerstone to the coping of the highest gopura, they are the product of gloomy, perverted, morbidly overwrought imaginations, revelling in the most extravagant features of the most monstrous of all mythologies. this is all that mr. archer gets from the greatest temple, both from an artistic and religious standpoint, that is alive to-day. and in order that he may write himself down an ass for all to see, he is stupid enough to publish photographs of temples, whose beauty would, one thinks, be evident even to the bovine readers to whom he doubtless appeals. the equinox 298 mr. archer s arrogan

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

evastating boll weevil in the south, natural calamities, migration, or other historical events that had an impact on the blues singer or on black life. other blue narratives were preoccupied with individual misfortune or illness or the furtive quest for sexual fulfillment.all familiar motifs in conjure, which was utilized for these very same purposes. thus, while the blues most assuredly embodied mythologies of evil, they were also attentive to the ways of addressing affliction by immediate, practical means.[54] references to conjure in blues lyrics often consisted of erotic allusions that bespoke a boastful masculine virility or cunning references to a woman's sex appeal. blues men sang of the virtues of femininity that rested in a woman's possession of the right combination of secret ing

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

xisted before. q: how were the forces of the world divided? a: the light, pure forces called the yang drifted into heaven; the heavy, dark forces called the yin sank down to earth. q: was panku happy when he died? a: yes, even when people have a difficult life, they can be happy at the end of that life if they have accomplished something worthwhile. 21 expert commentary in his comparison of world mythologies, anthropologist roy willis writes about the death of panku: in many traditions, creation is brought about by sacrificial death. this story [of panku] resembles a vedic hymn of the indian tradition which tells how purusha, a primordial being, is sacrificed: his bodily parts then become the many components of the universe, including gods, man and animals. in saharan africa the world was

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

irtually omnipotent international police force [a world army now called the united nations peace keeping force and nato; an established and recognised extraterrestrial menace [now being engineered with the themes of horrible aliens and a possible invasion of earth; massive global environmental pollution; fictitious alternate enemies; a modern, sophisticated form of slavery; new religions or other mythologies; a comprehensive programme of applied eugenics" all of these things have emerged since the report was completed. there you see the proposal for the environmental threat/eugenics scenario which was to follow very soon afterwards. the report called for the establishment of a secret war/peace research agency using "unaccountable funds" which would study both the peace and war options. amo

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

attributed disease, disaster, possession, and bewitchment. the ancient deities may have evolved into the fairies, elves, brownies, bogies, and goblins of popular folklore, of which many apparitions are recorded. primitive concepts of apparitions it is only within the last few generations that scientific investigation of apparitions has begun, growing out of the new post- enlightenment scientific mythologies, and resulting from the new level of skepticism towards paranormal occurrences that developed in the nineteenth century. there was an almost universal belief in ghosts, a belief which european explorers found among the peoples they encountered as they set out on their empire-building expansions. one of the most noteworthy features of ghosts in indigenous cultures was the fear and antag

t different times. the main subject is the beatification of the dead, who were supposed to recite the chapters in order that they might gain power and enjoy the privileges of the new life. the work abounds in magical references. the whole trend of the book of the dead is thaumaturgic, as its purpose is to guard the dead against the dangers they have to face in reaching the other world. as in most mythologies, the dead egyptian had to encounter malignant spirits and was threatened by many dangers before reaching his haven of rest. he also had to undergo judgment by osiris, and to justify himself before being permitted to enter the realms of bliss. this he imagined he could in great part accomplish by the recitation of various magical formula and spells, which would ward off the evil influen

ort. kansas city, mo: uni-sun, 1982. return of the bird tribes. san francisco: harpersan- francisco, 1991. terra christa: the global spiritual awakening. kansas city, mo: uni-sun, 1985. the third millennium: living in the posthistoric world. san francisco: harper san francisco, 1995. vision: a personal call to create a new world. kansas city, mo: uni-sun, 1985. cargo cults various forms of modern mythologies among the native peoples of melanesia, arising from folk recollections of the riches brought by white traders, missionaries, or other colonizers. the earliest form of cargo cults appears to have developed in fiji in the late nineteenth century when prophets would announce the imminent return of ancestors or white men on ships laden with luxuries. during world war ii, another form of ca

920s, katherine maltwood began to examine reports that the land around glastonbury was laid out as a giant horoscope, which became known as the glastonbury zodiac. more recently glastonbury became the home of magician dion fortune. this power complex of traditions and legends has attracted many young people to glastonbury as a pilgrimage center in the contemporary occult and mystical revival. new mythologies crossed with the old as thousands of young pilgrims spend magical weekends at glastonbury, combining flying saucer cults, hare krishna incantations, and rock music with legends of king arthur and joseph of arimathea. glastonbury is now regarded as a power center of the new age of aquarius, and a community magazine, torc, has been founded to further knowledge of glastonbury and its asso

ere given as hun-came and vukubcame. the latter were malignant, unlike the mictlan of mexico, whose empire was for the generality of the people. these could only exist for four years, after which they became extinct. the mexicans represented mictlan as a huge monster with open mouth ready to devour his victims; this was paralleled in the babylonian tiawith. it seems that at a certain stage in all mythologies the concept of a place of the dead was confounded with the idea of a place of punishment. the greeks generally bewailed the tragedy of humanity, being condemned to dwell forever in semidarkness after death. the possibility of the existence of a place of reward seems never to have appealed to them. to the greek mind, life was everything; it was left to the semitic conscience to evolve i

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

e they give to the ultimate godhead. they follow modern wicca, however, by noting that the godhead, who is all knowing and all pervasive, differentiates itself into male and female as the lady of the moon and the lord of death and resurrection. the lord and lady further differentiate themselves into a myriad of lesser deities that have been recognized throughout human history in the various world mythologies. members are free to acknowledge these lesser deities in their rites as they see fit, save only that such practice does not lead to harm to people or animals. in addition to the dedication, the church circulates the statement issued in 1974 by the now-defunct council of american witches whose principles of wiccan belief has become a popular statement defining the community. the actual

ix press, 1964. smythies, john raymond. science and the esp. london: routledge& k. paul: 1922. reprint, new york: humanities publications, 1967. smythies, john raymond, and arthur koestler, ed. beyond reductionism: new perspectives in the science of life. london: hitchinson, 1969. reprint, new york: macmillian, 1970; london: hutchinson, 1972. snake handling snakes played a prominent part in pagan mythologies and religious ceremonies long before the judeo-christian story of the garden of eden. the snake has often been regarded as a fertility symbol. in the mayan scripture popul vuh, the plumed serpent assists in the creation of life, as it does in the beliefs of the aztec and the pueblo indians. the deity dambollah, an african deity most frequently pictured as a serpent, is central to haiti

he cemetery there until nine years later, when his remains were transferred to the churchyard of drumcliffe, near sligo. sources: harper, george mills. yeats and the occult. london: macmillan, 1975. yeats golden dawn. london: macmillan, 1974. reprint, wellingborough, england: aquarian press, 1979. yeats, william butler. autobiography. new york: macmillan, 1938. memoirs. new york: macmillan, 1973. mythologies. new york: macmillan, 1959. yeats-brown, francis (charles clayton (1886.1944) british soldier, author, and early popularizer of yoga in western countries. he was born at genoa, italy, august 15, yauhahu encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 1696 1886, the son of the british consul-general in that city. he was educated at harrow-on-the-hill and sandhurst, england. he was se

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

errestrials among us. st. paul, mn: llewellyn publications. c l a rk, je rome, 1998. da rk side. in the ufo en c y- clopedia, second edition: the phenomenon from the be g i n n i n g, 301 319. de t roit, mi: om n i g r a p h i c s. cooper, milton william, 1991. behold a pale horse. sedona, az: light technology publishing. ellis, bill, 1991. cattle mutilation: contemporary legends and contemporary mythologies. con- temporary legend 1: 39 80. let s talk space: flying saucers are real, 1956. flying saucer review 2, 1 (january: 2 5. report tells of top brass attending saucer landing, 1955. flying saucer news-service research bulletin 1, 9 (august 20: 3. rolf alexander, m.d, and thoughts on ufos by dr. rolf alexander, 1965. flying saucer re- view (march/april: 9. williamson, george hunt, 1953

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

h the images of a higher reality which he has within. this is the strange vision, or the extraordinary illusion, which was later to inspire giordano bruno's efforts to base memory on celestial images, on images which are shadows of ideas in the soul of the world, and thus to unify and organise the innumerable individuals in the world and all the contents of memory. in his article on "botticelli's mythologies, e. h. gombrich quotes a letter from ficino to lorenzo di pierfrancesco de' medici, in which ficino tells the young lorenzo that he is giving him an "immense present. for anyone who contemplates the heavens, nothing he sets his eyes upon seems immense, but the heavens themselves. if, therefore, i make you a present of the heavens themselves what would be its price' ficino goes on to sa

oid too much influence from saturn and mars, and to obtain favourable influences from the sun, jupiter, and venus "if you thus dispose the heavenly signs and your gifts in this way, you will escape the threats of fortune, and, under divine favour, will five happy and free from cares" gombrich discusses the "primavera (pi. 2) in relation to such a 1 ficino, p. 805; cf. e. h. gombrich "botticelli's mythologies: a study in the neoplatonic symbolism of his circle, j.w.c.i, viii (1945. p- 16. 76 ficino's natural magic disposition of the stars, suggesting that the mercury on the extreme left is a planetary image, raising and dismissing the possibility that the three graces might be sol, jupiter, and venus, and emphasising that the central figure is certainly a venus. what i have now to suggest d

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

incoming of male dominion and supremacy, however, we observe the desire to annul the importance of the female and to enthrone one all-powerful male god whose chief attributes were power and might. notwithstanding the efforts which during the historic period have been put forward to magnify the importance of the male both in human affairs and in the god-idea, still, no one, i think, can study the mythologies and traditions of the nations of antiquity without being impressed with the prominence given to the female element, and the deeper the study the stronger will this impression grow. during a certain stage of human development, religion was but a recognition of and a reliance upon the vivifying or fructifying forces throughout nature, and in the earlier ages of man's career, worship cons

o generating principles throughout nature represent the infinite, the holy of holies, the elohim or aleim--the ieue. within the records of the earliest religions of ethiopia or arabia, chaldea, assyria, and babylonia, is revealed the same monad principle in the deity. this monad conception, or dual unity, this god of light and life, or of wisdom and generative force, is the same source whence all mythologies have sprung, and, as has been stated, among all peoples the fact is observed that the religious idea has followed substantially the same course of development, or growth. within the sacred writings of the hindoos there is but one almighty power, usually denominated as brahm or brahme- om or aum. this word in india was regarded with the same degree of veneration as was the sacred ieue o

boundless spirit, jove the fire, that warms the world with feeling and desire" in a former work the fact has been mentioned that the first clue obtained by herr bachofen, author of das mutterrecht, to a former condition of society under which gynaecocracy, or the social and political pre-eminence of women, prevailed, was the importance attached to the female principle in the deity in all ancient mythologies. according to the testimony of various writers, om, although comprehending both elements of the deity, was nevertheless female in signification. sir william jones observes that om means oracle--matrix or womb.[27] upon this subject godfrey higgins, quoting from drummond, remarks [27] see anacalypsis, book iii, ch. ii "the word om or am in the hebrew not only signifies might, strength

junctions of planets, conflagrations, and floods are wont to happen, and because after the last flood, which took place in the time of deucalion, the lapse of time, agreeably to the vicissitude of all things, requires a conflagration; and this made them give utterance to the erroneous opinion that god will descend, bringing fire like a torturer"[44 [44] origen against celsus, book iv, ch. xi. the mythologies of all nations are largely founded upon the "religious history" of a flood. the doctrine of a triplicated god saved from destruction by a storm-tossed ark which rested on some local mountain answering to ararat, and which was filled with the natural elements of reproduction, is found amongst the traditions of every country of the globe. in egypt, the destructive agency drives the god i

e the world; nor does the symbolism end here, for this god--the sun, or the reproductive power within it, which every year is put to death by the cold of winter, must for a season remain lifeless, but, at the proper time, will come forth with healing in his wings. this god must issue forth to life through female nature. the god-man, noah, who appears under one appellation or another in all extant mythologies, was slain, or shut up in a box, ark, or chest in which he or his seed was preserved from the ravages of a mighty flood, or from destruction by the calamity which had befallen the rest of mankind. in one sense he represents a savior, in another sense he is the saved, for he is the seed of a former world and is born again from a boat, a symbol which always represents the female energy

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

had to be modified (as necessarily was frequently the case in egypt. but manifested also as a bringer of good to the exorciser himself, both on the materialandonthe spiritual plane. hence he is directed to use the formula often, as a christian of today might be directed to be regular and diligent in his devotions.iwouldhere.caution the student to beware of the very common errorofassumingthat old mythologies are nothingbutweather myths, and. the old ceremonial magic no morethanan attempttocontrol the weather, in fact a sort of glorified prayer for rainorfine weather, a matter whereinan african witch-doctor can usually give many points to the parson. arcient egypt gives us the key. the old wisdom255 religions go right to the heart of things, to the inner spiritualegyptianritual and modernwi

ena of the tides, and we should probably set down anybody who spoke of the moon as influencing them as a superstitious ass. in fact, i have seen old books of the goody goody type that have set down as a gross superstition the idea that the moon had anything to do with the waters of the earth. of course you know that has been a tradition from the very earliest times, and in all the so-called pagan mythologies: the moon, as the origin of the waters of the earth, has always been a prominent fact,buta fact which apparently was absolutely sterile until the principles of gravitation were thoroughly established. that is one example of the periodicity of earthly phenomena under the influence of supra mundane causes. then, of course, the growth of plants and trees in spring is another. we say light

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

o the egyptian astro-gnosis and involved the pharaoh becoming the mediator for his people. in chapter six: the gnostic concept of time ii the gnostic handbook page 64 this role he also prepared egypt for the change which took place at the equinox of the gods, when one astrological sign gave way to another. for 180 years before this event the pharaoh and priesthood would work creating new symbols, mythologies and astral vessels so that the incoming energy could be utilized for the benefit of egypt. as time progressed the egyptian star-gnosis, the divine rite of rebirth and the secret of planetary and zodiacal mediation was passed from the pharaoh to a separate priesthood. with time and changes in both state and religion, the teachings were held under oath by secret orders and brotherhoods

ffers redemption from our false perceptions and our self created imprisonment. the gnostic handbook page 79 the aim of life the aim of life is to offer man a chance to gain salvation, to enter the path of transfiguration. since time immemorial the pleroma has outlined an escape route, a path by which man may awaken the true self and grasp the gift of immortality. and immortality is a gift, in all mythologies we find a quest for immortality, a trial that leads to a reward of life eternal. in the twelve labours of hercules we have a series of initiations which lead to eternal life, while in the quest for the golden fleece (of immortality) we have jason overcoming immense odds to grasp it. the divine will offers man many chances to gain immortality and these chances take place in many lives

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

e i agree our religious imagery may only reveal the holographic elements in fig 6 source michael satanel cosmic battle creates matter the alpha event or cosmic battle in the mythological terms of the old testament and related gnostic traditions. gnostic theurgy page 33 a very simplistic and elementary form, it is nevertheless certainly present. if we go further and re-consider the early religious mythologies about the fall and the creation of matter in the light of holography it becomes even more obvious. holograms are made by exposing a piece of film to laser light, which is scattered by the object being holographed. the film is also exposed to light coming directly from the laser (the reference beam. the two beams of light interfere when they reach the film because they have taken differ

f power. he will place the tarot trumps of the related four centres in each elemental corner. he will wear a black robe with a bright scarlet overlay. he will burn tobacco and perhaps some nettle as his incense. he will play martial music (mars from holst s planets is effective) and use red throughout the temple scheme. he will research and find some prayers and invocations to mars in the various mythologies. after his primary working he will re-orient himself to each quarter and visualise each tarot trump as related to inner strength. the chariot as self control, lust as strength, justice as honour and the hanged man as finding the strength and power within him. gnostic theurgy page 168 there are the rudimentaries of his rite, he will chose a banishing and elemental invocation, perhaps wi

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

e by way of sirius, the dog star, who stands at the heel of the giant constellation of orion where it towers in the sky above egypt. in that land, as we have seen, orion is osiris, the god of death and resurrection, whose numbers perhaps by chance are 12, 30, 72, and 360. but can chance account for the fact that these and other prime integers of precession keep cropping up in supposedly unrelated mythologies from all over the world, and in such stolid but enduring vehicles as calendar systems and works of architecture? santillana and von dechend, jane sellers and a growing body of other scholars rule out chance, arguing that the persistence of detail is indicative of a guiding hand. if they are wrong, we need to find some other explanation for how such specific and inter-related numbers (t

vidence of the civilization that carved it. a lot of evidence from that period has been found in egypt. there are some strange anomalies within it, i ll admit,14 but most of it the vast bulk is really quite rudimentary. so who built the sphinx if it wasn t the pre-dynastic egyptians? my conjecture is that the whole riddle is linked in some way to those legendary civilizations spoken of in all the mythologies of the world. you know that there were great catastrophes, that a few people survived and went wandering around the earth and that a bit of knowledge was preserved here, a bit there. my hunch is that the sphinx is linked to all that. if i were asked to place a bet i d say that it predates the break-up of the last ice age and is probably older than 10000 bc, perhaps even older than 15,0

, was extinguished by some sort of massive catastrophe, and that s when the legacy of high knowledge was handed on. because they had the sphinx here they knew about egypt, they knew this place, they knew this country, they had a connection here. maybe people survived the ending of that civilization. maybe they came here. does that work for you? well, it s a possibility. again, going back into the mythologies and legends of the world, many of them tell of such a catastrophe and of the few people the noah story that s prevalent through endless civilizations who somehow or other retained and passed on knowledge. the big problem with all this, from my point of view, is the transmission process: how exactly the knowledge does get handed on during the thousands and thousands of years between the

GREY W G CONDENSATION OF KABBALAH

h of the tree. it is frequently shown as being just before the sixth sphere, tiferet, and the opening of the higher-self. it is thought of as being gauzy or sufficiently translucent to give hints of something behind it. it represents the limits of clear perception which we have to impose between ourselves and more advanced consciousness. parochet is a useful background for spiritual studies. most mythologies are full of warnings about mortals who dared to gaze on gods and were destroyed in consequence. the bible says: no man has seen the face of god and lived. the normal human mind can only stretch so far before breaking, and it needs protection against an ideology it may seek on one level and yet cannot cope with until developed on others. so the parochet idea is both a warning and a prot

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

inquiry, it would have perilously overshadowed and choked the distinctively german, which ought rather to be developed out of itself, and, while often agreeing with the other, yet in some things stands opposed. the case appears therefore to stand thus, that, as we push on, we shall approach the norse boundary, and at length reach the point where the wall of separation can be pierced, and the two mythologies run together into one greater whole. if at present some new points of connexion have been established, more important diversities have revealed themselves too. to the norse antiquarians in particular, i hope my procedure will be acceptable: as we gladly give to them in return for what we have received, they ought no less to receive than to give. our memorials are preface. ix scantier

/rop? the distinction, drawn in homer as well as the edda, between the speech of gods and of men may signify something to us, and yet be no harder to explain than the identity of zio with zeus, or of z6vvenus and venustus are made intelligible by the on. v nn and vtenstr, and even by the 0. sax. superlative wanumo. what is true of the greek and roman mythologies, that with all their similarity they are yet far from identical, has to be asserted with still more emphasis of the relation between the roman and german, inasmuch as greek literature left an infinitely deeper dint on the roman, than latin literature was ever able to produce on our antiquity. if in ch. xxxv and xxxvii many things are quoted which appear to spring out of roman superstit

irst to emerge in the popular faith of any country, and which of them in poems and in forms of benediction have gradually slipt into the places of the old gods. here let me illustrate the more or less thorough interpenetration and commingling of christian and heathen legend by two examples, which seem to me peculiarly important. it must be regarded as one of the original possessions common to our mythologies, that the god, or two gods, or three, descend from heaven to earth, whether to prove men's works and ways (p. 337, or in search of adventures. this does violence to the christian belief in god's omnipresence and omniscience; but it preface. xxxix is a very pleasing fancy, that of the gods in person walking the earth unrecognised, and dropping in at the houses of mortals. even the odyss

ples entrusted to their charge. of all forms of belief, the monotheistic is at once the most agreeable to reason and the most honouring to deity. it also seems to be the original form, out of whose lap to a childlike antiquity polytheism easily unfolded itself, by the loftiest attributes of the one god being conceived first as a trilogy, then as a dodecalogy. this arrangement comes out in all the mythologies, and especially clear, i think, in ours: almost all the gods appear unequal in rank and power, now superior, now subordinate, so that, mutually dependent, they must all at last be taken as emanations of a highest and only one. what is offensive in polytheism is thereby diminished (p. 176. for even in the heathen breast a consciousness of such subordination could hardly be quite extinct

by degrees acquired so wide a compass and struck such deep root even in the popular religion, was unknown to our heathenism. it seems a general rule, that a dualism dividing the supreme being into opposites, where it is not [already] based on the earliest profound thought of a system (such as the zendic, never gets established at a later period except by abstract philosophizings. to the sensuous mythologies lying in the great middle it is ill-adapted. an all-pervading idealistic distinction between a good and an evil spirit, ormuzd and ahriman^ is known neither to the indian and greek theologies, nor to the teutonic. before the might of the one all-governing god the kakodeemon's power fades away. then out of this unity there grow up trilogies (brahma, vishnu, siva; zeus, poseidon, pluto;

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

uously in the edda: according to one story they bred as worms in the proto-giant s flesh, and were then endowed by the gods with understanding and human shape; but by the older account they were created out of the flesh and bones of another giant brimir. all this has to do with the black elves alone, and must not be extended to the light ones, about whose origin we are left in the dark. and other mythologies are equally silent. it. is important and interesting to get a clear view of the grada tion and sequence of the several creations. that in the edda giants come first, gods next, and then, after an intervening deluge, garly spoken of as one whose father got drowned on the apple (or nut) tree_ also, not to have sprung from an oak-stem, etner s unw. doct. 585. min gof 1st au niid abbem nos

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

ly protected by the magic of thoth and by the ferocity of anubis in his role as guardian of the tomb. the birth and childhood of horus. after a pregnancy of ten months, isis gives birth to a son called horus. this god was often referred to as horus, son of isis, to distinguish him from horus the elder, the sky god whom some traditions made a brother of osiris and seth. these two gods had distinct mythologies but were often treated as aspects of the same deity. the place of horus s birth is said to be in the delta, usually in the region of chemmis. to evade his enemies, the divine child was hidden inside a papyrus thicket or on a floating island. this nest of horus is one of the few mythical places that is commonly shown in egyptian art. temple wall scenes depict kings in the role of the ho

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

compared to the four elements-fire, air, water, and earth, and are each capable of a three-fold constitution, i.e, fixed, unstable, and volatile. little or nothing is known by the world concerning the origin of this archaic branch of philosophy; but it is certain that it antedates the construction of any known zodiac, and as dealing with the personified forces of nature, probably also any of the mythologies of the world. nor is there any doubt that the true secrets of transmutation (on the physical plane) were known in the days of old, and lost before the dawn of the so-called historical period. modern chemistry owes its best fundamental discoveries to alchemy, but regardless of the undeniable truism of the latter, that there is but one element in the universe, chemistry placed metals in

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

going round saying i never will understand humans until he was thoroughly spock-ified. and he got an a, so there! and so, back to the cthulhu mythos. lovecraft himself was of the opinion that fear, particularly fear of the unknown, was the strongest emotion attached to the great old ones. the reason why i like to work with that mythos occasionally is that the great old ones are outside most human mythologies, reflecting the shadows of the giants in norse myths, the pre- olympian titans in greek myths, and other groups of universebuilders who are thought to be too chaotic for the polite company of the gods of the ordered universe. for me too, the nature of the great old ones as shadowy beings who can only be partially glimpsed is attractive- they can t be assimilated and bound into any orth

INFERNAL UNION

the queen mother of vampires, which is entirely in keeping with all the above references to 3 her. she was in this aspect in the tale of the egyptian sekmet, the blood-drinking goddess of the south (and may be related to seker in this aspect. lilith is the female serpent who latched onto eves brain centre in her union with samael who possessed adam. their union produced the first born (or in some mythologies, the dark twin) male, cain who through adversity was taught knowledge and wisdom by his true spiritual parents who he came into communion with. he became the eternal father of and the first in the circle of witchblood. throughout history he has guided those who truly seek the flame of luciferian becoming. because he is the perfect union of both the sun and moon, he is therefore baphome

ISIS UNVEILED

his law, mentioned by all writers on the aadent initiation, speaks for itself. the claim of augustine* that all the exfja- nations given by the neo-platonists were invented by themselves, is ab- surd. for nearly all the ceremonies in their true and successive order are given by plato himself, in a more or less covered way. the mysteries are os old as the world, and one well versed in the esoteric mythologies of various nations can trace them back to the days of the ante-vedic period in india. a condition of the strictest virtue and purity is required from the vaiu, or candidate, in india before he can become an initiate, whether he aims to be a simple fakir, a ptavhiia (public priest) or a sannf/dsi, a saint of the second degree of initiation, the most holy as the most revered of them all

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

the thirty-third. rosicrucian celestial and terrestrial (means of intercommunication. 317 chapter the thirty-fourth. the pre-adamites. profound cabalistic or rosicrucian speculations. 322 xvi contents chapter the thirty-fifth. page. the adapted rosicrucian contemplation. intrusion of sin. ruins of the old worlds. 337 chapter the thirty-sixth. indian mysterious adoration of forms. the unity of the mythologies found in the buddhistic and mahommedan temples. 346 chapter the thirty-seventh. doctrine and rationale. the embodied children of the elements, both of heathen and of christian periods. 354 chapter the thirty-eighth. robert flood (robertus de fluctibus, the english rosicrucian. 361 supplementary notes. the first. notice of an ancient work (1595. 367 the second. rosicrucian views on the

ously privately surmise it; and also the apparently circuitous deductions, which are yet to come, to be made by us. blue is the colour of the virgin maria. maria, mary, mare, mar, mam, means the bitterness, or the saltness, of the sea. blue is expressive of the hellenic, isidian, ionian, fonian (foni-indian) watery, female, and moonlike principle in the universal theogony. it runs through all the mythologies. the lady-bird, or lady-cow (there is no resemblance between a bird and a cow, it may be remarked en passant, except in this strangely occult, almost ridiculous, affinity, and the rustic rhyme among the children concerning it, may be here remembered: lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home! your house is on fire your children at home! such may be heard in all parts of england when a lady-b

g. 16, in this respective order, gives the crux-ansata, so continual in all the egyptian sculptures, which mark or sign is also the symbol of the planet venus, as below. fig. 20. the crux-ansata. fig. 21. mark of the planet venus. their origin is thus traced clearly to the same original meanings, which reappear under all sorts of disguises, and are varied in innumerable ingenious ways, in all the mythologies incessantly disclosing, and inviting, and as continually evading and escaping discovery. this abstruse mark particularly abounds in the egyptian temples, where every object and every figure presents it. its real meaning is, however, intended to be buried in profound darkness. in regard of the mysteries implied in the christian cross, the schismatics contended (1st) that christ, alive u

ld has been architecturally emblemed in the diminishing stories, carried upwards, and fining away into the series of unaccountable discs struck through a vertical rod, until all culminates, and as it were, to speak heraldically of it the last achievement is blazoned in the gilded ball, which means the final, or bhuddist, glorifying absorption. buildings have always telegraphed the insignia of the mythologies; and, in china, the fantastic speaks the sublime. we recognise the same embodied mythos in all architectural spiring or artistic diminution, whether tapering to the globe or exaltation of the egyptian ur us or the disc, or the sidonian crescent, or the lunar horns, or the acroterium of the greek temple, or the pediment of the classic pronaos itself (crowning, how grandly and suggestive

d-mark upon all the temples of the land of soothsayers and sorcerers, this egypt so profound in its philosophies, in its wisdom, in its magic seeing, and in its religion, raising out of the black abyss a god to shadow it, all the minarets of the mohammedan, we say, together with all the other symbols of moon, of disc, of wings, or of horns (equally with the shadowy and preternatural beings in all mythologies and in all theologies, to which these adjuncts or insignia are referred, and which are symbolised by them, all these monuments, or bodied meanings, testify to the deification of fire. what may mean that tower of babel and its impious raising, when it sought, even past and over the clouds, to the tower, tor, or tau of babel. 91 imply a daring sign? what portent was that betrayal of a kn

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

agician can make use of traditional rituals or create new ones, as she or he wishes, the only requirement being that it works. chaos magic begins with the assumption that the proper field of magic is the subconscious mind, and makes use of whatever evokes a charge from the subconscious during magical operations. chaos magic 43 thus one could, for instance, invoke spirits from completely fictional mythologies (e.g, h. p. lovecraft s fictional demons, as long as they evoke the proper state of mind. although it does not exclude the dimension of producing external effects, the focus of most chaos magic is the individual magician, approaching the ritual as psychodrama rather than worship. first coming into general view in the 1970s via the very loosely organized illuminates of thanateros, chaos

at in judgment was a task wherein the newly dead faced many perils. the deceased could mistakenly take routes that culminated in fiery dead ends where sinister demons lay in wait.obviously, people were very concerned that they be able to conduct themselves successfully on this journey, so over time guidebooks were put together so people would know what was expected of them, what were the relevant mythologies, how to say the right prayers, magical formulas, and so on. in the beginning, this information was placed on the walls of the burial chamber, and scholars have called these sources the pyramid texts. sometimes the information was placed on the wooden sarcophagi, and these sources are called the coffin texts. by the time of the new kingdom, when many more parts of the populace had reaso

3 purpose of implanting the idea of humanity s celestial origins and other notions in the human race. in this way, humanity would, in a later, scientific age (i.e, the current age, be able to look back over traditional scriptures and perceive what had really happened. rael, the last of the forty prophets, is the bearer of this message. rael claims that many of the figures in traditional religious mythologies are actually space aliens. satan, it seems, is the head of a party of opinion on the home planet of the elohim opposed to genetic experiments who believe that humanity poses a potential threat and should be destroyed.according to rael, in let s welcome our fathers from space, satan thought that one could not expect anything good from these scientifically- created creatures, and that ou

hatever the motivation for crossing, the great expanse of water is almost always seen as a barrier that must be overcome by magical means. in at least one version, a great wind and a deep darkness prevailed, and the great serpent commenced hissing in the depths of the ocean during the crossing (shutz 1989, 55. the great serpent referred to here is a marine monster who, like his parallels in other mythologies across the world, concretely embodies the negative, disordering aspect of the primordial waters. after successfully negotiating the initial stage of the journey, but prior to reaching their eventual resting place, a party of warriors is drowned by a large turtle who is acting in the capacity of an agent for the hostile sea snake. in retaliation, shawnee shamans slay the serpent and cut

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

s linguistically trained predecessors, compared structure, not etymology, and he was quite prepared to argue that two deities in different indo-european traditions were equivalent even when they had no etymological relationship whatever. nor was he the least bit interested in potential reflection of the phenomena of nature. rather, he thought that three social gfunctions h were represented in the mythologies of the various indo-european peoples. the first function was that of sovereignty, which, according to dumezil, is ordinarily represented by two deities, each of whom is associated with one or the other side of sovereignty: either with the awe inspired by a leader or with the legal, contractual nature that a sovereign was obligated to uphold. the classic split was found in the vedic god

are called east, west, north, and south. snorri has the sons of bor make a medieval cosmos, with the earth in the center and the sea surrounding it, and he adds the details of the cardinal directions represented by dwarfs holding up the sky. he also adds ymir fs teeth to the micro-macro equation. the slaying of a monster is seen not infrequently in connection with the creation of the universe in mythologies from all around the world, and the creation of the cosmos through a set of micro-macro analogies is not uncommon in indo-european tradition. ymir fs name originally meant something like gdoubled, h and scholars associate this etymology with the hermaphroditic procreation in which he indulges and with tuisto, the primeval being in tacitus, germania, chapter 2. but perhaps most important

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

escapism clothed in h( 1! h. m..1 (5: 5[ f..q i\ 0i am my own law, it sayeth. hope on, for you are much more than you are: much more than you will ever guess as possible. t( 6. i( f-protection, nutrition and sensation. breeding every hybrid and abortion by constant grafting, cross-breeding, against their, and our, intended purpose, or so it seems. what cloudy enemies, what astounding conceptions, mythologies, ideologies, lies, half-truths, frustrations, transferences, they have spawned and still spawn. all deceptions blinding us again and again. but ever, through this jungle have they created their good and evil( c( x. z. over-ridden, murdered or superseded. here, no prayers please; therefore let us smile at our bloodiness in defeating only ourselves. here dwelleth delusion: a man sees a c

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

succeeded by the dark ages of superstition. with the needs of posterity foremost in mind, the sages of old went to inconceivable extremes to make certain that their knowledge should be preserved. they engraved it upon the face of mountains and concealed it within the measurements of colossal images, each of which was a geometric marvel. their knowledge of chemistry and mathematics they hid within mythologies which the ignorant would perpetuate, or in the spans and arches of their temples which time has not entirely obliterated. they wrote in characters that neither the vandalism of men nor the ruthlessness of the elements could completely efface, today men gaze with awe and reverence upon the mighty memnons standing alone on the sands of egypt, or upon the strange terraced pyramids of pala

e of appreciating the deeper mysteries of life. to the discerning few were revealed the esoteric, or spiritual, teachings, while the unqualified many received only the literal, or exoteric, interpretations. in order to make simple the great truths of nature and the abstract principles of natural law, the vital forces of the universe were personified, becoming the gods and goddesses of the ancient mythologies. while the ignorant multitudes brought their offerings to the altars of priapus and pan (deities representing the procreative energies, the wise recognized in these marble statues only symbolic concretions of great abstract truths. in all cities of the ancient world were temples for public worship and offering. in every community also were philosophers and mystics, deeply versed in nat

umed" snake was applied to quetzalcoatl, or kukulcan, the central american initiate. the center of the atlantean wisdom-religion was presumably a great pyramidal temple standing on the brow of a plateau rising in the midst of the city of the golden gates. from here the initiate-priests of the sacred feather went forth, carrying the keys of universal wisdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. the mythologies of many nations contain accounts of gods who "came out of the sea" certain shamans among the american indians tell of holy men dressed in birds' feathers and wampum who rose out of the blue waters and instructed them in the arts and crafts. among the legends of the chaldeans is that of oannes, a partly amphibious creature who came out of the sea and taught the savage peoples along the

rnations of day and night. during the middle ages, the practices of black magic were confined to the nocturnal hours; and those who served the spirit of evil were called black magicians, while those who served the spirit of good were called white magicians. black and white were associated respectively with night and day, and the endless conflict of light and shadow is alluded to many times in the mythologies of various peoples. the egyptian demon, typhon, was symbolized as part crocodile and part: hog because these animals are gross and earthy in both appearance and temperament. since the world began, living things have feared the darkness; those few creatures who use it as a shield for their maneuvers were usually connected with the spirit of evil. consequently cats, bats, toads, and owls

, hiram (chiram) at the west gate of the temple, orpheus on the banks of the river hebros, christna on the banks of the ganges, and osiris in the coffin prepared by typhon, so in alchemy, unless the elements first die, the great work cannot be achieved. the stages of the alchemical processes can be traced in the lives and activities of nearly all the world saviors and teachers, and also among the mythologies of several nations. it is said in the bible that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god" in alchemy it is declared that without putrefaction the great work cannot be accomplished. what is it that dies on the cross, is buried in the tomb of the mysteries, and that dies also in the retort and becomes black with putrefaction? also, what is it that does this same thi

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

de a magickal connection, the result of this study in print is the book of the witch moon. this is meant to be a study guide to the night side, a non- christian dogma infested approach. the methods of witchcraft within this tome are of the darkest magick, when vampires, werewolves and sorcerers haunted the nights, doing their work and weaving webs in your dreams. we are still there, alive in your mythologies, alive in your mind. what is witchcraft in essence? is witchcraft the worship of nature, an earth religion? not completely. the tradition, which i have studied through and learnt, is the darker side of witchcraft, far more dangerous than traditional wiccan rites however the results are much greater. do not fear the darkness of the self; let it guide you through the shadows to the light

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

earth. the many incarnations of vishnu upon the earth are certainly modeled after, and considered to be, a savior figure. the first incarnation of the benevolent god vishnu arrived to earth in the form of a fish, and warned a man named manu of a coming flood. the fish informed manu to build a massive ark which, needless to say, saved manu s life--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 7 in the aztec mythologies of mexico, only 2 humans survive a massive flood. coxcoxtli and his wife xochiquetzal survive the great inundation in a boat they were told to construct prior to the flood. after the subsiding of the flood waters, their boat came to rest on a tall mountain. in yet another central american tradition, that of a tribe called the mechoacanesecs, the god tezcatlipoca desired to destroy all

speak about the flood that wiped out the noble nephilim. bottom line: a wicked race of both humans and non-humans--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 8 an angry creator, a small family warned by a god, 2 of every creature on a boat, a big damn flood, and humanity reborn. that s one hell of a dream. paradise lost, the tower of babel, and the savior [1.4] another reoccurring theme through out the mythologies is man s loss of paradise. this story, whose most popular variation occurs in the bible, details man s plight from a worry-free life to an existence of suffering and hardship. but as usual, the bible is not alone in describing humanity s fall from grace. just as the christians have the garden of eden, the persians have heden. heden was, according to persian tradition, the first habitat

there were a way to be in heaven, but not in the presence of the throne. this is important because it describes a lack of unity where, like in our material world, objects can be closer or farther from other objects. obviously, there is some form of space and time in heaven, and proof of this lies in the fact that many of the stories about heaven related to us from the bible, occult, and numerous mythologies include sequences of events, and entities and objects both near and far. heaven is also spoke of as having gates that deny its entry; implied in this is that heaven and our world--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 24 are connected by a guarded nexus point. what s more is that heaven itself is often spoke of as being broken into 7 pieces, the 7 heavens. each level of the heavens is ru

their books with personal stories. here i believe one is order, but if i play my cards right, you can still keep learning about important topics. how s that sound? at first, my research was completely geared to the illuminati and satanism specifically. i started reading books about satanism and black magic and noticed something many satanists partake in; using the names of multiple religions and mythologies to describe the same character. in the same breath (sentence, satanists would name 5 different gods, from 5 different religions, and declare that they were in fact the same entity. this was a conclusion i came to independently. these black magicians made casual references to the biblical struggle of good and evil, the greek and egyptian gods, the dajjal [anti-christ] and jinn [demons]

would use iron objects, like swords and long knives, to stab disruptive spirits. satanists, on the other hand, may hesitate to bring iron anywhere near the spirit during a ritual as it may offend the gods. another thing that impressed me about magicians, both good and bad, was the overall knowledge they possessed regarding the bible, islam, apocryphal texts, judaism, hinduism, and almost all the mythologies. they could quote the bible with the best of them. this overall spiritual knowledge is most likely due to their understanding regarding the singular root story, rather than intense memorization on their part. the fact that they so liberally use the names and storylines from multiple beliefs so interchangeably is proof of this. what else i found interesting was how some magicians referr

MORALS AND DOGMA

rality which is suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to the man of every creed. it has taught no doctrines, except those truths that tend directly to the well-being of man; and those who have attempted to direct it toward useless vengeance, political ends, and jesuitism, have merely perverted it to purposes foreign to its pure spirit and real nature. mankind outgrows the sacrifices and the mythologies of the childhood of the world. yet it is easy for human indolence to linger near these helps, and refuse to pass further on. so the unadventurous nomad in the tartarian wild keeps his flock in the same close-cropped circle where they first learned to browse, while the progressive man roves ever forth "to fresh fields and pastures new" the latter is the true mason; and the best and inde

the serpent was as often a symbol of malevolence and enmity. it appears among the emblems of siva-roudra, the power of desolation and death: it is the bane of a pytus, idom, archemorus, and philoctetes: it gnaws the roots of the tree of life in the eddas, and bites the heel of unfortunate eurydice. in hebrew writers it is generally a type of evil; and is particularly so in the indian and persian mythologies. when the sea is churned by mount mandar rotating within the coils of the cosmical serpent vasouki, to produce the amrita or water of immortality, the serpent vomits a hideous poison, which spreads through and infects the universe, but which vishnu renders harmless by swallowing it. ahriman in serpent-form invades the realm of ormuzd; and the bull, emblem of life, is wounded by him and

re punished or chained, as a signal proof of god's power and justice. god, it is said "stirs the sea with his might--by his understanding he smote rahab--his breath clears the face of heaven--his hand pierced the crooked serpent. god withdraws not his anger; beneath him bow the confederates of rahab" rahab always means a sea-monster: probably some such legendary monstrous dragon, as in almost all mythologies is the adversary of heaven and demon of eclipse, in whose belly, significantly called the belly of hell, hercules, like jonah, passed three days, ultimately escaping with the loss of his hair or rays. chesil, the rebellious giant orion, represented in job as riveted to the sky, was compared to ninus or nimrod, the mythical founder of nineveh (city of fish) the mighty hunter, who slew l

etend to set themselves up for instructors of the human race: but, though asia produced and preserved the mysteries, masonry has, in europe and america, given regularity to their doctrines, spirit, and action, and developed the moral advantages which mankind may reap from them. more consistent, and more simple in its mode of procedure, it has put an end to the vast allegorical pantheon of ancient mythologies, and itself become a science. none can deny that christ taught a lofty morality "love one another: forgive those that despitefully use you and persecute you: be pure of heart, meek, humble, contented: lay not up riches on earth, but in heaven: submit to the powers lawfully over you: become like these little children, or ye cannot be saved, for of such is the kingdom of heaven: forgive

by the sun; hope, enemy of avarice, by the _moon; charity, opposed to luxury, by _venus; force, stronger than rage, by _mars; prudence, the opposite of indolence, by _mercury; temperance, the antipodes of gluttony, by saturn; and justice, the opposite of envy, by _jupiter. the kabalistic book of the apocalypse is represented as closed with seven seals. in it we find the seven genii of the ancient mythologies; and the doctrine concealed under its emblems is the pure kabala, already lost by the pharisees at the advent of the saviour. the pictures that follow in this wondrous epic are so many pantacles, of which the numbers 3, 4, 7, and 12 are the keys. the cherub, or symbolic bull, which moses places at the gate of the edenic world, holding a blazing sword, is a sphinx, with the body of a bu

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

l proportions of successive events, it is possible to predict important future occurrences with certitude, and to fix beforehand, from age to age, the destinies of nations and the world. st. john, depositary of the secret doctrine of christ, has commemorated this sequence in the kabalistic book of the apocalypse, which he represents sealed with seven seals. we meet also the seven genii of ancient mythologies, and the cups and swords of the tarot. the doctrine concealed under these emblems is pure kabalah, already lost by the pharisees at the time of christ's advent. the scenes which succeed one another in this wonderful prophetic epic are so many pantacles, the keys of which are the ternary, the quaternary, the septenary and the duodenary. its hieroglyphic figures are analogous to those of

plaining, while in no wise morally justifying, the amorous peculiarities of anacreon or sappho. a skilful magnetizer should take all these subtle distinctions into account, and we shall provide in our ritual the rules for their recognition. there are two kinds of realization, the true and the fantastic. the first is the exclusive secret of magicians, the other belongs to enchanters and sorcerers. mythologies are fantastic realizations of religious dogma; superstitions are the sorcery of mistaken piety; but even mythologies and superstitions are more efficacious on human will than a purely speculative philosophy apart from any practice. hence st. paul opposes the conquests of the folly of the cross to the inertness of human wisdom. religion realizes philosophy by adapting it to the weakness

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

the anathemas pronounced in the bible against those who sacrifice on high places or in the caverns of the earth. all spilling of blood operated ceremonially is abominable and impious, and since the death of adonhiram the society of true adepts has a horror of blood. ecclesia abhorret a sanguine. the initiatory symbolism of pantacles adopted throughout the east is the key of all ancient and modern mythologies. apart from knowledge of the hieroglyphic alphabet, one would be lost among the obscurities of the vedas, the zend-avesta and the bible. the tree which brings forth good and evil, the source of the four rivers, one of which waters the land of gold. that is, of light. and another flows through ethiopia, or the kingdom of darkness; the magnetic serpent who seduces the woman, and the woma

belief, even as there is but one god, one reason and one universe; that revelation is obscure for no one, since the whole world understands more or less both truth and justice, and since all that is possible can only exist analogically to all that is. being is being, xvx' wc' xvx. the apparently bizarre figures presented by the apocalypse of st. john are hieroglyphics, like those of all oriental mythologies, and can be comprised in a series of pantacles. the initiator clothed in white, standing between seven golden 60 the ritual of transcendental magic candlesticks and holding seven stars in his hand, represents the unique doctrine of hermes and the universal analogies of the light. the woman clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars is the celestial isis, or the gnosis; the serp

RUBY TABLET OF SET

igation. the workshop session discussion however left the topic of abstract forms, and instead investigated the historic use of symbols in various cultures. looking first at the more complex god forms, it seems each major culture has a "trickster" god: coyote fills this niche in several amerindian cultures, loki in the norse mythos, and thoth (hermes and mercury) in the egyptian (greek and roman) mythologies. the trickster is that spirit who makes you think. he is the spirit who is unpredictable in his actions or reactions, who gets himself and everyone else into trouble. in the process of doing so. most often after everyone is already in trouble. he makes people think, and in the end he generally gets everyone out of trouble by thinking. to represent the trickster, each culture used that

SATANIC RITUALS

e competition. this statement has been consistently difficult to refute. as might be expected, lovecraft was lionized and extensively imitated by a number of writers whose imaginations were sparked by his celebrated "cthulhu mythos"-a term commonly given to a series of stories based upon a supernatural pantheon of lovecraft's own invention. he had a firm conviction that reference to the classical mythologies would undermine the atmosphere of cyclic and spatial disorientation he sought to create. lovecraft created his own beings, whose prehistoric activities on earth set in motion the forces of man's civilization and genius, as well as the horrors of his educated imagination. while freud and einstein wrestled with their respective disciplines in the isolation of academic specialization, lov

SYMBOLISM

igation. the workshop session discussion however left the topic of abstract forms, and instead investigated the historic use of symbols in various cultures. looking first at the more complex god forms, it seems each major culture has a "trickster" god: coyote fills this niche in several amerindian cultures, loki in the norse mythos, and thoth (hermes and mercury) in the egyptian (greek and roman) mythologies. the trickster is that spirit who makes you think. he is the spirit who is unpredictable in his actions or reactions, who gets himself and everyone else into trouble. in the process of doing so- most often after everyone is already in trouble- he makes people think, and in the end he generally gets everyone out of trouble by thinking. to represent the trickster, each culture used that

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

ent god saturn, depicted here in a 15th century drawing, was said to carry the sickle as the symbol of death. note also the radiant star in saturn's genital area, the horns of the goat (satan) and the water bearer (satan's astrological age of aquarius. occultists view the planet saturn as representing satan, because it is the sixth planet from the son and because of saturn's role as taught in the mythologies. blood red- red stars, clenched fists 581 the similarity of the ussr emblem and the united nations emblem is undeniable. a friend tells me a resemblance is also found on products and in commercials for cadillac automobiles, lenox china, george dickel whiskey, winston cigarettes, and on the design of "wheat" pennies. the shriners, an islamic-oriented freemasonry organization whose membe

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

events, forms, and beings that will come forth in turn from those original forms. at the culmination of fate, the culmination of all events and consequences, this substance will be distilled out of this chain of forms into its pure stateit will be all that remains, just as it was in the beginning. this goes a long way towards esoterically explaining why practically all pagan (and many non-pagan) mythologies believed that in the end, fire would consume the universe, leaving behind the purified world of renewal. this cunning fire/substance is the common element that runs through all things, from beginning to end, and which at the end, returns to the source or the beginning, making a great circle, completing the universal cycle, and leading to a new, regenerated and perfected world, ready fo

and show how the housle completely sums up the central message of all ancient pagan mysteries, and even the originally intended message of the primal christian mysteries- that of the world-renewal, and the rege neration of time and all things, including us. craft mythology is by no means a cohesive subject; it is a composite subject, drawn from many places and locales- some from the actual pagan mythologies of the past, and others (the larger portion) from the local legends and folklore which seem to tell a wide variety of stories about many characters and beings, some of which begin to resemble the others, even over large distances and times. local faery queens and land spirits, horned hunters, guardians, tree-spirits, spirit lovers, and all the rest can be clearly seen as the remnants a

onal and ongoing experiences of people alive today, which only makes sense, because the otherworldly realities are ongoing and eternal, and not limited to distant ancestral times or experiences. in the craft as i have come to understand it and experience it, five major figures emerge as central figures. each of these mythological beings is of course a real being; they are attested to in all pagan mythologies from europe, as well as from the records of folklorists, and other historical sources. some are attested to even more widely, in the western mystery traditions of alchemy and in the annals of occult societies of britain and western europe, and italy. they are also beings that i have personally experienced or had traffic with in my own journey through the craft. when i discuss their two

ng it s goddess, the true and mysterious source of what grows out of the earth, and the ultimate source of all things that come from it, such as animal life and humans, and, on other levels, even the source of the gods and all beings. but a distinction is made, usually, between the dark reality of the dame s being, and the physical body of nature that expresses her potentials. she is seen in many mythologies as darkness, the darkness of old night (and dame dark, or night are also names for her) and in this capacity, she is the figure old fate, the ultimate, supreme, and first being, from whom all things come. she was an underworld goddess, the dark and first queen of the underworld, because the darkness of the underworld, which is also the darkness of fate s womb, is the same primal darkne

nce of this fire, or the awareness of it, pushed us into a between state, no longer just animals, but also not yet fully realized divine beings. the lightbringing son, the master, was the teacher of craft to man, the culture- inventor, who also bestowed the capacity for the word- or language- on man. the christian idea was that this endowment was against the will of the father god- and some pagan mythologies present a similar portrait; the best example is how prometheus had to steal fire from zeus and the gods to give it to mankind, and how he suffered for that, much in the manner that the serpent/enlightener of the eden story suffered. what most people don t realize is that the suffering element comes not purely from the divine reality, but from a mixture of the human experience of the fi

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

ls in it: the juggler, the king, the queen, the tower, the devil or typhon, death, and so on. the diceindicated chances of the game represent those of life, and conceal a highly philosophical sense sufficiently profound to make sages meditate, and simple enough to be understood by children. the allegorical personage palamedes, is, however, identical with enoch, hermes, and cadmus, to whom various mythologies have attributed the invention of letters. but, in the conception of homer, palamedes, the man who exposed the fraud of ulysses and fell a victim to his revenge, represents 195 the initiator or the man of genius whose eternal destiny is to be killed by those whom he initiates. the disciple does not become the living realization of the thoughts of the master until he had drunk his blood

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

of spirit and matter. these include the "wise old man" as the spirit principle in man, and the "great mother" as the principle of matter (or nature) in woman. here we are dealing with the primal roots of the psyche of either sex back to its origins, and the ancient god-forms from which they derive. both the "wise old man" and the "great mother" can appear in a multitude of figures from all world mythologies. they are the sky gods, earth mothers, heroes, heroines, magicians, priests, priestesses, prophetesses, harvest gods, and fertility goddesses of all pantheons. these ancient archetypes are transcendent energies that can bring much wisdom and spiritual growth. psychology and magic 119 jung referred to archetypal figures of the psyche as "manazl personalities" this is a particular archet

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

s by the earliest sumerian religion. it should be noted, however, that all of the planetary deities, termed "the zoned ones" or zonei in greek, and indeed all of the sumerian deities, had both male and female manifestations, showing that the sumerians definitely recognised a yin-yang composition if the universe (the "male moon" idea is, the editor is given to understand, common to so-called aryan mythologies. there is also evidence to show that every god and goddess also had both a good and an evil nature, and evil gods were banished in the exorcism formulae of that civilisation as well as the lesser forms of demon. the horned moon as mentioned, the god of the moon was called nanna by the sumerians. by the later sumerians and assyrians, he was called sin. in both cases, he was the father o

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

estrictions laid on widow-remarriage in india, the purdah of the mussulman, the veil of the vestal, the numerous accounts of virgin-mothers, all find their origin in this idea. the laws of the vedas, of manu, of buddha, the codes of confucius and lao-tze, the talmudic books of the jews, and the koran of the mohamedans, all maintain its direct influence and restrictions; and in the west in the old mythologies of teuton and celt, in the old norse sagas, more so in the roman and grecian law, and still more so on the christian edicts of constantine, theodoric, athalaric, and justinian, and the innumerable codes of the middle ages: all of which growing one into the other have produced that truly revolting state of affairs belting the world with lust. as every one of us has been bred on dead fle

TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT

uals. an `ancient book' of magick. a `book of shadows. priestesses, naked girls. yes. by jove, yes" great story, but merely a dream, created out of bits and pieces of rumor, history and imagination. don't be surprised, though, if a year or five years from now you read it as "gospel (which is an ironic synonym for `truth) in some new learned text on the fabled history of wicca. such is the way all mythologies come into being. please don't misunderstand me here; i use the word `mythology' in this context in its aboriginal meaning, and with considerable respect. history is more metaphor than factual accounting at best, and there are myths by which we live and others by which we die. myths are the dreams and visions which parallel objective history. this entire work is, in fact, an attempt to

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

assessment of the nature of the god, not merely arbitrary words and signs. in the construction of the ritual, these weaknesses are used so that when the magus com- mands the god to depart from the circle, the god cannot dispute the order. such weaknesses are often found in the old literature, particularly regarding the demon- ic gods that are very dangerous. most of the figures in the major world mythologies have an enemy they could not overcome, or a weapon that defeated the:m, or an incident in their pasts that they are ashamed to remember or have repeated. the most famous weakness is the heel of the demigod achilles. the mother sf achilles, a nereid named thetis, dipped her infant son into the waters of the :infernal river styx, but neglected to coat his foot with this magical liquid. t

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

uspell, of the o.h.g. itis, a. sax. ides, with the eddie dis, or of the a. sax. brosinga mene with the eddie brisinga men, affords perfectly conclusive evidence. 4. the precisely similar way in which both there and here the religious mythus tacks itself on to the heroic legend. as the gothic, fraukish and norse genealogies all run into one another, we can scarcely deny the connexion of the veiled myths also which stand in the background. 5. the mingling of the mythic element with names of plants and constellations. this is an uneffaced vestige of the primeval intimate union between religious worship and nature. 6. the gradual transformation of the gods into devils, of the wise women into witches, of the worship into superstitious customs. the names of the gods have found a last lurking-pla

is is an uneffaced vestige of the primeval intimate union between religious worship and nature. 6. the gradual transformation of the gods into devils, of the wise women into witches, of the worship into superstitious customs. the names of the gods have found a last lurking-place in disguised ejaculations, oaths, curses, protestations^ there is some analogy between this and the transfer of heathen myths from goddesses and gods to iviary and the saints, from elves to angels. heathen festivals and customs were transformed into christian, spots which heathenism had already consecrated were sometimes retained for churches and courts of justice. the popular religion of the catholics, particularly in the adoration of saints, includes a good many and often graceful and pleasing relics of paganism

the saints, from elves to angels. heathen festivals and customs were transformed into christian, spots which heathenism had already consecrated were sometimes retained for churches and courts of justice. the popular religion of the catholics, particularly in the adoration of saints, includes a good many and often graceful and pleasing relics of paganism (see suppl. 7. the evident deposit from god-myths, which is found to this day in various folk-tales, nursery-tales, games, saws, curses, illunderstood names of days and months, and idiomatic phrases. 8. the undeniable intermixture of the old religious doctrine with the system of law; for the latter, even after the adoption of^ conf. our' donner! hammer' the sei-v' lele! lado' the lat' pol! aedepol! me herole! me castor! medius^lidius &c. 12

ich's heathenism, scarcely a hundred years after the event, and from the mouth of a well instructed priest, would be absurd, if there were no truth at the bottom of it. when once gregory had put his latin names of gods in the place of the frankish (in which he simply followed the views and fashion of his time, he would as a matter of course go on to surround those names with the appropriate latin myths; and it is not to be overlooked, that the four deities named are all gods of the days of the week, the very kind which it was quite customary to identify with native gods. i think myself entitled therefore, to quote the passage as proving at least the existence of images of gods among the franks (see suppl. the narrative of an incident from the early part of the vtli century concerns alamann

n revenge he pricked brynhild with the sleei)ing-thorn, s:em. 194% and she says: osinn\ veldr, er ek eigi nmttak bregsa bhmnstofom. he breeds enmit5^ and strife: einn vehh- osinn ollu bolvi, jpviatmes sifjungom sakrunar bar, s;cm. 165. ininiicitias othinus serit, sa.\o gram. p. 142, as christians say of the devil, that he sows the seeds of discord, gremi ocins, sa^m. 151 (see suppl. le 146 wodan. myths, i have found but few traces left among us in germany, the norse osinn is one-eyed, he wears a hroad hat and wide mantle: grimnir 1 feldi hldm, blue cloak, stem. 40. 1 hekhi grmnni ok hldm hrokum, green cloak and blue breeks, fornald. sog. 1, 324. heldumaffr, cloaked man, 1, 325. when he desired to drink of mimi's fountain, he was obliged to leave one of his eyes in pawn, sfem. 4% sn. 15^ in

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

s and other magical beings and we try to encourage her to see the spirit in the tree or in the running water. we collect stones and leaves just to look at and admire their colour or shape. some we take home, but most we leave where we find them. skye loves these adventures and i am so happy to be part of her experience 'on the sabbats, we and our friends celebrate with seasonal games, activities, myths and feasts, and the children in our lives are always eager and excited to join in. skye is still a bit young for much of it, but even a two-year-old can dance around a maypole, pick berries, plant seeds and help bake bread or biscuits. it's exciting to think that the wheel of the year will have deep significance to her; that samhain and beltain will hold the same excitement that christmas he

and the days getting longer and warmer. in this way, the newly pregnant mother could benefit from an abundance of fresh food in the summer and autumn and give birth at a time when she would naturally be resting for the winter with the dark nights. this would enable her to spend time with the infant before returning to the fields or to tend the herds in spring. this pattern is reflected in the old myths of the virgin goddess, who became pregnant at the spring equinox and gave birth to the new sun on the mid-winter solstice that became christianised as our christmas. so in these earlier and by no means idyllic times, everything- earth, cattle, corn, humans and animals- was in harmony, not only physically, but spiritually. fertility spells and the rituals marking the passing of the year were

ous lore behind seasonal festivals and there are many other good books on this subject. in this chapter i mainly focus on the way they amplify the positive energies of the universe and provide a personal connection to the ebbs and flows of the cosmic cycle of existence. the rituals can be either private or group celebrations of power. they will also vary because they originate from many different myths, so that different gods and goddesses may appear in a variety of aspects. this may give rise to what seem to be contradictions, but in the coming together of myths this is inevitable and the god and goddess forms are a powerful metaphor for the energies of each era. one theme common to all, however, is the belief in a cycle, or wheel, of birth, maturity, death and rebirth, which underpins na

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

it is described fully in the enuma elish and in the bastardised version found in the necronomicon, and involved the ancient ones, led by the serpent mummu-tiamat and her male counterpart absu, against the elder gods (called such in the n) led by the warrior marduk, son of the sea god enki, lord of magicians of this side, or what could be called "white magicians- although close examination of the myths of ancient times makes one pause before attempting to judge which of the two warring factions was "good" or "evil. marduk won this battle- in much the same way that later st. george and st. michael would defeat the serpent again- the cosmos was created from the body of the slain serpent, and man was created from the blood of the slain commander of the ancient army, kingu, thereby making man

ummies, which we were in the habit of giving potential publishers for our protection) and went off, and has not been heard from again. at a crucial stage in the preparation of the manuscript, the editor was stricken with a collapsed lung and had to undergo emergency surgery to save his life. but, let us proceed with a description of the contents of the necronomicon: within these pages a series of myths and rituals are presented that have survive the darkest days of magick and occultism. the exorcisms and bindings of the famous maqlu text are here presented for the first time in english, although not completely: for the originals in their entirety were evidently not known to the author of the necronomicon, nor are they to present scholarship; the various tablets upon which they were written

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LOST CONTINENT

enown; whether or not this is a mere poetic parable of the abiogenesis--if it is indeed fair so to describe it--of the eleventh stage of zro is another and an open question. in any case, such is the tradition, and numerous parodies of it are still extant in the stories of the births of romulus and remus, bacchus, buddha and many other legendary heroes of modern times; we even catch an echo in the myths of such barbarian lands as syria. so much and no more concerning the underground gardens of atlas, and of their commerce with the inhabitants of venus. vii. of marriage and other curious customs of the atlanteans: and of sacrifices to the gods. i have already adverted to that most singular conception of the duty of the married which opposes the customs of atlas to those of any other race on

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

-lis- sacred fire- fire-theosophy of the persians- ideas of the rosicrucians as to the character of fire- monuments raised to fire-worship in all countries- druidical stones and their worship- the round towers of ireland- cabalistic interpretations by the gnostics- mystic christian figures and talismans- the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman, and mediaeval monuments- the great pyramid- myths of the scorpion, or the snake in its many disguises- rosicrucians celestial and terrestrial- alchemy- rosicrucians in strange symbols- robert flood- indian mystic adoration of forms, etc, etc. mysteries of magic: a digest of the writings of eliphas l vi, with biographical and critical essay by arthur e. waite "second edition, revised "and enlarged" 8vo "coth" 1897 (pub. 10"s" 6"d) 6"s" this

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

entot, better be anything than a civilized eunuch, a crape-capped "widder" in upper tooting lamenting her "demised husband" whilst she counts the halfpence he has left behind him in his trouser pockets. if there is going to be a flood, let it be grand, typhoonic, torrential; do not let others pass by us and say "really, my dear, what an insalubrious odour" the savage babe being born is taught the myths of his tribe, that uncorrupted are beautiful enough; the civilised child the myths of his nation, that corrupted are merely bestial, and are as rigid as the former are elastic. the savage youth passes through one great ordeal- the struggle with nature: the civilised through another- the struggle with reason. the one is taught the hero tales of his forefathers, the other the platitudes of the

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

-lis; sacred fire; fire-theosophy of the persians; ideas of the rosicrucians as to the character of fire; monuments raised to fire- worship in all countries; druidical stones and their worship; the round towers of ireland; cabalistic interpretations by the gnostics; mystic christian figures and talismans; the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman and mediaeval monuments; the great pyramid; myths of the scorpion, or the snake in its many disguises; rosicrucians celestial and terrestrial; alchemy; rosicrucians in strange symbols; robert flood; indian mystic adoration of form; etc, etc. real history of the rosicrucians, founded on their own manifestoes, and on facts and documents collected from the writings of initiated brethren, by arthur e. waite "illustrated" 8vo "cloth, uncut" 1887

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

re play of the imagination! the garment which clothes the substance may be as fabulous, as fantastic, as inconsistent and as patchy as you please. but this does not alter the fact that popular mythology tells of an invisible reality, and of mysterious `figures `figures' remember, not `forces' at work everywhere. everything is alive and possesses a soul. the world is full of spirits, of souls. the myths speak of them. who invented these myths? nobody. for inventions are arbitrary, are fiction. but these tales are accepted by those who tell them and by their audience as unquestioned truth. the psychology of the primitive compels him to regard things in this way 'magically' what in our more developed and more individual psychology has become a 'sub-conscious' in which the collective life of o

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

ve period of throat activity begins. it acts as a "mediator" between the higher and the lower creative organs (between the sacral and the throat centres) and leads eventually to that creative activity which is consciously that of the functioning soul. vulcan was one of the first creative workers among men. he was also related to "cain who killed his brother" the symbolism underlying these ancient myths will be easily interpreted by the intuitive student. some of the tasks which i propose to undertake in this section of our treatise on the seven rays are as follows: 1. consider why five of the seven rays express themselves through two sets of planets sacred and non-sacred and also which centres these two groups of rays govern. thus we shall relate: a. the seven centres in man's etheric body

stenance in the most rocky and arid of the world's places and it, therefore, relates man to the mineral kingdom; it is also the sign of the crocodiles which live half in the water and half on dry land; it is spiritually- 92- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust the sign of the unicorn which is the "fighting and triumphant creature" of the ancient myths. under the symbolism of the above creatures, this sign gives us a rather complete picture of man with his feet upon the earth, yet running free and climbing to the heights of worldly ambition or of spiritual aspiration in search of what he realises (at any particular time) to be his major need. as the goat, he is man, the earthly, human, greedy seeker after the satisfaction of desire, or man

horse and a study of the meaning of this symbolism will reveal a great deal of inner teaching. this is one of the later ways of portraying this constellation. earlier, in atlantean days (from which period we have inherited what we know about astrology, the sign was frequently depicted by the centaur the fabulous animal which was half a man and half a horse. the horse symbolism dominated atlantean myths and symbols, just as the ram and the lamb are prominently to be found in our modern presentations. this earlier sign of the centaur stood for the evolution and the development of the human soul, with its human objectives, its selfishness, its identification with form, its desire and its aspirations- 105- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust

the virgin is called are familiar to all of us, and tell us much as a whole concerning the form nature of which the virgin is the symbol. the word virgo itself is a descendant of and a corruption of an ancient atlantean root name which was applied to the mother principle in those far off times. this virgin was the founder of the matriarchate which then dominated civilisation and to which various myths and legends bear evidence and which have come down to us concerning lilith, the last of the virgin goddesses of atlantean times; the same thought is also to be found in the traditionary accounts of the ancient amazons, whose queen hercules defeated, wresting from her what he sought. this is an allegory, teaching the emergence of the spiritual man from the control of matter. three of these go

the german approach. the spirit of man in its essential divinity can be trusted to arise unhurt from the experience in answer to the call of the undying spirit. this call can sound forth clearly in a void and be evoked by time and circumstance unopposed if the only difficulty with which it is confronted is the spirit of agnosticism and an attitude of questioning. but the imposition of the ancient myths in an effort to still the demand for truth and the carefully planned attack upon the christ of the world is- 320- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust dangerous, evil, and will cause retrogression. of these, the rulers of germany were guilty. they did not succeed in quenching the spiritual life of the nation because religion in germany was n

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

utes only one page in a vast historical record and that the initiating events of which we are in search and which are working out as effects in the planetary life at this time belong to an age so distant that no modern historian recognises its episodes. information anent this ancient period must be sought in the many world scriptures, in ancient monuments, in the science of symbols, in the racial myths, and in inherited and transmitted legends. secondly, that a study of the microcosm, man, will be found to hold, as always, the key to the study of human affairs as a whole. just as the aspirants and disciples are at this time being tested and tried and subjected to the working out of inexplicable conflicts and drastic changes in their lives, so the same is true of the world aspirant, humanit

, spiritual fact. the expression of this divine characteristic can be summed up in the words from the voice of the silence "compassion is no attribute. it is the law of laws eternal harmony, alaya's self; a shoreless, universal essence, the light of everlasting right and fitness of things, the law of love eternal" to this everlasting compassion the cyclic appearance of the sun gods of the ancient myths, the world saviours and the avatars bear witness and are the guarantee. the wesak festival at the time of this wesak festival, i would call your attention to the fact that the annual return of the buddha to bless his people everywhere and to convey the message of wisdom, light and love to humanity coming as he does from the very heart of deity itself is the outer evidence and guarantee of in

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

vocation, to manifest certain divine qualities, and to attract around themselves those who had latent the same divine qualities, and who could therefore step down the teaching that the world saviour came to give, and translate into human equivalents as much of the divine inspiration as was possible. many of them have been forgotten even if their work was successful. others have been resolved into myths by the thoughtform-making faculty of man but their work is still thereby remembered, and to this, monuments and tradition constantly testify; greater sons of god possessed a potency and a love of humanity which, even at the close of many centuries, evokes the attention of mankind and conditions even yet the reactions of millions of people. vyasa the original vyasa, who was the great individu

d the earth; or positing sometimes the existence of previous civilisations which have completely disappeared, leaving behind them faint traces of ancient organised civilisations and cultural remains, plus indications of interworld relationships of which there is no positive proof; these, it is suggested, must have existed owing to the similarity of architecture, language roots, traditions and the myths of religions. during these earlier periods all human beings were conditioned by the four rays of attribute; both as souls and as incarnated persons they were upon one of these four rays. towards the middle of the atlantean cycle (untold millions of years ago) the influence of the third ray of active intelligence became exceedingly potent. certain of the advanced humanity of the period gradua

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

like hercules, is a separated unit, divided from the mainland, the symbol of the group, by the world of illusion and the maze in which he lives. the bull of desire has to be caught and mastered and chased from one point to another [51] in the life of the separated self, until the time comes when the aspirant can do what hercules succeeded in doing: ride the bull. to ride an animal, in the ancient myths, signifies control. the bull is not slaughtered, it is ridden and guided, and under the mastery of the man. there are potencies and faculties hidden in the human being that, when developed and unfolded, may bring new powers to bear upon this problem. but, in the meantime, what shall the aspirant do? certain suggestions may be made: 1. ride, control and master the bull and let the aspirant re

ries. as far as i can understand it (and i may be wrong) this means that you go through your own personal hell before you can go through the universal hell. you have a terrible time in your own life and you are initiated as you undergo your own hell. you learn the nature of the universal by individual experience; only that is realization. you cannot learn by hearsay. as has happened before in the myths, hercules then had to pause and perform an act of service before he could advance upon cerberus. he saw two people bound and being attacked by cattle. he had to deliver them before he could meet his own- 102- the labours of hercules problem. always for the initiate service comes first; the letting go of what he has set himself to do if there is need to help. that is the story of the initiate

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

er eluded.and thus it is said that this race begins anew with the first of every month, when the moon beingcold, is covered with as many coats as an onion. but while the race is being run, as the moonbecomes warm she casts off one garment after another, till she is naked and then stops, and thenwhen dressed the race begins again.as the vast storm-cloud falls in glittering drops, even so the great myths of the olden time are bro-ken up into small fairy-tales, and as these drops in turn reuniteen rivire ou sur lestang,(on silent lake or streamlet lone,)as villon hath it, even so minor myths are again formed from the fallen waters. in this story we clear-ly have the dog made by vulcan and the wolf jupiter settled the question by petrifying them asyou may read in julius polluxhis fifth book, o

es. the result has naturally been the accumulation in such families of much tra-dition. but in northern italy, as its literature indicates, though there has been some slight gatheringof fairy tales and popular superstitions by scholars, there has never existed the least interest asregarded the strange lore of the witches, nor any suspicion that it embraced an incredible quantity ofold roman minor myths and legends, such as ovid has recorded, but of which much escaped himand all other latin writers. 2 this ignorance was greatly aided by the wizards themselves, in making a profound secret of all theirtraditions, urged thereto by fear of the priests. in fact, the latter all unconsciously actually contributedimmensely to the preservation of such lore, since the charm of the forbidden is very g

BLACK SERPENT1

tions" that plague mankind. what these demons do provide is knowledge, the constant reminder of the power within ourselves, and the power of the elements and unseen forces around us. many misconceptions of the "black arts" have been conceived over the passage of time. numerous are the allegations that covens murder unborn children and use virgin blood in sacrifice to their infernal legions. these myths, often perpetuated and fed into by our own hysteria, create the basis for what society holds as their own truth regarding these religions. to dispel these myths it is essential that people understand a basic rule that holds true for all traditional left hand path religions (including satanism, demonolatry, etc- the dark lords expect their followers to take responsibility for their own action

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

rticles and essays. michael w. ford s grimoires may be found here: http//algol.chaosmagic.im[[vol. 2, page xv[[eh eme didache ouk estin eme, alla tou pemphantos me "my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me- john vii. 16[[vol. 2, page xvi] modern science insists upon the doctrine of evolution; so do human reason and the "secret doctrine" and the idea is corroborated by the ancient legends and myths, and even by the bible itself when it is read between the lines. we see a flower slowly developing from a bud, and the bud from its seed. but whence the latter, with all its predetermined programme of physical transformation, and its invisible, therefore spiritual forces which gradually develop its form, colour, and odour? the word evolution speaks for itself. the germ of the present human r

n any atlantean giant or demigod of antiquity ever did; whether his name was cyclops, or medusa, or yet the orphic titan, the anguipedal monster known as ephialtes. there were good "giants" in days of old just as there are bad "pigmies" now; and the rakshasas and yakshas of lanka are no worse than our modern dynamiters, and certain christian and civilised generals during modern wars. nor are they myths "he who would laugh at briareus and orion ought to abstain from going to, or even talking of, karnac or stonehenge" remarks somewhere a modern writer. as the brahmanical figures given above are approximately the basic calculations of our esoteric system, the reader is requested to carefully keep them in mind. in the "encyclopaedia britannica" one finds, as the last word of science, that the

each human race thus evolved. in pymander, the seven primitive men, created by nature from the "heavenly man" all partake of the qualities of the "seven governors" or rulers, who loved man- their own reflection and synthesis. in the norse legends, one recognizes in asgard, the habitat of the gods, as also in the ases themselves, the same mystical loci and personifications woven into the popular "myths" as in our secret doctrine; and we find them in the vedas, the puranas, the mazdean scriptures and the kabala. the ases of scandinavia, the rulers of the world which preceded ours, whose name means literally the "pillars of the world" its "supports" are thus identical with the greek cosmocratores, the "seven workmen or rectors" of pymander, the seven rishis and pitris of india, the seven cha

well acquainted as may be a scholar with the hieratic writing and hieroglyphical system of the egyptians, he must first of all learn to sift their records. he has to assure himself, compasses and rule in hand, that the picture writing he is examining fits, to a line, certain fixed geometrical figures which are the hidden keys to such records, before he ventures on an interpretation "but there are myths which speak for themselves. in this class we may include the double-sexed first creators of every cosmogony. the greek zeus-zen (aether, and chthonia (the chaotic earth) and metis (water, his wives; osiris and isis- latona- the former god also representing aether, the first emanation of the supreme deity, amun, the primeval source of light; the goddess earth and water again; mithras, the roc

him the "pseudo-berosus" yet accepts the information in order to register one proof more that the pagans have borrowed all their gods from the jews, by transforming patriarchal material. according to our humble opinion, this is one of the best proofs possible of exactly the reverse. it shows as clearly as facts can show, that it is the biblical pseudo-personages which are all borrowed from pagan myths, if myths they must be. it shows, at any rate, that berosus was well aware of the source of genesis, and that it bore the same cosmic astronomical character as the allegories of isis-osiris, and the ark, and other older "arkite" symbols. for, berosus says that "titea magna" was afterwards called aretia* and worshipped with the earth; and this[[footnote(s* aretia is the female form of artes (

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

t through, by declaring that nirvana meant absolute annihilation. toward the end of the first quarter of this century, a distinct class of literature appeared in the world, which became with every year more defined in its tendency. being based, soi-disant, on the scholarly researches of sanskritists and orientalists in general, it was held scientific. hindu, egyptian, and other ancient religions, myths, and emblems were made to yield anything the symbologist wanted them to[[vol. 1, page] xxii introductory. yield, thus often giving out the rude outward form in place of the inner meaning. works, most remarkable for their ingenious deductions and speculations, in circulo vicioso, foregone conclusions generally changing places with premisses as in the syllogisms of more than one sanskrit and p

er a beginning nor an end" is "neither hot nor cold, but is of its own special nature" says the commentary (book ii. heat and cold are relative qualities and pertain to the realms of the manifested worlds, which all proceed from the manifested hyle, which, in its absolutely latent aspect, is referred to as the "cold virgin" and when awakened to life, as the "mother" the ancient western cosmogonic myths state that at first there was but cold mist which was the father, and the prolific slime (the mother, ilus or hyle, from which crept forth the mundane snake-matter (isis, vol. i, p. 146. primordial matter, then, before it emerges from the plane of the never-manifesting, and awakens to the thrill of action under the impulse of fohat, is but "a cool radiance, colourless, formless, tasteless, a

thousand leagues from the knowledge of the compound nature of the simplest molecule. from him we learn that such a thing as a really simple[[footnote continued on next page[[vol. 1, page] 141 were the ancients ignorant of the physical sciences? ment; as, at any rate, their initiated philosophers can hardly come under such an imputation, since it is they who have invented allegories and religious myths from the beginning. had they been ignorant of the heterogeneity of their elements they would have had no personifications of fire, air, water, earth, and aether; their cosmic gods and goddesses would never have been blessed with such posterity, with so many sons and daughters, elements born from and within each respective element. alchemy and occult phenomena would have been a delusion and a

lements are the veiled synthesis standing for dhyan chohans, devas, sephiroth, amshaspends, archangels, etc, etc. the ether of science- the ilus of berosus, or the protyle of chemistry- constitutes, so to speak, the rude material (relatively) out of which the above-named "builders" following the plan traced out for them eternally in the divine thought, fashion the systems in the cosmos. they are "myths" we are told "no more so than ether and the atoms" we answer. the two latter are absolute necessities of physical science; the "builders" are as absolute a necessity of metaphysics. we are twitted with "you never saw them" we ask the materialists "have you ever seen ether, or your atoms, or, again, your force" moreover, one of the greatest western evolutionists of our modern day, the coadjut

jutor of darwin, mr. a. r. wallace, when discussing the inadequacy of natural selection alone to account for the physical form of man, admits the guiding action of "higher intelligences" as a "necessary part of the great laws which govern the material universe("contributions to theory of natural selection. these "higher intelligences" are the dhyan chohans of the occultists. indeed, there are few myths in any religious system worthy of the name, but have an historical as well as a scientific foundation "myths" justly observes pococke "are now proved to be fables, just in proportion as we misunderstand them; truths, in proportion as they were once understood" the one prevailing, most distinct idea- found in all ancient teaching[[vol. 1, page] 340 the secret doctrine. with reference to cosmi

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

ncommunicado, in the "light half" of the year (and vice versa with the goddess. during the light half he is fully active in his feminine aspect; just as the goddess is active in the dark half in her masculine aspect. so, both deities are active throughout the year, even though deference may be given to one over the other at certain times. there is a common theme of death and resurrection found in myths throughout the world. the symbolism is frequently furthered in a descent to the underworld with a later return. we find it with ishtar's descent and search for tannaz; with sif's loss of her golden tresses; with idunn's loss of her golden apples; with jesus' death and resurrection; with siva's death and resurrection, and many more. basically all represent the coming of fall and winter follow

magick doth abound. earth site by tara buckland earth site witches' rite merry meet in joy tonight! sacred ground, newly bound. witness to the power found! recommended reading list at the end of each lesson's examination questions, i listed books for further reading. they are books i especially recommend. to them i would add a few more that you may well find of interest. abraham, karl dreams and myths angus, s. the religious quests of the graeco-roman world bowra, c.m. primitive song bracelin, j.l. gerald gardner: witch breasted, j.h. development of religion and thought in ancient egypt budge, sir e.a.w. amulets and talismans eliade, mircea birth and rebirth; the sacred and the profane; myths, dreams and mysteries fitch, ed magical rites from the crystal well frazer, sir james the golden

CASE PAUL F THE BOOK OF TOKENS

key 2, the high priestess. the phrase" whose purity naught can defile, means that no matter how many the forms developed from it, the virgin substance is itself unchanged. like water, which holds matter in suspension or solution, this substance remains ever itself. here is one key to the alchemical mystery of the first matter. here, too, one may find a clue to the inner significance of the virgin-myths of all religions [37] the meditation on daleth* 1 i am the door of life, the passage from the world of ideas into the world of form. expressing myself, i take form in substance, but the power which worketh in that substance is the sovereign force of mine outflowing ideas. 2 consider well, o israel, the knowledge of me which thou hast in the sacred letters. for with them, even as it is writte

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

ings and we try to encourage her to see the spirit in the tree or in the running water. we collect stones and leaves just to look at and admire their colour or shape. some we take home, but most we leave where we find them. skye loves these adventures and i am so happy to be part of her experience. seite 15 wicca01.txt 'on the sabbats, we and our friends celebrate with seasonal games, activities, myths and feasts, and the children in our lives are always eager and excited to join in. skye is still a bit young for much of it, but even a two-year-old can dance around a maypole, pick berries, plant seeds and help bake bread or biscuits. it's exciting to think that the wheel of the year will have deep significance to her; that samhain and beltain will hold the same excitement that christmas he

and the days getting longer and warmer. in this way, the newly pregnant mother could benefit from an abundance of fresh food in the summer and autumn and give birth at a time when she would naturally be resting for the winter with the dark nights. this would enable her to spend time with the infant before returning to the fields or to tend the herds in spring. this pattern is reflected in the old myths of the virgin goddess, who became pregnant at the spring equinox and gave birth to the new sun on the mid-winter solstice that became christianised as our christmas. so in these earlier and by no means idyllic times, everything- earth, cattle, corn, humans and animals- was in harmony, not only physically, but spiritually. fertility spells and the rituals marking the passing of the year were

ous lore behind seasonal festivals and there are many other good books on this subject. in this chapter i mainly focus on the way they amplify the positive energies of the universe and provide a personal connection to the ebbs and flows of the cosmic cycle of existence. the rituals can be either private or group celebrations of power. they will also vary because they originate from many different myths, so that different gods and goddesses may appear in a variety of aspects. this may give rise to what seem to be contradictions, but in the coming together of myths this is inevitable and the god and goddess forms are a powerful metaphor for the energies of each era. one theme common to all, however, is the belief in a cycle, or wheel, of birth, maturity, death and rebirth, which underpins na

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

1891, p. 231. another study written early in the twentieth century noted that african american hoodoo men nearly "always have long hair" see puckett, folk beliefs of the southern negro, p. 203; herron "conjuring" p. 118. on gender inversion among conjure practitioners see also the comments of robert tallant, voodoo in new orleans (new york: macmillan, 1946, p. 41. 21. charles c. jones, jr, negro myths from the georgia coast, told in the vernacular (boston: houghton mifflin, 1888, p. 169; charles chesnutt "superstitions and folklore of the south" modern culture 13 (1901. on black women and magic traditions in the united states, see yvonne chireau "the uses of the supernatural: toward a history of black women's magical practices" in a mighty baptism: race, gender, and the creation of americ

lockett avary, dixie after the war: an exposition of social conditions existing in the south during the twelve years succeeding the fall of richmond (garden city, n.y: doubleday and page, 1906, p. 234; philip alexander bruce, the plantation negro as a freeman: observations on his character, condition, and prospects in virginia (new york: g. p. putnam, 1889, pp. 119.22; charles c. jones, jr. negro myths from the georgia coast, told in the vernacular (boston: houghton mifflin, 1888, p. 171. 53. b. a. botkin, lay my burden down: a folk history of slavery (chicago: university of chicago press, 1945, pp. 33.34; john patterson green, recollections of the inhabitants, localities, superstitions, and kuklux outrages of the carolinas (cleveland: library of american civilization, 1880, p. 45; steiner

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

s, ghosts, demons, magical powers, and the quest for immortality. 7 preface in a.d. 67 buddhism was introduced to china from india. it contributed two powerful religious and mythical figures: the buddha, a real, historical person who later became a divinity, and kuan yin, the goddess of mercy. it also introduced the concept of reincarnation, the idea that a person may be reborn into another life. myths might contain elements and characters from all of these sources, and for this book we have chosen stories that reflect their influences. many of the ancient myths are from the fabled era of the ten legendary kings, a time before the dawn of history. thereafter, the historical period of chinese history is divided into a series of dynasties until the year 1911, the beginning of the period of m

c. by qinshihuangdi [chin shi wong dee, the emperor of the qin [chin] dynasty. in order to proclaim himself the first emperor of china, he ordered a massive burning of books concerning history, literature, and music. a hundred years later, confucian scholars attempted to reconstruct china s history from bits and pieces of the few surviving texts. these scholars did not hesitate to change existing myths or to discard information to suit their own philosophy. myths were rarely considered worthy of scholarly attention and consisted of a few sketchy lines in the chinese classical literature that managed to survive. despite their limited appeal to scholars, myths were kept alive by strong oral and artistic traditions. myths were freely adapted and passed along by storytellers, merchants, travel

unlike the greeks, whose pantheon, or collection of gods and heroes, is well defined and frozen in time with the passing of their civilization, the chinese are still changing and evolving their mythology, just as their country s history also continues to evolve. today, television producers, moviemakers, animation artists, and computer game designers carry out the tradition of reinventing ancient myths to fit modern times. despite having many themes and variations throughout the centuries, most chinese myths contain one common central element: the survival of ordinary people against great odds, sometimes aided by the gods, sometimes punished or inhibited by them. the quest for food and shelter is an essential one, facing chinese people even today, as overpopulation and natural disasters co

ty (206 b.c. a.d. 220, hundreds of years after the first stories were told about the ancient rulers. many experts believe that the story of panku was molded and influenced by the caravan traders who wound across the deserts and mountains of the middle east, india, africa, and china carrying silk, spices, and other precious items of trade.1 the panku story shares some common elements with creation myths of those far-flung regions: a cosmic egg, separation of the world into opposing forces, and doomed gods. this story introduces the important concept of yin and yang. these opposing forces, which exist in everything found in nature, are not seen as evil and good, but as dark and light, female and male, earth and heaven. one cannot exist without the other. in this story, panku is depicted as a

e belly of a frog, the scales of a carp, the talons of an eagle, and the paws of a tiger. dragons love to make vibrations in the sky by rolling huge pearls, creating thunder. lesser dragons are used as riding steeds by the gods of heaven. the ruling king in this story is the yellow emperor, a good leader who struggled with the mighty rivers that flooded the country each year. according to ancient myths, the yellow emperor had a pile of magic dirt that could absorb water. his grandson kun stole the magic earth and dropped little balls of dirt wherever he went. the dirtballs swelled into huge, fertile mounds of soil as they absorbed water. the peasants then scooped up the fertile soil and spread it over their sopping fields. kun also built dams to 53 control the flooding of the country s unp

CULTUS SABBATI

language and culture, the immemorial methodologies and tools of magical ritual- the spirit-evocation, ritual circle, wand, knife, sigil, cord, knot, charm, starry aspectation, flora and fauna, invocation, exorcism and so forth- remain more or less constant. an important dimension of magical and folk religiosity was the oneiric or dream realm. peripheral areas of european folklore retain vestigial myths which relate the oneiric location of witch -meetings, fairie convocations, and the nocturnal flight of the wild hunt. merging with christian theological conceptions the background of folk belief assisted in the formation of the stereotypical witch ritual we know as 'the witches' sabbath. from an esoteric perspective it is considered that the sabbath is the astral or dream convocation of magi

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

quency, you would sure as hell think he or she was a god! and they did. this is where the 'gods- particularly the angry, judgmental, fire and brimstone gods- originated: negative extraterrestrials. the 'fear of god' was born, and this fear and resistance to change (disobeying the gods) is still in the collective psyche. over time, as described at length in the robots' rebellion, these various god myths became fused together to form 'composite gods, based on themes from many of the earlier civilisations. so it is with judaism, the christian bible, islam, and most of the others. their version of; god relates to the type of extraterrestrials from which their religion originated or the way many different extraterrestrial stories have become fused into a composite god over the centuries. dearly

negative elements from the fourth dimension. the two leading weapons used by religions are those cancerous emotions: fear and guilt. they have been used to suppress the human mind and to destroy its sense of self-worth, thus creating a physical reality to match. religions are the same thought pattern manifesting under different names- the thought pattern called control. even the origins of their myths, stories and ceremonies are invariably the same because they all originate from the same source! towards the end of atlantis, groups of people began to escape from their increasingly devastated land. some left the prison while their vibratory rate was still high enough for them to do so; others became trapped by accident or design. as atlantis crumbled, some settled in the areas we now know

rom their increasingly devastated land. some left the prison while their vibratory rate was still high enough for them to do so; others became trapped by accident or design. as atlantis crumbled, some settled in the areas we now know as egypt and the middle east, central america, and the united states. those who survived the cataclysm which followed, passed on their knowledge to their children in myths and stories. this is one possible answer to the apparent mystery of how when the americas were 'discovered' by the europeans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they found many cultures and beliefs of the native peoples to be remarkably similar to (sometimes the same as) those in the 'old world' of europe and the middle east. both were influenced by the knowledge brought by the escapin

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

those who worshipped him' jesus, yes? no, no. all of this was said about the saviour son of god called attis who was worshipped by the phrygians, one of the oldest races in asia minor, now turkey, well over a thousand years before the manufacture of "jesus. it is just one of countless symbolic deities of whom the same story was told millennia before christianity. others are accepted to have been myths and not to have literally existed. but not jesus. while christians laugh at those "pagan" tales and condemn them as evil, they ask the rest of the world to believe, indeed have insisted on pain of torture and death, that their version of the same story is somehow literally true while all the others are not. yeah, right. to understand how the repeat of an ancient, endlessly recurring story co

we were faced now with a global catastrophe that devastated the planet? within seconds, we would be sitting in the technological stone age. it would be a primitive, everyone-for-themselves, find-your-own-food, shelter and warmth, free-for-all. and as time and generations passed, the memory of the technological world we have today would fade, ever more rapidly, and only be preserved in stories and myths which would, more and more, be seen as wild tales and figments of the imagination. most people would deny such a world ever existed because it would be so at odds with their daily experience. we would have the same we-can't-do-it-so-it-can't-be-done mentality that laughed at the very idea we could fly to the moon. the history in that post-cataclysmic society would only begin with the records

under the earth and when these "blow" on a vast scale, the land above is destroyed. he says these gas belts ran under both lemuria/mu and atlantis. what caused the cataclysms is open to debate, but that they did happen is a statement of fact. a similar theme can be found in the tens of thousands of ancient clay tablets discovered in mesopotamia in the mid-19th century. these tell the stories and myths of the sumerian culture that emerged after one of these cataclysms that sank what was left of atlantis. sumer dates from around 4000bc, but civilisations existed in that region, as james churchward documents, for tens of thousands of years before sumer emerged. central to these sumerian accounts were the "gods" the sumerians called the anunna("sons of an. their later semitic names were an.un

planetary accounts, but the later ones do, and there was a focus on venus with human sacrifices made to it. the biggest secret goes into this whole story in greater detail and you will see that it explains so many "mysteries. these include the sudden freezing of mammoths standing up in the process of eating because the ice did not slowly develop, it arrived in an instant. the ancient legends and myths of how the golden age ended are confirmed in every way by the scientific explanation of the geological and environmental affects of this "walk-about" by venus. most important in relation to our story, these conclusions by people like velikovsky, the boeing physicists, and increasing numbers of other researchers today, bring the time scale for the end of life on mars to within the period that

ays he had a serpent's body and a man's head and he is said to have begun the repopulation of the world after the deluge with an incestuous interbreeding with a character called nu gua, who is also described as half human, half serpent. another ancient chinese figure was gong-gong, who was "a horned monster with the body of a serpent. this sounds very much like set of the egyptians and ogo in the myths of the dogon. other amphibious entities in chinese tradition are emperor yu (yu relates to reptiles) and his father gun (a name relating to fish, and chinese drawings of their historical, mythological characters are similar to those drawn by the dogon. today there are streams of reports across the world of people seeing ufos flying in and out of seas and lakes, not least at lake titicaca in

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

usands of years thatfollowed and humanity was faced with many new beginnings.one common theme throughout, however, has been the manipulation of humanity byan intellectually, though not spiritually, advanced race or races of extraterrestrial origin.on that subject, i must now introduce an added dimension to this story which willstretch your credulity to breaking point.17 sources1t. w. doane, bible myths, and their parallels in other religions (health research, p0 box850, pomeroy, wa, usa 99347, first published 1882, p 10.2the information about the anunnaki and the sumerian t ablets comes from the zecharia sitchinseries of books collectively known as the earth chronicles. individually they are called the12th planet, the stairway to heaven, the wars of gods and men, the lost realms, andwhen t

egan. sources1dr arthur david horn, humanitys extraterrestrial origins, et influences on humankindsbiological and cultural evolution (a and l horn, pd box 1632, mount shasta, california,96067, 1994).482jason bishop ill, matrix ii, compiled by valdamar valerian (arcturus book service, usa, 1990),p 96.3rev john bathhurst deane, the worship of the serpent (j. g. and f. rivington, london,1833).4bible myths, p 11.5ibid, p 15.6ibid, p 12.7francis hitching, the wodd atlas of mysteries (pan books, london, 1981, p 10, sectionentitled, death of the dinosaurs.8ibid.9ibid.10john rhodes, the reptoid website, http//www.reptoids.com11dale russell, exponential evolution: implications for intelligent extraterrestrial life (advancedspace research, 1983).12the wodd atlas of mysteries, p 159.13ibid.14herbert

d bunsinscribed with a solar cross. yes, even the hot cross buns of british easter traditioncome from babylon. easter comes from another face of queen semiramis- ishtar -andit is from this, and possibly another brotherhood deity, ashtaroth, that we get the nameof ashtar as in ashtar command, a completely manipulated new age belief in anextraterrestrial hero who has come to save us. the babylonian myths and symbolismprovided the foundations for all the major religions, especially christianity. the romanchurch was the creation of the babylonian brotherhood and the pope still wears a mitreshaped like a fish head to symbolise nimrod. this is also the significance of hisfishermans ring. the chair of st peter in the v atican was claimed to be a holy relic, butin 1968 it was exposed by a scientif

atethat in north america white people are known as caucasian. even according to officialhistory it was a white aryan race from the caucasus mountains region which movedinto the indus valley of india about 1550 bc and created what is today known as thehindu religion. it was this same aryan race (they called themselves arya) whichintroduced the ancient sanskrit language to india and the stories and myths contained inthe hindu holy books, the v edas. l. a. waddell, in his outstanding research into thisaryan race, established that the father of the first historical aryan king of india (recordedin the maha-barata epic and indian buddhist history) was the last historical king of thehittites in asia minor.24 the indian aryans worshipped the sun as the father-god indra,and the hittite-phoenicians

d indian buddhist history) was the last historical king of thehittites in asia minor.24 the indian aryans worshipped the sun as the father-god indra,and the hittite-phoenicians called their father-god bel by the name, indara.25 undermany names this same aryan people also settled in sumer, babylon, egypt and asiaminor, now turkey, and other near eastern countries, taking with them the same stories,myths, and religion. this is why, as we shall see in detail later, all the major religions tellthe same tale but using different names. they all come from the same source, this aryanrace, which seems to have originated on mars, and the reptile-human bloodlines operatingcovertly within them. what we call the jewish race also originated in the caucasus regionand not, as claimed, in israel. jewish hi

DAVIDSON DAN SHAPE POWER

uced by instrumentation to two dimensional patterns. the egyptian god thoth was keeper of the words of power, used to produce controlled phenomena when spoken with the correct intonation and pronunciation. in the case of isis healing her child of a fatal scorpion bite, the use of a specific word of power caused the poison to be expelled from the body and the lifeforce to return. other legends and myths also refer to the use of such words of power. the words of power produced a three dimensional pattern which would resonate with the aether to produce a desired effect or reality in matter or energy. edward leedskalnin, builder of the famous coral castle in homestead, florida claimed he had rediscovered how the egyptians built the pyramids. we must take him seriously because he left the entir

DIABOLUS

irst born of the god zurvan, who is infinite time and space. his brother, ahura mazda is the christ like figure or opposite god who fought against ahriman for control of the world; it is this very balance which is kept in continual motion by the daeva lord of darkness. the word daeva is actually demon, announcing a path and spiritual aversion to the principles the zoroastrians held in honor. some myths mention that ahriman first saw the light across the void and so lusted for it, thus igniting the great wars between his children the daevas (demons) and druj (the word being associated with lie, also dragon. ahriman was initially defeated and cast down into the darkness of the void, unconscious for 3,000 years. the first demons said to be created by ahriman were mitokht 'falsehood) and akoma

ls) under his pillows and carpets, he could not enter until akht had them removed. as the legend moves forward yavisht withstood each staota and then used the staota to attack akht. he took time to through sorcery, rushed into hell and communicated with ahriman who told him to accept his fate as it were. akht was said to have been defeated by yavisht and destroyed in physical form. the manichaean myths of creation were rich in their lore of the underworld. according to mary boyce18 who wrote on the manichaean myths, hell was divided into five kingdoms. in details on the underworld she also wrote- hell is divided into five kingdoms, each of the substance of one of the five dark elements. thse are sometimes given the same names as the corresponding light elements (i.e. standing air also for

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

ies, with their temple sleep and deliberately induced hypnogogic visions, were nothing more nor less than experimental psychologists, though their art has been lost, like many other of the ancient arts, and is only being laboriously recovered piecemeal in the more advanced circles of scientific thought. 11. the method used by the modern initiate for interpreting the language spoken by the ancient myths is a very simple and effectual one. he finds in the qabalistic tree of life a link between the highly stylistic pagan systems and his own more rational methods; the jew, asiatic by blood and monotheistic by religion, has a foot in both worlds. upon the tree of life with its ten holy sephiroth the modern occultist bases both a metaphysic and a magic. he uses a philosophical conception of the

pirit-vision. for instance, if one saw a horse (mars) or a jackal (luna) in the sphere of netzach (venus, one would know that there was confusion of plane and the vision was not reliable. in her sphere one [page 100] would expect to see her doves, and a spotted beast, such as a lynx or leopard. 25. it may be thought that the association of the symholi beasts with the gods and goddesses in the old myths is entirely arbitrary and the fruit of the poetic imagination, which, like the wind, bloweth where it listeth. to this the occultist answers that the poetic imagination is not an arbitrary thing and refers the sceptic to the works of dr jung of zurich, the famous psychiatrist, and to the essays of the irish poet" a. e" in particular song and its fountains, wherein he analyses the nature of h

mordial ocean. always we find in connection with kether the sense of formlessness and timelessness. the gods of kether are terrible gods which eat their children, for kether, although the parent of all, reabsorbs the universe back into itself at the end of an epoch ofevolution. 7. kether is the abyss whence all arose, and back into which it will fall at the end of its epoch. therefore in exoteric myths associated with kether we find the implication of non-existence. in esoteric concepts, however, we learn that such a concept is erroneou. kether is the intensest form of existence, pure being unlimited by form or reaction; but it is existence of another type than that to which we are accustomed, and therefore it appears to us as non-existence because it conforms to none of the requirements w

rlier phase of evolution. elemental force, not limited and kept in check by the limitations of an animal brain, is bound to be unbalanced force when it flows through the wide channels of a human intellect, and the result is chaos, which is one of the kingdoms of the qliphoth. 80. the mysteries of the crucifixion are both macrocosmic and microcosmic. in their macrocosmic aspect we find them in the myths of the great redeemers of mankind, who are always born of god and a virgin mother, thus again emphasising the dual nature of tiphareth, wherein form and force meet together. but let us not forget their microcosmic mystical qabala page 144 aspect, as an experience of mystical consciousness. it is by means of an understanding of the mysteries of the crucifixion, which concern the magical power

ways in holy wedlock, give definite indication of the implicit doctrines of emanation and polarity, and are not merely ribald phantasies of primitive man, creating the gods in his own image and likeness. mystical qabala page 194 59. a careful comparison of the information that has come down to us concerning the rites by which the ancients worshipped their many gods soon reveals that the clear-cut myths so delightfully retold for children have little bearing on the actual religion of the folk who used them as the means of expression for spiritual teachings. the gods and goddesses melt one into the other in the most perplexing fashion, so that we get the bearded venus, and hercules, of all persons, arrayed in female clothes. 60. it is clear from a study of ancient art that the persons and ch

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

ccult forces. i had received serious injury from someone who, at considerable cost to myself, i had disinterestedly helped, and i was sorely tempted to retaliate. lying on my bed resting one afternoon, i was brooding over my resentment, and while so brooding, drifted towards the borders of sleep. there came to my mind the thought of casting off all restraints and going berserk. the ancient nordic myths rose before me, and i thought of fenris, the wolf-horror of the north. immediately i felt a curious drawing-out sensation from my solar plexus, and there materialised beside me on the bed a large wolf. it was a well-materialised ectoplasmic form. like z, it was grey and colourless, and like him, it had weight. i could distinctly feel its back pressing against me as it lay beside me on the be

DONALDTYSON POSSESS

or sounds like furniture crashing to the floor. at a very high level of magic, the evoked spirit has a visible body, and can talk to the magician, but this is not the norm. those who evoke a lower spirit and expect to see it standing within the triangle and to talk to it as they would converse with another human being are mistaking the legends and fables of evocation for the reality of evocation. myths are always true, but their truth is symbolic. higher spirits are sometimes called angels, especially by magicians with a christian heritage. lower spirits are sometimes called demons. in actuality, there is no clear dividing line between good and bad spirits. the personalities of spiritual beings have the same broad range as the personalities of human beings. some are very bad, or very good

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

xceptions that provide no statistical weight, anton lavey has taken credit for curses involving the death or harm of his enemies only after the alleged maledictions had taken effect. like his professed circus employment and curses, most of his history is either unsupported, posthumously claimed, or contradicted by facts. it is clear that zeena and nikolas shreck s motivation for making public the myths behind anton lavey in itself does not provide a case against the accuracy of the information. the lack of adequate refutation of the document by the church of satan or anyone else is telling. considering the amount of attention that the church of satan has given the few verifiably true events in anton lavey s, combined with the apparent need to fabricate stories it is remarkable how comparat

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

after gods of the new millennium appeared, hodder and stoughton republished it and gave alford a three-book contract to write sequels, which they hoped would tap the same support given to sitchin. alford shifted his attention from ancient sumer and the holyland, upon which sitchin had concentrated, to egypt, hoping to find further evidence of the anunnaki. however, he concluded that the egyptian myths did not support sitchin s thesis; rather, they suggested what he came to call the exploded planet hypothesis. the gods were not extraterrestrial beings, they were meteors that rained down as meteorites. the egyptian deities were the personifications of celestial powers, such as ra, the sun god. the ancient mythological references to the gods descending referred to the coming of fragments of

ested what he came to call the exploded planet hypothesis. the gods were not extraterrestrial beings, they were meteors that rained down as meteorites. the egyptian deities were the personifications of celestial powers, such as ra, the sun god. the ancient mythological references to the gods descending referred to the coming of fragments of the exploded planet. he also concluded that the sumerian myths also referred to the exploded planet. this exploded planet hypothesis became the subject of alford s second book, the phoenix solution (1998. the phoenix solution alienated alford from sitchin s readers, though he has insisted that he did not depart from his commitment to the idea of the ancient intervention of extraterrestrials in human affairs, only that the gods mentioned in the ancient m

rger, arthur s, and joyce berger. the encyclopedia of parapsychology and psychical research. new york: paragon house, 1991. encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. america, united states of 39 boyer, paul, and stephen nissenbaum. salem possessed. cambridge, mass: harvard university press, 1974. salem-village witchcraft. belmont, calif: wadsworth publishing, 1972. brinton, daniel g. the myths of the new world. leypoldt and holt, 1868. calef, robert. more wonders of the invisible world. london, 1700. christopher, milbourne. esp, seers and psychics. new york: thomas y. crowell, 1970. clark, jerome. the emergence of a phenomenon: ufos from the beginning through 1959. the ufo encyclopedia. vol. 2. detroit: omnigraphics, 1992. demos, john putnam. entertaining satan: witchcraft and the

. jastrow, morris. aspects of religious belief and practice in babylonia& assyria. new york: g. p. putnam s sons, 1911. kramer, samuel n. from the tablets of sumer. falcon s wing, 1956. gilgamesh and the huluppu-tree: a reconstructed sumerian text. chicago: university of chicago press, 1938. lenormant, francois. chaldean magic: its origin& development. london: samuel bagster [1877. spence, lewis. myths and legends of babylonia& assyria. london, 1916. reprint, detroit: gale research, 1975. thierens, a. e. astrology in mesopotamian culture. leiden: e. j. brill, 1935. bach, edward (1886.1936) british physician who developed an unconventional system of healing. bach (his name is pronounced batch) was a graduate of university college hospital (m.b, b.s, m.r.c.s. he left his flourishing harley s

y, the ancient caduceus has emerged as a symbol of enlightenment and acquisition of the ancient wisdom. sources: cirlot, j. e. a dictionary of symbols. new york: philosophical library, 1962, 1971. hall, manly palmer. the secret teachings of all ages. los angeles: philosophical research society, 1977. caer the daughter of ethal anubal, prince of the danaans of connaught, mentioned in ancient irish myths. it was said that she lived alternate years in the form of a maiden and a swan. she was loved by angus og, who also found himself transformed into a swan. all who heard the rapturous song of the swan lovers were plunged into a deep sleep, lasting for three days and nights. cagliostro (1743.1795) considered by some to be one of the greatest occult figures of all time. it was the fashion durin

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

originally indicating stories of a hero s childhood, but is here used in the wider sense of hero tale. the stories in this collection are from various manuscript sources, originally part of the oral tradition of professional minstrels known as cyvarwyddon. in this collection, the section entitled the four branches of the mabinogi derives from a manuscript ca. 1060 c.e, dealing with pre-christian myths that have affinities with traditional irish folklore. kilhwch and olwen is from a manuscript ca. 1100 c.e. and is an early arthurian romance. the dream of rhonabwy is another arthurian story, related to the french recension of didot perceval. the lady of the fountain, geraint, and peredur are also arthurian, ca. 1200 c.e, colored by breton and french culture, although celtic in origin. the d

y and intelligence do persist after the blind of darkness has been drawn down in death. in 1872 massey presided at the meeting in london marking the departure of emma hardinge britten to australia. his address with some additions was later printed under the title concerning spiritualism. in his later years he published four large volumes in which he tried to trace the origin of language, symbols, myths, and religions. the work was reminiscent of godfrey higgins (1772.1833. his final product was not well received during his lifetime, the idea of africa as the birthplace of mankind being quite unacceptable in victorian england. thus a book of the beginnings (1881) and his other texts were largely ignored or ridiculed until later archaeological discoveries provided more solid evidence in supp

hoes folk tales in its theme of a mermaid who falls in love with a prince in a passing ship; the mermaid takes on human form in order to gain a human soul and be close to the prince, but although constantly near him, she cannot speak. when the prince marries a human princess, the mermaid s heart is broken. there is a similar haunting pathos in matthew arnold s poem the forsaken merman. in curious myths of the middle ages (1884) folklorist s. baring- gould suggests that mermaid and merman stories originated from the half-fish half-human gods and goddesses of early religions. the chaldean oannes and the philistine dagon are typical deities of this kind, and a representation of oannes with a human body down to the waist and a fish tail has been found on sculpture at khorsabad. such goddesses

bishops.htm. april 23, 2000. mexico and central america sorcerers and astrologers occult science among the ancient mexicans could be represented as a middle ground derived between the tribal medicine men and the magical practices of the medieval sorcerer. the sources of information are limited, chiefly gleaned either from the works of the early missionaries to the country, or from the legends and myths of the people themselves. writing about the sorcerers of mexico, bernardino de sahagun, an early spanish priest, stated that the naualli or magician was one who enchanted men and sucked the blood of infants during the night, a reference to the vampire-like characteristics of central american magical practitioners. he observed that the magician was ignorant of nothing that appertained to sorc

and evil-doers were usually born. bernardino de sahagun noted that: these work their enchantments in obscurity for four nights running, when they choose a certain evil sign. they then betake themselves in the night to the houses where they desire to work their evil deeds and sorceries .for the rest these sorcerers never know contentment, for all their days they live evilly and know no peace. the myths of the mexicans give a good working idea of the status of the enchanter or sorcerer in aztec society. for example, the toltec god quetzalcoatl who, in early times was regarded as a culture-hero, was bewitched by the god of the incoming and rival race, tezcatlipoca, who disguised himself as a physician and prescribed for an illness of his enemy s an enchanted draught that made him long for th

ESOTERISM AND THE LEFT HAND PATH

dge. what then is esoterism and how is it connected to the left hand path? antoine faivre, one of the leading scholars on occult research and esoterism, writes in his book esoterism that esoterism is not an area like art, philosophy or chemistry, but rather a way of thinking. faivre explains: the diffuse etymological derivation of the word indicates that one can only find the keys to the symbols, myths and reality by individual progression where one reaches illumination step by step, in a hermeneutic way. there is no outmost secret if one believes that all is basically secret. esoterism denotes something inner and mysterious, unlike the exoteric which is the outer form. christianity with its outer dogmas and ceremonies could be called exoteric, while gnosticism could be viewed as esoteric

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

ir followers, they cons t ructed the paradisiacal land of at l a n t i s, only to have the magi destroy it with atomic bombs. the nuclear explosions changed e a rt h s landscape and climate and created the continents we know today. even today a secret conflict continues between the kuran and the magi. on occasion the kuran have tried to interfere in human affairs, each time with negative results. myths and legends of the gods of the ancient world recount, in distorted form, previous kuran efforts to lead us. see also: atlantis; lemuria further reading gansberg, judith m, and alan l. gansberg, 1980. direct encounters: personal histories of ufo ab- ductees. new york: walker and company. kurmos in march 1966, a mystically inclined scotsman named r. ogilvie( roc) crombie, visiting edinburgh s

mise. as earth was being deve l o p e d, the inhabitants of other planets we re asked to contribute re p re s e n t a t i ves, thus fairies, mermen and mermaids, bi gf o o t/ sasquatch, insects, and dinosaurs. ex p l o rers and re f u g e e s f rom star wars live on the other planets. ev idence of the presence of neighboring extraterrestrials can be found in archaeological discoveries and ancient myths. each group tended to concentrate its efforts in a particular re g i o n, for example ma rtians in the middle east, ur anians in mexico, and plutonians in china. earth and other planets have undergone much turbulence, much of it caused by the tenth planet, phoenix. this huge planet s three thousand plus year orbit is at right angles to the plane of all the other planets orbits, korsholm expl

FAUST

iff laurel bends around the ruler s head. here of an early budding greatness pompey dreamed, there caesar by the wavering balance watchful lay! strength will they measure. and the world knows now who won. the watch-fires glow and flash, diffusing ruddy flames; the ground where blood was shed exhales reflected light; and by the night s most rare and wondrous splendour lured, the legion of hellenic myths assembles here. round all the watch-fires fabled forms of ancient days hover uncertain to and fro or sit at ease. in truth, not fully orbed, yet radiant bright, the moon is rising, spreading gentle splendour everywhere; the tents illusion vanishes, the lights burn blue. but lo! above my head what sudden meteor! it beams and it illumines a corporeal ball. tis life i scent. becoming is it not

ros too he overcomes in a leg-tripping wrestling match, and when cypris caresses him, steals from her bosom the girdle. a charming, purely melodious music of stringed instruments resounds from the cave. all become attentive and soon seem to be deeply stirred. henceforth to the pause indicated, there is full musical accompaniment. phorkyas. hear the loveliest chords resounding, quick, be free from myths long gone, and your gods, of old abounding, let them go! their day is done. none will understand your singing, we demand a higher mart; from the heart it must come springing, if it hopes to touch the heart. she retires toward the rocks. chorus. if these witching tones, dire creature, find a welcome in thine ears, we feel healed, of a new nature, softened to the joy of tears. let the sun s br

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

cahni might have known, since bruno's books were distributed in venice.4 published at venice in 1612-13, boccalini's work promulgates the pro-french, anti-spanish, liberal line of thinking, under an extremely thin mythological 1 p. arnold, histoire des rose-croix et les origines de la franc-maconnerie, paris, 1955, pp. 166-7, thinks that the "fraternity" had no real existence. this book gives the myths about the rosicrucians in a critical spirit, together with much valuable new research about the german circles in which they originated. 2 m. mersenne, la verite des sciences, paris, 1625, pp. 566-7; cf. mersenne, correspondance, ed. waard and pintard, paris, 1932, i, pp. 154-5- 3 allgemeine und general reformation der gantzen weiten welt. beneben der fama fatemitas, dess loblichen ordens de

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

s not lifted with impunity, and curiosity blasphemes faith when divine things are concerned. gblessed are those who have not seen and have believed h, says the great master. 10 the origins of the qabala the origins of the qabalah are primeval; they are lost in the mists of legend, magic, and folklore. they have grown through a process of mystical integration until they have absorbed all the great myths of the world. the qabalah is consequently a universal philosophy, combining the eternal masculine and the eternal feminine, and cementing them into the eternally human. so it happens that wherever we search we find origins. thus in essenism we find qabalism. the essenes were not to divulge the secret doctrines to anyone. carefully to preserve the books belonging to their sect and the names o

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

ni. from the foregoing pages the fact will be observed that the god of the ancients embodied the two creative agencies throughout the universe, but as nothing could exist without a mother, the great om who was the indivisible god and the creator of the sun was the mother of these two principles, while the tree of life was the original life-giving energy upon the earth, represented in the creation myths of the first man adam, and the first woman eve or adama. throughout the ages, this force, or creative agency has been symbolized in various ways, many of which have been noted in the foregoing pages. we have observed that notwithstanding the fact that the supremacy of the male had been established, the sacred yoni and the lotus were still reverenced as symbols of the most exalted god. finall

astronomically this new sun was the regenerator, by which all nature was renewed. mythologically, after the higher truths contained in these doctrines were lost, it came to be the savior, the son of the virgin, the seed of the woman, which was to bruise the serpent's head. that the religion of an ancient race comprehended a knowledge of the evolutionary processes of nature may not be doubted. the myths still extant, and even the oldest assyrian inscriptions which have been deciphered, reveal the fact that the seeds of the visible universe were hidden in the "great deep--that animal creation sprang from the earth and the sea through the influence of the sun's rays. it is now known that the philosophy of an older race involved a belief in the eternity of matter. the abstruse doctrine of rein

ith or cybele, might be traced the remnants of a once universal worship--a worship in which the female energy constituted the creator. although it is declared that "great obscurity surrounds the god hea" no one, i think, whose mind is free from prejudice, and who understands the significance of the early god-idea, and the true meaning of the symbols used in later ages to express it, can study the myths connected with this deity without at once recognizing her identity with the great female god of nature who was once worshipped by every people on the globe, but whose worship had become sensualized to satisfy the corrupted taste of a more depraved age--an age in which passion constituted the highest idea of a god. although the serpent deity was originally portrayed with the head of a woman a

mpression is that esau, or edom, and jacob are mystic names for a man and a woman, and that round these, historians wove a web of fancy; that ultimately the cognomen jacob was recognized, and that to allow the jewish people to trace their descent from a male rather than a female, the appellation of israel was substituted in later productions"[81 [81] ancient faiths, vol. i, p. 607. as most of the myths or allegories in genesis are now traced to a source far more remote than the beginning of legitimate jewish history, it is not unreasonable to suppose that this story, too, was copied by the jews from the traditions of earlier races; nor, when we remember the true meaning of the cognomen jacob, that the entire story should be regarded as an attempt to set forth certain facts connected with t

tive power, or the reproductive energy in human beings, was rapidly taking the place of the older deity. these higher principles forgotten, adam, or man, had become the creator. it is not improbable that the terms adam, cain, abel, and seth have an esoteric meaning which for ages was known only to the priests. from various facts which in later times are being brought forward regarding the ancient myths of genesis, it is believed that these names originally stood for races of men, and that subsequently certain religious doctrines came to be attached to them. the offering of fruit by cain, the elder brother, who was a tiller of the ground, and that of flesh by abel, who was a keeper of sheep, indicates a quarrel which ended in the death of the latter. after the death of abel, or after one of

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

directions; as, for example, let us considerthepack of playing cards, as now used. we find thefoursuits of diamonds and hearts, both red, representing the higher principles, with spades and162themagical masonclubs, both black, meaning the lower aspects. in the very old and curious tarocchi or tarot cards, to which court de gebelin, eliphaz levi and others grant an origin from the ancient egyptian myths, we find the four suits to be wands, cups, swords and pentacles of similar colours.thetarot pack has also four court cards, king, queen, knight and knave, which are suitable emblems of the four human principles. both types are exactly related in works upon the occult sciences to the symbolism of the kabalistic jehovah, the sacred name of god, composed of the four letters, yod, heh, vau, heh

much later roman author manilius, the chariot of the sun had four horses, and the chariot of the moon only two. aristotle is the earliest writer whose works are extant in greek, who mentions the circle of the zodiac. euripides, however, speaks of hippo, daughter of chiron, as being able to divine future events by means of observations of the stars.itis of course true that recent writers on greek myths have asserted relations between the incidents of these myths and astronomical facts, and have explained that greek and roman religious ideals were connected with the worship of the sun, moon, and stars.theprobably mythical orpheus is said to have first taught astronomy to the greeks. there are three lands which contest the claim to the earliest astronomical observations, egypt, india, and th

ams as a divine means of givingmanknowledge through angelic messengers;ourenglish word angel comes to us from the greekaggeloswhich means a messenger.thefollowersofplato, and especiallytheneo platonists, believed that in dreams the earnest student of transcendental philosphy was taught by divine powers a knowledge of things relating to the higher life, to cosmic forces and world history. in greek myths, we findthatdreams were called sons ofnox-night,the mother of nemesis and of theparce,the fates.thedreams had an abode with two gates, oneoflvoryand one ofhorn;through one passed noble, and through the other false visions.*theold greek physicians and priests taught that sleep in the temples would often be fertile in dreams which would show the*see theodyssey,24,12; 19,560; andovid,metamorpho

cal literature of the ancient greeks and the later latin authors supplies an ample store of information con255 cerning the old modes of divination, and of these a summary of the more notable is here given. different nations affected different forms of magical art, and although the course of history shows a gradual disappearance of almost all modes, yet it will be shownthtsome faith in several old myths still194themagical masonsurvives not only in europe, but even in our midst, and in our english twentieth-century homes. in regard to the great ancient philosophers the works of plato show that he regarded divinations to be proper and successful because they were appeals to the gods; he favours the advices given by dreams and visions. aristotle negatives the modes of artificial divination,but

ric times by reason of our researches into the form and structure of our globe. in our studies of the various strata of earth and of the solid layers beneath the seas we have found remains of man, beast, bird, fish and vegetable deeply hid by the deposits of ages of time;butwe have more knowledge even than these around us, for we possess, although in shadowy form, a vast collection of legends and myths which have come down to us from eastern lands, having originated among peoples who have long since passed into oblivion. these oriental tales are doubtless only partly historical, being in part symbolical; they are like the later hebrew kabalah- knowledge received and transmitted as legends from generation to generation, before the era arrived when they could be recorded in any script now co

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

which the present generation is in danger of losing altogether. others more capable must judge of their value; i can only vouch for their truth as personal experiences of a time when the102 the sorcerer and his apprenticeoccultism of the celtic west was not only a very real thing,butwas looked on as utterly natural. i knew nothing of folk lore, and the idea of collecting and comparing legends and myths never occurred to me. butihad all a boy's keen relish for a fairy tale, especially when told as an obvioustruthby people who really believed it. sooth to sayiwas rather wearied of the superior folk who told me that there were really no such things as fairies. so it was with great joy thatiwandered about among the crofters, and got the old people to tell me stories of the 'little people, and

which therefore represents matter in manifestation or matter vitalised by spirit, and on this cross ofmattermustevery infinite spirit cast into matter suffer until its reunion with the infinite.thisis the key to allthesymbology of the pre-christian cross. constantly appearing astheglyph of some divine or semi-divine being who suffered for humanity in human shape, also as the symbol of many nature myths, as the passage of the sun over the equator attheequinox (and other passings over, also the symbol oftherenewing of mere physical life.everyonewill interpret the symbol according to the extent of his own development; to the purelymaterial.manit will be phallic, and nothing more.themost highly spiritual will see inittheglyph ofthewhole divine plan. regardingthecosmos,itsgenesis, progress, and

GILBERT R A THE MASONIC CAREER OF A

as fallen into good hands, and owes him some gratitude; the book is critical, scholarly and dispassionate. he repeated his praise in an article 'freemasonry and devil-worship, in the same journal two weeks later (11 november, describing it as a 'most interesting book, written in critical and dispassionate style by a non-mason, the end of which is that mr. waite pronounces the charges to be "lying myths. thus pleased with waite, yarker was soon to have further and more significant contact with him. non-masonic reviews of devil-worship in france were generally favourable34[34" although they tended to suggest that the author had taken a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and popular interest in masonic satanists waned rapidly so that waite's sequel, diana vaughan and the question of modern palladis

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

events and factors. about the author t he author, who writes under the pen-name harun yahya, was born in ankara in 1956. he studied arts at istanbul's mimar sinan university, and philosophy at istanbul university. since the 1980s, the author has published many books on political, faith- related and scientific issues. his main focus has been the refutation of darwinism and materialism, two modern myths presented under a scientific guise. greatly appreciated all around the world, these works have been instrumental in helping many to return their faith in god, and, in many others, to gain a deeper insight into their faith. harun yahya's books appeal to all kinds of readers, regardless of their age, race, or nationality, for they focus on one objective: to broaden the readers perspective by e

y on the kabbalah creation" found in the real torah and the qur'an. in one of his works on the kabbalah, the american researcher, lance s. owens, presents his view on the possible origins of this doctrine: kabbalistic experience engendered several perceptions about the divine, global freemasonry gi the kabbalah's teaching about the origins of the universe and living things is a story replete with myths totally contrary to the facts of creation revealed in holy books. many of which departured from the orthodox view. the most central tenet of israel's faith had been the proclamation that "our god is one" but kabbalah asserted that while god exists in highest form as a totally ineffable unity called by kabbalah ein sof, the infinite this unknowable singularity had necessarily emanated into a

lains this age-old argument propounded by the unbelievers: global freemasonry your god is one god. as for those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are in denial and they are puffed up with pride. there is no doubt that god knows what they keep secret and what they make public. he does not love people puffed up with pride. when they are asked "what has your lord sent down" they say "myths and legends of previous peoples (qur'an, 16: 22-24) this verse reveals that the real reason of the unbelievers' rejection of religion is the arrogance hidden in their hearts. the philosophy called humanism is merely the outward manner by which this age rejects god. in other words, humanism is not a new way of thinking, as those who es- humanism revisited contrary to the promises of humanist

f humanity much more openly. for example, in a local masonic booklet, it says: primitive societies were weak and, because of this weakness, they divinized the power and phenomena around them. but masonry divinizes only humanity.45 in the lost keys of freemasonry, manly p. hall explains that this masonic humanist doctrine goes back to ancient egypt: man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of egypt, on the potter's wheel, he is being molded. when his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood, and joins that throng of master masons, who in their robe of blue and gold, are seeking to dispel the darkness of night with the triple light of the masonic lodge.46 this is to say that according to the false belief of masonry, human beings

is chaotic state was called nun, and like the sumerian descriptions, all was a dark, sunless watery abyss with a power, a creative force within it that commanded order to begin. this latent power which was within the substance of the chaos did not know it existed; it was a probability, a potential that was intertwined within the randomness of disorder.59 there is a striking similarity between the myths of ancient egypt and modern materialist thinking. a hidden reason for this interesting fact is\ kd materialism revisited that, there is a modern organization that has adopted these ancient egyptian beliefs, and aims to establish them throughout the world. this organization is masonry masons and ancient egypt the ancient egyptian materialist philosophy continued to exist after this civilizati

GNOSTIC CATECHISM

as fallen into good hands, and owes him some gratitude; the book is critical, scholarly and dispassionate. he repeated his praise in an article 'freemasonry and devil-worship, in the same journal two weeks later (11 november, describing it as a 'most interesting book, written in critical and dispassionate style by a non-mason, the end of which is that mr. waite pronounces the charges to be "lying myths. thus pleased with waite, yarker was soon to have further and more significant contact with him. non-masonic reviews of devil-worship in france were generally favourable34[34" although they tended to suggest that the author had taken a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and popular interest in masonic satanists waned rapidly so that waite's sequel, diana vaughan and the question of modern palladis

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

e name of a spirit was to control it. in the gnostic tradition we understand the frailty of the human spirit and the desire to project humanity onto divinity, this tendency towards anthropomorphism is a dangerous one. too often man in his suffering desires to bring the gods down to a more physical level, when this happens the currency of divine imagery is debased. while certainly images, legends, myths and godnames have their place, their value is in what they represent rather than in themselves. in regards to the name(s) of god in the old testament there is a real quandary, there are many names for god, though translated under the one title in english. what makes it more difficult is that each name has a different meaning, the name elohim, for example, means mighty ones (note it is plural

d the logos have transformed consciousness and the mediator at the nexus of all systems. the solar logos, christ or the sacred sun transmits the transforming energies of the triune principle throughout the planes. it is the door through which the energies of the upper world communicate with those of the planes. it can be imaged as the dying and reborn sun and hence related a wide range of god-man myths and legends. i am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. john 10:9 the sun can be also however harsh, it dries out the land and kills the livestock as well as bringing out the change of tides and the flourishing of life. this reminds us that creation and destruction are the normal cycles of the universe and we must grow through them

ture of darkness and light. this anti-matter, anti-body position tends to be found in extreme christian gnostic sects and has continued today through christian puritanism and some new age gnostic derivatives, heaven s gate ufo cult is a prime example. to understand the nature of the demiurge and hence the true gnostic position on the world and matter we need to provide a background on some of the myths involved. there are many traditions and explanations of how this occurred, ranging from the fall of sophia to the genesis tale. for the valentinians the primal error occurred after a long process of hierarchical expansion, the unoriginate originator expanded into manifestation and hierarchies on hierarchies took form. each hierarchy manifested a further hierarchy until, finally, the last ema

tures while placating so called destructive spirits see these as protecting the land or a sacred site etc, there is little evidence of so called ontological evil. while some schools are dualistic and see a conflict between matter and spirit this is more a conflict between mans attachment to matter and spirit, hence the emphasis is moved from cosmology to perception. if we examine the multitude of myths regarding the creation of matter with this in mind we begin to see an answer to our dilemma, these models are talking about different things. some are talking about cosmology, others about personal evil. so in the hindu, greek and other systems the question is more the nature of ignorance and evil from the perception of man, while the gnostic and kabbalistic seem to be discussing how sufferi

orks and face-to-face contact between people david s. bennahum. the gnostic handbook page 49 thoughts however go much further. as documented in much modern research on memes, thoughtforms can become like viruses of the mind. they can spread throughout groups, families, nations and indeed the world and are passed through the deeper levels of the unconscious we all experience. rumours, tales, urban myths are all memes or thoughtforms, while they may be primarily past via the printed word, internet, media etc, there is a time when they reach a certain saturation point and then become part of the collective unconscious. this is exceptionally dangerous as negative and violent forms can control groups and crowds creating mob violence and aggression. these groups minds are really thoughtforms out

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

ction like religion, for example, there is a tale of primal spirit beings called thetans who are caught by one of their own who has become corrupt. he sets traps by showing them intricate mind patterns and they become so immersed in these patterns that they become locked inside them. as time progresses they become more and more restricted within these patterns until physical matter results. older myths of a similar vein, but with a more star wars emphasis are found in the veda s, where we find quite explicit descriptions of space battles between crafts from different worlds and, perhaps even different dimensions. each side has weapons of immense power and battle it out across space and time. there are many other records of such descriptions in the sacred scriptures of other cultures. each

gives birth to a child self, in the static kingdom, to allow this imagery to degenerate into nature worship or the idolisation of family is a great aberration. it must always be remembered that the sun being the gateway to the lower world also transmits the forces of the demiurge. the solar sphere can destroy as well as heal, corrupt as well as make whole. this tradition is embodied in many early myths and legends. for example, horus and set of ancient egypt, the twins of the sun, where horus is the power and glory of the solar sphere, and yet hidden within his breast is set, the fallen and dark one. in nature this can also be readily discerned, the sun can create deserts, as well as sustain the beauty of the forest- the sun burns just as quick as its causes growth. fig 34 setting sun (sop

we need to run a critical eye over the old testament as well. when we do, we find some interesting anomalies. the old testament actually includes many different streams which seem to have be written by many different authors, many of which had conflicting religious views (for example, isaiah is said to have been written by at least three different people. accordingly, the old testament represents myths and legends adapted and modified (even twisted) by the beliefs of the prevailing ideological elite. for example, in babylon, records and legends of the older qadesh israelite priesthood were expunged and a emphasis placed on the pharisaic priesthood. these multiple streams and authors can be discovered by reading any modern text on biblical criticism, however, only when seen in the light of

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

s. since it was known that the incas had made intensive use of sacsayhuaman i could easily understand why it had been assumed that they had built it. but there was no obvious or necessary connection between these two propositions. the incas could just as well have found the structures already in place and moved into them. if so, who had the original builders been? the viracochas, said the ancient myths, the bearded, white-skinned strangers, the shining ones, the faithful soldiers. as we travelled i continued to study the accounts of the spanish adventurers and ethnographers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who had faithfully recorded the ancient, pre-contact traditions of the peruvian indians. what was particularly noticeable about these traditions was the repeated emphasis that

th the images of several large crustaceans, so this notion seemed all the more probable. what had been intended? i had learned of one local tradition i thought might shed light on the matter. it was very ancient and spoke of gods of the lake, with fish tails, called chullua and umantua .9 in this, and in the fish-garbed figures, it seemed that there was a curious out-of-place echo of mesopotamian myths, which spoke strangely, and at length, about amphibious beings, endowed with reason who had visited the land of sumer in remote prehistory. the leader of these beings was named oannes (or uan).10 according to the chaldean scribe, berosus: the whole body of [oannes] was like that of a fish; and had under a fish s head another head, and also feet below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to

a representation of him is preserved even to this day. when the sun set, it was the custom of this being to plunge again into the sea, and abide all night in the deep; for he was amphibious.11 according to the traditions reported by berosus, oannes was, above all, a civilizer: in the day-time he used to converse with men; but took no food at that season; 8 ibid, i, p. 119. 9 ibid, ii, p. 183. 10 myths from mesopotamia (trans, and ed. stephanie dalley, oxford university press, 1990, p. 326. 11 fragments of berossus, from alexander polyhistor, reprinted as appendix 2 in robert k. g. temple, the sirius mystery, destiny books, rochester, vermont, 1987, pp. 250-1. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 86 and he gave them an insight into letters and sciences, and every kind of art. he taught

ition, it will be recalled that viracocha s departure across the waves of the pacific ocean had been portrayed in the andean traditions as a miraculous event. quetzalcoatl s departure from mexico also had a strange feel about it: he was said to have sailed away on a raft of serpents .10 all in all, i felt morley was right in looking for a factual historical background behind the mayan and mexican myths. what the traditions seemed to indicate was that the bearded pale-skinned foreigner called quetzalcoatl (or kukulkan or whatever) had been not just one person but probably several people who had come from the same place and had belonged to the same distinctively non-indian ethnic type (bearded, white-skinned, etc. this wasn t only suggested by the existence of a 5 fair gods and stone faces

y, paul hamlyn, london, 1989, pp. 437, 439. 9 ibid, p. 437. 10 fair gods and stone faces, p. 62. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 109 family of obviously related11 but slightly different gods sharing the symbol of the snake. quetzalcoatl/kukulkan/itzamana was quite explicitly portrayed in many of the mexican and mayan accounts as having been accompanied by attendants or assistants. certain myths set out in the ancient mayan religious texts known as the books of chilam balam, for instance, reported that the first inhabitants of yucatan were the people of the serpent. they came from the east in boats across the water with their leader itzamana, serpent of the east, a healer who could cure by laying on hands, and who revived the dead. 12 kukulkan, stated another tradition, came with ni

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

force, the will-current that is, it is the symbol of liberation and self-mastery. the jealous gods, as read in the original manuscripts, are clearly the forces of blockage, self-denial and repression which is to say, the intelligences governing the black lodge. this knowledge of good and evil and life and death has been the terrible secret of initiates throughout history, recorded in ciphers and myths, and passed on through ritual. the black lodge may be defined as the organized institution guided by valis for the purpose of holding back human evolution and keeping a slave mentality in place. its human leaders are the black brothers who are not to be mistaken for mere black magicians. indeed, aleister crowley observed that the black magician or sorcerer is hardly even a distant cousin of

of the theosophical masters. the essence may be boiled down to this: secret chiefs or hidden masters may have good reason to mythologize themselves, and encourage those in direct contact with them to follow suit on the border where magical philosophy meets with its political implications, the need for secrecy assumes a more practical rationale. the secret chiefs may be secret not because they are myths or immortals, but because they are neither. do the gods leave footprints? the recent revisionist histories, especially paul johnson s the masters, joscelyn godwin s hidden hand articles, and our own work with the ciphers of the secret chiefs (identical with that of the ufonauts) have begun to restore the political component to historical understandings of the magical revival of the late 19th

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

, from its stagnant swamps the ancient river. nations hold fast by prescription: we shall never comprehend their tradition, their superstition, unless we spread under it a bed on still heathen soil. and these views are confirmed by what we know to be true of poetry and legend. if the heathens already possessed a finely articulated language, and if we concede to them an abundant stock of religious myths, then song and story could not fail to preface. vll lay hold of these, and to interweave themselves with the rites and customs. that such was the case we are assured by tacitus; aud the testimony of jornandes and eginhart leaves not the smallest room for doubt respecting later ages. those primitive songs on tuisco, on mannus and the three races that branched out of him, are echoed long after

ed by any foreign addition. whoever should venture on that, ought, if he would shew no gap in his harness, to be initiated into all the innocence of popular poetry; as ho who would coin a word, into all the mysteries of language. out of elben (elves) to make elfen, was doing violence to our language; with still less of forbearance have violent hands been laid on the colouring and contents even of myths. they thought to improve upon the folk-tale, and have always fallen short of it: not even where it shews gaps, is any restoration to be dreamt of, which sits upon it as new whitewash on old ruins, contriving with a couple of dabs to wipe out all the charm. astonishing are the various shapes its identity assumes. xiv peeface. additional adornments spring up on ground where we least expect it;

ame for the xxxll peefaoe. supreme being in the sense of our god or the slavic bogh, to which corresponds the swed. lapp, yupmel, norw. lapp, ibmel; but the syrian have also yen (gen. yenlon, the permians en, the votiaks inmar^ the tchei'emiss yumn. along the northern edge of europe and over the ural into northern asia extends this widespread group of nations of the finn kind, their languages and myths shewing everywhere a common character. the votiaks, like the slavs and germans, hold the woodpecker sacred (p. 765; but what i lay special stress upon is the bear-worship of these nations, which has left its traces in sweden and norway, and betrays the earliest stage of our teutonic beast-legend (p. 667. poetic euphemisms designate the sacred beast, and as soon as he is slain, solemn hymns a

he cross, and the ei-ection of tree-crosses the irmensuls and world-trees of paganism. still more significant must appear that passage where voluspa and the bible coincide (p. 811; in the far later solar-lio-s traces of christian teaching are discernible. in a conflux of so many elements it could not but happen, even where the mental conceptions and views of a simple populace unable to do without myths had felt the full force of the revolution, that in its turn the old, not wholly extinct, should half unconsciously get interwoven with the irrepressible new. jewish and christian doctrine began to lean towards heathen, heathen fancies and superstitions to push forward and, as it were, take refuge in all the places they found unoccupied by the new religion. here we find christian material in

legends remained the same. wuotan, douar, zio, phol put on the nature of malignant diabolic beings, and the story of their solemn yearly visitation shaped itself into that of a wild rabble rout, which the people now shunned with horror, as formerly they had thronged to those processions. veiled under the biblical names of cain, ehas, enoch, antichrist, herodias, there come into view the same old myths about moon-spots, giants' buildings, a god of thunder and of storm, the preface. xxxvll gracious (holde) night-dame and the buruing of the world. and what arrests our attention still more is, that to the virgin mary we apply a whole host of charming legends about holda and frouwa, uorns and valkyrs, as the romans did those about venus, juno and the parcae; nay, in the fairy-tale, dame holle

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

earth became flesh, the hard lime bone, etc/ these distinctions between lime, clay, earth and slime have a tang of heathenism; the poet durst not entirely depart from, the creation as set forth by the church, but that compounding of man out of several materials appears to be still known to him. and traces of it are met with in the folk-poetry. 1 it is significant how greek and, above all, asiatic myths of the creation coincide with the norse (and what i believe to have been once the universal teutonic) view of the world s origin out of component parts of the human body: it must therefore be of remote antiquity. the story lasts in india to this day, that brahma was slain by the other gods, and the sky made out of his skull: there is some analogy to this in the greek notion of atlas supporti

nd in vv. 21. 22, took one of his ribs. and the rib. made he a woman. the first account seems to imply simultaneous creations. tkans] 576 ceeation. heroes of the fourth. the latter we might in mosaic language call sons of elohim, and the former sons of men; at the same time, their origin from the ash would admit of their being placed beside the first- created men of the edda. the agreement of the myths would be more striking if we might bestow the name of stone race on the third, and shift that of brazen, together with the creation from the ash, to the fourth; stones being the natural arms of giants. apollodorus however informs us it was the brazen race that zeus intended to destroy in the great flood from which deucalion and pyrrha were saved, and this fits in with the scandinavian overth

n in his hammock takes care not to face the full-moon, lest he be struck with blindness. 716 sky and staes. kus se kuh maal. in the sermon of eligius (sup. a, the sentence nee luna nova quisquam timeat aliquid operis arripere is unintelligible so long as we do not know what sort of operation is meant. the spots or shady depressions on tlie full-moon s disc have given rise to grotesque but similar myths in several nations. to the common people in india they look like a hare, i.e. chandras the god of the moon carries a hare (sasa, hence the moon is called sasin or sasanka, hare mark or spot. 1 the mongolian doctrine also sees in these shadows the figure of a liares bogdo jagjamuni or shigemuni [the buddha sakya-muni, supreme ruler of the sky, once changed himself into a hare, simply to serve

. and feb, nay, ougest is followed up by an ougstin, the god by a goddess; i even see a mythical substratum in popular saws on certain months, thus of february they say: the sporkelsin has seven smocks on, of different lengths every one, and them she shakes, i.e. raises wind with them. sporkel/ we know, is traced to the roman spurcalia. chapter xxv. time and world. in the last chapter we examined myths having reference to the alternation of seasons, to phenomena of the year. our language affords several instances of transition from the notion of time to that of spaee. ulphilas translates ^povo, icaipbs, copa alternately by mel, hveila, peihs, yet so that mel usually stands for %p6vos or os, rarely for copa, and hveila mostly for copa, seldomer for and /caipos; the former expressing rather

known through a latin repro duction.3 on the model of it our rudolf composed his barlaam and josaphat, where the illustration is to be found, p. 116-7; in a detached form, strieker (ls. 1, 253. no doubt a parable so popular might also reach scandinavia very early in the mid. ages, if only the similarity itself were stronger, so as to justify the inference of an immediate connexion between the two myths. to me the faint resemblance of the two seems just the main point; a close one has never existed. the on. fable is far more significant and profound; that from the east is a fragment, probably distorted, of a whole now lost to us. even the main idea of the world-tree is all but wanting to it; the only startling thing is the agreement in sundry accessories, the trickling honey (conf. p. 793 n

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

f myths.2 his first category is myths told for entertainment. this is a reminder that myths may be sacred, but they are not necessarily solemn. the validity of this category might be challenged, but some cultures do seem to have told one version of a myth for entertainment while another, more secret version, was used in rituals.3 kirk s second category includes operative, iterative, or validatory myths. these are stories about things that may not have really happened, but the stories themselves are thought to have power to transform the real world. such myths tend to be repeated regularly on ritual or ceremonial occasions. to bring about a desirable continuity in nature or society. 4 myths that are used to justify and maintain a particular institution or state of affairs are sometimes know

are stories about things that may not have really happened, but the stories themselves are thought to have power to transform the real world. such myths tend to be repeated regularly on ritual or ceremonial occasions. to bring about a desirable continuity in nature or society. 4 myths that are used to justify and maintain a particular institution or state of affairs are sometimes known as charter myths. in kirk s third category are explanatory or speculative myths. these may be simple etiological myths that explain the origin of an object, custom, or natural feature,5 or they may be complex myths that try to answer the questions that have always troubled humanity, such as why people die. some myths seem to acknowledge that these questions may be unanswerable but provide strategies for copi

lso powerful enough to blind or kill. from early times on, the egyptians believed that they needed a spiritual leader who could treat with the dangerous world of the gods on behalf of humanity. this leader was usually a king with semidivine status. in egypt, concepts that might in other cultures belong to the realm of abstract philosophy were expressed by symbols, images, and, to a lesser extent, myths. the divine order envisaged by the egyptians placed their country at the center of the created world. this world was still surrounded by the primeval waters (the nun) from which the creator had originally emerged. the ultimate source of the nile and the inundation was believed to be in the nun. foreign lands and the deserts that bordered the nile valley were said to belong to the realm of ch

s may have been rulers of most of egypt. they probably all contributed to the legend of menes the uniter. their ritual objects belong to a formative stage in egyptian art. strict rules were being developed to govern the content and style of the art used in palaces, temples, or tombs. this formal court-based art rapidly replaced previous styles and became the standard canon for over 3,000 years.11 myths often focus on episodes of intense conflict or tragedy, but the egyptian rules of decorum usually made it impermissible to illustrate such episodes in formal art. the images used in art were felt to have power to affect the real world, so order had to be shown triumphing over chaos and good over evil. violent mythical episodes such as that in which seth tears out the eye of horus were not re

arly dynastic period partially survive in a copy on the palermo stone and related fragments.13 the annals list the kings of egypt, starting with a series of prehistoric kings. seal impressions and small bone or wood labels of the early dynastic period portray kings engaging with a variety of deities.14 mesopotamian seals and sealings of a comparable date appear to show episodes or characters from myths set in the realm of the gods. the egyptian pieces mainly show deities as resident in statues or cult objects in man-made shrines. the labels record (or anticipate) visits by kings to shrines in different parts of the country. the royal annals record many years for which the most important events were deemed to be the dedication of cult images or the king s participation in rituals, such as v

HEKAS

m the true function of magick, and is thus redundant. i make this definition with a distinct purpose in mind, namely it's bearing upon the current survivals and the present re-vivals of the sabbatic tradition with regard, to the emphasis placed upon the preservation of old practices. the forms utilised by the sabbatic cultus in the practice of it's craft, the ritual choreography and geometry, the myths, the ritual instruments and so on and so on. are based upon a number of principles which govern function. principles which, although definable, are highly subtle in essence, being universal in their application, infinite in their means of application via their modification in accordance with the diversity of context, and which are the very letters and numbers which constitute the witches' al

her it serves to elucidate one wave of transmission which has empowered the techniques of the cultus; there are both previous and more recent connections which could also be unravelled, but these are all subject to the aspersion of historical conjecture and will, for the present, to be withheld. i merely reiterate the point that the entire history of the sabbat lies within it's own circle; in our myths and rites there are footprints, the witchmarks of eld, which will reveal these secrets at such a time when star, heart and hearth are aligned a-right. there is a thread of ancient gnosis which lies in the hands of the sabbatic initiate whether he know it or not- it remains there to empower his work. we should however not neglect to mention egypt, for it is khem -the black land- that we deriv

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

m (phil "loving" and (aletheia "truth" the name page 4 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt theosophy dates from the third century of our era, and began with ammonius saccas and his disciples, also called analogeticists, who started the eclectic theosophical system. as explained by professor wilder, they were called so because of their practice of interpreting all sacred legends and narratives, myths and mysteries, by a rule or principle of analogy and correspondence: so that events which were related as having occurred in the external world were regarded as expressing operations and experiences of the human soul. they were also denominated neo-platonists. though theosophy, or the eclectic theosophical system, is generally attributed to the third century, yet, if diogenes la rtius is to

adictory things are said about them, that one does not know what to believe, and all sorts of ridiculous stories become current. a. well may you call them "ridiculous" the "theosophical mahatmas" are they "spirits of light" or "goblins damned? q. who are they, finally, those whom you call your "masters? some say they are "spirits" or some other kind of supernatural beings, while others call them "myths" page 132 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt a. they are neither. i once heard one outsider say to another that they were a sort of male mermaids, whatever such a creature may be. but if you listen to what people say, you will never have a true conception of them. in the first place they are living men, born as we are born, and doomed to die like every other mortal. q. yes, but it is rum

with such prominent, almost divine goodness as to be called theodidaktos, the "god-taught" he honored that which was good in christianity, but broke with it and the churches at an early age, being unable to find in christianity any superiority over the old religions. analogeticists the disciples of ammonius saccas (see above) so called because of their practice of interpreting all sacred legends, myths, and mysteries by a principle of analogy and correspondence, which rule is now found in the cabalistic system, and preeminently so in the schools of esoteric philosophy in the east. ananda (sans) bliss, joy, felicity, happiness. a name of a favorite disciple of gautama, the lord buddha. anaxagoras a famous ionian philosopher, who lived 500 bc, studied philosophy under anaximenes of miletus

HINE PHIL ASPECTS OF EVOCATION

y our demons then they are indeed .outside. and the self becomes a fortress, for an army at war with itself. in contrast, the babblogue is a trial by catharsis, to understand and unify the dwellers within, rather than deny or subjugate them. the shaman.s journey the central theme of all .magical retirements. of this nature is the journey within. shamans world-wide, and the most powerful religious myths are concerned with this descent into chaos- the confrontation with death, the demon feast, trial by fire, communion with the dead- and the subsequent return- the realisation of power, and the subsequent return to human affairs as an initiate. the core elements in this process can be summarised as follows: phase of departure: summons to depart, seperation from mundane life, descent. phase of

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

up with arguments that are alternatively plausible and implausible. it has been pointed out that we invest a lot of time and energy in being right. what s wrong with being wrong occasionally? 2. personal experience is paramount. in other words, don t take my word that such-and-such is the case, check it out for yourself. magick has suffered extensively from armchair theorists who have perpetuated myths and out-of-date information purely due to laziness of one kind or another. sometimes it s interesting to ask awkward questions just to see what the selfappointed experts come out with. some will emit a stream of verbal diahorrea rather than admit to not knowing the answer, whereas a true adept will probably say i 15 oven-ready chaos haven t a f**g clue. quite early on, chaos magicians came t

rtainly the case, in my experience, of learning by experience that we live in a magical universe. of madness and mystic journeys the work of anti-psychiatrists such as david cooper and r.d. laing has popularised the view that the complex syndrome known as schizophrenia is similar, in many ways to a mystic journey, with close links to the inner journeys undertaken by shamans and heroes in cultural myths worldwide. however, one point is very clear, that while the shaman or initiate is the active agent- the fearless one- this is rarely true of the individual in the throes of schizophrenia. like the descending initiate, schizophrenics often report feelings of a loss of agency over their environment, loss of ego boundary, and a sense of somehow being different or set apart in some way. many can

HOWE THE ALCHEMIST OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

am very busy so write in haste. 1 they were not. the fratres lucis existed mainly in f. g. irwin's imagination, even if he managed to recruit a few (half a dozen) carefully selected initiates. 2 yarker clearly copied the ritual and handed the order to some friends in the bradford area. it still exists obscurely today. 1 4 thealchemist of the golden dawn the letters 1 5 ayt0 n continued to invent myths. lord lindsay was not initiated on the continent but at cambridge when still an undergraduate in 1866. the fact that he later became a senior grand warden in the united grand lodge of england and deputy provincial grand master for west lancashire and a provincial grand master for aberdeen west merely indicates that noblemen were then almost automatically promoted to very senior offices. i ha

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

ying and conflicting stories, with their incoherent, extravagant descriptions of the hall-glimpsed fiend; yet not a farmer or villager doubted that the martense mansion was ghoulishly haunted. local history forbade such a doubt, although no ghostly evidence was ever found by such investigators as had visited the building after some especially vivid tale of the squatters. grandmothers told strange myths of the martense spectre; myths concerning the martense family itself, its queer hereditary dissimilarity of eyes, its long, unnatural annals, and the murder which had cursed it. the terror which brought me to the scene was a sudden and portentous confirmation of the mountaineers' wildest legends. one summer night, after a thunderstorm of unprecedented violence, the countryside was aroused by

hen- with a tremendous start- i recognised some thing about them which filled me with icy fear till i recalled the breadth of my uncle's education and the interminable translations he had made from anthropological and antiquarian articles in the revue des deux mondes. for the venerable elihu whipple was muttering in french, and the few phrases i could distinguish seemed connected with the darkest myths he had ever adapted from the famous paris magazine. suddenly a perspiration broke out on the sleeper's forehead, and he leaped abruptly up, half awake. the jumble of french changed to a cry in english, and the hoarse voice shouted excitedly "my breath, my breath" then the awakening became complete, and with a subsidence of facial expression to the normal state my uncle seized my hand and beg

of unhuman horrors. there had been at least three such cases during the past half century- one only fifteen years before. had something been groping blindly through time from some unsuspected abyss in nature? were these faint cases monstrous, sinister experiments of a kind and authorship uttely beyond same belief? such were a few of the forless speculations of my weaker hours- fancies abetted by myths which my studies uncovered. for i could not doubt but that certain persistent legends of immemorial antiquity, apparently unknown to the victims and physicians connected with recent amnesia cases, formed a striking and awesome elaboration of memory lapses such as mine. of the nature of the dreams and impressions which were growing so clamorous i still almost fear to speak. they seemed to sav

d by an intricate mechanical hypnosis of all it had learned in the great race's age- this because of certain troublesome consequences inherent in the general carrying forward of knowledge in large quantities. the few existing instances of clear transmission had caused, and would cause at known future times, great disasters. and it was largely in consequence of two cases of this kind- said the old myths- that mankind had learned what it had concerning the great race. of all things surviving physically and directly from that aeon-distant world, there remained only certain ruins of great stones in far places and under the sea, and parts of the text of the frightful pnakotic manuscripts. thus the returning mind reached its own age with only the faintest and most fragmentary visions of what it

first, but on the other hand i reflected that the excitant folklore was undoubtedly more universal in the past than in the present. probably all the other victims whose cases were like mine had had a long and familiar knowledge of the tales i had learned only when in my secondary state. when these victims had lost their memory, they had associated themselves with the creatures of their household myths- the fabulous invaders supposed to displace men's minds- and had thus embarked upon quests for knowledge which they thought they could take back to a fancied, non-human past. then, when their memory returned, they reversed the associative process and thought of themselves as the former captive minds instead of as the displacers. hence the dreams and pseudo-memories following the conventional

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

metrical contour and certain other attributes clearly indicated; yet one could not be exact as to the limit of its later adaptations. the wings, after all, held a persistent suggestion of the aerial. how it could have undergone its tremendously complex evolution on a new-born earth in time to leave prints in archaean rocks was so far beyond conception as to make lake whimsically recall the primal myths about great old ones who filtered down from the stars and concocted earth life as a joke or mistake; and the wild tales of cosmic hill things from outside told by a folklorist colleague in miskatonic s english department. naturally, he considered the possibility of the pre-cambrian prints having been made by a less evolved ancestor of the present specimens, but quickly rejected this too-faci

from those already seen and traversed. the touch of evil mystery in these barrier mountains, and in the beckoning sea of opalescent sky glimpsed betwixt their summits, was a highly subtle and attenuated matter not to be explained in literal words. rather was it an affair of vague psychological symbolism and aesthetic association- a thing mixed up with exotic poetry and paintings, and with archaic myths lurking in shunned and forbidden volumes. even the wind s burden held a peculiar strain of conscious malignity; and for a second it seemed that the composite sound included a bizarre musical whistling or piping over a wide range as the blast swept in and out of the omnipresent and resonant cave mouths. there was a cloudy note of reminiscent repulsion in this sound, as complex and unplaceable

assiveness of these vast stone towers and ramparts had saved the frightful things from utter annihilation in the hundreds of thousands- perhaps millions- of years it had brooded there amidst the blasts of a bleak upland "corona mundi- roof of the world" all sorts of fantastic phrases sprang to our lips as we looked dizzily down at the unbelievable spectacle. i thought again of the eldritch primal myths that had so persistently haunted me since my first sight of this dead antarctic world- of the demoniac plateau of leng, of the mi-go, or abominable snow men of the himalayas, of the pnakotic manuscripts with their prehuman implications, of the cthulhu cult, of the necronomicon, and of the hyperborean legends of formless tsathoggua and the worse than formless star spawn associated with that s

d lived in this incalculably gigantic place, and what relation to the general world of its time or of other times so unique a concentration of life could have had. for this place could be no ordinary city. it must have formed the primary nucleus and center of some archaic and unbelievable chapter of earth s history whose outward ramifications, recalled only dimly in the most obscure and distorted myths, had vanished utterly amidst the chaos of terrene convulsions long before any human race we know had shambled out of apedom. here sprawled a palaeogaean megalopolis compared with which the fabled atlantis and lemuria, commoriom and uzuldaroum, and olathoc in the land of lomar, are recent things of today- not even of yesterday; a megalopolis ranking with such whispered prehuman blasphemies as

the builders of the city were wise and old, and had left certain traces in rocks even then laid down well nigh a thousand million years- rocks laid down before the true life of earth had advanced beyond plastic groups of cells- rocks laid down before the true life of earth had existed at all. they were the makers and enslavers of that life, and above all doubt the originals of the fiendish elder myths which things like the pnakotic manuscripts and the necronomicon affrightedly hint about. they were the great "old ones" that had filtered down from the stars when earth was young- the beings whose substance an alien evolution had shaped, and whose powers were such as this planet had never bred. and to think that only the day before danforth and i had actually looked upon fragments of their m

HP LOVECRAFT THE LURKING FEAR

ying and conflicting stories, with their incoherent, extravagant descriptions of the hall-glimpsed fiend; yet not a farmer or villager doubted that the martense mansion was ghoulishly haunted. local history forbade such a doubt, although no ghostly evidence was ever found by such investigators as had visited the building after some especially vivid tale of the squatters. grandmothers told strange myths of the martense spectre; myths oonceming the martense family itself, its queer hereditary dissimilarity of eyes, its long, unnatural annals, and the murder which had cursed it. the terror which brought me to the scene was a sudden and portentous confirmation of the mountaineers' wildest legends. one summer night, after a thunderstorm of unprecedented violence, the countryside was aroused by

HP LOVECRAFT THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH

ured that the old man could do nothing but hint at wild, disjointed, and incredible legends, and i had been warned that the natives made it unsafe to be seen talk-ing with him; yet the thought of this aged witness to the town's decay, with memories going back to the early days of ships and factories, was a lure that no amount of reason could make me resist. after all, the strangest and maddest of myths are often merely symbols or allegories based upon truth- and old zadok must have seen everything which went on around innsmouth for the last ninety years. curiosity flared up beyond sense and caution, and in my youthful egotism i fancied i might be able to sift a nucleus of real history from the confused, extravagant outpouring i would probably extract with the aid of raw whiskey. i knew tha

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

tants, however, were alarmed, and p. 233 the robbers fled, leaving the hand behind them. 1 no doubt the absolute failure of this gruesome dark lantern on this occasion was due to the fact that neither candle nor candlestick had been properly prepared! the orthodox recipe for its preparation and consequent effectual working may be found in full in mr. baring gould's essay on schamir in his curious myths of the middle ages. the following tale comes from an article in the dublin university magazine, vol. lxiv; it has rather a cross-channel appearance, but may have been picked up locally in ireland. a man named shamus rua (red james) was awakened one night by a noise in the kitchen. he stole down, and found his old housekeeper, madge, with half a dozen of her kidney, sitting by the fire drinki

ISIS UNVEILED

t by jesus 191 jesut never daimed to be god 193 new tcatament narrative* and hmdal^aads 199 antiquity irf the 'logos' and 'christ' 205 comparative vi^n-wocship 209 chapter v mysteries of the kabala ain-soph and the sn>hiroth 212 the primitive wisdom-rdigion 216 the booii of omint a compilation of old-world trends 217 the trinity of the kabala 222 gnostic and-naaarene systems coatiasted with hindo myths 225 kabaliim in the book of etdeui 232 story of the reantrection of jainu's daiuhter found in the history of krislina 241 untnutwcvth^ teadungs of the early fathera 248 thdr pcnecuting spirit 249 chapter vi esoteric doctrines op buddhism parodied in christianity dccimons of nicene cooudl, how arrived at 251 murder of hypatia 252 origin of the eab- ymbdoctrine al c

en nearly upset by modem research, not daring to interfere with the powerful champions of science, the latin church revenges herself upon the unpopular phenomena. a despot without a victim is a word void of sense; a power which neglects to assert itself through outward, well-calculated effects, risks being doubted in the end. the church has no intention of falling into the oblivion of the ancient myths, or of suffering ber authority to be too closely questioned. hence she pursues, as well as the times permit, her traditional policy. lamenting the enforced extinction of her ally, the holy inquisition, she makes a virtue of necessity. the only victims now within reach are the spiritists of france. recent events have shown that the meek spouse of christ never disdains to retaliate on helpless

f the devil were annihi- lated, the artidea oj faith and the bibu would remain. in short there would still be a pretended divine revelation, and the necessity for self-assumed inspired interpreters. we must, therefore, consider the authenticity of the bibu itself. we must study its pages, and see if they indeed contain the commands of the deity, or but a compendium of ancient traditions and hoary myths. we must try to interpret them for ourselves if possible. as to its pretended interpreters, the only possible similitude we can find for them in the biue is to compare them with the man described by the wise king solomon in his proverbs as the possessor of these "six things. yea seven. which the lord doth hate" and which are an abomination unto him, to wit "a proud look, a lying tongue, and

flatonic teadeocy twitted tbe jewb at "aborliona who digitizecoy google aos ^s unveiled dignities are the subordinate genii t^ the archangels and angela emanations are the very life and soul of the kabala and zoroastrianism; and the talmud itself in its present state is all borrowed from the zend aveata. therefore, by adopting the views of peter, jude, and other jhilosophical myths of various nations. in the oldest oriental kabala. the deity ts represented as three circles in one, shrouded in a certain smoke or chaotic exhalation. in the preface to the ztaar, which transforms the three primordial circles into thbeb heads, there is said to be over them an exhalation or smoke, neither black nor white but coloriess, and cireumscribed within a circle. this is the unknown e

chamotb, the half-spiritual, half-material life, which vivifies the inert matter in the depths of chaos, is the holy ghost of the gnostics, and the sjnruus (female) of the naaarenes. she is be it remembered the nster of christos, the perfect emanation, and both arc 549. he u the imitersal and spiritiul germ of au things &s0. adumbraho kabb. ckt, pp. e> 7. digitizecoy google compabison with hindtl myths 227 children or emanations of sophia, the purely spiritual and intellectual daughter of bythos, the'depui. for the elder sopliia is shekhinah, the face of god "god's shekhinah, which is his image "the son zeus-belus, or sol-mithra, b an image of the father, an emanation from the supreme light" says movers "he passed for creator "i^ilosophers say the first air is anima mundi. but the garment

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

he colour heraldic on which they are always emblazoned is azure, or blue which is the colour of the sea, which is salt. in an anagram it may be expressed as c. following on this allusion, we may say that ventre-saintgris! is a very ancient french barbarous expletive, or oath. literally (which, in the occult sense, is always obscurely, it is the sacred blue (or gray) womb, which is absurd. strange myths. 41 now, the reference and the meaning of this we will confidently commit to the penetration of those among our readers who can felicitously privately surmise it; and also the apparently circuitous deductions, which are yet to come, to be made by us. blue is the colour of the virgin maria. maria, mary, mare, mar, mam, means the bitterness, or the saltness, of the sea. blue is expressive of t

r lady-cow (there is no resemblance between a bird and a cow, it may be remarked en passant, except in this strangely occult, almost ridiculous, affinity, and the rustic rhyme among the children concerning it, may be here remembered: lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home! your house is on fire your children at home! such may be heard in all parts of england when a lady-bird is seen by the children. myths are inextricably embodied like specks and straws and flies in amber amidst the sayings and rhymes of the common people in all countries; and they are there preserved for very many generations, reappearing to recognition after. the lapse sometimes of centuries. now, how do we explain and re-render the above rude couplet? the lady-bird is the virgin maria, isis, the mother and producer of natu

cifer, or the devil, is the lord of flies, for which strange appellation all antiquaries, and other learned decipherers, have found it impossible to account of the figure of the fleur-de-luce, fleur-de-lis, or flowerde- luce (lus, luz, loose, the following may be remarked. on its sublime, abstract side, it is the symbol of the mighty self-producing, self-begetting generative power deified in many myths. we may make a question, in the lower sense, in this regard, of the word loose, namely, wanton, and the word lech, or leche, and lecher &c. consider, also, in the solemn and terrible sense, the name crom-lech, or crown, or arched entry or gate, of death. the druidical stones were generally called cromlechs when placed in groups of two* with a coping or capstone over, similarly to the form of

uery, hence sufar, a seraph or serpent? see jones's lexicon (in voce, and sofoj, wise. the suf and sof are both the same root. the famous brazen serpent, called nehustan, set up by moses in the wilderness, is termed in the targum a saviour. it was probably a serpentine crucifix, as it serpent-worship. 201 is called a cross by justin martyr. all the foregoing is allegorical, and hides deep gnostic myths, which explain serpent-worship, united with the adoration paid to a perpendicular. the three most celebrated emblems carried in the greek mysteries were the phallus, i; the egg, o; and the serpent, f; or otherwise the phallus, the loni or umbilicus, and the serpent. the first, in each case, is the emblem of the sun, or of fire, as the male, or active, generative power. the second denotes the

trabo, too, and montfaucon, have been equally astray. hyde was the only one who had any idea of its composition when he declared that it was a persian word, somewhat altered from gabri or guebri, and signifying fire-worshippers (see o brien s round towers of ireland, 1834, p. 354) pococke, in his india in greece, is very sagacious and true in his arguments; but he tells only half the story of the myths in his supposed successful divestment of them of all unexplainable character, and of exterior supernatural origin. he supposes that all the mystery must necessarily disappear when he has traced, and carefully pointed out, the identity and transference of these myths from india into egypt and into greece, and their gradual spread westward. but he is wholly mistaken; and most other modern expl

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

ets. the builders of k.s.t. the recasting of the rituals. the mingling of traditions. the transmission of the new rites. the essenes and the christ. kabbalism. the spiritualization of the temple. the loss of the divine name. chapter v the greek mysteries the eleusinian mysteries. the origin of the greek mysteries. the gods of greece. the officials. the lesser mysteries. the greater mysteries. the myths of the greater mysteries. the magic of the greater mysteries. the hidden mysteries. the school of pythagoras. the three degrees. other greek mysteries. chapter vi the mithraic mysteries zarathustra and mithraism. mithraism among the romans. the mithraic rites. the roman collegia. the work of king numa. the colleges and the legions. the introduction of the jewish form. the transition to the o

rth dynasty, khufu (cheops, khafra (chephren) and menkaura (mycerinus, during the fourth millennium b.c. but the inner history of egypt and its pyramids extends back further than this, into ages upon which even tradition is almost silent, although some echoes of the reigns of the divine kings of the atlantean dynasties, who ruled egypt for many thousands of years, appear in the egyptian and greek myths of the gods and demigods who are said to have reigned before the coming of manu. 53. according to manetho, the egyptian historian of the ptolemaic period, whose works are now lost (except for certain fragments preserved in quotations, the gods and demigods reigned for 12,843 years. after these came the nekyes or manes, who are said to have reigned for 5,813 years; and some of these may perha

ur information comes from the christian writers, hippolytus, clement of alexandria, origen, arnobius and others, who were engaged upon destroying as much as possible of the pagan religion, and therefore always spoke of the mysteries in the worst possible light. something is known of a few of the exterior tests that were applied to candidates, and of the teaching that was given through the various myths. when people outside pressed for information, and would not be put off, the officials permitted so much to be revealed. 320. the origin of the greek mysteries 321. the original founder of the greek mysteries was orpheus, who was an incarnation of the same great world teacher who had come to egypt in 40,000 b.c. as thoth or hermes, to preach the doctrine of the hidden light. but now the metho

e ignorant people. all cultured and thinking men took up the study of one or other of the systems of philosophy, and in many cases they were also initiates of the school of the mysteries; it was this higher teaching that really moulded their lives, and took for them the place of what we call religion- unless, indeed, they were frankly agnostic, as are so many cultured men now. some of these weird myths, however, were explained in the mysteries and were seen to enshrine a hidden teaching relating to the life of the soul. 327. nevertheless many of the gods of greece were real personages, who played their parts in the lives of the people, and were channels to them of the divine blessing. the chief aspect of the outer religion of greece was the cult of the beautiful. it was known in greece tha

after death; whosoever pursues unrealities during this life will pursue them also after death, was another statement entirely in line with the facts of post-mortem existence, and it emphasizes the great truth upon which we so often find it necessary to insist, that death in no way changes the real man, but that his disposition and his mode of thought remain exactly what they were before. 355. the myths of the exoteric religion of the country were taken up and studied in the eleusinian mysteries, as in the mysteries of egypt. among those relating to the life after death was that of tantalus, who was condemned to suffer perpetual thirst in hades: water surrounded him on all sides, but receded from him whenever he attempted to drink; over his head hung branches of fruit which receded in like

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

ascetics who seemed to be on the verge of break12 aquinas, thomas ing through into a divine state, and thus posing a threat to the status of the gods. in buddhism, the best-known story involving mara, the buddhist satan, portrays the apsaras as being mara s minions. this story, the tale of his attempt to prevent the buddha from achieving enlightenment, is structurally parallel to classical hindu myths about the gods sending apsaras to tempt ascetics. the story goes that as siddhartha gautama, the buddha, was on the brink of nirvana, mara sent beautiful, tempting heavenly women (buddhist apsaras) to distract his attention. unmoved by passion, mara changed tack and tried frightening gautama with ferocious demons. still undisturbed, mara finally challenged buddha s right to liberation. in re

piritual entities and other powers to be drawn near the participants. see also magic and magical groups for further reading: amber k. true magick: a beginner s guide. llewellyn, 1991. farrar, stewart. what witches do: the modern coven revealed. new york: coward,mccann, 1971. collective unconscious the collective unconscious, a term coined by the psychologist carl jung, refers to the storehouse of myths and symbols to which all human beings have access.much of traditional jungian analysis focuses on the interpretation of dreams. jung found that the dreams of his clients frequently contained images with which they were completely unfamiliar, but which seemed to reflect symbols that could be found somewhere in the mythological systems of world culture. the notion of the collective unconscious

s of his clients frequently contained images with which they were completely unfamiliar, but which seemed to reflect symbols that could be found somewhere in the mythological systems of world culture. the notion of the collective unconscious was used to explain this phenomenon. jung s unique contribution to modern psychology begins with the observation that the basic structure of many symbols and myths are nearly universal, even between cultures that had no historical influence on one another. most traditional societies, for example, tell hero myths, utilize circles to represent wholeness, the sky to symbolize transcendence, etc. jung theorized that this universality resulted from unconscious patterns (genetic or quasi-genetic predispositions to utilize certain symbolic and mythic structur

m unconscious patterns (genetic or quasi-genetic predispositions to utilize certain symbolic and mythic structures) that we inherited from our distant ancestors. the reservoir of these patterns constitutes a collective unconscious, distinct from the individual, personal unconscious that is the focus of freudian psychoanalysis. jung referred to the unconscious, predisposing patterns for particular myths and symbols as archetypes. hence one can talk about the mandala (i.e, the circle) archetype, the hero archetype (the latter made famous by the jungian thinker joseph campbell, and so forth. jung asserted that his notions of the collective unconscious and the archetypes were on par with the theory of instincts. in other words, one examines certain kinds of behaviors and theorizes that they ar

0) lavey claimed that jane mansfield died as the result of a curse he placed on her boyfriend (mansfield and her boyfriend died together in an automobile accident, although lavey s assertion that his curse caused jane mansfield s and her boyfriend s death was made public only after the fact. see also church of satan; hex; love (lust) spells for further reading: gordon, stuart. the encyclopedia of myths and legends. london: headline, 1993. lavey, anton szandor. the satanic bible. new york: avon, 1969. valiente, doreen. an abc ofwitchcraft: past and present. new york: st.martin s press, 1973. damn yankees this 1955 broadway musical drama by george abbott has become a classic. in 1958 it was adapted into a film. a remake of abbott s play appeared again on broadway in 1994, starring jerry lewi

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

ords and names called gheiti, h which he embodied in a treatise called skaldskaparmal (the language of poetry. this text comprises for the most part lists of kennings and heiti arranged by the nouns they can replace, illustrated with a large number of citations from skaldic poetry, quoting in blocks of half a stanza. but besides this, he used a narrative frame to retell some of the more important myths that underlie skaldic kennings. according to this frame, a man named agir or hler from hlesey( ghler fs island, h modern lasso off the danish coast, a master of magic, goes to asgard, where the asir receive him well but with visual delusions. the hall is illuminated by swords alone. twelve male and twelve female asir are there. agir sits next to bragi, who tells agir many stories of events i

rfs of sif fs golden hair, the ship skidbladnir, odin fs spear gungnir, odin fs ring draupnir, frey fs boar gullinborsti, and thor fs hammer mjollnir, and the subsequent acquisition from another dwarf of the gold and cursed ring that play a large role in heroic legend. a good deal of heroic legend is also recounted in skaldskaparmal. it seems that snorri next was moved to write up the rest of the myths and to do so with a frame story consistently carried out. the result was gylfaginning (deluding of gylfi. here the frame story has a swedish king, gylfi, come to visit asgard. he does so because he has heard that all goes to the will of the asir, and he wishes to determine whether it is because of their own nature or because of the gods whom they worship. a wise man with a control of magic

gylfaginning, especially from voluspa, vafthrudnismal, and grimnismal. the arrangement of the subjects he treats, following the discussion of the ghighest and foremost of the gods, h which is gylfi/gangleri fs first question, is essentially that of voluspa in its sweep from beginning to end of mythic time. snorri also seems to have known eddic poems beyond those he quotes, and he also paraphrases myths that he probably knew from skaldic poetry; but he quotes no skaldic poetry outside the device of the frame, at the beginning of gylfaginning. if the arrangement of materials to some extent follows voluspa, the frame story itself is reminiscent especially of vafthrudnismal and other contests of wisdom. we learn gylfi fs motivation for his journey, and he conceals his name. har stipulates a wa

n in iceland from the twelfth century onward. snorri sets thor in that environment; that is, he tells us that there was a historical figure whom the nordic peoples called thor who lived before christ was born and who performed historical acts (it is important to remember that berserks and dragons were not as fantastic to medieval historians as they seem to us) that look very much like some of the myths about thor that later were to be told by the nordic peoples. the idea that gods derive from humans whose actions are reinterpreted and deified by later generations is called geuhemerism, h after the greek philosopher euhemeros (fl. 300 b.c.e, whose claim to have discovered an inscription showing that zeus was a mortal king elevated to deity was generalized into a theory that has had consider

fs delusion was in accepting that the stories told to him by har, jafnhar, and thridi were about gods. in other words, it is easy to believe that snorri wishes us to believe that gylfi fs meeting with the asir contributed to their euhemerization. this theory makes it possible for a learned christian author to retell and order mythological narratives of his forefathers in a handbook of poetry; the myths in gylfaginning are told by the asia-men har, jafnhar, and thridi (none of whom needs to be odin, just as the myths in skaldskaparmal are told by bragi, a known skald. snorri fs edda is thus very much a document of its time, the christian middle ages, and also of its place, an island where the older poetry, for whatever reason, was still transmitted. as it happens, skaldskaparmal quotes much

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY AND SET TYPHON

rer. in making a fetish, consider the elements which would suit the desired purpose of the elemental. you are creating the famulus, from aspects of the self aided with the manes of the dead, willed into a form which exists through the fetish or storehouse, but ultimately is a repose of the sorcerer's consciousness. a vampyre within the context written of here is a word denoting the essence of the myths of old, essentially a predatory spirituality which the black adept slowly transforms into upon the path. cain known also as chiva, or chioa, the beast offspring of samael and lilith. tubal-qayin is the lord of the horsemen, the luciferian patron of the path, the initiator. cain in some areas of the luciferian witchcraft gnosis is an earth form of set, the form imposed in flesh and greenery

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

on of homo sapiens 85 5 the origins of life and the cosmos as evolutionary themes 109 6 evolution of the dna world and the chance events that accompanied it: more about complexity 145 7 the dangers of creationism 179 appendix 1 the brusselator 195 appendix 2 experiments for educators 199 glossary 203 further reading 207 index 211 this page intentionally left blank evolution and religious creation myths this page intentionally left blank 1 creationism and intelligent design the evolution of an idea skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. carl sagan a 2004 gallup poll in the united states reported that 45% of the population believe that god created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 38%

od, a six-day creation, and formation of the universe in 4004 b.c.e.why is this? its proponents claim that id is a scientific view of nature, not just the reworking of a religious story first told a long time ago. in that light, id supporters know very well that not a shred of geological or meteorological evidence supports the idea that the entire surface of our 4 evolution and religious creation myths planet could have been under water as recently as a few thousand years ago. even though we have not seen or heard this ourselves, we suspect that id supporters may also know that genesis in all likelihood evolved derived from the older sumerian epic of gilgamesh, which already incorporated a great flood and the survival of just two human beings who later repopulated earth. likewise, no serio

al, technical, medical, and so on, context and be aware that today s facts may be tomorrow s fiction. for example, the medieval belief that men have one less rib than women (to account for the fact that eve was created from one of adam s ribs) was discounted centuries ago, once early human anatomists cared to actually compare the number of ribs in men and women. 6 evolution and religious creation myths discovery of new phenomena (new facts) is one of the aims of science. but equally important is the interpretation of facts or observations. it can be said that without an organization (categorization) of discoveries into theories, there would be no science. theory building is absolutely central to science; without it, science would just be a boring and confusing conglomerate of facts unrelat

ieved only through the interplay of experimentation or observation (discovery of new facts) with theory (making sense of the new facts. we will show that id cannot be a scientific theory because it provides no framework to analyze and predict anything in the natural world. in that sense, id (as well as a literal interpretation of the bible) can be seen, at best, 8 evolution and religious creation myths as a hypothesis (shall we say just a hypothesis, that is, a conjecture that must be subjected to verification. as we describe in this book, such verification is lacking in the case of creationist and neocreationist worldviews. another misuse of words admittedly, the term hypothesis is somewhat of a tongue twister, and for this reason, it is rarely used in common parlance. yet, it is an impor

not provide more evidence? unfortunately, darwinism ends with -ism many words with an -ism ending (capitalism, socialism, catholicism, protestantism, colonialism, marxism, existentialism, etc) suggest a system of beliefs, a philosophy, a doctrine, or association with a political party. it is, of course, not darwin himself who crafted the word darwinism. but the 10 evolution and religious creation myths problem here is that, contrary to other scientific theories, darwin s is the only one still referred to by the name of its author equipped with an -ism. even though the theory of the gene as elaborated by mendel (see chapter 2) was called for a time mendelism, this expression has been obsolete for a long time. similarly, one does not speak of einsteinism or gell-mannism (the latter being the

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

gard isis as synonymous with the moon. the moon was chosen for isis because of its dominion over water. the druids considered the sun to be the father and the moon the mother of all things. by means of these symbols they worshiped universal nature. the figure of isis is sometimes used to represent the occult and magical arts, such as necromancy, invocation, sorcery, and thaumaturgy. in one of the myths concerning her, isis is said to have conjured the invincible god of eternities, ra, to tell her his secret and sacred name, which he did. this name is equivalent to the lost word of masonry. by means of this word, a magician can demand obedience from the invisible and superior deities. the priests of isis became adepts in the use of the unseen forces of nature. they understood hypnotism, mes

from the twelve tribes to represent israel. the only two signs not already mentioned are gemini and sagittarius. the constellation of gemini is generally represented as two small children, who, according to the ancients, were born out of eggs, possibly the ones that the bull broke with his horns. the stories concerning castor and pollux, and romulus and remus, may be the result of amplifying the myths of these celestial twins. the symbols of gemini have passed through many modifications. the one used by the arabians was the peacock. two of the important stars in the constellation of gemini still bear the names of castor and pollux. the sign of gemini is supposed to have been the patron of phallic worship, and the two obelisks, or pillars, in front of temples and churches convey the same s

understands the complete working of any system, a man may accomplish a prescribed end without being qualified to manipulate and control the effects which he has produced. for this reason long periods of probation were imposed, so that the knowledge of how to become as the gods might remain the sole possession of the worthy. lest that knowledge be lost, however, it was concealed in allegories and myths which were meaningless to the profane but self-evident to those acquainted with that theory of personal redemption which was the foundation of philosophical theology. christianity itself may be cited as an example. the entire new testament is in fact an ingeniously concealed exposition of the secret processes of human regeneration. the characters so long considered as historical men and wome

ngs were therefore often added to various terrene creatures in an effort to suggest transcendency. because their habitat was among the branches of the sacred trees in the hearts of ancient forests, birds were also regarded as the appointed messengers of the tree spirits and nature gods dwelling in these consecrated groves, and through their clear notes the gods themselves were said to speak. many myths have been fabricated to explain the brilliant plumage of birds. a familiar example is the story of juno's peacock, in whose tail feathers were placed the eyes of argus. numerous american indian legends also deal with birds and the origin of the various colors of feathers. the navahos declare that when all living things climbed to the stalk of a bamboo to escape the flood, the wild turkey was

it, which often uses the physical body of the plant as its habitation. the ancient philosophers, recognizing the principle of intelligence manifesting itself in every department of nature alike, believed that the quality of natural selection exhibited by creatures not possessing organized mentalities expressed in reality the decisions of the nature spirits themselves. c. m. gayley, in the classic myths, says "it was a pleasing trait in the old paganism that it loved to trace in every operation of nature the agency of deity. the imagination of the greeks peopled the regions of earth and sea with divinities, to whose agency it attributed the phenomena that our philosophy ascribes to the operation of natural law" thus, in behalf of the plant it worked with, the elemental accepted and rejected

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

tory of the holy grail, and the like (see the bibliography at the end of the book for more suggestions on this point) for those that would follow a more cabalistic path, works dealing with "magical correspondences" such as aleister crowley's 777 and dion fortune's mystical qabalah, are very handy. classics-minded witches would do well to consult such books as robert graves's work on the classical myths, those of c. kerenyi; and of course godfrey leland's aradia and etruscan magic and occult remedies, among others. should you, on the other hand, wish to give your coven a more african flavour, then the myths of ancient egypt and maybe the magical elements inherent within the west indian voodoo cult should be incorporated. the entities involved are exactly the same. they differ only in their

MEANING OF MASONRY

nd by a reference to a great doctrine that forms the philosophic basis of all systems of religion, and all the great systems of the mysteries and of initiation of antiquity, viz, that which is popularly known as the fall of man. however we may choose to regard this event--and throughout the history of the human race it has been taught in innumerable ways and in all manner of parables, allegories, myths and legends--its sole and single meaning is that humanity as a whole has fallen away from its original parent source and place; that from being imbedded in the eternal centre of life man has become projected to the circumference; and that in this present world of ours he is undergoing a period of restriction, of ignorance, of discipline and experience, that shall ultimately fit him to return

le to receive divinity as an ass, into whom if ye be not turned, ye shall in no wise be able to carry the divine mysteries" in the light of this, one will at once discern the symbolical significance of the christian maste r riding into jerusalem upon an ass. another and a greatly educative means employed in the mysteries was that of instructing, enlarging and purifying the imagination by means of myths, expressing either in doctrinal form or by spectacular representation, truths of the divine world and of the soul's history. the modern mind in its passion for actual concrete facts is little sympathetic to a method of teaching which dispenses with demonstrable facts and prefers to enunciate the eternal principles underlying such facts and of which those facts are but the manifested resultan

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

heir graves and existed in a similar way to central european nosferatu, nachzehrer and so on. such creatures in norse mythology were called "haugbui" which translates to "barrow, being mound dweller. germany holds a large amount of folklore relating to vampirism and lycanthropy, austria has the demonic perchten, the british isles the female vampires glaistigs. much has grown from such legends and myths, some of which is truth and some of which is something beyond. symbolism is of great significance in magick because the individual seeks to enter, take hold and mold the clay of life around him/her. germany gives us the vampire races of nachzehrer, nachttoter, alp, neuntoter and nosferatu. 9 9 nachzehrer is a vampire which is found in the northern part of germany and the kashubes, which incl

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

instigated a hybridization program lasting centuries.their genetic interference of the earth races resulted in several hybrid creatures, oneof whom i will refer to as homo atlantis. each and every living adamic human ofthe last 10 millennia or more is descended from this exceptional being. every one of ushas both human and alien dna. this is exactly what we have been told in all theworlds sundry myths, from the celtic and arthurian legends to the ramayana andprefaceviatlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation mahabharata. it is also implied by recent scientific findings in the geological recordand the biology and genetics of humans, findings which are being sequestered bythose with a vested interest in maintaining the present status quo. its greatest proof,one can argue, lies in

he living rock. there were at least five entire continents on earth in primeval times called appala-chia, tyrhennia, beringia, fennoscandia, and oceania. our present continents areremnants of these. beneath them were literally thousands of miles of subterranean pas-sages, caverns, and refuges. some of these remain today and experts know that manyof them were not made naturally. many of our quaint myths and tales, like those ofdwarves, trolls, elves, the little people and the scandinavian king under themountain, for example, concern these subterranean worlds. almost all the nativeamerican indian tribes speak of their original residence beneath the surface of theearth. the pursuers, the victors of the war in the heavens, erroneously thinking that their ene-mies were on tiamat utterly annihil

tants of the earth (rev 8:7 9:1) for this they are willingly ignorant of..the world that then was, being overflowed withwater, perished (2 peter 3:5) celtic records also speak of the deluge: i have been in the bark of dylan, son of the wave, when the waters rose as lances, fallingdown from the skies, into the exposed abyss (book of taliesin) the indians of lake missoula, washington, have in their myths the following account: one summer morning the people were startled by a rumbling and a shaking of theearththen the sun was blotted outterrified people ran to the hills to get away from thepounding waterthen a rain of ashes began to fall. it fell for several weeks.the ute indians relate: the sun was shivered into a thousand fragments, which fell to earth causing a general con-flagration. then

ccurred due to the intervention of galactic forcesthat sought to eradicate the bent ones from this planet, or at least restrict their cor-rupting operations. whatever the actual truth, it appears the rebels decided that itwould be futile to go into the individual colonies throughout the earth to depose theatlantean demigods. better to strike at the root of the problem, atlantis itself. many world myths and legends speak of wars between the giants. the stories have uncannysimilarities and may refer to this attempt of earth inhabitants to eradicate strange demonicvisitors. it has been noted for instance that the mahabharata in india, the trojan wars andthe gaelic wars in ireland, all occurred relatively simultaneously (see immanuel v elik-ovsky. in the story of beowulf, one of the first roma

t atlantis after the overthrow were themselves geneticallyaltered and possessed what was called magical powers, which awed all that werewitness to them. the extraterrestrial priests who sided with the earth-people set them-selves up as kings or more likely as the advisors of the indigenous but magicallyendowed kings. the arthurian legends speak of such beings, for instance, merlin. inother celtic myths, we have taliesin, amergin, tuan, breas, balor, diancecht, indech,elathan, lugh, nuada, culhulainn, ossian, finn mac cumhail, and a host of others. inthese and other stories, the advisor, leader, or king has pronounced strength, wisdom,clairvoyance, beauty, and long life, which are all the possible results of genetic modifi-cation. one may also recall the strange attributes of the russian wa

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

ahriman, just as did akht-jadu in the zoroastrian tales. ahriman is called the great serpent or dragon, whose spirit is a shapeshifter and tester of flesh and mind. it was considered in some zoroastrian tales that ahriman and the daevas, his angels, ecisted between the earth and the fixed stars, which would be essentially of the element air (much like lucifer his later identification. in creation myths, ahriman first saw light and sprang into the air in the form of a great snake, that the heavens were shattered as he brought darkness into light. ahrimanic yoga achieving control and command over the body. each archdaeva is representative of each chakra and such are points of specific power in the body. ahrimanic yoga represents disunion with the universe, as opposed to union from a buddhist

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

ble civilizer, on the other hand, spoke of morals and the sciences while never teaching magic, and he also had the support of the most high god. jehovah, jove, or god, is the righteous brother and ruler whose names are also many. to the jews, he was yahweh. to the christians he is jehovah. in persia he was known as ahura mazda, the bother of the evil ahriman. in egypt, he was ra/osiris. the greek myths call this entity zeus, and in rome he went by the name jupiter. this being, and his son, is commonly associated with the sun. here an important distinction must be made, because many have noticed a correlation between the sun, and satan. satan, or set, is the god of the setting sun and so therefore his symbol is that of a black sun, as opposed to his righteous brother who is associated with

MICHAEL W FORD NOX UMBRA

h and others) are the extensions of our will and desire. the vampyre is a being which has deified itself through the antinomianian process of death and rebirth, one who has passed through the ancient aspects of set and anubis, the guardians of the threshold. the symbol of the dragon known as tiamat or leviathan is also ahriman, the coiled beast that is of serpent wisdom. the dragon has fueled the myths of dracula, the dragon race from wallachia. dracos, draconum is the very shadow of the immortal fountain of life, which the vampyre seeks to bask in eternally. remember, in bram stoker's immortal "dracula" novel, the prince of vampyres is transformed not by another vampyre. but rather his own self-iniliatory work and black magic. dracula itself was based from two historical figures, vlad dra

with both god and goddess, lover and devouress, this is acknowledging the daemonic feminine as a strong and creative part of self. we who awake to this path are but children of lilith, thus by identifying and self-acknowledging this point will bless the self upon a determined journey of success. the caves of lilitu -a bestial rite of empowerment- the foundation for this working is in the zoharic myths of hebrew origin. the k'lifah (called husks of evil) is from which lilith emerges from. consider also the realm of husks or shells, the qlippoth, the place of demons. the legends of lilith portray her as having the body of a beautiful woman from head to navel, and below she is flaming fire. this is also comparable to lilith as having the continence of beautiful maiden, and below the navel be

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

l sources. it must be acknowledged that the existence of the similarities and parallels among the writings of ancient thinkers and the reports of modern americans who survive close brushes with death remains a striking, and, so far, not definitively explicable fact. how is it, we might well ask ourselves, that the wisdom of tibetan sages, the theology and visions of paul, the strange insights and myths of plato, and the spiritual revelations of swedenborg all agree so well, both among themselves and with the narratives of contemporary individuals who have come as close as anyone alive to the state of death- notes (1) all quotations from the bible are taken from the king james version (2) all swedenborg quotations are taken from compendium of the theological and spiritual writings of emanue

MORALS AND DOGMA

sed and overlaid with fiction and absurdity, or present themselves as casual hints that are passed by wholly unnoticed. the distinction between the esoteric and exoteric doctrines (a distinction purely masonic, was always and from the very earliest times preserved among the greeks. it remounted to the fabulous times of orpheus; and the mysteries of theosophy were found in all their traditions and myths. and after the time of alexander, they resorted for instruction, dogmas, and mysteries, to all the schools, to those of egypt and asia, as well as those of ancient thrace, sicily, etruria, and attica. the jewish-greek school of alexandria is known only by two of its chiefs, aristobulus and philo, both jews of alexandria in egypt. belonging to asia by its origin, to egypt by its residence, to

to live better and to die happier. unlike the religion of books or creeds, these mystic shows and performances were not the reading of a lecture, but the opening of a problem, implying neither exemption from research, nor hostility to philosophy: for, on the contrary, philosophy is the great mystagogue or arch-expounder of symbolism: though the interpretations by the grecian philosophy of the old myths and symbols were in many instances as ill-founded, as in others they are correct. no better means could be devised to rouse a dormant intellect, than those impressive exhibitions, which addressed it through the imagination: which, instead of condemning it to a prescribed routine of creed, invited it to seek, compare, and judge. the alteration from symbol to dogma is as fatal to beauty of exp

monstrous snake. then the sun will be extinguished, the earth be dissolved in the ocean, the stars lose their brightness, and all nature be destroyed, in order that it may be renewed again. from the bosom of the waters a new world will emerge clad in verdure; harvests will be seen to ripen where no seed was sown, and evil will disappear. the free fancy of the ancients, which wove the web of their myths and legends, was consecrated by faith. it had not, like the modern mind, set apart a petty sanctuary of borrowed beliefs, beyond which all the rest was common and unclean. imagination, reason, and religion circled round the same symbol; and in all their symbols there was serious meaning, if we could but find it out. they did not devise fictions in the same vapid spirit in which we, cramped b

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

ication: first, as representing the great orb of day which illumines the world; and secondly, as the heavenly light which animates the soul of man. he inherited his function as sun-god from helios, with whom, in later times, he was so completely identified, that the personality of the one became gradually merged in that of the other. we, accordingly, find helios frequently confounded with apollo, myths belonging to the former attributed to the latter; and with some tribes.the ionic, for instance.so complete is this identification, that apollo is called by them helios-apollo. as the divinity whose power is developed in the broad light of day, he brings joy and delight to nature, and health and prosperity to man. by the influence of his warm and gentle rays he disperses the noxious vapours o

ination; in fact he presents no benevolent aspect which could possibly react favourably upon human life. epic poets, in particular, represent the god of battles as a wild ungovernable warrior, who passes through the armies like a whirlwind, hurling to the ground the brave and cowardly alike; destroying chariots and helmets, and triumphing over the terrible desolation which he produces. in all the myths concerning ares, his sister athene ever appears in opposition to him, endeavouring by every means in her power to defeat his bloodthirsty designs. thus she assists the divine hero diomedes at the siege of troy, to overcome ares in battle, and so well does he profit by her timely aid, that he succeeds in wounding the sanguinary war-god, who makes his exit from the field, roaring like ten thou

ient eros is represented as a full-grown and very beautiful youth, crowned with flowers, and leaning on a shepherd's crook. in the course of time, this beautiful conception gradually faded away, and though occasional mention still continues to be made of the eros of chaos, he is replaced by the son of aphrodite, the popular, mischief-loving little god of love, so familiar to us all. in one of the myths concerning eros, aphrodite is described as complaining to themis, that her son, though so beautiful, did not appear to increase in stature; whereupon themis suggested that his small proportions were probably attributable to the fact of his being always alone, and advised his mother to let him have a companion. aphrodite accordingly gave him, as a playfellow, his younger brother anteros (requ

e regarded as distinct divinities, whose aspect accorded with the respective winds with which they were identified. they were depicted as [171]winged youths in full vigour in the act of flying through the air. the principal winds were: boreas (the north wind, eurus (the east wind, zephyrus (the west wind, and notus (the south wind, who were said to be the children of eos and astraus. there are no myths of interest connected with these divinities. zephyrus was united to chloris (flora, the goddess of flowers. of page 198 boreas it is related that while flying over the river ilissus, he beheld on the banks oreithyia, the charming daughter of erechtheus, king of athens, whom he carried off to his native thrace, and there made her his bride. boreas and oreithyia were the parents of zetes and c

were held every five years. the greater, which were celebrated in honour of demeter, and lasted nine days, were held in autumn; the lesser, dedicated to persephone (who at these festivals was affectionately called cora, or the maiden, were held in spring. it is supposed that the secrets taught to the initiated by the priests.the expounders of the mysteries.were moral meanings, elucidated from the myths concerning demeter and persephone; but the most important belief inculcated was the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. that the lessons taught were of the highest moral character is universally admitted "the souls of those who participated in them were filled with the sweetest hopes both as to this and the future world" and it was a common saying among the athenians "in the mysteries n

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

testable that a ritual continuing to express traditional values in a thirteenth-century christian form, especially occurring as it did among craftsmen, could be nothing less than a teaching that had been passed down from an earlier time. the esoteric character of the operative ritual can be boiled down to the general symbolism of the building of solomon's temple, which was one of the most popular myths of the middle ages. this popularity reveals an interpretation of the story that reaches far beyond the tale of the magnificent temple, which david began and solomon completed in order to provide a dignified place to worship the eternal one and house the holy of holies, the ark of covenant containing the tablets of the law. to the medieval mind, solomon's temple was the replica of god's true

the marvelous. the church itself, far from condemning 232 from the art of building to the art of thinking these glosses, encouraged their creation to a certain extent. we may recall how similar legends were transposed into apocryphal texts and were spread through sculptures and the images in stained-glass windows. some of these were christianized forms of ancient beliefs and stories depictions of myths that were eternal bearers of the transcendent. as described in the image of isidore de seville, holy scripture was a lyre whose strings had infinite resonance. thus, all the patron saints and fabled figures who were the protectors of the crafts had their own legends. those of saint christopher, mary magdelene, and the three magi, which remain extremely popular today, shared the same sources

NEW WORLD ORDER OR OCCULT SECRET DESTINY

mysteries, being practiced by both freemasonry and the new age, were giving to humanity by the hierarchy. the real purpose of masonry taught to man, from the hierarchy is the expediting of the spiritual evolution, to transform their nature into a god-like superman. the serpent caused the fall in the garden of eden by giving eve this very same message. man is a god in the making. and as the mystic myths of egypt, on the potter s wheel, he is being molded. when his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood (manly p. hall, the lost keys of freemasonry, p. 92) european mysticism was not dead at the time the united states of america was founded. the hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government for the signature of th

ONYX TABLET OF SET

sn't advertise priestly credentials in hostile territory, but these will nevertheless exert their influence. what influence do you think you will be exerting at your profane work or school? the nine steps for setian recovery on dependency by magus webb this is for those members of the priesthood that may have to deal with substance abuse in either themselves or others. let's begin by killing afew myths, shall we? the popular figure of the drug or alcohol addict is a guy lying in the gutter clutching a paper-covered bag containing a bottle of thunderbird. here's a better picture: intern of the year, a successful lawyer, priest curt rowlett, magus don webb, ipsissimus aleister crowley. addicts make good sorcerers. they can put on any number of masks. they can lie to anyone--especially themse

have its source exclusively from within. this process being the bringing of that reflection through the human flesh and mutating its original function- a quickening within the bio-mechanical organism called homo sapiens. the most convenient way to explain this is to call attention to the possible existence of a "higher human-like personality" that has somehow imparted this quality to man, as the myths of most conventional religions seem to indicate [it can also be interpreted as such within the book of coming forth by night (temple of set) and the earlier diabolicon (church of satan) of the left-hand path tradition] our standard mode of operation through the senses demands we describe this as such. i conceive the transcendence of these myths can reveal the gift of set as much more than su

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

r their safety, the gods trapped within the stars would contemplate them. even the dualistic philosophy of zoroastrianism, with its opposing gods of good and evil, ahura mazda and ahriman, was set in motion when the god of eternal time, zurvan, gave birth to the twin gods. introduction it is in the nature of humankind to tell stories, and at the root of every human culture are the stories we call myths stories of the creation of the world and of humankind, of the deeds of gods and heroes, and of the end of time. such stories explain and justify the world, and define our role within creation. once a civilization has become established, the myths that formed it may dwindle into superstition or entertainment, but even so, they never lose their intrinsic power, for the world s mythologies ensh

cial importance of myth in holding the world together, just as the cosmic serpent coils securely around the earth in the fon creation story. australian aborginal stories about the dreamtime, such as the gunwinggu story of lumaluma (see pp. 102 3, are not just entertainments or nursery tales they are sacred charters for existence. to understand them fully one must enter eternal time. similarly the myths underlying navajo rituals such as mountainway (see pp. 92 93, and its sandpaintings of the holy people, define and express what it means to be navajo. at the end of such a ritual, the world before me is restored in beauty. when jasper blowsnake revealed the sacred winnebago medicine rite to anthropologist paul radin (published under the title neolithic mother goddess the venus of willendorf

wo paths to reach tamoi, the grandfather, who lives in the west. one is wide and easy, the other narrow and dangerous. the soul must choose the hard path and overcome many trials before reaching its destination and being welcomed and refreshed. once washed in grandfather s restoring bath, the soul will be young once more, and able to laugh, hunt, live, and love once again in the land of the west. myths tell not only of what happens after death, but of how death arrived in the world according to the zulus, it was all a mistake. the great one sent the chameleon, unwabu, to tell people they would live forever, but he lingered, and was passed by intulo the lizard, with the message that all people must die. there are also stories of heroes who tried to conquer death maui, gilgamesh, the mayan h

ps to the lord of life quetzalcoatl, who descended to the underworld to restore humanity to life (see pp. 98 99: can it be true that one lives on earth? not forever on earth; only a little while here. be it jade, it shatters. be it gold, it breaks. be it a quetzal feather, it tears apart. not forever on earth; only a little while here. in a world where the only certainty is uncertainty, the great myths offer us wisdom and comfort to prepare us for our own journey to the grandfather, into the hands of the unknown god. neil philip hermod descends to the underworld this 18th-century manuscript illustration shows hermod, the son of odin, descending to the underworld on odin s eight-legged steed sleipnir to try to rescue his brother balder, who had been slain through the treachery of the god lo

lustful and is typically shown, as here, carrying off a nymph. four winds the winds, zephyrus (see pp. 35 5, eurus, notus, and boreas (see p. 43) and the stars were the children of the titan astraeus, and eos, the dawn. hear us blessed goddess, beloved wife sister of zeus, goddess of the moon and stars, shine joy and peace upon us orphic hymn to hera the creation t he greeks had several creation myths. in one, euronyme, the goddess of all things, divided the sea from the sky, and then gave birth to a world egg, from which hatched the planets, earth, and all creatures. in another, eros was born from the cosmic egg and, as the first god, set the universe in motion. before that, all was chaos. gaia, mother earth, inspired by eros, then brought forth uranus, the sky, and mated with him, to pr

PROMETHEUS

nd set an eagle at his side which devoured his liver. but when herakles saw him suffering such punishment because of the benefit which he had conferred upon men, he killed the eagle with an arrow, and then persuading zeus to cease from his anger he rescued him who had been the benefactor of all. diodorus siculus 4.15.2 to iapetos was born prometheus, of whom tradition tells us, as some writers of myths record, that he stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind, though the truth is that he was the discoverer of those things which give forth fire and from which it may be kindled. diodorus siculus 5.67.1 the shining eagle which was eating out the heart of prometheus he killed with his arrows. hyginus fabulae 31 a prediction about thetis, the nereid, was that her son would be greater than

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

them now-a-days, and the answer has been a decided negative. sometimes they affirm that the shaks occupy the sites where the sheikhs have sat, sometimes where they are buried, sometimes that they are only cenotaphs, and that the bodies were interred at sheikh adi, and then again you are told that the sheiks did not really die. from this i have been tempted to conclude, that these monuments may be myths, or symbols of the attributes ascribed to the deity, or of supposed divine emanations or incarnations. fr. 1 twice a year these festivals are commemorated at the different villages with the same rites as those observed at sheikh adi; a lamp is nightly kindled and left to burn in the shaks called after their names, and in those to which a room is attached (as in the case of that dedicated to

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

here (see bibliography, so in this book have limited the commentary solely to those parts of kirk's text which seem, either subtly, or quite openly, to assert a perennial wisdom-tradition. it is not too obscure a task to detect the presence of such material; we have many fragmentary records of it from the ancient world, from early christian writers, from classical norse, celtic and other european myths and legends and from archaeological evidence. we also have a wide range of texts from the renaissance period onwards, in which such perennial metaphysical and magical themes and systems are restated in various ways although kirk's book is always declared to be a text or collection of folklore, it often reads like a book on alchemy renaissance theosophy, or esoteric spiritual arts. it is only

by vulgar eyes, like rachland and other enchanted islands; having for light continual lamps, and fires, often seen [burning] without fuel to sustain them. this description is a variant of one that has been repeated in different forms in a number of literary sources that might have been available to kirk, but also has its place repeatedly in oral tradition. it seems to derive from fusion of pagan myths of the otherworld with collective memory of actual ritual practices, many of which are confirmed by archaeology. the mythic element is the most important, as the historical ritual element derives from it (a) the otherworld, in kirk's treatise, is subterranean, but he compares it with mythical or enchanted islands. such islands were part of the celtic legendary tradition, and both the subterr

y of monmouth, writing in the twelfth century, where he states that daemones may hold intercourse with women and make them pregnant: merlin was born of such a union, according to geoffrey (see appendix 7. in its primal form this motif, especially in the context of merlin, relates to a pagan religious mystery, the birth of a special child by a union between mortal and immortal: it is found in many myths worldwide, including of course the christian mythos. the warning against fairy lovers is partly an orthodox religious restriction to suppress paganism, but is also found in different forms in early religious and magical texts and teachings that are non- christian. it is perpetuated in chthonic magical arts even today, where the initiate is warned against the fatal seduction of the otherworld

RUBY TABLET OF SET

wiss origin, married a woman born in russia. one day, walking in a park, he was shocked to find that while he regarded the wild "toadstools" with indifference and mistrust, his wife hailed them as old friends, calling each species by a folk name and even going so far as to gather some for the table. the depth of the difference in their attitudes seemed so bizarre to him that he began to look into myths, folk tales, and words used by each culture, trying to understand the reason for it. he eventually concluded that the roots of such a radical difference must lie in some type of religious taboo. this led him to investigate the evidence for use of mushrooms in religious cults. the "heart" of his thesis, as it relates to our perspective on conventional religion, is this: plant agents that disr

of the completely distinct character of the original egyptian priesthood of set. the temple of set was incorporated as a non-profit church in california in 1975, and qualified for u.s. federal and state tax- exempt status that same year. basic beliefs: the temple considers itself to be consecrated by and dedicated to set, originally an ancient egyptian deity. one rival cult, that of osiris- whose myths were erroneously assumed to be "pan-egyptian" by later civilizations- portrayed set as the god of evil. setians themselves, however, did not then and do not now consider set an evil figure, nor consider the setian religion merely a refutation of conventional religion. setians perceive the universe as a non-conscious but ordered environment within which set has, over a period of millennia, al

n and ritual as its rationale, it is bound to fail because it is technically not a magical order at all. it is still a political society or a sex club (2) substitution of subjective, emotional desires for objective reality. this was one of the nazis' principal shortcomings. they decided that the world was what they wanted it to be, and they deliberately fostered the revival of the most compulsive myths and archetypes of the germanic peoples. this sort of fantasy can be enjoyable and harmless, but the nazis applied it to the entire spectrum of physical and statistical science. accordingly, as the myths of race and blood and the welteislehre pseudoscience of hoerbiger gained in popularity, the reich lost its einsteins- and the genuine scientists and scholars who remained were severely hamper

the a. psyche b. body c. magickal will d. aeon of isis 20. setians regard that which is defined by conventional religions as "god" to be a. the prince of darkness, or set b. the principle of life c. harwer d. the natural order 21. religion always begins with a. unnatural phenomena b. natural phenomena c. fear d. introspection 22. the best means for transcribing philosophical thought is through a. myths b. religious dogma c. scientific parallels d. symbolism 23. what is the city of the pyramids? a. binah b. magickal initiation c. the human brain d. kether 24. the word 'occult' means a. hidden knowledge b. ancient knowledge c. hermetic science d. metaphysical 25. according to aristotle) is the proper color of elements in transmutation" a. yellow b. red c. black d. white 26. a pantheon of god

hotep, the cryptic messenger of the gods. this being is a sardonic trickster who conveys power and knowledge. it is clear that what lovecraft has taken the traditions surrounding hermes, mercury, and thoth- a being who is the messenger of the gods and a bringer of knowledge, but also a trickster and a thief. people react to the original concept instead of the prettified, sanitized images of these myths that evolves as people tame the archetypes, to make their images comfortable and familiar (think of the mercurial logo used by florists) lovecraft carried out this distillation for a number of figures and themes in his pantheon. he went to many sources, never taking anything at face value, never believing anything he read, never regarding it as more than an indicator of the nature of the hum

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

pped him, teased him, laughed at him, but never, on celluloid, looked at him or sang to him or danced around him with cinematic love in their eyes. off-screen, he lived alone in two empty rooms near the studios and tried to imagine what women looked like without clothes on. to get his mind off the subject of love and desire, he studied, becoming an omnivorous autodidact, devouring the metamorphic myths of greece and rome, the avatars of jupiter, the boy who became a flower, the spider-woman, circe, everything; and the theosophy of annie besant, and unified field theory, and the incident of the satanic verses in the early career of the prophet, and the politics of muhammad's harem after his return to mecca in triumph; and the surrealism of the newspapers, in which butterflies could fly into

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

n of it altogether. in a post-setamorphosis environment it can become a jewel of ultimate advancement- a state of mind in which the individual can become one such as set himself. but now, before setamorphosis, it would be a destruction and a negation of the individual will. were you to discuss it with those who do not possess iv+ awareness, its dangers would not be appreciated. misconceptions and myths concerning it would arise, and the t s could witness the downfall and destruction of many a promising intellect as a result. the king in yellow is placed on the reading list so that setians may begin to sense of their own accord the dangers implicit in a state of existence similar to that of rex vi. that such a degree is a specter that lies in their own existential future is something they n

ll and destruction of many a promising intellect as a result. the king in yellow is placed on the reading list so that setians may begin to sense of their own accord the dangers implicit in a state of existence similar to that of rex vi. that such a degree is a specter that lies in their own existential future is something they need not confront. xeper [signed] michael a. aquino lies of the world/myths of the real by don webb, v in the supermarket nearest my house, there is a ticket-tron. they sell tickets to all sorts of events, from avantgardista performance art to disney on ice. every night tons of things happen here in austin, and like anyone i am sad when i missed buying the ticket to the event that (in retrospect) i really wanted to go to. heck i could've taped _buffy_ that night. th

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

n of it altogether. in a post-setamorphosis environment it can become a jewel of ultimate advancement- a state of mind in which the individual can become one such as set himself. but now, before setamorphosis, it would be a destruction and a negation of the individual will. were you to discuss it with those who do not possess iv+ awareness, its dangers would not be appreciated. misconceptions and myths concerning it would arise, and the t s could witness the downfall and destruction of many a promising intellect as a result. the king in yellow is placed on the reading list so that setians may begin to sense of their own accord the dangers implicit in a state of existence similar to that of rex vi. that such a degree is a specter that lies in their own existential future is something they n

ll and destruction of many a promising intellect as a result. the king in yellow is placed on the reading list so that setians may begin to sense of their own accord the dangers implicit in a state of existence similar to that of rex vi. that such a degree is a specter that lies in their own existential future is something they need not confront. xeper [signed] michael a. aquino lies of the world/myths of the real by don webb, v in the supermarket nearest my house, there is a ticket-tron. they sell tickets to all sorts of events, from avantgardista performance art to disney on ice. every night tons of things happen here in austin, and like anyone i am sad when i missed buying the ticket to the event that (in retrospect) i really wanted to go to. heck i could've taped _buffy_ that night. th

SATANGEL

ossip in church, and indulge their children. wicked men are of him (2 samuel 16:17) in psalm 18:5 the phrase nachaleri belial, floods of ungodly men, is translated in catholic texts as streams of the devil. before the fall, an prince of the order of virtues, he was created directly after lucifer. in the cabbalah of 15th-16th century, believed to be god s worst enemy. qlippoth of ain soph. in some myths, belial was the original evil, and was already resident in the abyss when lucifer fell. in the gospel of bartholomew beliar tells us at first i was called satanel, which is interpreted to mean messenger of god, but when i rejected the image of god my name was called satanas, that is an angel that keepeth hell. he goes on to boast..i was formed the first angel. in the goetia, a king commandin

SATANIC RITUALS

eds. now it is they who have weakened and atrophied while satan breaks his bonds. now satan's people can speak for him, and they have a weapon calculated to annihilate the feeble and insipid mournings of the pulpit pounders of the past. that weapon is logic. the satanist can easily invent fairy tales to match anything contained in holy writ, for his background is the very childhood of fiction-the myths immemorial of all peoples and all nations. and he admits they are fairy tales. the christian cannot-no, dares not-admit that his heritage is fairy tales, yet he depends on them for his pious sustenance. the satanist maintains a storehouse of avowed fantasy gathered from all cultures and from all ages. with his unfettered access to logic as well, he now becomes a powerful adversary of satan's

SATANISM AN EXAMINATION OF SATANIC BLACK MAGIC

m. freedom is today's demand, and freedom of thought is one of the essential liberties. probably the greatest question on earth is the inescapable fact of death. freed from the tenets of orthodoxy and its improbable placebos, we want to know what really happens when our mortal body ceases to function. we also wish to learn how to become more effective whilst on earth, how to achieve in many ways. myths and legends do not interest us. we are concerned with reality. we want to know. these four words summarise the satanic quest. we do not believe that some mysterious and awesome deity (whether or not he has horns and a tail) is going to hand us that knowledge in return for our allegiance (or that problematic entity the "soul. knowledge is achieved by learning, working, experimenting, experien

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

who made significant impacts on religion are also featured, including mother maria skobtsova, an orthodox christian nun who worked to save many during the holocaust. world religions: primary sources (one volume) offers eighteen excerpted writings, speeches, and sacred texts from across the religious spectrum. the selections are grouped into three thematic chapters: creation stories and foundation myths; characteristics of the divine; and religion as a guide to living. the first explores the creation stories of religions, such as those relayed in islam s qur an, and foundational myths, such as the one told in black elk speaks, that provide a unifying cultural basis for many people. the second chapter, characteristics of the divine, explores the aspects and personalities of god or the gods a

the story survives only as fragments, there is enough of it to show how these ancient people viewed their religion, the universe they lived in, and their place in that universe. world religions: almanac 7 what is religion? modern religions over the course of thousands of years, tribal totems, ancestor worship, and belief in guardian and protective gods led to increasingly complex belief systems. myths, or stories about the creation of the world and tales of individual gods and goddesses, became a fundamental part of religion, as did certain rituals and rules of behavior, or things to do and things to avoid doing. the earliest historical religions, ones for which a written record exists, arose along the nile river in egypt and in the fertile crescent of mesopotamia. an ancient form of hind

ction between science and religion. modern science has its roots in the christian traditions of western europe. for hundreds of years many of the truths of religions such as christianity were largely accepted without question. by the mideighteenth century in europe and america, however, critics had begun to question many of the biblical truths that were being interpreted, even by the faithful, as myths and fictions that were important on a symbolic or poetic level, rather than as historical fact. for example, early scientists and religious critics began questioning stories such as the biblical account of the creation of the world. in 1650 an irish bishop named james ussher claimed that, based on the account in genesis, 14 world religions: almanac what is religion? earth was created on octo

atues were purified, fed, and clothed daily, and annual festivals were held. the afterlife was also important for egyptians from the earliest times, and pharaohs and queens were buried with material to make their lives easier after death. early gods included ptah; anubis, the protector of the tomb; and nit, the goddess of war. different cities in the united nation of egypt held different creation myths, each centered on its own local creator god. heliopolis, for instance, was a center near present-day cairo where atum was worshipped. here, it was thought that atum created himself out of the void, and then either spit or sneezed out shu, the god of air, and tefnut, the goddess of moisture. these two in turn gave birth to geb, the earth god, and nut, the sky goddess. from them came two pairs

umed the deceased, destroying the soul forever. if the deceased passed the judgment he or she was led off by horus to meet with osiris and enter the underworld. sacred writings the primary sacred text for the mesopotamian religion was the long epic poem dealing with creation, the enuma elish. the most complete copy that has survived dates from the end of the second millennium bce and is fertility myths throughout the ancient near east there were common myths of fertility, or tales of death and rebirth that can be read as a metaphor (or symbol) of the death and rebirth of vegetation during the seasons of the year. in mesopotamian religion there is the story of ishtar s hunt for her husband, tammuz, the god of the seasons and fertility. she descends to the underworld in search of him and ret

SET IT STRAIGHT

a blow he broke through his mother's side and leapt forth] te velde observes that this is in keeping with set's unpredictable and violent nature. while discussing the significance of set's testicles he comes to a like- minded opinion "the testicles of set represent the savage, elementary, yet undifferentiated urges" he seeks to establish that set was a sort of inevitable disorder in order, whose myths render possible experiencing unacceptable things within fixed bounds. set would thus be a"'spirit of disorder. the lord of unbridled forces in nature and in civilization (p. 56) set, the antisocial god, cut off from the community of the gods? well, set does not really fit into the established view, that seems clear. the de lubicz [see #2l, s] interpretation of set as per the premise that the

SETH IN THE MAGICKAL TEXTS

find only the brief statement "in him [i.e, seth, the egyptian god and the noble son of adam and eve are fused."4 bleeker does not offer a shred of evidence for his assertion, but simply refers to j. doresse, the secret books of the egyptian gnostics (new york 1960, 1970 [paris 1958. what does the latter say? doresse's argument is complex, even confused. he argues that in gnosticism "the egyptian myths had undergone the same inversion as had the traditional values of genesis; the originally "good" god osiris, of whom seth was the enemy, became identified with sacla- ialdabaoth the wicked demiurge (p. 104, n. 93. by implication doresse appears to say that the egyptian seth now was seen as a positive figure. the author indeed wonders "whether, 1 the rediscovery of gnosticism, 2 vols, ed. b

kopfige gott, oriens christianus 57 (1973) 92. 3 b.a. pearson "egyptian seth and gnostic seth, society of biblical literature seminar papers 22 (missoula 1977) 33. cf. pearson "seth, 501. 4 "the egyptian background of gnosticism" in le origini dello gnosticismo, ed. u. bianchi, studies in the history of religion 12 (leiden 1967) 236. seth in the magical texts 87 perchance, some of these [gnostic] myths did not bring him into such contact with his homonym, seth the son of adam, as to create some confusion between them."5 thinking that such a "confusion" was "not impossible, doresse goes on to assert that there can be found "some curious traces of a cult of this seth-typhon presiding over judeo-gnostic rituals in which adam plays the leading part" he then says "that this cult came to be actu

SORCERIES OF ZOS

-terrestrial powers which have been moulding the history of our planet since time began; that is, since time began for us, for we are only too prone to suppose that we were here first and that we alone are here now, whereas the most ancient occult traditions affirm that we were neither the first nor are we the only ones to people the earth; the great old ones and the elder gods find echoes in the myths and legends of all peoples. austin spare claimed to have had direct experience of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligences, and crowley- as his autobiography makes abundantly cleardevoted a lifetime to proving that extra-terrestrial and superhuman consciousness can and does exist independently of the human organism. as explained in images and oracles of austin osman spare, spare was i

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

despite all the interest in them, desperate special pleading has frequently been the introduction xi response today also. this reflects a desire to keep treasured items of belief safe from the restless questioning of the modern world, even at the cost of a debilitating split between head and heart. if early christian texts present jesus in cosmic terms, relating stories that are less history than myths like those about the pagan savior-gods, or like the apocalyptic figures anticipated by the essenes, these must be seen as unfortunate vestiges in the christian message of former superstitious and unrealistic times. the response of christian theologians must be to demythologize christianity a program relentlessly pursued by bultmann and his many followers in particular, but tacitly followed b

guide it along his father s course, and so burnt up things on the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt, is a mythical version of the truth that there is at long intervals a variation in the course of the heavenly bodies and a consequent widespread destruction by fire of things on the earth.58 this passage in the timaeus demonstrates the attitude of the initiates toward the well-known myths. they see through to the truth that is veiled behind their imagery. as the cosmogonic drama unfolds in the timaeus, we are led by following the traces that point back to the origin of the world to an intimation of the primordial power, out of which everything came into existence: platonic mysteries 53 for to discover the maker and father of this universe is indeed a hard task, and having fou

ity. the soul, which has not yet found wisdom, is the mother of that experience of divinization. here we come to one of the central conceptions of mystery-teaching, which acknowledges the human soul as the mother of the god, leading human beings unconsciously and with the inevitability of a natural force to their union with the divine.68 all this casts light on the mystery-interpretation of greek myths. according to this, as we have seen, the world of the gods is something generated in the human soul, and the gods we behold are images we have ourselves created. but then we must win through to a further platonic mysteries 61 understanding. we must be able to take the divine creative power that is present in ourselves from which the images of the gods are derived and form that power itself i

be active in a particular way if it is to create something with a meaning beyond itself. on the mythological level it works with images. but the way these images are structured follows psychological laws. hence one could add that when the soul develops beyond the mythological stage of consciousness to deeper forms of truth, these nevertheless bear the imprint of the same power that generated the myths.73 the relationship between mythical imagery as a form of representation and higher, philosophical knowledge is thus stated by plotinus from the standpoint of the neoplatonic school, in connection with the guardians of priestly wisdom in egypt: whether as a result of rigorous investigations, or instinctively, in imparting their wisdom, the wise men of the egyptians do not expound their teach

formations. and elsewhere in the platonic canon myth is used to render intelligible through symbolic stories the non-sensory, inner reality of human existence.76 in the light of this principle it is worth considering the egyptian mystery of osiris. in osiris we have a figure who gradually became one of the most important gods of the country. a significant 70 christianity as mystical fact cycle of myths grew up concerning osiris and his consort isis. according to the story, osiris was the son of the sungod; he had a brother, typhon (set, and a sister, isis. osiris married his sister and with her reigned over egypt. but his wicked brother typhon plotted to overthrow osiris and prepared a chest that was exactly the length of osiris body. the chest was presented as a gift at a banquet to whate

TECHNICIANS GUIDE TO THE LEFT HAND PATH

itual level that we can define two very distinct methods of defeating resistance, and it is this distinction that forms the cornerstone of this books foundation. each of these methods has had long lasting impact upon the state of humanity in terms of its religious, spiritual and philosophical belief. from there, these influences have worked themselves into our social structures, our politics, our myths and legends and our way of thinking. these two ways, or paths can be described as the path of spiritual dissent and the path of spiritual unity. to understand this a bit better we can say that the path of spiritual unity depends upon the individual giving themself over to manners of conduct as determined by their god/goddess/gods/doctrine/dogma in various ways. at the opposite side of this w

changes that have occurred over time. the validity and extension of these principles and ideas is shown by their preserverance through time- they have something vital and important to say. the cycles of spiritual anarchy and personal individuation that have developed from these principles/ideas are historically annotated.they are documented within the various magical papyri, amulets, legends, and myths that have survived over through time. the following extract from don webb s book the seven faces of darkness gives an indication of the time line involved and the nature of these influences each brought. from pages 23-26 the egyptian god set (god of initiation, magic, the future and the principle of isolate intelligence..rlw) went through periods of immense popularity alternating with total

ree on various points. for the follower of the lhp they are choices based upon a resolve to preserve for others- by understanding the importance of the individual through your own individuation. this is the inherent value within the school. it is a remanifestation of a cosmic play at the micro level of humanity. it is a play whose theme has been reiterated throughout time and recounted in certain myths, legends and gods of man. the aeon an aeon is an environment of influence that has the potential to alter the spiritual development and consciousness of those who come within its influence. an aeon can be left hand path oriented, or right hand. the aeons influence can solidify the boundaries of consciousness, or it can extend it into new territory. the concept of aeons is sometimes understoo

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

ts we go back in time to uncover its origins. a book on mathematics history called early computations tells us that "a babylonian tablet dated around 1900 bc to 1600 bc and called 'plimpton 322' deals with pythagorean triplets" this ancient document detailed an elementary knowledge of triangles and proportions. the triangle as woman's "holy door' barbara walker, in her the woman's encyclopedia of myths and secrets, outlines how the ancient mystery religions greatly honored the triangle as the sign of deity. she notes that the hindus, too, borrowed this emblem as their tantric (sexual) female triangle of life. it was known as the kali yantra, sign of the female vulva. in egypt, the triangle was a hieroglyphic sign for "woman" in ancient greece, the sexual intent is clear in that the triangl

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 1

eliefs and religions. new york: larousse, 1994. osiris: death and resurrection osiris was called lord of lords, king of kings, and god of gods by the egyptians. according to the scholar e. a. w. budge [osiris] was the god-man who suffered, and died, and rose again, and reigned eternally in heaven. they [the egyptians] believed that they would inherit eternal life, just as he had done. the ancient myths proclaim that osiris first received renown as a peaceful leader of a higher culture in the eastern delta, then as a powerful ruler over all the delta, a veritable god of the nile and its vegetation, growth, life, and culture. he was the husband of isis, goddess of enchantment and magic; father of the great war god horus; and finally conqueror of northern upper egypt with his principal city a

what can be ascertained from the earliest mortuary texts is that the entire culture was in denial of death and refused to accept it as a natural and inevitable event. in fact the texts allude to a time when death did not exist, but there is no account of how death entered the world, as there are in many other cultures. all pharaohs were considered to be divine, a belief that had its roots in the myths that gods had ruled egypt in prehistoric times and that the earliest human rulers were the actual children of these divine beings. therefore, when a pharaoh died, he could be prepared for death and become an osiris, the god of resurrection. the egyptians of this period conceived of two nonphysical entities, the ka and the ba, that made up the whole self and were of equal value to the physica

rk: the philosophical library, 1950. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 32 afterlife mysteries the rites of dionysus often featured animal sacrifice. this was meant to symbolize the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the divinity. fox, robin lane. pagans and christians. new york: alfred a. knopf, 1989. gordon, stuart. the encyclopedia of myths and legends. london: headline book publishing, 1994. walker, barbara g. the woman s encyclopedia of myths and secrets. san francisco, harper& row, 1983. dionysian mysteries next to the eleusinian mysteries in importance and popularity were the dionysian, which were centered around dionysus (bacchus, a god of life, vegetation, and the vine who, because all things growing and green must one da

ave been adam s grandson, who built the great pyramids of egypt; or an egyptian magician who lived three generations after moses; or a magus from babylonia who instructed pythagoras. the hermetic text decrees against transmigration, the belief that the souls of humans may enter into animals: divine law preserves the human soul from such infamy. m delving deeper gordon, stuart. the encyclopedia of myths and legends. london: headline house, 1993. orphic mysteries orpheus may have been an actual historic figure, a man capable of charming both man and beast with his music, but god or human, he modified the dionysian rites by removing their orgiastic elements. dionysus zagreus, the horned son of zeus (king of the gods) and persephone (daughter of zeus and demeter, was the great god of the orphi

f their destiny is that their descendants were eventually absorbed into the native american tribes t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d afterlife mysteries 39 theconstruction of the burial mounds was a community project. that greeted the european explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. m delving deeper emerson, ellen russell. indian myths. minneapolis: ross& haines, 1965. steiger, brad. worlds before our own. new york: g. p. putnam, 1978. land of the grandparents it was a general belief among most native american tribes that the world of spirit, the land of the grandparents, was similar to the physical world in its tasks and pursuits, hence the common reference to the happy hunting ground, a place where all needs would be eas

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

or fear of being ridiculed. not to be outdone, canadians began telling of their own startling encounters with sasquatch, a tribal name for bigfoot, that had been circulating in the accounts of trappers, lumberjacks, and settlers in the northwest territories since the 1850s. long before the frontier folk discovered the giant of the woods, the sasquatch had become an integral element in many of the myths and legends of the native people. perhaps the most remarkable and most thoroughly documented account of a sasquatch from those early days in canada occurred in 1884 and was recorded in the daily british colonist, july 4, 1884. in the immediate vicinity of number 4 tunnel, 20 miles from yale, british columbia, a group of railroad men captured a creature that could truly be called half-man and

hybrid, were painted by stone age artists more than 10,000 years ago. m delving deeper bord, janet, and colin bord. unexplained mysteries of the 20th century. chicago: contemporary books, 1989. clark, jerome, and loren coleman. the unidentified. new york: warner paperback library, 1975. coleman, loren. curious encounters. boston and london: faber& faber, 1985. gordon, stuart. the encyclopedia of myths and legends. london: headline books, 1994. jones, alison, ed. larousse dictionary of world folklore. new york: larousse, 1995. keel, john a. strange creatures from time and space. greenwich, conn: fawcett publications, 1970. chupacabra named for its seeming penchant for attacking goats and sucking their blood, the chupacabra( goat sucker) both terrified and fascinated the public at large whe

obo; italian, lupo manaro; portuguese, lobizon or lobo home; polish, wilkolak; russian, olkolka or volkulaku; and in greek, brukolakas. native american tribes tell of bear-people, wolf-people, fox-people, and so forth, and state that in the beginning of things, humans were as animals and animals as humans. stories of women who gave birth to werecreatures are common among the north american tribal myths. early cultures throughout the americas, europe, asia, and africa formed totem clans and often worshipped minor deities that were half-human, half-animal. norse legends tell about hairy, humanlike beings that live in the underworld caves and come out at night to feast on the flesh of unfortunate surface dwellers. to the people of the middle ages, there was little question that such creatures

ewolves truly existed, and the inquisition was certain to include these demonic entities in their arrests. switzerland can lay claim to the first official execution of werewolves, when in 1407, t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysterious creatures 83 stories of women who gave birth to werecreatures are common among the north american tribal myths. several individuals so accused were tortured and burned in basel; but the inquisitors in france have the dubious distinction of recording the most cases of werewolfism in all of europe 30,000 between 1520 and 1630. the werewolf trials began at poligny in 1521 when, after enduring the torture chamber, three men admitted to consorting with shewolves and demons in order to gain the power to tr

f the northeast, hino, the thunderbird, guardian of the skies and the spirit of thunder, could assume the form of a human when it suited its purpose. the cosmology of many of the western tribes establish a thunderbird in each of the four corners of the world as guardians and protectors, fighting always to keep away evil spirits. many scholars over the centuries have attributed the native american myths of the thunderbird to their reverence for the eagle, the largest of indigenous birds in north america. interestingly, however, many people have claimed to have seen for themselves a great bird, far larger than the eagle, flying overhead. in fact, even in the nineteenth century, some witnesses were claiming to have seen flying monsters that resembled pterodactyls, the winged reptiles that sho

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

es are denoted by italics. a abgar (king of edessa, 1:237 abominable snowman. see yeti abramelin magick, 2:49 51 abyssinia, alleged location of ark of the covenant, 2:203 ace (one. see one, symbolism of acrophobtiunusual and unexplained (geuu) presents comprehensive and objective information on unexplained mysteries, paranormal abilities, supernatural events, religious phenomena, magic, ufos, and myths that have evolved into cultural realities. this extensive three-volume work is a valuable tool providing users the opportunity to evaluate the many claims and counterclaims regarding the mysterious and unknown. many of these claims have been brought to the forefront from television, motion pictures, radio talk shows, best-selling books, and the internet. there has been a conscious effort to

imes, bells above the door of a shop alert the shopkeeper that customers have entered. that practical function is predated by the use of bells over doors to keep evil spirits from entering into a home or shop. m delving deeper bracken, thomas. good luck symbols and talismans: people, places, and customs. philadelphia: chelsea house publishers, 1997. gaskell, g. a. dictionary of all scriptures and myths. avenel, n.j: gramercy books, 1981. walker, barbara g. the woman fs dictionary of symbols and sacred objects. edison, n.j: castle books, 1988. bloodstone carnelian is a red-colored variety of chalcedony that for many centuries has been known as gbloodstone h and credited with the power to stem loss of blood from wounds or excessive menstrual flow. although some have declared that its name wa

t to drop a knife will bring illness to the household. with the knife having played such an important and integral role in the societal and spiritual development of humankind, it is little wonder that there should be many superstitions regarding its use and misuse. m delving deeper cavendish, richard. the black arts. new york: capricorn books, 1968. gaskell, g. a. dictionary of all scriptures and myths. new york: gramercy books, 1981. opie, iona, and moira tatem. a dictionary of superstitions. new york: barnes& noble, 1999. walker, barbara g. the woman fs dictionary of symbols and sacred objects. edison, n.j: castle books, 1988. love knots the expression gtying the knot h when one speaks of the marriage vows seems to have almost universal meaning. africans tell of similar gknot-tying h lov

ap-root that resembles a human form. this resemblance created the superstition that it literally shrieked when it was uprooted. those who heard the scream were to die, or, if it didn ft kill them, it caused them to go insane. this relative of the potato family was a popular anaesthetic during the middle ages. in the elizabethan age it was used as a narcotic. m delving deeper gthe mandragora plant.myths and other information. h [online] http//www.wordfocus.com/ anesthes-wrd-hist.html#mandragora. november 11, 2002. maypole the ancients in great britain and northern europe believed that may 1 was the boundary day between summer and winter and that on this day a war took place between the two seasons to determine which would prevail. it became customary to stage a mock war between two people

wallis. amulets and talismans. new york: collier books, 1970. mintz, ruth finer. auguries, charms, amulets. middle village, n.y: jonathan david publishers, 1983. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d objects of mystery and power 183 man and woman hanging mistletoe (corbis corporation) gmistletoe. h [online] http//www.celticattic.com/ olde_world/myths/mistleoe.htm. november 11, 2002. nelson, felicitas h. talismans& amulets of the world. new york: sterling publishers, 2000. pavitt, william thomas. the book of talismans, amulets, and zodiacal gems. new york: samuel weiser, 1970. rings the ring as a pledge can be traced back to great antiquity. gand pharaoh said unto joseph, esee i have set thee over all the land of egypt. f and pharaoh took

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

een venus and the queen of the underworld. as one of the daughter s signs is the rose, she is also connected to the rose queen of the afterlife. it is very, very important to realize that this daughter is a mythological re-emergence of her mother into a very active hypostasis. tara de rosilea is very much seen as a survival of the figure of freyja or freya, from northern paganism. if you read the myths, you will see that freya was also a child of the earth mother, and bore all the attributes of the daughter, up to and including a shared rulership over half the dead, along with queen hel (a figure that is cognate with dame hyldor) and freya was the queen of wanahame- the home/spiritual dimension of the wans, the land spirits or elder gods of the land and nature. freya was likewise the godde

face of her father, the king of the underworld and death) where she passes through the various terrors of the underworld (and her own fear of being taken from the world above) before she bears a divine child, who is later responsible for lifting her (and through her, all of the souls of the underworld and this world) to the blessed, realized state. such is the pattern that we observe in the greek myths of demeter, kore, hades, and brimos or dionysos-iakkos, the glorious child that kore bore to hades, and who was part of the revelations of the mysteries of eleusis. this pattern is deep and important- it can be stated in more succinct terms: the soul or being is born of the great mother and father, and due to the attracting and fated power of love and desire, falls into the great entrapment

finite one. your awareness coupled with understanding of the meanings of the actions you do makes them take on a new feel and appreciation in your mind and being on a deeper level, and that causes deeper transformations. these transformations, when channeled through a mystery-rite like the housle, can bring about a renewal that can even overcome death and fate. such is the ultimate message of the myths and the goals of the deepest mysteries. even the dead can be transformed by this housle given below- it has the potential to renew the dead, more so than the others, because of its high spiritual focus. the most ideal time to perform this version of the standard housle is in the roodmas season, when nature shows a glorious vision of life triumphant and renewed. however, this housle is intend

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

f the light, either by the knowledge of the great magical agent, or by the rational and ontological notion of the absolute. the universal agent is a force tractable and subordinate to intelligence. abandoned to itself, it, like moloch, devours rapidly all that to which it gives birth, and changes the superabundance of life into immense destruction. it is, then, the infernal serpent of the ancient myths, the typhon of the egyptians, and the moloch of phoenicia; but if wisdom, mother of the elohim, puts her foot upon his head, she outwears 202 all the flames which he belches forth, and pours with full hands upon the earth a vivifying light. thus also it is said in the zohar that at the beginning of our earthly period, when the elements disputed among themselves the surface of the earth, that

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

apparently diverse. one of the key functions of the tree, and one at which it excels, is as a mental filing-system. not only can the tree be viewed as a system, but also a meta-system, that is, a system which includes other systems within it. in this way, ideas may be compared across apparently different models. an example of this is the association of astrological concepts and symbology with the myths of the ancient egyptians. thus, one familiar with the former, say, understanding the "nature" of venus, would be able to equate this knowledge to an understanding of the "nature" of hathor, through their mutual correspondence on the tree. there are dangers in taking this approach too simplistically, as there are dangers in all methods of translation and learning, but it provides an incompara

influence direct from chesed itself. chesed is the grand driving force of the universe, and is often received as "love, grace or mercy in mystical experience. the experience of rapture (from the latin, rapere, meaning to 'carry away) is appropriate to chesed, and is again denoted by the solitary "hermit" tarot card which connects chesed to the tiphareth (awareness) of the contemplative. thus the myths of rape by the gods, for example leda and zeus as a swan (the bird of kether) depict the various ways in which our awareness is taken away from us when we truly contact the divine, transcendent level of the universe. the mystical passion, the height of all human devotion, is also applicable here. utilising the experience of chesed, the adept is aware of the underlying, and here only just acc

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

t into consciousness and a vital expansion of the true self. archetypes the third step in the process of individuation is the manifestation of archetypes. an archetype is an idea, mode of thought, or godform that has manifested from the inherited experiences of humankind-from the collective unconscious. the concept of the archetype .is derived from the repeated observation that, for instance, the myths and faiytales of world literature contain definite motifs which crop up everywhere. we meet these same motifs in the fantasies, dreams, deliria, and delusions of individuals living today. these typical images and associations are what i call archetypal ideas. the more vivid they are, the more they will be coloured by particularly strong feeling-tones .they impress, influence, and fascinate u

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

came clear that this was a flash caused by snapping power cables strung along the bridge. jack brown was never seen again. he did not turn up in other ufo flap areas. he just got into his white car and rattled off into the night, joining all the other smiths, joneses, kelleys, and frenches who seem to serve no purpose except to excite the latent paranoia of the ufo enthusiasts and keep one set of myths alive. ix. in room 4c922 of the pentagon building in 1966 there was an l-shaped cubicle occupying about fifty square feet of area. a gray-haired, grim-visaged lieutenant colonel named maston m. jacks held forth there, sitting behind a cluttered desk and jangling phones. his job in those days was to handle reporters inquiring about the ufo situation. his opening line was a show-stopper "there

ople who lived in houses and were apparently quite civilized. they had one problem: their eyes were very large and sensitive to light. they could only see at night. the fierce indians ran these "mooneyed people" out. did they move to west virginia to escape their tormentors? there are still rumors of an oddball group of albino people in the back hills of kentucky and tennessee. but there are also myths and rumors of mysterious people living in the hills of new jersey forty miles from manhattan. iii. the day before woodrow derenberger's unexpected meeting with mr. cold in the rain, a national guardsman was working outside the national guard armory on the edge of point pleasant when he saw a figure perched on the limb of a tree beyond the high fence. at first he thought it looked like a man

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

. it is described fully in the enuma elish and in the bastardised version found in the necronomicon, and involved the ancient ones, led by the serpent mummutiamat and her male counterpart absu, against the elder gods (called such in the n) led by the warrior marduk, son of the sea god enki, lord of magicians of this side, or what could be called "white magicians- although close examination of the myths of ancient times makes one pause before attempting to judge which of the two warring factions was "good" or "evil. marduk won this battle- in much the same way that later st. george and st. michael would defeat the serpent again- the cosmos was created from the body of the slain serpent, and man was created from the blood of the slain commander of the ancient army, kingu, thereby making man

ummies, which we were in the habit of giving potential publishers for our protection) and went off, and has not been heard from again. at a crucial stage in the preparation of the manuscript, the editor was stricken with a collapsed lung and had to undergo emergency surgery to save his life. but, let us proceed with a description of the contents of the necronomicon: within these pages a series of myths and rituals are presented that have survive the darkest days of magick and occultism. the exorcisms and bindings of the famous maqlu text are here presented for the first time in english, although not completely: for the originals in their entirety were evidently not known to the author of the necronomicon, nor are they to present scholarship; the various tablets upon which they were written

THE ABYSS AND TABAET

ks to master it, to strengthen and expand the concept of i. use the techniques of yoga: discipline, attainment and self-control to begin a crystallization of the psyche. summary tabaet is just one of the names of the adversary, his forms are many, just as his bride, yet the blackened fire is imperishable. sorcery and the adversary are an interconnected fire, both are from the earliest legends and myths of rebellion. as ahriman first entered the creation of the world as a serpent and toad, his words defined the very essence of all sorcery and magick, i will seduce all material life into disaffection to thee and affection to myself. initiation into the path of magick is that of the illumination of clay by the gods of the leviathanic path, when dreaming and desired spirit enter flesh and mani

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

minds. it is easy to prove that the sun is indeed the source of life and light, that the phallus is indeed pangenetor. but to those who have stultified themselves, who have darkened their own eyes, who have betrayed their own reason in seeking out phantastic gods, foul and tangled cobwebs of metaphysic spun by emasculate spider-professors in sunless cloisters, bubbles blown by idiots and madmen, myths misinterpreted, fables taken for history, lies pushed forward by every forgery, fraud, treachery and murder, to such the truth seems false, and the light darkness. such gods as parabrahman merely bewilder the people, and render them the prey of priestcraft, while the christs of the latin, lutheran and anglican churches alike are but the machine-gods of all fraud and oppression, being stolen

TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT

ived into the circle) and become the recipients of certain ancient learning (gardner, witchcraft today, pp 33-34) stated in its most extreme form, wicca may be defined as an ancient pagan religious system of beliefs and practices, with a form of apostolic succession (that is, with knowledge and ordination handed on lineally from generation to generation, a more or less consistent set of rites and myths, and even a secret holy book of considerable antiquity (the book of shadows. more recent writers, as we have noted, have hedged a good deal on these claims, particularly the latter. thus we find stewart farrar in 1971 musing on the purported ancient text thusly "whether, therefore, the whole of the book of shadows is post- 1897 is anyone's guess. mine is that, like the bible, it is a patchwo

the west. whether this primordial access has been lost to us will depend on the awareness, the awakening or lack thereof among practitioners of the near to middle-near future. carried to its end gardnerian practices, like crowley's magick, are not merely exotic; they are, in the truest sense, subversive. practices that work are of value, whether they are two years old or two thousand. practices, myths, institutions and obligations which, on the other hand, may be infinitely ancient are of no value at all unless they work. the devil, you say before we move on, though, in light of the furor over real and imagined "satanism" that has overtaken parts of the popular press in recent years, i would feel a bit remiss in this account if i did not take momentary note of that other strain of left-ha

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

ined by combinations of two or all of the three primary symbols. all meanings later assigned to them derive from this base. this is a vital insight into the nature of astrology, but incredibly, most modern astrologers fail to grasp it. they remain under the mistaken impression that the meanings of the planets derive from long centuries of observation, or were grafted onto the planets from ancient myths. these were later considerations. in the begin- ning, the magi of persia observed seven wandering bodies, and applied to this set of elements a complete circle of meaning. the fundamental symbols reveal how this totality of meaning was divided among the seven elements of the planetary set. mars is the cross over the circle. in modern usage the cross has been changed to an arrow -symbol of wi

opens his book to affirm their worthiness before admitting them, is analogous to the egyptian god thoth. the book of thoth, with sins listed on the left and good deeds on the right, has itself become the great scale. heaven is the inner chamber of osiris. hell has been granted a reality it does not merit, since it is born of shadows and its true nature is oblivion. that the egyptian and christian myths are essentially the same is demonstrated conclusively by the medieval images of the great scale that weighs souls at the last judgment. examples of this scale of souls are to be found in the doorway of autun cathedral (eleventh centu- ry) and in the doorway of bourges cathedral (thirteenth century, both in france. the egyptians understood the dynamic aspect of the balance of life-that every

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

ara as a seat of druidism and idolatry, and around the year ad 560 it was cursed by saint ruadan, and was abandoned by the irish in fear of the curse, leaving it as the habitation of the fairies. fairies were closely linked by the celts to the souls of the dead, so both virgil's sunny meadow of elysium where the dead sing and sport, and the large and splendid caverns in which they reside in other myths, can be applied to the fairies. many of the recognized fairy knolls or hills are barrow mounds where lie the bodies of dead heroes, although many others are natural hills. in ancient times, it was not unheard of for whole celtic clains to live in large caves and even to keep their cattle in the caverns with them, so it would have seemed natural to place the race of fairies in caverns, as a w

e astral world, their consciousnesses resided in their astral bodies even if they did not at the time perceive a separation between astral and physical bodies. it is possible to project the astral body in the same location as the physical body, so that the two overlap-that is, it is possible to make them distinct without separating them. sylvan muldoon the man most responsible for the two popular myths about astral travel examined abovethat of the silver cord, and the belief that to awaken the body when the astral double is- 82. kardec, mediums' book, 133. chapter five: spiritualism 73 absent causes death-was the darling of the spiritualists, sylvan muldoon (1903-1971, perhaps the greatest astral traveler, at least by his own accounts, who has ever lived. the well-respected psychic researc

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

ted by yaldabaoth and the other archons, yet he is infused with a spark of true divinity by the will of the father, making man a higher creature than the archons who shaped him. however, man does not recognize his divinity, and this ignorance of his true estate allows yaldabaoth to use humans as his slaves, manipulating them through a combination of bribes, threats, and lies. in the later gnostic myths, christ, the son of the true father, will descend and liberate humanity from its slavery. in the valentinian version, this savior (soter) rescues the fallen goddess sophia from her degraded state and bears her back to heaven, where he weds her. although this key is filled with gnostic images, its philosophy is christian. mankind is to be punished for its original sin of disobedience. through

UNCLE SETNAKT SEZ PERFORM A RITUAL TOASTING

t only will you throw off muddy subjectivity but you learn the path whereby that which is within your black heart may be brought forth into the world. 9. this rite has been done countless times. this is a very simplified form of a rite of germanic warriors called the sumble. this combination of toasts and oaths is scattered throughout northern european literature- its last form being found in the myths of king arthur and the round table. it has been revised in a darker form by a warrior-priest within a knightly order of the temple of set. more than this i cannot say, but here lies a great secret for ritual construction. take a ritual that was worked and when you rework it according to the principles of your true self- it will work again. uncle setnakt hopes you have a pleasant diluncle set

WESTERN MANDALAS OF TRANSFORMATION SR AL

iversal mind from the beginning or foundation of the world. another numerical example of this relationship is demonstrated in the equation 9x9=81. by gematria, this points to the fullness of this process at the level of individuation, because eighty-one is the numeration of the word anoki, which means 7. it is only after the separation from the mother, however, that this "i" can be born, and many myths reflect this archetypal individuation process in the hero stories of the slaying of the dragon or serpent, often said by jungians to represent the mother. the word gev, which means middle or interior, also has a value of nine. it really means "the center of things which preserves. and organizes (d'olivet, p. 312. this is perhaps one of the most important functions of moon consciousness, acco

WICCA EIGHT SABBATS OF WITCHCRAFT

st fruits' and early harvest. in irish gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'lugnasadh, a feast to commemorate the funeral games of the irish sun-god lugh. however, there is some confusion on this point. although at first glance, it may seem that we are celebrating the death of the lugh, the god of light does not really die (mythically) until the autumnal equinox. and indeed, if we read the irish myths closer, we discover that it is not lugh's death that is being celebrated, but the funeral games which lugh hosted to commemorate the death of his foster- mother, taillte. that is why the lugnasadh celebrations in ireland are often called the 'tailltean games* the time went by with careless heed between the late and early, with small persuasion she agreed to see me through the barley* one com

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

atter. i was much interested in mr. pennethorne hughes's theory, vide page 23 of his book, that magic was evolved by the egyptian priests, that one branch of this knowledge came to europe, becoming witchcraft, the other going to west africa and thence to america, becoming voodoo. i know that frazer and others have mentioned the resemblance between the african cults of the divine king and egyptian myths, and i had already noted the resemblance between certain voodoo practices and european witchcraft; but it seemed to me that the proof of mr. hughes's theory must lie in west africa. if the witches or witch doctors there had the knowledge, they might have passed it on to america. so i went to the gold coast and nigeria for the winters of 1952 and again in 1953. now it is extremely difficult t

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

at it was that the white man dreams, what he describes to his children on the long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow. but we are savages. the white man s dreams are hidden from us. chief seattle, suqwamish and duwamish the vigil by lame deer at willow, at rosebud, south dakota, 1967, recorded by erdoes. editor s note: the following story is from myths and legends of the american indian by boez and endroes (available on open reserve) describes what can go wrong on an all night vigil, one like the rdna do in preparation for entering the 3rd order. the vision quest is a tradition among the plains people. a man or woman seeking the way an the road of life, or trying to find the answer to a personal problem, may go on a vision quest for knowle

Return to Occult Library Index



Related Matches
abyss active adam africa african age ages ahriman air alien ancient ancients angel angels apollo arts aryan astral astrology atlantis babylonian beast bible biblical binah bird birth black blood blue brother buddha buddhism buddhist bull cain celestial chaos child children christ christian christians christianity church circle circles civilization consciousness constellations cosmic cosmos craft creation creator cross crowley cult cults curse cycle darkness dead death degree deity deities demeter demon demons depicted devil divine divinity doctrine doctrines dog dogma dragon dream dreams earth east eastern eden egg egypt egyptian elder element elements energy energies entities equinox esoteric eternal eve evil existence extraterrestrial eye fairy fairies fallen familiar fate father fear female feminine fertility fire fish five flesh flood force forces form forms masonic freemasonry masonry garden genesis german giant giants gnostic gnosis gnostics god gods goddess goddesses gold golden greek greeks hades heart heaven heavens heavenly hebrew hell hercules hermes hindu hiram history holy horus human humans humanity humankind india indian infinite initiate initiated initiates initiation ishtar isis jesus jews jewish jupiter kabbalah kabbalistic kether key keys king kings kingdom knowledge lavey leader legend legends lilith living logos london lord lovecraft lucifer magic magick magical magician magicians male malkuth manifest manifestation mars masters material matter medieval mental mercury michael mind modern moon moses mother mount mountains mysteries mystery mysterious mystic mystical mysticism myth mythology mythologies myths natural nature necronomicon negative noah norse north occult odin order osiris pagan people persephone physical planetary planet planets plato positive power powers priest primordial prince psyche queen ra re reality realm red religion religions religious resurrection revelation rite rites ritual rituals roman rosicrucians sacred sacrifice satan satanic satanism saturn school sea secret secrets serpent serpents set seth seven sex sexual shadow sin sirius sky snake society solar solomon sons sophia sorcery soul souls south sphere spirit spirits spiritual star stars state states stone sumerian summer sun supernatural superstitions supreme symbol symbols symbolic symbolized symbolism teaching teachings temple temples testament theology theosophical thoth thousand thousands three tradition traditions transformed tree triangle truth twin typhon ufo underworld union universal universe vampire venus virgin war water waters werewolf west white wisdom witch witches witchcraft wolf women world worlds worship worshipped yellow zeus


http://www.hollywoodinsiders.net
MWLibCreator Ver.2 By:Michael Wynn