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from malkuth through yesod and tiphareth to kether on the central pillar of the tree. zohar: the book of splendor, the principal book of the qabalah. it is thought to have been written by moses de leon and was first circulated around 1280-1290 a.d. in guadalajara. it included commentaries on the torah. gnosticism: gnosis is a greek term for knowledge. the term gnosis applies to certain religious sects that emerged during the early formative years christianity, and which believed in hidden spiritual knowledge. the main factor that differentiated them from christianity was their emphasis on knowledge rather than faith. the christian church fathers considered the gnostics heretical, or heretics. kether: the first emanation on the tree of life. occultists identify kether as the state of consc

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

suppl. as those pioneers' purggod is near us everywhere, and consecrates for us every country, from which the fixing of our gaze beyond the alps would alienate us. probably some sects and parties, non-conformity here and there among the heathen themselves, nay, in individual minds a precocious elevation of sentiment and morals, came half-way to meet the introduction of christianity, as afterwards its purification (see suppl. it is remarkable that old norse legend occasionally mentions certain men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed

ALEISTER CROWLEY SEPHER SEPHIROTH

out! avaunt! go away! cwx crushed, fine, thin qd king david dwd klm 105 to subvert, ruin, change kph skullcap, yarmulka hpk 106 nun: a fish nwn attained qbd stibium (a type of kohl) kwp line, string, linen thread; norm wq your god mkyhl) 107 an egg hcyb chain; flaming arrow qz the shield (or star) of david (the hexagram) dwd ngm 108 2x2 3x3x3: hence used as the number of beads on a rosary by some sects the ears mynz) the fruit of a deep valley lxnh yb)b a wall cyx to force, do wrong to smx to love very much nnx to shut up, obstruct msx the middle ycx to measure out, share; a decree, statute; tall (masc; task; boundary (cf. 113) qx builders mynwb leader gyhnm 109 lightning zqb quiet hxwnm music nwgn circle; sphere lwg( small +q 110 father of faith hnwm)h b) the roof of a [bridal] canopy( gt

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

he globe in quest of the mystic knowledge of all nations, it will be necessary here to recount, briefly though it may be, the circumstances which let up to his entering into communication with the order of a. a. born of an ancient family, but a few days after the fifty-sixth equinox before the equinox of the gods, he was reared and educated in the faith of christ as taught by one of the strictest sects of the many factions of the christian church, and scarcely had he learnt to lisp the simplest syllables of childhood than his martyrdom began. from infancy he struggled through the chill darkness of his surroundings into boyhood, and as he grew and throve, so did the iniquity of that unnatural treatment which with lavish and cruel hand was squandered on him. then youth came, and with it god'

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4

s from without, but not our own essential being. for if a man calls it in question yet is it his own essential being. an integral part is here revealed in each of us which is a reality, perhaps the only reality it is given us to know, and 60 one we possess irrespective our our not being able to understand it. we have a soul, a veritable living atman, irrespective of all codes, sciences, theories, sects and laws. what then is this atman, and how can we understand it, that is to say, see it solely, or identify all with it? the necessity of doing this is pointed out in ch ndogya, 8. 1. 6. he who departs from this world without having known the soul or those true desires, his part in all worlds is a life of constraint; but he who departs from this world after having known the soul and those tr

ising the shame; if he would be "set down at the right hand of the throne of god" hebrews, xii, 2. 58 "if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to god (1 corinthians, xiv, 28) has more than one meaning. 59 "and when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half and hour (rev. viii, 1. of the conflicting sects unable to obtain raja yoga, the most merciful sw tm r ma yogi offers the light of hathavidya."60 in the practice of this mystic union which is brought about by the hatha yoga and the raja yoga exercises the conditions necessary are: 1 "yama" non-killing (ahinsa; truthfulness (satya; non-stealing (asteya; continence (brahmacharya; and non-receiving of any gift (aparigraha. 2 "niyama" cleanlin

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

he christ, and for the great renunciation which is the characteristic of the fourth initiation. as appollonius of tyana- 33- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust he took the fifth initiation and became a master of the wisdom. from that time on he has stayed and worked with the christian church, fostering the germ of true spiritual life which is to be found amongst members of all sects and divisions, and neutralizing as far as possible the mistakes and errors of the churchmen and the theologians. he is distinctively the great leader, the general, and the wise executive, and in church matters he co-operates closely with the christ, thus saving him much and acting as his intermediary wherever possible. no one so wisely knows as he the problems of the west, no one is so close

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

who, having mastered the mystic and occult sciences, had communicated to him..continuously the four blissful states of ecstatic communion "he was one, who having attained to omniscience, all-pervading goodwill, and glowing love, together with the acquisition of transcendental powers and virtues, became a self-developed buddha who towered above all conflicting opinions and arguments of the various sects and creeds "he was a being most diligent and persevering in meditation upon the rare path..having acquired full power over the mental states and faculties within, he overcame all dangers from the elements without "he was a being perfect in the practice of the four stages of meditation (analysis, reflection, fondness, bliss. these are the four progressive mental states, leading to complete co

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

man as to the why and wherefore of manifestation. little which is new has been added by the occident to these six speculative schools, though the western mind, with its genius for scientific techniques and method, has elaborated the ideas and differentiated the six theories into a multiplicity of lesser propositions. out of the medley of ideas, theories, speculations, religions, churches, cults, sects and organizations, two main lines of thought are emerging one doomed eventually to die out, the other to strengthen and grow until it, in its turn, gives birth to that (for us) ultimate formulation of truth which will suffice for the next age and carry man to a high pinnacle of the temple to the mount of initiation. these two lines are: 1. those who look back to the past, who hang on to the

the nations and governments of the world. these two conditions of concrete orthodoxy and political differences persisted for many generations and are still manifesting. today we have a similar condition both in the world of religion and in that of politics. this is true whether one is considering india or america, china or germany, or whether one is studying the history of buddhism with its many sects, protestantism with its myriads of warring groups, or the many schools of philosophy in the orient or the occident. the condition is widespread, and the public consciousness tremendously diversified, but this state of affairs marks the summation of the period of separativeness and the end, before so many centuries, of this intense distinctiveness of thought. after noting and watching this tr

the whole stand together again in its earlier perfection. the religious groups have likewise been many, so many that their enumeration is hopeless. we have the groups of catholic mystics who are the glory of the occident, there are also the protesting lutherans, calvinists and methodists, the pilgrim fathers those sour and earnest men the huguenot and moravian martyrs, and the thousands of modern sects in every group. these have all served their purpose and have led man to the point of revolt and away from acquiescence in authority. they have driven man to the stage of thinking for himself by the force of their unique example. they stood for freedom and the personal right to know. these latter groups have acted largely under the influence of the sixth and second rays. the cultural emerged

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

determined. the same writer quoted above tells us that "on the fixing of the 25th december as the birthday of jesus, williamson has the following `all christians know that the 25th december is now the recognised festival of the birth of jesus, but few are aware that this has not always been so. there have been, it is said, one hundred and thirty-six different dates fixed on by different christian sects. lightfoot gives it as september 15th, others as in february or august. epiphanius mentions two sects, one celebrating in june, the other in july. the matter was finally settled by pope julius in 337 a.d, and st. chrysostom, writing in 390, says `on this day (i.e. 25th december) also the birth of christ was lately fixed at rome, in order that while the heathen were busy with their ceremonies

w the continuity of revelation of which the resurrection (with its subsequent ascension) was the climaxing event for the occident. the outstanding need of christianity today is to emphasise the living, risen christ. we have argued too long over the death of christ, seeking to impose a narrow sectarian christ upon the world. we have fed the fires of separation by our christian divisions, churches, sects and "isms "their name is legion" and most of them are founded upon some sectarian presentation of the dead christ, and of the earlier aspects of his story. let us now unite on the basis of the risen christ christ alive today, christ the source of inspiration and the founder of the kingdom of god; christ, the cosmic christ, eternally on the cross, yet eternally alive; christ, the historical s

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

onstant effort to foster right human relations. world unity will be a fact when the children of the world are taught that religious differences are largely a matter of birth; that if a man is born in italy, the probability is that he will be a roman catholic; if he is born a jew, he will follow the jewish teaching; if born in asia, he may be a mohammedan, a buddhist, or belong to one of the hindu sects; if born in other countries, he may be a protestant and so on. he will learn that the religious differences are largely the result of man-made quarrels over human interpretations of truth. thus gradually, our quarrels and differences will be offset and the idea of the one humanity will take their place. much greater care will have to be given in picking and training the teachers of the futur

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

ontacts, governmental action and the habitual life of all peoples, including the entire field of international relations. everywhere there- 58- the reappearance of the christ copyright 1998 lucis trust is hate, competition, mal-adjustment, strife between parties, the vilest kind of muck raking and scandal making, deep distrust between men and nations, between capital and labour and among the many sects, churches and religions. the difference between a sect and a church is, after all, only one of degree and historical inception; it is one of interpretation, of fanatical adherence to some pet truth and always exclusiveness, which is contrary to christian teaching. nowhere is there peace today or understanding; only a small minority in relation to the earth's population are struggling for tho

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

onstant effort to foster right human relations. world unity will be a fact when the children of the world are taught that religious differences are largely a matter of birth; that if a man is born in italy, the probability is that he will be a roman catholic; if he is born a jew, he will follow the jewish teaching; if born in asia, he may be a mohammedan, a buddhist, or belong to one of the hindu sects; if born in other countries, he may be a protestant and so on. he will learn that the religious differences are largely the result of man made quarrels over human interpretations of truth. thus gradually, our quarrels and differences will be offset and the idea- 61- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust of the one humanity will take their place. much greater care will have to b

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

spoke have been lost in the labyrinths of the ecclesiastical minds which have sought to interpret- 265- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust them, and that the simple teaching of the approach to god which he taught has been superseded by the pomp and ceremony of elaborate rituals. to sum up: because of the divergences of the many exoteric faiths, the multiplicity of the sects and cults in both the orient and occident, and the quarrels of theologians over words, phrases and interpretations, the sons of god in process of development are left without the needed help to contact the christ and his great group of disciples, the spiritual leaders of humanity; the way to christ, the living, loving expression of god, is not made clear to the seeker. together, the two grea

venture or for an entirely new presentation of truth. nature and evolution move with gentle gradations and not with breaks and uncorrelated manifestations in the world of forms. in all the progressing developments, the old outlines can be seen enlarged, purified and more beautiful, yet recognisable as the old form on a higher turn of the spiral. it is not the freak cults, nor the widely divergent sects, nor the bands of advanced religious revolutionaries who can meet the crying need of the many enquirers today. what is required is the re-vivification of the old forms, and their infusion with fresh life; the old organisations must be awakened to the hour of opportunity and must change from static organisations to living organisms. the old rituals must be revived and brought up to date (in t

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

ons their soul expression. forget not that nations are like individuals, expressive of soul and body. the nations responsive to this ray energy are: india, whose personality or material ray is that of harmony through conflict. this could be seen in full expression in that unhappy country during the years 1947-1948. india is old and crystallised in her separativeness, in her myriads of diversified sects and religious groups, in her manifold languages and in her ancient antagonisms; it will be long before there is any basic synthesis or harmony. there lies her problem, and unfortunately she lacks pure disinterested leadership; as is the case elsewhere in the world, party politics and religious cleavages condition her many peoples. the soul energy of india is that of the will to power or gove

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

of men, the greatest scientists have maintained, and ever won, struggle after struggle with the assumed infallibility of old hebraic testament literal instructions, assertions and narratives. the old testament may indeed be, to some extent, the link which binds together thousands of christians, for jesus the christ founded his doctrine upon a jewish people, but the interminable list of christian sects of to-day have almost all taken their rise from the assertion of a right of personal interpretation of the bible, which might have remained debarred to the generality by the confession that the keys of interpretation were lost, or at least missing, and that without their assistance error of a vital character was inevitable. the vast accumulation of varying interpretations of the bible, altho

ebarred to the generality by the confession that the keys of interpretation were lost, or at least missing, and that without their assistance error of a vital character was inevitable. the vast accumulation of varying interpretations of the bible, although a folly, yet sinks into insignificance as an incident of importance, before the collateral truth that the followers of each of the hundreds of sects have arrogated to themselves, not only the right of personal interpretation, but the duty of condemning all others--as if the infallibility they claimed for the bible could not fail to be reflected upon their personal propaganda, or the specialities of a chapel service. religious intolerance has cursed every village of the land, and hardly a single sect has originated which has not only clai

ANTINOMIANISM

meaning on all levels of activity. the left hand path is a syncretism in the post modern era taking liberally from several areas of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. existentialism, relativism, antinomianism, hermeticism, all share ideas which are synthesized into the lhp conception. tracing the roots of these ideas we find hints and glimpses contained in the extant thoughts of certain gnostic sects, the graeco/roman egyptian philosophies and aspects of the ancient egyptian philosophical and religious cults. particularly we see this in the reflections of the ancient setian priesthoods of egypt which have been integrated into other lines of philosophical thought. as previously stated, the differentiation between the lhp and the rhp is one of intent. for instance, in the church of rome (c

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

is is an apt metaphor. tantras embody practices elaborated on in s.dhanas, to be discussed below. as such, they are texts that aid in the embodiment of divine energies that are utilized for a ritual endeavor, the ultimate endeavor being enlightenment. termas (gter ma) are wholly tibetan texts developed primarily within the nyingma (rnying ma) sect of tibetan buddhism, the oldest of the four major sects. however, the three other sects, kagy (bka brgyud, sakya (sa skya, and geluk (dge lugs, recognize a number of termas, despite a tradition within each of these schools especially the latter of discounting their authenticity. terma literally means "treasure" or "concealed text" and refers to a category of scripture that originated in the eleventh century. the tradition states that the great bu

stery. ngari pa.chen is considered to have been a great propagator of buddhist wisdom and nyingma teachings.42 chokyur dechen zhikpo lingpa is considered to have been a reincarnation of trisong deutsen s son. he had a vision of padmasambhava at thirteen and was soon after admitted into monastic life as a novice. chokyur lingpa received transmissions and instructions from many teachers of multiple sects, including kagy and nyingma. he discovered and composed the majority of the termas ascribed to him at the age of thirty-nine; however, his discovery of termas 40 for a story illustrating tamdrin s role as subjugator of deities, see kapstein 2000, pp. 170-176. 41 see guru trashi ngawang lodr 1990, pp. 211, 237-238, 299-301; bradburn, et al. 1995, pp. 216-217; cuevas 2003, pp. 147-148; and dud

ndian cosmology. in this instance, some of these figures may simply possess variant names of the seven riders.56 tsiu marpo not only has a strong presence at samy monastery; his influence is widespread. due to the ecumenical nature of samy monastery partially attributed to its antiquity many of its protector deities are recognized to varying degrees by most if not all of the four tibetan buddhist sects. though tsiu marpo is recognized across sectarian divisions, he 53 de nebesky-wojkowitz 1998, p. 168 n.4. 54 to be discussed in chapter 5. 55 these details were made evident both by personal correspondence (lodr gyeltsen, lhasa. july 24th, 2005) and by direct observation of the temple site. 56 see below for a brief discussion of the seven riders. 34 is of highest rank in the nyingma sect. th

e outlines given here is inspired both by stephan beyer and yael bentor, whose works are quintessential studies on tibetan ritual.119 these texts are ritual documents at their core and they cross both temporal and sectarian boundaries. the first two texts were not only composed two centuries apart, but while the warlord s tantra is a nyingma text, the perfect feast petition offering is geluk, two sects that are considered by many to be decidedly antithetical.120 my comparison between these texts will provide insight into the varied schemes of a specific ritual task and reveal the utility of the complex ritual accoutrement required for these power-instilling activities. also, the ritual purpose behind these texts will reveal something of the complex relationship between the monastic and lay

stroy all the enemies of the practitioner, in keeping with tsiu marpo s primary purpose described in chapter 3 of this study. this command is accompanied by the creation of a ritual red spear with the mantras of the previous stage inscribed on it. here the central goal is revealed: tsiu marpo and his riders are ordered to destroy the enemies of the temple in battle and also to defeat the opposing sects. in keeping with his violent nature as well as his position as a protector deity, tsiu marpo is commanded by this ritual process both to protect the location of the ritual performer, specifically a temple or monastery, and to destroy anyone who attempts to harm it and its residents. the concluding section explains the extremely secret nature of this text, requesting that it be properly guard

the geluk sect, but are transcendental deities according to the nyingma and kagy .247 likewise, the deity dorj shukden is considered by some, namely the followers of his ritual cult, to be a protector deity who will one day take pehar s place as the leader of the worldly deities. pehar, in turn, will become a transcendental deity.248 nonetheless, pehar s current importance still differs among the sects, being most primary to the geluk sect for reasons explored in the last chapter.249 therefore, the size of a deity s bank of merit is interpreted differently between the various sects. sophie day conceives of this mobility as a historical evolution in the community s attitude towards a deity. being that a protector deity is initially malicious, even after subjugation they are still not wholly

w. obtain empowered accomplishments or perform a single fulfillment of ten million propitiations to glorious tamdrin; with that, simultaneously anoint with blood and vermillion and consecrate a lasso made from the hair of a hero who died in battle. strive for fulfilled supplications and when you carry them to the place where the dance is, you will be victorious within all battles and the opposing sects will be defeated. 4b. secret text (318.3-319.6 "this is extremely secret; properly guard the teachings of urgyan padma[sambhava] and refrain from entrusting this even into the hands of someone who is not in the noble line of trisong deutsen or it will turn back on you later. in this case, even if it were followed by others, though they temporarily have children and prosper, in the end they w

BLACK SERPENT1

ngth. we offer requests of knowledge and reflection that we may employ your creation to do so. hail lucifer. lord and master of enlightenment" then comes the typical ritual body in which requests of concentration, knowledge, intellect, and purification are burned at the altar (i.e. a bowl, incense burner, or bonfire) the ashes must be crushed to a fine powder and later dispersed in the wind. some sects choose to sing hymns and go into longer durations of prayer before the ritual closing. the ritual is closed as thus "hail lucifer. lord and master of air. we thank thee for being present at our ritual. we bid you, go in peace" oleum and incense of the quarter: lucifer by j. thorp an oleum is a specialized oil made with herbs, flowers, roots, and resins that are used as offerings to the demon

that the old testament is not nearly as important as the new testament. so this right here is an example of how unusual dominionists actually are. another thing is that dominionists openly claim that, should they attain power, they would oppress other religions and cultures through genocide and mass murder, rather than through proselytizing. even among some of the most conservative fundamentalist sects, it is generally believed by most that proselytizing against other religions is preferable to killing people. you will not typically hear of southern baptist preachers calling for the merciless execution of minority religions. they would much rather just proselytize. this again is a demonstration that dominionists do not represent the norm in fundamentalist christianity. 13 perhaps one of th

ety (e.g, quakers, brethren, mennonites, who are relatively easy to come to friendly terms with. such christians do not believe in the literal existence of the devil or demonic spirits, so they are more inclined to just smile and shake their heads when first being introduced to satanism (as opposed to the folks who run away screaming. but i have also made acquaintances in fundamentalist christian sects. this has been a bit harder, but some of my efforts have proven fruitful. in my conversations with these people, i spent a lot of time and energy explaining the various ins and outs of the contemporary satanic/demonic subculture to them, while citing various sources (e.g, lavey's _satanic bible, james lewis _satanism today, and gavin baddeley's _lucifer rising: sin, devil worship, and rock '

the word sect is used in this article because it was written by a demonolator. however it is used interchangeably with group and the advice herein is good advice for finding a group regardless your tradition. many variables go into the decision whether or not to seek a sect. the first consideration is you. you must know why you want to join a sect and what you expect to gain from the experience. sects resemble nothing like the mysterious satanic cults you might see on tv or in the movies. so if you are really seeking something straight from your favorite horror film, you probably won t find it. it s a fact of life. there are many wrong reasons to seek sect membership. if you are seeking sex, drugs, a partner, power, magic secrets, or evil it is unlikely you are ready to join a sect. most

secrets, or evil it is unlikely you are ready to join a sect. most sects frown on this mentality in its potential members because they are not sex clubs, most are drug free, and many frown on the member who is always putting the makes on members of the opposite sex. additionally, belonging to any religious organization has nothing to do with being powerful, teaching magic secrets, or being evil. sects exist for this reason: for people of like mind to congregate and worship together. the spiritual growth of the individual can be facilitated with the guidance and encouragement of others. if what you seek is to find people whose beliefs match yours, to grow spiritually, and to gather with others in worship these are the right reasons to seek sect membership. the first step is to find a sect

ual can be facilitated with the guidance and encouragement of others. if what you seek is to find people whose beliefs match yours, to grow spiritually, and to gather with others in worship these are the right reasons to seek sect membership. the first step is to find a sect in your area or one that offers potential membership to those who live far away. this is often the hardest part because few sects advertise unless they are newly forming. you can visit your local pagan shop and view their bulletin boards or seek a group out on the internet. once you find a group you are interested in you should find out as much as you can before deciding to schedule an interview. i will go over the interview process later. for now let s discuss the important things about a sect that you should consider

d all their time doing black masses and hanging out in graveyards smoking dope. if that is the kind of group you re seeking you could probably start your own. also beware the sect that has a web page with little information. a good group will list their basic beliefs, names of rituals the sect regularly gets together for, and will tell you if 17 they have legal clergy and teaching available. most sects will only accept adult members and will not serve alcohol to under-aged members. there are some family groups out there but they are rare, don t advertise, and can be difficult to get into. other information that should be readily available or that you can ask during the initial email or contact phone call includes: does the group have a spiritual philosophy and practice that matches yours?

an. lord and master of water" then comes the typical ritual body in which requests of healing and emotional balance are burned within the alter or primary ritual space fire (i.e. a bowl, incense burner, or bonfire) use the remaining water to put out the fire once the requests have been burnt. the ashes must be crushed to a fine powder and later dispersed in running water (i.e. ocean, stream. some sects choose to sing hymns and go into longer durations of prayer before the ritual closing. the ritual is closed as thus "hail leviathan. lord and master of water. we thank thee for being present at our ritual. we bid you, go in peace" close the ritual as normal. if practicing solitary- change all "we" to "i" also- the prayer can be done with a single candle if you lack the space, time, or suppli

BLACK WITCHCRAFT

ity did not empower them; either subconsciously or consciously, thus by the adept becoming does the godform become. deific energy is a source not only based within the blood of the practitioner, of the atavistic or primal recesses of the human mind. this deific energy or power may be recalled into the flesh and conscious mind of the practitioner, thus one finds the knowledge undertaken by earlier sects such as the golden dawn, the maskhara of the arabic and asian tribes, austin osman spare s zos kia cultus, etc. there are numerous rituals explored by luciferian sabbat practitioners within the order of phosphorus and the black order of the dragon which utilize old methods of lycanthropy and the shedding of flesh, of shape shifting by dream in therion form to go forth to the erotic convulsio

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

ah the "personating spirit" he still remains in esoteric truth the ever-loving "messenger (the angel, the seraphim and cherubim who both knew well, and loved still more, and who conferred on us spiritual, instead of physical immortality- the latter a kind of static immortality that would have transformed man into an undying "wandering jew" as narrated in king's "gnostics "ilda-baoth, whom several sects regarded as the god of moses, was not a pure spirit, he was ambitious and proud, and rejecting the spiritual light of the middle space offered him by his mother sophia- achamoth, he set himself to create a world of his own. aided by his sons, the six planetary genii, he fabricated man[[vol. 2, page] 244 the secret doctrine. but this one proved a failure. it was a monster, soulless, ignorant

etter account warranted no such attempt; and his fourfold order, or division of animated creation, has turned into the stone which, instead of killing the fly on the sleeping friend's brow, killed the man instead. mr. gladstone killed genesis for ever. but this does not prove that there is no esotericism in the latter. the fact that the jews and all the christians, the modern as well as the early sects, have accepted the narrative literally for two thousand years, shows only their ignorance; and shows the great ingenuity and constructive ability of the initiated rabbis, who have built the two accounts- the elohistic and the jehovistic- esoterically, and have purposely confused the meaning by the vowelless glyphs or word-signs in the original text. the six days- yom- of creation do mean six

llegorically, the "murderer" and the great enemy of all, because there is nothing in the whole universe that has not two sides- the reverses of the same medal. but in that case, light, goodness, beauty, etc, may be called satan with as much propriety as the devil, since they are the adversaries of darkness, badness, and ugliness. and now the philosophy and the rationale of certain early christian sects- called heretical and viewed as the abomination of the times- will become more comprehensible. we may understand how it was that the sect of satanians came to be degraded, and were anathematized without any hope of vindication in a future day, since they kept their tenets secret. how, on the same principle, the cainites came to be degraded, and even the (judas) iscariotes; the true character

anians came to be degraded, and were anathematized without any hope of vindication in a future day, since they kept their tenets secret. how, on the same principle, the cainites came to be degraded, and even the (judas) iscariotes; the true character of the treacherous apostle having never been correctly presented before the tribunal of humanity. as a direct consequence, the tenets of the gnostic sects also become clear. each of these sects was founded by an initiate, while their tenets were based on the correct knowledge of the symbolism of every nation. thus it becomes comprehensible why ilda-baoth was regarded by most of them as the god of moses, and was held as a proud, ambitious, and impure spirit, who had abused his power by usurping the place of the highest god, though he was no bet

tine, as we do in the rites of those who are in its immediate vicinity, and because it seems incredible that all should have borrowed from one which was universally disliked and despised (pagan idol. i, 104* their consecrated pillars (unhewn stones) erected by abraham and jacob were linghi[[vol. 2, page] 473 the elohistic and jehovistic texts. most refined as the most learned of all the israelite sects, who stand as a living proof with their contemptuous rejection of every belief, save the law. for how could those who invented the stupendous scheme now known as the bible, or their successors who knew, as all kabalists do, that it was so invented for a popular blind- how could they, we ask, feel reverence for such a phallic symbol and a number, as jehovah is shown most undeniably to be in t

] he (the opening, or[[vol. 2, page] 474 the secret doctrine. the womb) according to kabalistic authority- is of a far later date than the elohim symbols and is borrowed from the pagan exoteric rites; and jehovah is thus on a par with the lingham and yoni found on every road-side in india. just as the iao of the mysteries was distinct from jehovah, so was the later iao and abraxas of some gnostic sects identical with the god of the hebrews, who was the same with the egyptian horus. this is undeniably proven on "heathen" as on the gnostic "christian" gems. in matter's collection of such gems there is a "horus" seated on the lotus, inscribed[[abrasaxiao (abraxas iao- an address exactly parallel to the so frequent[[eis zets sarapi (eis zets sarapi) on the contemporary heathen gems; and theref

ould have fabricated a more ridiculous bogey. the author of "new aspects of life" describes the jewish god very correctly from the kabalistic stand-point as "the spirit of the earth, which had revealed itself to the jew as jehovah (p. 209 "it was that spirit again who, after the death of jesus, assumed his form and personated him as the risen christ- the doctrine of cerinthius and several gnostic sects with slight variation, as one can see. but the author's explanations and deductions are remarkable "none knew. better than moses. and so well as he how great was the power of those (gods of egypt) with whose priests he had contended" he says "the gods of which jehovah is claimed to be the god (by the jews only "what were these gods, these achar of which jehovah, the achad, is claimed to be t

extraordinary mystic, of a great learning and remarkable intelligence. but he left the right path and forthwith fell under karmic retribution. as well shown by the author of the article quoted "the followers of the defeated elohim, first massacred by the victorious jews (the jehovites, and then persuaded by the victorious christians and mohamedans, continued nevertheless. some of these scattered sects have lost even the tradition of the true rationale of their belief- to worship in secrecy and mystery the principle of fire, light, and liberty. why do the sabean bedouins (avowedly monotheists when dwelling in the mohamedan cities) in the solitude of the desert night yet invoke the starry 'host of heaven? why do the yezidis, the 'devil worshippers' worship the 'muluk-taoos- the 'lord peacoc

ities) in the solitude of the desert night yet invoke the starry 'host of heaven? why do the yezidis, the 'devil worshippers' worship the 'muluk-taoos- the 'lord peacock- the emblem of pride and of hundred-eyed intelligence (and of initiation also, which was expelled from heaven with satan, according to an old oriental tradition? why do the gholaites and their kindred mesopotamo-iranian mohamedan sects believe in the 'noor illahee- the light of the elohim- transmitted in anastasis through a hundred prophet leaders? it is because they have continued in ignorant superstition the traditional religion of the 'light deities whom jahveh overthrew (is said to have overthrown rather; for by overthrowing them he would have overthrown himself. the'muluk-taoos- is maluk 'ruler' as is shown in the foo

of swastica or four-footed cross. in the primitive sepulchres of egypt the model of the chamber had the form of a cross* the pagoda of mathura. the birth-place of krishna, was built in the form of a cross* this is perfect and no one can discern in this "sexual worship" with which the orientalists love to break the head of paganism. but how about the jews, and the exoteric religions of some hindu sects, especially the rites of the vallabacharyas? for, as said, the lingham and yoni of siva-worship stand too high philosophically, its modern degeneration notwithstanding, to be called a simple phallic worship. but the tree or cross-worship* of the jews, as denounced by their own prophets, can hardly escape the charge. the "sons of sorcerers "the seed of the adulterer" as isaiah calls them (lvi

i improbability whatever against possible evidences supporting the belief (vide supra) but now that the positive evidence is brought forward, will that eminent scientist admit the corollary? touching on the problem in another place("principles of geology" pp. 12-13, sir charles lyell tells us "respecting the cosmogony of the egyptian priests, we gather much information from writers of the grecian sects, who borrowed almost all their tenets from egypt, and amongst others that of the former successive destruction and renovation of the world (continental, not cosmic, catastrophes) we learn from plutarch that this was the theme of one of the hymns of orpheus, so celebrated in the fabulous ages of greece. it was brought by him from the banks of the nile; and we even find in his verses, as in th

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

, living near by to watch it. pilgrims say that the subterranean galleries and halls under it contain a collection of books, the number of which, according to the accounts given, is too large to find room even in the british museum* all this is very likely to provoke a smile of doubt. but then, before[[footnote(s* badaoni wrote in his muntakhab at tawarikh "his majesty relished inquiries into the sects of these infidels (who cannot be counted, so numerous they are, and who have no end of revealed books. as they (the sramana and brahmins) surpass other learned men in their treatises on morals, on physical and religious sciences, and reach a high degree in their knowledge of the future, in spiritual power, and human perfection, they brought proofs based on reason and testimony, and inculcate

purposely perverted, and for great characters slandered by posterity, mangled out of recognition, between the two cars of jagannatha- bigotry and materialism; one accepting too much, the other denying all. wise is he who holds to the golden mid-point, who believes in the eternal justice of things. says faigi diwan, the "witness to the wonderful speeches of a free-thinker who belongs to a thousand sects "in the assembly of the day of resurrection, when past things shall be forgiven, the sins of the ka'bah will be forgiven for the sake of the dust of christian churches" to this, professor max muller replies "the sins of islam are as worthless as the dust of christianity. on the day of resurrection both muhammadans and christians will see the vanity of their religious doctrines. men fight abo

f the son" contains in himself the seven creative hosts (the sephiroth, and is thus the essence of manifested wisdom "he who bathes in the light of oeaohoo will never be deceived by the veil of maya" kwan-shai-yin is identical with, and an equivalent of the sanskrit avalokiteshwara, and as such he is an androgynous deity, like the tetragrammaton and all the logoi* of antiquity. it is only by some sects in china that he is anthropomorphized and represented with female attributes* when, under his female aspect, he becomes kwan-yin, the goddess of mercy, called the "divine voice* the latter is the patron deity of thibet and of the island of puto in china, where both deities have a number of monasteries (see part ii. kwan-shai-yin and kwan-yin[[footnote(s* hence all the higher gods of antiquit

ign of leo. it is the nucleole of the superior divine world (see commentary in first pages of addendum. they are the formless fiery breaths, identical in one aspect with the upper sephirothal triad, which is placed by the kabalists in the "archetypal world" the same hierarchy, with the same numbers, is found in the japanese system, in the "beginnings" as taught by both the shinto and the buddhist sects. in this system, anthropogenesis precedes cosmogenesis, as the divine merges into the human, and creates[[footnote(s* this relates to the cosmic principles* the seven creative rishis now connected with the constellation of the great bear[[vol. 1, page] 214 the secret doctrine. midway in its descent into matter- the visible universe. the legendary personages- remarks reverentially omoie "havi

the seven kings) will be broken up (book of numbers, 1. viii, 3) this relates to the seven races, five of which have already appeared, and two more have still to appear in this round. the shinto allegorical accounts of cosmogony and the origin of man in japan hint at the same belief. captain c. pfoundes studied for nearly nine years in the monasteries of japan the religion underlying the various sects of the land "the shinto idea of creation" he says "is as follows: out of chaos (konton) the earth (in) was the sediment precipitated, and the heavens (yo) the ethereal essences which ascended: maa (jin) appeared between the two. the first man was called kuni-to ko tatchino- mikoto, and five other names were given to him, and then the human race appeared, male and female. isanagi and isanami

ure of the world, and more occult true science, than there is of exact knowledge in all the academies. or, in plainer and stronger language, there is as much esoteric wisdom in some portions of the exoteric puranas and pentateuch, as there is of nonsense and of designed childish fancy in it, when read only in the dead-letter murderous interpretations of great dogmatic religions, and especially of sects. let anyone read the first verses of chapter i. of genesis and reflect upon them. there "god" commands to another "god" who does his bidding- even in the cautious english protestant translation of james the first's authorised edition. in the "beginning" the hebrew language having no word to express the idea of eternity "god" fashions the heaven and the earth; and the latter is "without form

ne can study ancient philosophies seriously without perceiving that the striking similitude of conception between all- in their exoteric form very often, in their hidden spirit invariably- is the result of no mere coincidence, but of a concurrent design: and that there was, during the youth of mankind, one languages, one knowledge, one universal religion, when there were no churches, no creeds or sects, but when every man was a priest unto himself. and, if it is shown that already in those ages which are shut out from our sight by the exuberant growth of tradition, human religious thought developed in uniform sympathy in every portion of the globe; then, it becomes evident that, born under whatever latitude, in the cold north or the burning south, in the east or west, that thought was insp

nything else, speaks of a revelation to him of the seven heavens sounding each one vowel as they pronounced the seven names of the seven (angelic) hierarchies. when spirit has permeated every minutest atom of the seven principles of kosmos, then the secondary creation, after the abovementioned period of rest, begins[[footnote(s* see "isis unveiled" vol. ii, p. 183* see also king's gnostics. other sects regarded jehovah as ildabaoth himself king identifies him with saturn[[vol. 1, page] 450 the secret doctrine "the creators (elohim) outline in the second 'hour' the shape of man" says rabbi simeon (the nuctameron of the hebrews "there are twelve hours in the day" says the mishna "and it is during these that creation is accomplished" the "twelve hours of the day" are again the dwarfed copy, t

n eternal cause; or, as the commentator says, it might have been understood to mean that brahma was then created, being identified with mahat, active intelligence or the operating will of the supreme. esoteric philosophy renders it "the operating law" it is on the right comprehension of this tenet in the brahmanas and puranas that hangs, we believe, the apple of discord between the three vedantin sects: the advaita, dwaita, and the visishtadvaitas. the first arguing rightly that parabrahman, having no relation, as the absolute all, to the manifested world- the infinite having no connection with the finite- can neither will nor create; that, therefore, brahma, mahat, iswara, or whatever name the creative power may be known by, creative gods and all, are simply an illusive aspect of parabrah

first arguing rightly that parabrahman, having no relation, as the absolute all, to the manifested world- the infinite having no connection with the finite- can neither will nor create; that, therefore, brahma, mahat, iswara, or whatever name the creative power may be known by, creative gods and all, are simply an illusive aspect of parabrahmam in the conception of the conceivers; while the other sects identify the impersonal cause with the creator, or iswara. mahat (or maha-buddhi) is, with the vaishnavas, however, divine mind in active operation, or, as anaxagoras has it "an ordering and disposing mind, which was the cause of all things[[nous o diakosmonte kai panton aitios. wilson saw at a glance the suggestive connection between mahat and the phoenician mot, or mut, who was female with

him (the lord) in the "great strong wind, and in the earthquake? do not the christians repeat the same after them? do not they, moreover, sacrifice to this day, to the same "god of wind and water" they do; because special prayers for rain, dry weather, trade-winds and the calming of storms on the seas exist to this hour in the prayer-books of the three christian churches; and the several hundred sects of the protestant religion[[vol. 1, page] 467 the fighting gods. offer them to their god upon every threat of calamity? the fact that they are no more answered by jehovah, than they were, probably, by jupiter pluvius, does not alter the fact of these prayers being addressed to the power or powers supposed to rule over the elements, or of these powers being identical in paganism and christian

the same, at any rate, similar effects. are the prophecies derided, because of the claim of the hundreds of thousands of years of observation, and the millions of years of the human races? in its turn modern science is laughed at for its far more modest geological and anthropological figures, by those who hold to biblical chronology. thus karma adjusts even human laughter at the mutual expense of sects, learned societies, and individuals. yet in the prognostication of such future events, at any rate, all foretold on the authority of cyclic recurrences, there is no psychic phenomenon involved. it is neither prevision, nor prophecy; no more than is the signalling of a comet or star, several years before its appearance. it is simply knowledge and mathematically correct computations which enab

BLUE EQUINOX

in unselfish till the endless end. thou art enlightened.choose thy way. the anticlimax is now complete. knowledge is by no means the last step. knowledge has been finished with even by the master of the temple, and all this question of wedding woe, remaining unselfish till the endless end, is but poetic bombast, based upon misconception. it is as puerile as the crude conceptions of many christian sects. 100.behold, the mellow light that floods the eastern sky. in signs of praise both heaven and earth unite. and from the four-fold manifested powers a chant of love ariseth, both from the flaming fire and flowing water, and from sweetsmelling earth and rushing wind. hark. from the deep unfathomable vortex of that golden light in which the victor bathes, all nature.s wordless voice in thousand

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

nation (though by no means is reincarnation the only possible explanation of all cases of deja-vu; the feeling being a brief flash of memory of something lesson two: beliefs/'17 18/ auckland's complete book of witchcraft that happened in a previous life. in what form do we return to the earth? some believe (the hindus, for example) that it is not necessarily in human form each time. certain hindu sects teach that the soul may be reborn as a plant or an animal. however, such beliefs are not generally held in western civilization. some say there is a progression from the lowest life-forms to the highest putting humans at the top. but then who is to say the order? is a dog higher than a cat, or a cat higher than a dog? is a centipede higher or lower than an earwig? does this mean, when every

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

riations, with african-based religions developing not only in relation to catholicism (as with santeria in cuba, or vodou in haiti, but also as offshoots of the protestant faith. the merging of african-inspired practices and protestantism shows affinities with, as well as departures from, universally held christian traditions. in the british caribbean, for example, christian traits prevail within sects such as the spiritual baptists of trinidad and guyana, and in the ceremonial practices of shakers of st. vincent, which all maintain strong african elements. in jamaica, the\ 68\ africanization of belief persists in the protestant churches of the zionists and the native baptists. and in other west indian revival movements such as convince, kumina, and pocomania, a synthesis of ancestral ritu

ricultural economy, and jim crow segregation, masses of black southerners poured into chicago and other northern cities, filling a demand for cheap labor in northern industries. concurrent with the rising tide of urbanization developed an increasingly diverse religious situation, as african americans founded and joined baptist and methodist congregations, holiness churches, muslim temples, judaic sects, and a host of fraternal and nationalistic associations. the rise of the spiritual churches fit into a larger pattern of spiritual pluralism that characterized black american religious life in the first quarter of the twentieth century.[47] the early spiritual churches have been aptly described as urban "wayside shrines" where persons in black communities sought guidance on a variety of secu

leans: new orleans folklife society, 1984; hurston "hoodoo in america; and robert tallant, voodoo in new orleans (new york: macmillan, 1946; baer, black spiritual movement, p. 110. see also hans baer "black spiritual churches: a neglected socio-religious institution" phylon 42 (fall 1981: 210. 50. hurston "hoodoo in america" p. 318; tallant, voodoo in new orleans, p. 169; joseph washington, black sects and cults (garden city, n.y: doubleday, 1972, p. 113\ 196\ 51. african american spiritual churches are unique for their adoption of traditions from roman catholicism. spiritual altars, adorned with crucifixes, candles, and other iconographic embellishments, provide a visual link with catholicism, while the robes, vestments and clothing of spiritual ministers mirror that of roman catholic pri

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

cult, is not negative in or of itself. it is just the knowledge of the potential to harness the energies of creation for good or ill, and the understanding of the human psyche and how it can be balanced, healed, or manipulated. it is not the knowledge that is good or bad; it is the way we use it. people at the highest levels of the elite-illuminati-brotherhood network are often members of extreme sects based on ancient rites and lucifer/satan worship. yes, satanists run the world. if you infiltrated some of these bizarre gatherings, i am sure you would see some very famous faces. the security services such as the cia and us military intelligence, are seriously infiltrated by sects that worship these various names for the prison warder consciousness. lieutenant-colonel michael aquino, a sen

a leader of nothing, except my own mind. the media ought to try it sometime. it's wonderful. in the light of this background to the 'cult' tragedies, it is important that 'cultbuster' groups are questioned and investigated just as much as the 'cults' they attack. these groups have sprung up all over the world. i can understand the motivation behind some of them because there are mind controlling sects preying on the emotions of people, particularly the young, and many, if not most, of these can be linked with the intelligence agencies. they are part of problem-reactionsolution with the elite creating or exploiting the 'cult' and controlling the opposition to them, the 'cult-busters. one of the latter is the america-based cult awareness network (can, a front for the anti-defamation league

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

on a cross) and was resurrected to nirvana or heaven. his tomb was miraculously opened and it was said he would return and judge the dead. buddha was the "light of the world, the "lord" and "master, the "good shepherd, and "carpenter. the usual cv. in india, buddha's consort is said to have been ila or ida and this was a name in the british edda for el, the serpent goddess of the "edenites. group sects the illuminati strategy can be seen so vividly in their religions. first, you create the original belief, like the belief in "jesus. this triggers division and conflict with the other religions around that time. then you shatter that original belief into an everexpanding list of sub-beliefs and offshoot "churches. now you have division between the belief and other beliefs, and within the bel

he term defender of the faith used by british monarchs to this day. the british crown is supposed to defend protestant christianity, but carries the title awarded by a pope! it's all such a farce. martin luther, who used a rose and a cross as his personal seal, was an agent of the rosicrucian order, that ancient strand in the illuminati web. luther's protestant creed was subdivided into countless sects. one was calvinism, which later became the sickness of the mind known as the puritan faith. this was used most effectively to instigate and justify the genocide of god save us from religion 221 the native americans. the real name of john calvin, the man who started all this, was jean cauin. he came from noyons in france and was educated at the illuminati's college du montagu. this is where i

ving heart was removed and offered to the gods. it was seen as the supreme offering and it still is by the satanists today. what happened to princess diana's heart after she was ritually murdered on that ancient merovingian ritual site for the goddess diana (dana, artemis) in paris? phillip eugene de rothschild also confirms that the illuminati satanists today are the modern version of the secret sects of sumer, babylon, and other ancient cultures. he says he was initiated into. the oldest, most pristine form of satanism, the old sumero-akkadian-babylonian mystery religion..inherent in this culture is the presence and power of demonic spirits, and they became an integral part of my life and even my being. in a culture addicted to power, demonic spirits offered the ultimate power trip. if

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

e tarot cards anddubbed them evil. in the centuries which followed the elimination of the cathars infrance, the tarot was circulated by travelling entertainers and gypsies. somefigure 50: liberty? then why the fascist symbols at the bottomwhich stand for anything but freedom. 366researchers say the tarot cards were introduced to europe by the returning crusaderswho had acquired them from mystical sects in the middle east and that is certainly trueto an extent. but what is often forgotten is the role played by the gypsies and why theyhave been persecuted so often, not least by adolf hitler. there is the legend, i believebased on truth, that priests from alexandria saved whatever they could when the greatesoteric library at alexandria was burned by the roman church and they becamewanderers

DEITUS

ago, the previous cycle of expansion ended and the cycle of restriction, which crowley calls the aeon of osirus, began. like the aeon of isis, the aeon of osirus was not a single aeon but a succession of aeons in a cycle of restriction. the fact that the aeon of osirus was not a single aeon with one law is evidenced by the fact that there were many religions established during the cycle and many sects within each religion. there were also many different concepts as to who god was and what was expected of man from god. it may be said that the law of the aeon of muhammed was there is one god and muhammed is his prophet. it may also be said that the law of the aeon of christ (or aeon of st. paul) was only through the son can you approach the father. the significance of this is that all aeons

DEMONIC BIBLE

od. the acceptance of christianity as the official religion of rome (and creation of the roman catholic church) signaled the end of this intellectual christianity and the start of a new authoritarian christianity. in its rise to dominance, the church proclaimed earlier pagan religions to be forms of devil-worship and condemned millions of innocent men, women and children to death. various gnostic sects were among those executed. intellectual freedom was suppressed and obedience to the church was demanded. with the age of enlightenment and the eventual separation of church and state, a new emotional christianity took the place of the authoritarian christianity. the new christianity espoused faith in jesus, the person, as the savior of man and the redeemer of the world. the bible was accepte

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

magick (q.v) that is involved with so-called demons (q.v. gnomes: the elemtaries (q.v/ elementals (q.v) of earth (q.v. the good spirits (q.v) that live in the depths of the earth. traditionally, they are said to guard buried treasure. gnosis: greek for "knowledge" a total gestalt comprehension of the universe and the relationship between divinity (god) and humanity. the goal of members of gnostic sects that flourished in the early centuries of the christian era. goblins: evil spirits noted for their ugly appearance and malicious habits. god-form: the outer expression or posture and mindset of a god or entity. the magician takes on the characteristics and powers of a god/entity by invoking (q.v) the god/entity through ritual. this was known in the hermetic order of the golden dawn [g.d (q.v

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

17. the yetziratic text stresses the idea of faith, the faith that rests on understanding, whose parent is binah. this is the only place where faith may rightly rest. a cynic defined faith as the power of believing what you know isn't true; and this appears to be a fairly accurate definition for the manifestations of faith as they appear in many uninstructed minds, the fruit of the discipline of sects unenlightened by mystical consciousness. but in the light of that consciousness we may define faith as the conscious result of superconscious experience which has not been translated into terms of brainconsciousness, and of which, therefore, the normal personality is not directly aware, though it nevertheless feels, possibly with great intensity, the effects, and its emotional reactions are

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

nly be used for good and their power for evil should be concealed; but that she herself was well aware of their possibilities if abused is witnessed by the dread of what she called "malicious animal magnetism" which shadowed her whole life. 3 of 103 the methods of christian science, without its strict discipline and careful organisation, were developed and exploited by the innumerable schools and sects of the new thought movement. in many of the developments the religious aspect was lost sight of, and they simply became a method of mental manipulation for purely personal ends, though not necessarily deliberately evil. their exponents advertised that they would teach the art of salesmanship, of making oneself popular and dominant in society, of attracting the opposite sex, of drawing to one

d upon it by mme blavatsky. now mine blavatsky was trained in the eastern school and had very little, if any, practical acquaintance with the inner aspect of western occultism, nor was she a master of its methods. she spoke from an eastern standpoint and judged western esoteric conditions by those she had seen in the east, where tantric magic has become depraved in the hands of dugpas and similar sects. in the dense and materialistic atmosphere of the west it is exceedingly difficult to get any results worth mentioning without the use of some form of ceremonial. even the theosophical society, of which she was the foundress, has unconsciously drifted into western methods, adopting the catholic ceremonial and the masonic initiations as side chapels to its main temple, and the mixture is givi

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

charismatic leaders: 1. they believe the founder can/could perform miracles or other supernatural feats, and the founder is perceived as somehow more than human. the founder is considered infallible, or the founder s faults are ignored or explained away [25, pp. 184- 218] the founder, anton lavey, plays a key role in the religion. it is very common to find that followers of new religious groups, sects, or cults revere the founder as more than human, capable of miracles (or, in the case of anton lavey, curses, etc. with very flattering hagiographies written about the founder s life. they ignore rampant inconsistencies in the founder s professed past and perceive ordinary actions as accomplishments only a demigod could have performed. they are quick to accredit general trends to the founder

hurch of satan, etc. lending further credibility to the church of satan s view the behavior of many new high priests of various new and improved church of satans (not necessarily including or limited to the organizations mentioned above) seem rather focused on being high priests and little else. finally, it is common to observe rebellious behavior against the original organization among break-out sects. it is easy to become a member of the church of satan and with the grapes thus within easy reach the church of satan s sour-grapes argument is not air-tight, however. furthermore, varying versions of the sour-grapes argument tend to be uncritically used against any hostile non-follower, ex-follower, or organization, indicating that perhaps this argument provides an explanation that is too si

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

ghart, j. albert the great. london: washbourne, 1876. albigenses a sect that originated in the south of france in the twelfth century. they were named for one of their territorial centers, that of albi, and were a branch of the cathari heresy. it is probable that the heresy came originally from eastern europe, since they were often designated bulgarians and undoubtedly kept up relations with such sects as the bogomils and the paulicians. it is difficult to form any exact idea about their doctrines, as albigensian texts are rare and contain little concerning their ethics, but we know that they were strongly opposed to the roman catholic church and protested the corruption of its clergy. their opponents claimed that they admitted two fundamental principles, good and bad, saying that god had

ous year, came to an end in 1881, as did the spiritualist. in the latter year dawson rogers founded light, with which the society was henceforth associated. encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. british national association of spiritualists 217 from the beginning, the bnas held itself apart from religious and philosophical dogmatism and included among its members spiritualists of all sects and opinions. in 1884 the association reorganized as the london spiritualist alliance. the journal light is now published by the college of psychic studies, london, which developed on similar lines to the former british college of psychic science. sources: doyle, arthur conan. the history of spiritualism. new york: charles h. doran, 1926. reprint, new york: arno press, 1975. british society

ile a grasshopper, on the contrary, indicated coming good fortune. sources: angkor wat. http//ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/ forgotten/angkor.html. june 16, 2000. cambridge buddhist association founded to provide instruction in buddhist meditation in the united states and to make available study materials. the association is nonsectarian and meetings are conducted by priests of different buddhist sects, in accordance with the wishes of the founder, shinichi hisamatsu. the association has been served by a series of outstanding buddhist teachers. the first president was shunryu suzuki (also of the san francisco zen center. he was succeeded by rev. chimyo horioka of the shingon sect of buddhism, who graduated from koyasan university, japan, then studied philosophy at the university of berlin

h the degree of lharampa geshe. the dalai lama had little time to enjoy his position. unable to hold the chinese back, on march 17, 1959, he was forced to flee tibet and to establish his government in exile in dharmasala, india. more than 100,000 tibetans fled at the same time. a mirror of the traditional tibetan community, complete with monasteries and headquarters of all of the tibetan buddhist sects, have been created in india and nepal. he set about the task of regaining independence for tibet, which has been incorporated into china. as tibetan buddhism spread from india into the world, especially the west, he opened offices of the tibetan government-in-exile in many countries sympathetic to his cause. in 1989 he was awarded the nobel peace prize, though his efforts to liberate tibet s

ds. new york: st. martin s, 1939. reprint, london: bodley head, 1977. initiations and initiates in tibet. london, 1932. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1959. magic and mystery in tibet. rev. ed, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1956. reprint, new york: dover publications, 1971. my journey to lhasa. new york: harper& brothers, 1927. the secret oral tradition in tibetan buddhist sects. san francisco: city lights, 1964. reprint, calcutta: maha bodhi society of india, 1971. foster, barbara m, and michael foster. forbidden journey: the life of alexandra david-neel. new york: harper and row, 1987. davidson, peter (1842.1929) peter davidson, cofounder of the hermetic brotherhood of light (hbl, a nineteenth-century british occult order, was born and raised in forres, scotland

me as your guide? the reply being made in the affirmative, the sheik added, then i accept you as my son. among the bektosh sect s important symbols were the double triangles and two triangles joined at the apex. one of their maxims was, the man must die that the saint may be born. for a jewel they made use of a small marble cube with red spots, to typify the blood of the martyred ali. the dervish sects were held suspect by many orthodox moslems, who said they devoted themselves entirely to the wellbeing of their order rather than to islam as a whole. the whirling dervishes originated in konya, on the anatolian plateau of turkey. they were organized by jalal al-din rumi (born in afghanistan in 1207, also known to his disciples as mevlana (our master. rumi was a theological scholar who came

had a voluntary communal life with a subsistence level of existence, and avoided temple worship. they had a threefold rule of love of god, love of virtue, and love of humankind. pliny, most importantly, located a holy of essenes on the west bank of the dead sea at a point far enough away as to escape its noxious fumes. josephus was for a short period an essene, which he described as one of three sects among the palestinian jews. he also notes their communalism and their voluntary poverty. he dealt with their tendency to adopt celibacy and to make room for orphans, which they treated as their own children. they had their own worship and beliefs, within a larger jewish context. as to their peculiar beliefs, josephus notes. they firmly believe that their bodies perish and their substance is

t library of qumran. minneapolis, minn: fortress press, 1995. ginsburg, christian d. the essenes: their history and doctrines. london: routledge and kegan paul, 1863. knibb, michael a. the qumran community. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1987. kraft, robert a, and george w. e. nickelsburg. early judaism and its modern interpreters. philadelphia: fortress press, 1986. simon, marcel. jewish sects at the time of jesus. philadelphia: fortress press, 1967. est popular name for erhard seminars training, a system of experiential philosophy developed by werner erhard. through the 1960s erhard explored a variety of self-help courses and spiritual disciplines, including dale carnegie, the church of scientology, subud, zen buddhism, and mind dynamics. in 1971, he had an enlightenment experien

nic communication with his assistant and explained that his achievement was because of slow breathing. records of several well-attested earlier cases of living burials were published in a brief book, observations on trance: or, human hibernation, by james braid, in 1850. braid traces the idea of these demonstrations to the following passage in the dabistan, a learned persian work on the religious sects in india: it is an established custom amongst the yogis that, when malady overpowers them, they bury themselves. they are wont, also, with open eyes, to force their looks towards the middle of their eyebrows, until so looking they perceive the figure of a man; if this should appear without hands, feet or any member, for each they have determined that the boundaries of their existence would b

l. according to pausanias, women were flogged in the temple of dionysus. plutarch states that the priests of cybele were flogged in the temple of the goddess. in the christian religion, flagellation found many rationalizations. it was used as an official punishment for priests and monks, a self-inflicted penance, and a dramatization of the sufferings of christ. there was an epidemic of flagellant sects in europe during the tenth and fourteenth centuries, associated with penance and love of christ, and the catholic authorities took extreme measures to suppress what they considered a morbid enthusiasm for the act. in latin american countries, flagellation still occurs at religious processions of penitentes. symbolic whippings have also been associated with certain tibetan and mongolian sects

her in the church of rome before being expelled as a heretic. he continued to teach as a rival of the church for the next two decades. his major literary production was the gospel of truth, known only from quote in christian polemical writings until a copy was discovered in the egyptian desert in the twentieth century. magical and occult element in gnosticism the carpocratians, one of the gnostic sects, seem to have derived some of their mysteries and rites from isis worship, and used theurgic incantations, symbols, and signs. the ophites also adapted egyptian rites, and, as their name indicates, these included serpent symbolism, an actual serpent being the central object of their mysteries. marcos, a disciple of valentinus, and founder of the marcian sect, reportedly celebrated mass with

dapted egyptian rites, and, as their name indicates, these included serpent symbolism, an actual serpent being the central object of their mysteries. marcos, a disciple of valentinus, and founder of the marcian sect, reportedly celebrated mass with two chalices, pouring wine from the larger into a smaller, and on pronouncing a magical formula, the vessel was filled with a liquor like blood. other sects practiced divination and prophecy by using female somnambules. some of the sects engaged in rituals of a sexual nature. the gnostic talismans were mostly engraved on gems, the color and traditional qualities of the jewel being part of its magical efficacy. they used spells and charms and mystic formulas, said to loose fetters, to cause blindness in one s enemies, to procure dreams, to gain f

munion with the divine being, has undoubtedly tended to keep before men s eyes, as the highest ideal, a life of purity, self-restraint, and contempt of the world and human affairs. it has also necessarily maintained amongst the laity a sense of the righteous claims of the poor upon the charity of the more affluent members of the community. further, sadhuism, by the multiplicity of the independent sects which have arisen in india has engendered and favoured a spirit of tolerance which cannot escape the notice of the most superficial observer. of the three main branches of hinduism, the most esoteric is the shaktas. the shaktas are worshipers of the shakti or the female principle as a creative and reproductive agency. each of the principal gods possesses his own shakti, through which his cre

lifornia, santa barbara (ucsb, where it now exists as the american religions collection. the institute continues to support and build the collection. the american religions collection houses more than volumes in addition to research files, magazines, and ephemeral literature. among its unique materials is the elmer t. clark memorial set of volumes used by him in writing his classic work the small sects in america (abingdon, 1949. the collection is open to the public for research through the special collections department of the university. above and beyond building a research library, isar has worked at creating reference books and other scholarly tools for the study of new religious movements, especially occult, magic, and eastern groups. with the relocation of the library to the universi

ce it was not a recognized degreegranting institution, it was forced to change its name. as the isle of avalon foundation, however, it has continued as a new age and magical teaching center offering a wide variety of courses in the sacred arts and sciences from spiritual healing to numerology and shamanistic magic. it may be contacted at 33 oldridge rd, london sw12 8pn. sources: barrett, david v. sects, cults, and alternative religions: a world survey and source book. london: blandford, 1996. israel beginning with the balfour declaration of november 2, 1917, there was a great influx of jewish immigrants into palestine, and this migration was intensified with the establishment of the state of israel on may 14, 1948. refugees from persecutions and the aftermath of two world wars brought the

e forms and objects, either of their own volition or by evocation, come into close touch with humans either to their advantage or detriment. much of japanese folklore and tradition is permeated with a belief in the supernatural. shinto religion and ancestor-worship a prominent feature of the japanese religion shintoism is the worship of ancestors, allied to the worship of nature. each of the main sects of shintoism includes the veneration of one s ancestors as a cardinal principle. according to that belief, the disembodied spirits acquire the powers of deities and possess supernatural attributes. they become potential for good or evil and exercise their potentialities in the same mundane sphere upon which their interests and affections centered during life. consequently they become guardia

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

department, davidson library, university of california. santa barbara, santa barbara, ca 93106. melton has authored or co-authored more than 25 books since his first in 1967, the history of the bowling green yoked charge (1967. he was an associate editor and contributor to the encyclopedia of world methodism (1968) and senior editor of several book series, including the garland bibliographies on sects and cults (1982.present; the churches speak (1989.90; cults and new religions (1990.91; cults and noncoventional religious groups: a collection of outstanding dissertations and monographs (1992.94; and religious information systems (1992.94. he also works on the editorial board of theosophical history. in 1996 he became the senior editor of the multi-volume international directory of the wor

known as the victorines and put up a stout fight against the dialecticians and schoolmen. bonaventura, who died in 1274, was a disciple of this school and a believer in the faculty of mystic intuition. in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the worldliness of the church aroused much opposition among laymen, and the church s cold formalism created a reaction towards a more spiritual regime. many sects arose, such as the waldenses, the cathari (see gnosticism, and the beguines, all of which strove to infuse into their teachings a warmer spirituality than that which burned in the heart of the church of their time. in germany, mysticism made great strides, and machthild of magdeburg and elizabeth of thuringia were, if not the originators of mysticism in germany, certainly among its earliest

ion of the world, a communal religious group with roots in hinduism. pencovic operated under his religious name, krishna venta. raised a mormon, pencovic became a public figure in his new identity in the 1930s and founded the group he led in the 1940s. he was killed by some dissident members in 1958 and the group finally disbanded in the early 1980s. sources: mathison, richard. faiths, cults, and sects of america. indianapolis: bibbs-merrill, 1960. ormont, arthur. love cults& faith healers. new york: ballantine books, 1961. pendulums a divination device. small pendulums are often used in dowsing, radiesthesia, and related divination systems instead of divining-rods. questions can be put, and the clockwise or anticlockwise rotation of the pendulum gives an answer, rather like the raps in sp

nd twitched, barked and bayed, sang and chanted, cried like babies, and fainted dead away, often remaining unconscious for hours on end. the third great awakening (1875.1915) followed the reconstruction period after the civil war, as the country attempted to redefine itself as it moved toward the industrial revolution. each of these awakening periods swept through the growing nation, creating new sects, reviving old ones, and inspiring an infectious spiritual fervor. among the most famous evangelists of the great awakenings included charles finney, dwight moody, and billy sunday, each paving the way for revivalists of future generations. a peculiar form of revivalism is said to have arisen by the late twentieth century, culminating with the explosion of television evangelists in the politi

eneral among the hebrews during the captivity, and that the invention of them was attributed to the wise solomon, as a more creditable personage than the deities of the assyrians. those fictions acquired currency, not only among the arabs, persians, and other islamic nations, but, in the process of time, also in many christian communities. they were first adopted by the gnostics and the dualistic sects in whose beliefs pagan rituals mixed with jewish and christian notions. in the middle ages they found their way among catholics too, principally by means of the apocryphal gospels and the hagiography of the saints. an incident in the life of st. margaret is typical. this holy virgin, having vanquished an evil spirit who assaulted her, demanded his name. my name, replied the demon, is veltis

nt in america; but, in fact, its roots sprouted up from people and places all over the world. washington noted that it seemed to have found a particular following in america for certain reasons. he also said that, the seance offers a new version of holy communion, in which faith is replaced by evidence, blood and wine by manifested spirits. it was therefore especially popular among the protestant sects fo the east coast of the united states, deprived as they usually were of any sensuous fulfillment in their religion and susceptible to any sign of the workings of divine grace, however bizarre. it is no coincidence that hydesville is in the middle of the notorious burned-over district of new york state, so called because of the extraordinary number of religious fashions that swept through it

ugh they were still living. according to saint augustine, in de cura pro mortuis, the spirits of the dead can be sent to the living and can unveil to them the future which they themselves have learned from other spirits or from angels, or by divine revelation. not surprisingly, much of the movement s motivation still rested in anti-catholicisim.not so different from the antagonism many protestant sects harbored without spiritualism. spiritualists do not believe in an afterlife of unchangeable bliss or eternal damnation. in their perspective, there is no hell with brimstone and flames of fire as some christians teach. in like measure they deny the existence of devils, a final judgment, and the vicarious atonement. christ was a great teacher who descended to set an example. it is our task to

jesus did for judaism, said a message received by w. stainton moses from the spirits who allegedly spoke through his automatic writing. spiritualists also deny the resurrection of the physical body, as did the hieracites, a sect that flourished in the fourth century: they maintain that it is the soul alone that resurrected. spiritualism admits all the truths of morality and religion of all other sects. the moral stance is illustrated in the role of mediums. spiritualists tend to maintain that those mediums who hold seances and become the direct mouthpieces of the spirits are only supereminently endowed with a faculty common to all humanity.that all men and woman are mediums to some degree, and that all inspiration, whether good or bad, comes from the spirits. it is in connection with this

such as john w. truesdell s the bottom facts concerning the science of spiritualism (1884; julien j. proskauer s spook crooks! exposing the secrets of the prophet-eers who conduct our wickedest industry (1932; harry houdini s a magician among the spirits (1924; and the anonymous revelations of a spirit medium (1891; reissued by harry price and eric j. dingwall. sources: ancient wisdom and secret sects, mysteries of the unknown. alexandria, va: time-life books, 1996. barbanell, maurice. spiritualism today. london: herbert jenkins, 1969. barrett, sir william f. on the threshold of the unseen: an examination of the phenomena of spiritualism and of the evidence for survival after death. london: kegan paul; new york: e. p. dutton, 1917. bayless, raymond. voices from beyond. new hyde park, n.y:

ddhist teachings to the west in the wake of the chinese takeover of the country. he came to the united states and settled in the san francisco bay area early in 1969, bringing with him his wife and a collection of rare tibetan sacred texts. with the help of a small group of students, he soon established the tibetan nyingmapa meditation center in berkeley. nyingmapa is one of four tibetan buddhism sects with an ancient tradition. it was founded in the eighth century c.e. by guru padmasambhava and shantirakshita. the literature of nyingmapa is classified as kama (oral tradition from master to disciple) and terma (secret books originally concealed by padmasambhava, such as the tibetan book of the dead) known generally as rinpoche (precious master, tarthang tulku teaches the advanced system of

hat emerged in the land. also moving into tibet from india was a form of hindu tantra, with its emphasis upon the subtle energies of the body and ritualized sex. strong superstitions, belief in ghosts, demons, and magic coexisted with deep mystical thought. the apostle of buddhism in tibet was named padmasambhava and entered the country in the 1740s. as buddhism developed, it divided into various sects, the degree of acceptance of the local religion being an important differentiating factor. the four main groups are popularly distinguished by the color of the hats their followers wear. the older red caps or ningmapas, for example, follow the adi-yoga or path of the great perfection, founded by the guru padmasambhava, while the yellow cap sect or gelugpas follow a middle way buddhism; the k

or example, follow the adi-yoga or path of the great perfection, founded by the guru padmasambhava, while the yellow cap sect or gelugpas follow a middle way buddhism; the kargyutpas, or followers of successive order (deriving from the great tibetan saint milarepa, died 1135, successor of the revered gurus marpa, tilopa, and naropa) follow the way of mahamudra or great symbol. as with the various sects of hindu thurston, herbert henry charles (s. j) encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 1570 religious philosophy, with their many subtle emphases, the general overall philosophy of the four groups is the same. by the fifteenth century a teaching had emerged in tibet that the heads of all of the many monasteries were bodhisattvas, highly evolved beings who were refraining from ent

g the state oracle, the dalai lama is convinced that shugden is a hungry spirit and therefore incorrect to worship and regard as a protector for the buddhist. due to the dalai lama s opposing view, he is accused by some buddhists for being a religious censor. since the tibetan culture and religion is thought to be near extinction, the dalai lama attempted to set a level of commonality between all sects of buddhism. the great controversy that resulted from this attempted act of unification, may have also been the cause for the deaths of three monks in the dalai lama s inner circle. dissent within the tibetan culture may be the result of the larger issues that still exist between chinese and the tibetan government-in-exile. the chinese government seeks to control, and ultimately squelch, the

ga. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1963. david-neel, alexandra. my journey to lhasa. london: william heinemann, 1927. with mystics and magicians in tibet. london: john lane, 1931. reprinted as magic& mystery in tibet. new york: claude h. kendall, 1932. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1956. david-neel, alexandra, and lama yongden. the secret oral teachings in tibetan buddhist sects. calcutta, india: maha bodhi society of india, n.d. evans-wentz, w. y. tibet s great yogi milarepa. london: oxford university press, 1928. gore, donald r. tibetan medicine. perspectives in biology and medicine 42 (winter 99: 270.71. harrer, heinrich. return to tibet. london: weinfeld& nicholson, 1984. seven years in tibet. london: rupert hart-davis; new york: e. p. dutton, 1953. klein, richa

ses by appearing instead of its creator. a tulpa should be distinguished from a tulku, which is either the reincarnation of a saintly individual or the incarnation of a non-human entity, such as a god, demon, or fairy. sources: david-neel, alexandra. initiations and initiates in tibet. london, 1932. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1959. the secret oral tradition in tibetan buddhist sects. san francisco: city lights, 1964. reprint, calcutta: maha bodhi society of india, 1971. with mystics and magicians in tibet. 1931. rev. ed. as magic and mystery in tibet. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1956. reprint, new york: dover publications, 1971. tumah according to the kabala, the term refers to physical or moral uncleanness. the latter is divided into three main divisions. ido

is has some similarity to the hindu teachings of the nature of kundalini energy.possibly aroused in subtle physical channels, related to the energy of sexual activity, and productive of either heat or cold in the body. sources: david-neel, alexandra. initiations and initiates in tibet. london, 1932. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1959. the secret oral tradition in tibetan buddhist sects. san francisco: city lights, 1964. reprint, calcutta: maha bodhi society of india, 1971. with mystics& magicians in tibet. 1931. rev. ed. as magic and mystery in tibet. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1956. reprint, new york: dover publications, 1971. tunisa burmese diviners (see also myanmar) turin shroud a relic housed in a chapel in turin (or turino, italy, and believed by some to b

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

ote that the karaites attacked the provocative anthropomorphism of the qabalistic doctrines. while few contemporary jews know anything about the karaites, the impetus for their revolt is similar to conditions in modern judaism. many jews today feel ambivalent about and tenuously connected to rabbinical judaism. many orthodox jews regard the conservative and reform branches of judaism as heretical sects, declaring them to be jews only in the biological sense. in recent decades, an extraordinary number of people born and raised by jewish parents have set out to explore the ideas and practices of other mystical traditions, as if in search of traces of their own. we hear the colloquialisms hindjews and jewdhists, reflecting the many jews who have passionately embraced the hindu and buddhist my

ting quietly before it, you could focus upon the sound and rhythm of the waves. going to that body of water on a cloudless full moon night, you could meditate upon the reflection of the moon in the water. the practices of the mystical qabalah are fluid and flexible, and provide fertile opportunity for us to use our imaginations in a creative and personally meaningful way,-8, most faiths, and many sects within each faith, often find much to disagree about. but, all of them teach that helping people is good. masters and saints in all mystical traditions encourage selfless service as an important part of any small face spiritual discipline. in judaism, selfless service is called performing a mitzvah, a good deed. in india, it is called seva (pronounced, save-ah. in buddhism, it is called dana

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

venus speak in favour of love, friendship, and peace which are to replace partiality.4 under libra, we learn that the balance must go down to look into injustices on earth, amongst other things to correct the violence done to nature in vestal edifices.5 the ethic which bruno advocates is that of a rule of law and order which encourages peaceful and useful activities and from which warring between sects is banished. in its private aspect, this ethic encourages good venereal, jovial, and solar characteristics and it is non-ascetic, as instanced in the protest against "vestal edifices" just mentioned. all the failures of the christian 1 ibid, dial. i (dial, ital, p. 622. 2 ibid (dial, ital, pp. 627 ff. 3 ibid, dial. 2 (dial, ital, pp. 705 ff* ibid, dial. 3 (dial, ital, pp. 766 ff. 5 ibid (dia

venereal, jovial, and solar characteristics and it is non-ascetic, as instanced in the protest against "vestal edifices" just mentioned. all the failures of the christian 1 ibid, dial. i (dial, ital, p. 622. 2 ibid (dial, ital, pp. 627 ff. 3 ibid, dial. 2 (dial, ital, pp. 705 ff* ibid, dial. 3 (dial, ital, pp. 766 ff. 5 ibid (dial, ital, p. 771. 227 giordano bruno in england: the hermetic reform sects are to be healed by the return to the egyptian religion and the kind of moral law which bruno associates with it. yet this reform he envisages as remaining in some manner associated with the church, for the altar, discussed under the constellation of that name, is to remain in heaven with the centaur, half beast (in the egyptian sense of god) and half man beside it.1 the centaur is admired f

istian associations, its syncretism of all philosophies and religions, mediaeval as well as antique, and its magic. moreover and this is to my mind one of the most significant aspects of giordano bruno he came at the end of that sixteenth century with its terrible exhibitions of religious intolerance, in which men were seeking in religious hermetism some way of toleration or union between warring sects. we saw in chapter x that there were many varieties of christian hermetism, catholic and protestant, most of them avoiding the magic. and then comes giordano bruno, taking full magical egyptian hermetism as his basis, preaching a kind of egyptian counter reformation, prophesying a return to egyptianism in which the religious difficulties will disappear in some new solution, preaching, too, a

the talk of fines and circles, spheres and angles, and so on. it therefore seems possible that this book may be written in a cipher of some kind. whether or not the emperor rudolph could read the message concealed in the "mathesis, the drift of the preface dedicating the work to him is clear. there are vicissitudes of fight and darkness and the present time of darkness is afflicted by quarrelling sects. breaking the ius gentium and consequently the order instituted by the true god, these dissolve the bonds of society, being moved by misanthropic spirits, ministers to the infernal furies, who put the sword of discord between the peoples, as though they were mercuries descending from heaven, imposing all kinds of impostures. they set man against man and break the law of love, which belongs n

of things.5 if the reader is a devoted disciple of giordano he will remember that he has seen those figures before, or figures almost exactly like them, namely in the articuli adversus mathematicos where they were seals of the trinity mens, intellectus, amor (pi. 11 a, b, c, seals "against the mathematicians" who seem to be explained in the preface to the emperor rudolph as the warring christian sects who should be replaced by a religion of love and a cult of nature. if the disciple is such a devoted giordanist that he has been with bruno in paris he will wonder when he sees the two diagrams labelled "plectrum mordentii" 1 see above, pp. 309, 311. 2 op. lat, i l l, p. 416. 3 ibid, p. 535. d. w. singer giordano bruno, etc, p. 71) speaks of bruno's "cosmic metabolism" in connection with the

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL 2

reborn as jesus. the baptism of water administered by john as representative of jehovah freed him also. he yielded his body at that moment to the descending christ spirit and ranged himself with the new leader. religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer catholic, that is to say, universal. sects and "isms" have branched out in one direction and another, but still jesus from the invisible worlds enfolds in his love all the sons of seth who will call upon his name by faith, and he will eventually unite the scattered churches in the kingdom of christ. christian rosenkreuz was given charge of the sons of cain who seek the light of knowledge at the sacred fires of the mystic shrine. as t

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

ly received virgin mary baptism of spirit sacrifice female ideal- divine ruler priests--brahmins--levites divine ruler over a over human initiation by water [baptism] purged humanity called brotherhood/ abraham's seed dwelling typified by/ in the new jer-u-salem abraham ecclesiastical powers which means melchisedec is there shall be peace called king of division into races--nations- salem [peace] sects and peace hence there is war--oppression- prevailed slavery- saturn period unity and diversity vulcan period polarian epoch love and hate kingdom of god [1] heat [7- sun period venus period hyperborean epoch new galilee [2] fire [6] brotherhood- moon period [3] fire--male sex--state [5] jupiter period lemurian epoch water--female sex--church aryan epoch- earth period fire/male--air/nations a

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

he 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 days began to lengthen, this virgin gave birth to the sun-god. it is said that he issued forth from her side, hence the legend that gotama buddha was produced from the side of maya, and also the story believed by the gnostics and other christian sects that jesus was taken from the side of mary.[31 [31] the fact will doubtless be remembered that a similar belief was entertained concerning the birth of julius caesar. within the churches and in the streets of many cities of germany are to be observed figures of this traditional virgin. she is standing, one foot upon a crescent and the other on a serpent's head, in the mouth of which is the s

or dove" the scuths, on the other hand, believed in the pre-eminence of a great father, or, perhaps i should say, in a deity composed of a triad containing the elements of a male parent. upon this subject the learned faber remarks "i am much mistaken if some dissension on these points did not prevail at babel itself; and i think there is reason for believing that the altercation between the rival sects aided the confusion of languages in producing the dispersion"[52 [52] pagan idolatry, book vi, ch. ii. those who believed in the superiority of the male in the processes of reproduction, adored the male element in the deity, while those who held that the female is the more important, worshipped the female energy throughout nature under one or another of its symbols, sometimes as a woman with

element in the deity, while those who held that the female is the more important, worshipped the female energy throughout nature under one or another of its symbols, sometimes as a woman with her child and sometimes as a dove, but oftener as an ark, box, or chest. it is evident from the sacred writings of the hindoos that in india, during a period of several thousand years, there existed various sects, those who worshipped the male as the only creative force, others who adored the female as the origin of life, and those who paid homage to both, as alike important in the office of reproduction. it would seem that the fierce wars which had devastated the land had ceased prior to the beginning of the tower of babel. according to the testimony of moses, the lord himself declared "behold the p

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 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 is

and immediately after he had commanded adam to "be fruitful" he presents him with a staff, which we observe is handed down to enoch and all the patriarchs. here the mystery deepens, for it is declared that this staff was presented so seth, and that it was a branch of the tree of life. that beneath this allegory is veiled a contest, or perhaps a compromise, between the worshippers of two distinct sects, seems altogether probable. that the handing down of this branch of the tree of life, first to adam, or man, by aleim, and its subsequent transference to seth, the god of nature, the destroyer or regenerator, seems to indicate a victory for the adherents of a purer religion. the translator of kallimachus says "it is well known to the learned reader that the descendants of cain are distinguis

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 these principles or sects was subdued, the older religion was revived, and seth, as the aleim, or as the creative power within the sun, was "appointed" or again worshipped. it would seem that seth was appointed to represent the third person in the ancient trinity--the destroyer or regenerator which had previously come to embody all the powers of the creator and preserver. the fact has been observed that the very anci

us remain the only hereditary noblemen and national pensioners in the empire. even the imperial blood becomes diluted, degraded, and absorbed into the body politic after the seventh generation; but the descendants of confucius remain separate, through all the mutations of time and of government"[119 [119] thomas magee, in the forum, vol. x, p. 204. laotse, the founder of the smallest of the three sects in china, namely, confucianism, buddhism, and taoism, was an old man when confucius was in his prime. the word taou signifies reason, but the doctrines believed by the taoists prove their system to be the most irrational of all the religions of the east. in an article on the taouist religion, warren benton says "the tendency in rationalism is toward the utter destruction of a belief in the e

der to slay all the male infants, there has been discovered in a cavern at elephanta, in india, a sculptured representation of a huge and ferocious figure, bearing a drawn sword and surrounded by slaughtered children, while mothers appear weeping for their slain. this figure is said to be of great antiquity. mary, the mother of jesus, like mai, the mother of gatama buddha, was regarded by certain sects in the earlier ages of christianity as an immortal virgin whose birth had been announced by an angel.[126] she was in fact the ancient virgin of the sphere--the mother of the gods--the queen of heaven [126] see gospels of mary and the protovangelion. as soon as christ was born he conversed with mary, as did also crishna with his mother, informing her of his divine mission. crishna was cradle

man and in animals. whether it be a veritable snake in a box, a serpent connected with the figure of a woman, or as a carved representation on monuments or stones, or as chains or wreaths on columns, bas-reliefs or friezes, the signification is the same. the sacred character of this reptile among the gnostics is shown by the accounts given of their religious rites and ceremonies. by many of these sects this holy creature was kept in a box, ark, or chest, and when the eucharistic service was to be performed, he was enticed forth from his resting- place by a bit of bread. so soon as his holiness had wound himself about the offering, the sacrifice was complete and the service was concluded by "singing a hymn to almighty god, and praying for acceptance in and through the serpent" in later ages

(continued. from the facts recorded in the foregoing pages, we have seen that true christianity was but a continuation of that great movement which was begun in persia seven or eight centuries before, and whose gathering strength had been emphasized by the humane doctrines set forth in the various schools of greek philosophy. in the first century of the christian era may be observed among various sects, notably the gnostics, a desire to popularize the teachings of an ancient race, and to accentuate those principles which had been taught by buddha, pythagoras, the stoic philosophers, the roman jurisconsults and others. in other words the object of the new religion was to stimulate the altruistic characters which had been developed during the evolutionary processes, and to strengthen and enc

red to bring about any appreciable change in human thought and action, that the principles which this great teacher enunciated are at the present time only just beginning to be understood. to one who carefully studies the history of christianity by the light of recently developed truths, the fact will doubtless be discovered that the fundamental difference existing between catholic and protestant sects is grounded in the old feud arising out of the relative importance of the sex-principles. from the days of zoroaster to the final establishment of christianity by paul, the tendency--although slight--had been toward the elevation of woman, and consequently toward a greater acknowledgment of the female element in the god-idea. considerable impetus was given to the cause of woman's advancement

he cause of woman's advancement through the doctrines of the various schools of philosophy in greece, and subsequently by the efforts put forth by the roman lawyers to establish their equality with men before the law; hence, during the first hundred years of the christian era the "new religion" seems to have contained much of the spirit of the ancient philosophy. by several of the early christian sects, the second person in the trinity was female, as was also the holy ghost. in a "fragment of a gospel preserved by st. jerome, and believed to have been from the original aramaean gospel of st. matthew, with additions, the holy ghost (ruach, which in hebrew is feminine, is called by the infant savior 'my mother, the holy ghost"[142 [142] barlow, essays on symbolism, p. 135. the mission of chr

dience. neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man; thus was re-established and emphasized the absurd doctrine of the lingaites, that the male is an independent entity, that he is spirit and superior to the female which is matter. after this indication of the policy to be pursued under the new regime, it would scarcely be expected that theefforts put forth by the various sects among the gnostics toreinstate the female element either on the earth or in heavenwould be successful, and as might be anticipated from the factsalready adduced, as early as the year 325, at the council of nice, a male trinity was formally established, and soon thereafter, the collylidians, a sect which rigorously persisted in the adoration of the female principle, were condemned. at the cou

symbols representing the female in the deity. the ancient religious structures of the lingaites still continued as recognized faith shrines, changed only by the emblems of the new religion which had been engrafted upon them. the earliest greek and roman missionaries knew full well the significance of these symbols, and we are given to understand that "a few of the more spiritual of the christian sects made war upon them and all their ephemeral substitutes, such as maypoles, holy-trees, real crosses, etc" it is declared also that, as "later" christians were unacquainted with the significance of these emblems "they adopted them as their own, employing them as the mystic signs of their own faith" although the earliest greek and roman missionaries understood the signification of these faith s

in referring to the effigy of a crucified savior found in ireland the author of the round towers says that it was not intended for our savior for the reason that it wore the iranian regal crown, instead of the jewish crown of thorns.[171 [171] the round towers of ireland, p. 298. regarding this effigy, higgins remarks that the crucified body without the cross reminds one that "some of the ancient sects of heretics held jesus to have been crucified in the clouds" moore, who has produced several prints of ballaji, says he is unable to account for the pierced foot of a crucified figure in india. he endeavors to prove, however, that this crucifix cannot be hindoo "because there are duplicates of it from the same model" as the mould is made of clay, he contends that only one cast may be made fr

things according to their various kinds of species" in the earliest ages she comprehended not only matter but the moving force in the universe. she was the deity which by a very ancient race was represented by the mother idea--perceptive wisdom. she was the sun and the first emanation from the sun. she was the divine word, the logos, the holy ghost which in the time of christ was again by various sects recognized as female. the allegory of the greeks concerning jupiter taking mhtis (wisdom) to wife and from this union with her producing minerva from his head, is seen to be closely connected with the doctrine of buddha (wisdom) or of the rasit of genesis. according to faber, the import of the greek word nous and of the sanscrit menu is precisely the same: each denotes mind or intelligence

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

establish a direct correspondenceofan advanced kind between that world and the. wholebodyofhumanity.ivcertain circles of investigation, and certain unattached studentsworkingon individual169--appendixa 168lines, have set themselves to discover in the literature of western mysticism a solution of the great problemsofexistence.vthereligious aspirationsofthe age are distracted by the conflict of the sects, and those principles which are at the base of all religion must undoubtedly be sought as the sourceofillumination by the many minds which are weary of vain speculations and disputes that have no end. vi to these it may be stated that a method of transcending the material world, of penetrating the veilofappearances, and of entering into the realities which underlie sense-delusions does not s

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

wisest of men, the greatest scientists, have maintained, and ever won, struggle after struggle with the assumed infallibility of old hebrew testament literal instructions, and assertions, and narratives. the old testament may indeed be, to some extent, the link which binds together thousands of christians, for christ founded his doctrine upon a jewish basis, but the interminable list of christian sects of today have almost all taken their rise from the assertion of an assumed right of personal interpretation of the bible, which should have remained debarred to the generality by the confession that the keys were lost, or, at least, missing, and that, without their assistance, error of a vital character was inevitable. the vast accumulation of varying interpretations of the bible, although a

d debarred to the generality by the confession that the keys were lost, or, at least, missing, and that, without their assistance, error of a vital character was inevitable. the vast accumulation of varying interpretations of the bible, although a stupendous folly, yet sinks into insignificance as an incident of importance, before the collateral truth that the followers of each of the hundreds of sects have arrogated to themselves, not only the right of personal interpretation, but the duty of condemning allothers-asif the infallibility they claimed for the bible could not fail to be reflected upon the personal propaganda or the specialities of a chapel service. religious intolerance has cursed every village of the land, and hardly a single sect has originated which hasnotonlyclaimed the r

et society closely resembling in its principles and practices that of freemasonry, and of its having had a regular initiatory procedure, but these additions are almost entirely imaginary and invented to support the theory of one masonic origin from this jewish sect.theessenes certainly existed in the period alleged to be the era of jesus, and it is curiousthatthe new testament mentions only three sects of jews, the scribes, pharisees, and the sadducees. from the statement that jesus passed forty days of fasting in the wilderness previous to his manifestation as a great teacher, it has been suggested he was an initiate of the essenes, and the same opinion has been held of john the baptist. so complex is the subject that we find eusebius declaring the essenes were the first christians, but e

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 earth were associated with lion, bull, man and eagle, and that these symbols were allocated by the hebrews to the four cherubim and by the christiansto the four evangelists.theancient greek kronos, emblematic of time, was considered as lion-headed; venus as love, as a dove; jove with an eagle; apollo is shown with a swan. p

of spiritual beings who are to guide future gener255 ations upon future globes. there have been, no doubt, at all times certain men with the birthright of a highly spiritual character who have been inspired with great thoughts and supra-normal conceptions regarding man's origin and destiny. some have led livesof solitude, others294themagical masonhave formed groups of pupils, others have founded sects of mystics, such as the quietists, of some we have heard by name, others have worked and risen unknown to fame. systems designated for spiritual development have arisen among many peoples, and some survive, but many have passed into oblivion. in india we find the yoga systems, raja yoga and bhakti yoga, which seem unfitted for successful use by europeans. there is the rosicrucian system of p

ing in a heaven of bliss, or to be punished in a hell of torment, and the christian church has said to all eternity. but there are several modern variations of this doctrine; for some divines assert, while others express a pious hope, that all men will be finally blessed, while others again declare that the wicked will not suffer eternally, but will be blotted out of existence.thegnostics or some sects of these mystics taught that the soul of the infant came from the souls of the parents, as the body from the mother's body.300themagical masonorigen believed in the pre-existence of souls, which were born again and again into this world; this notion was condem255 ned at a synod held at constantinoplein543.thedoctrine of the immortality of the human soul was accepted at the lateran church cou

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

-religious philosophies and activities. an article entitled "politics and freemasonry" that appeared in mimar sinan, maintains the following about the struggle against religion: along with not being a political party, freemasonry became organized in the beginning of the eighteenth century into a social institution of international scope in tune with political and social currents. in order to help sects in their attempt to exercise religious freedom, freemasonry engaged in a struggle against the power and influence of the clergy in the attempt to achieve their sole aim of toppling the church's power and influence over the people. for this reason, in 1738 and 1751 it was declared godless by the pope in those countries that adopted the principles of religious freedom, freemasonry was a myster

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

ines, treatises, modes of speech, etc: designed for or suitable to the generality of disciples; communicated to outsiders, intelligible to the public. hence of disciples, etc. belonging to the outer circle; not admitted to the esoteric teaching. oxford english dictionary esotericism (the inner teachings) are elusive and hard to find, they have been passed from "mouth to ear" through brotherhoods, sects and orders. they do not evolve, while their appearance may change from age to age, they exist as memories and reflections, transmissions from the golden age (the equivalent in time to the world of ideals) through history. while esotericism can take any form from hindu to buddhist, christian to islamic, it is at the core, distinct from each. it is trans-temporal and yet being in time takes th

: the secret of saturn the gnostic handbook page 42 the secret of saturn the darkest aspect of the gnostic tradition is that of dualism. so many people who read about the gnosis accept at face value that the demiurge (or creator) is evil and that matter itself is, if not evil, then a mixture 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

his reflection, being distorted, gave birth to destructive and twisted forces (klippoth, which in turn created the material world. even among the gnostics there are many variations in interpretations of the fall. some traditions see the creator as the divine will or sophia, others see the creator as the demiurge and hence evil. some have two yahwehs, a true light lord and a false substitute. some sects refute the whole old testament saying it is the work of the false yahweh, while others even see the serpent in genesis as a premonition of the savior. for a more modern twist, one science fiction writer (with a penchant for occultism and a strange adaptation of psychology) outlined the gnostic myth in a more technological form. millions of years ago in the spiritual dimensions, a spirit enti

proofs have no certainty. there is no criterion left when the kali age settles down. people become poorer in vigour and lustre. they are wicked, full of anger, sinful, false, and avaricious. bad ambitions, bad education, bad dealings, and bad earnings excite fear. the whole batch becomes greedy and untruthful. many sudras will become kings, and many heretics will be seen "there will arise various sects; sannyasins wearing clothes colored red. many profess to have supreme knowledge because, thereby, they will easily earn their livelihood. in the kali age, there will be many false religionists. india will become desolate by repeated calamities, short lives, and various diseases. everyone will be miserable owing to the dominance of vice and tamoguna; people will freely commit abortion "earth

tribes of israel to history and the description of their re-awakening to the gnosis started in 1844. this period is also known as the time of the gentiles and is referenced in leviticus 26 and under the guise of the prophecy of the seven times. 1844 as a trigger point for the heraldic cycle is also interesting as many religions view this as an important date, the adventists (and other protestant sects) of the period preached throughout american that jesus was returning and a great disappointment occurred due to a misunderstanding of this prophecy. modern groups deriving from the adventists including seventh day adventists and branch davidians continue to believe that this date was significant and teach that in 1844 jesus entered the holy of holies in the israelite temple and began an inve

ric tradition that embodied a special form of technology aimed at transforming man into god (deification. it represented the highest class within the spiritual hierarchy and included forms of shamanism, ritual technology and gnostic science. it was the esoteric heart of the israelite people, regardless of the nature of the outer forms. it was similar to the inner grades of the essenes and gnostic sects and is at the heart of the gnostic faith. the gnostic handbook page 73 the sacred serpent the serpent is an image central to the gnosis, while this may at first seem unusual when we come to appreciate the esotericism of the serpent we can understand its significance. the major problem which arises with the iconography of the serpent or snake is the prejudice found in most christian literatur

saiah 15:29 where the serpent is used as an image of redemption. moses holds up the serpent (on a cross) to heal israel- most christian scholars agree that this is a type of the coming messiah, in christian terms, jesus himself. accordingly, we have the unusual suggestion of the serpent as jesus. in hebrew numerology the numerical value of the serpent or snake is that of the messiah. many gnostic sects saw the serpent as the agent of redemption and the primary symbol of gnosis. the ophites (from the greek word for serpent, ophis, like many modern gnostic groups, ourselves included, believe that the serpent of the genesis story was a representative for the lord of light (as was jesus, while the creator depicted in the old testament was seen as the demiurge. it has been suggested that since

the purified. within western europe these early gnostics appeared in northern france and the low countries toward the late 11th or early 12th century. persecuted and expelled from the north, the cathars travelled south and found success in the semi-independent province of languedoc and the surrounding areas. here they became known as albigenses. it is believed the cathars originally derived from sects such as the bogomils and paulicians who originated in such regions as armenia, syria and asia minor. the cathars or albigenses were a distinctly gnostic sect believing strongly in the dualism between the higher and lower worlds and identified the creator of matter with the demiurge. this creator they called the rex mundi or king of the world. they centred their worship on god the father and

terial life" was expelled from the community. the believers, or credentes were those of the terrestrial path and followed a similar path to that of the perfected ones, however perfection was not required of them. the cathari form a major link in the lineage of the modern mysteries and sustained the esoteric teachings while under persecution from the apostate church and transmitted them, via small sects and cults, to today's gnostics. the gnostic handbook page 109 wisdom from india to give an example from hinduism of the amoral path. we find in traditional hindu (tantric- vedic) tantra there are two distinct traditions, the right and left hand path. these have nothing to do with white and black magic as the ignorant suggest but are two distinct methodologies of redemption. the right hand pa

far he has come beyond the law. the example we earlier gave regarding the fire which removes all impurity is repeated many times with the resulting perfectionist state emphasised. this tradition of amorality arising from total achievement of divinity is characteristic of the inner mystery tradition in both the east and the west. throughout all periods of church history right up until today secret sects have upheld the perfectionist doctrine, these have ranged from the brethren of the free spirit to the cathars and modern gnostic orders. certainly the gnostic gospels (nag hammadi) well illustrate the perfectionist teaching. the focus on being beyond the law also includes the sinless state, because, theoretically, if one is beyond the law then there can be no sin as sin is recognised only by

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

oped, he has in reality, lost more and more of his spiritual side. the exoteric forms of religion, philosophy and thinking have evolved, but they have been isolated from the gnosis by man s addiction to matter. as the yugas unfold and society advances technologically, and complexities increase, the esoteric faith is forgotten. at the same time, the gnosis has been refined by generations of secret sects, cults and ecclesias, working underground to offer man a chance to return home. the ages represent the radiations of solar force which are working to liberate man, each age changes the nature of the x and y factors which can be received and utilised. if used in conjunction with transfiguration, transcendence is experienced, and yet, if used with ignorance, they feed the power of the demignos

to the fold through subtle means. however, when every attempt failed, pope innocent iii launched the albigensian crusade (circa 1209-29) that annihilated the cathars and desolated much of southern france. small groups are believed to have survived in isolated areas, but were continually pursued by the inquisition. while beliefs varied from movement to movement (there were some 50 distinct cathar sects, they generally held certain gnostic doctrines in common. these included strict dualism and a belief that the material world was the creation of satan, this false creator they called rex mundi or the king of the world. they rejected all of the old testament and opposed the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the gnostic theurgy page 206 church as well as its liturgy and sacraments. the central rite

t looms in front of us. time is short! ragnarok is coming, armageddon is around the corner. it is no use enrolling in the high school if you know that the school will burn down before graduation. as the final trumpets begin to blow and the blood laps against our ankles, we need to seriously consider the urgency of transfiguration. reproduction was always only just tolerated in the past by gnostic sects, today it should be viewed aghast. the time for family values and children is over- the only new being you should be creating is yourself! the path of the dove is useful only insomuch as it leads you to the wisdom of the serpent. do not waste time sprouting moralisms and platitudes, face yourself and become what you are truly meant to be. while morals, ethics, social values have always playe

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

the right path, than it was at first, that i firmly believe the time will come when he will be thoroughly convincedofall the true doctrines of christianity.4.-theanswer you have given me as to this spiritual vision is so surprising, that i beg you will give me some further explanation or reason for its appearance.c.a.-greatpurposes are used to meet great ends.iftwo founders of great and distinct sects of religionists needed assurance of things which they may doubt, nothing would be too great that conduces to that end. under these circumstances, or for any worthy cause, the son of god would condescend to allow the light of his spirit to illuminate the way of truth. he who when upon earth went about doing good for the sake of good, and going amongst every disease that he might heal for the

th man before their gradual rise towards happiness, after that they lose all their knowledge of man and therefore have no desire to communi255 cate withthem-whena manifestation is desired by good through undeveloped spirits-evil spirits alone feel them255 selves justified in giving man an opportunity for deception and imposture.thelanguage that is preached from the pulpit by persons of. different sects, we will suppose them to be all truechristians255there are true unitarians of everysect-hetells them that unless they hold. exactly the views he preaches they cannot be saved-s-and that is the oneandonly way of salvation-such a place as that is enough to drive good spirits away instead of enticing them, but the timewillcome when there shall be no archbishops or bishops to domineer over poor

HEKAS

count. baphomet- the 'idol' said to have been worshipped by the templars. it's form was that of a goat's head with a torch between the horns and thus is identical to the sabbatic goat: an icon used in sabbatic cult to denote certain arcana. in arabic the word is analogous to aby-fi-hamat-'the black head of wisdom' or 'seat of knowledge' and constitutes a cipher of certain secret practices used in sects and tribes preserving a gnosis of ancient origin in persia and from thence disseminated through the migration of arab peoples and influences into europe and spain: the arabic triliteral root fhm forms the words meaning 'to perceive, understand 'wisdom' and 'black. the symbol of the goat with a torch, to indicate intellect, betwixt it's horns was a symbol of the aniza tribe, as was a sign ide

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

under the same category of fools,when not knaves, and i went so far as to include in this number the sintos. now sintoism or sin-syu "faithin the gods, and in the way to the gods" that is, belief in the communication between these creatures andmen, is a kind of worship of nature-spirits, than which nothing can be more miserably absurd. and byplacing the sintos among the fools and knaves of other sects, i gained many enemies. for the sinto kanusi(spiritual teachers) are looked upon as the highest in the upper classes of society, the mikado himself being atthe head of their hierarchy and the members of the sect belonging to the most cultured and educated men injapan. these kanusi of the sinto form no caste or class apart, nor do they pass any ordination- at any ratenone known to outsiders

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

stem of meditation the philaletheians resorted to was ecstasy, a system akin to indian yoga practice. what is known of the eclectic school is due to origen, longinus, and plotinus, the immediate disciples of ammonius. the chief aim of the founders of the eclectic theosophical school was one of the three objects of its modern successor, the theosophical society, namely, to reconcile all religions, sects, and nations under a common system of ethics, based on eternal verities. q. what have you to show that this is not an impossible dream; and that all the world's religions are based on the one and the same truth? a. their comparative study and analysis. the "wisdom-religion" was one in antiquity; and the sameness of primitive religious philosophy is proven to us by the identical doctrines tau

doctrines taught to the initiates during the mysteries, an institution once universally diffused. all the old worships indicate the existence of a single theosophy anterior to them. the key that is to open one must open all; otherwise it cannot be the right key -ooo- the policy of the theosophical society q. in the days of ammonius there were several ancient great religions, and numerous were the sects in egypt and palestine alone. how could he reconcile them? a. by doing that which we again try to do now. the neo-platonists were a large body, and belonged to various religious philosophies; so do our theosophists. it was under philadelphus that judaism established itself in alexandria, and forthwith the hellenic teachers became the dangerous rivals of the college of rabbis of babylon. as t

en of a common mother. this is the aim of theosophy likewise. page 6 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt says mosheim of ammonius: conceiving that not only the philosophers of greece, but also all those of the different barbarian nations, were perfectly in unison with each other with regard to every essential point, he made it his business so to expound the thousand tenets of all these various sects as to show they had all originated from one and the same source, and tended all to one and the same end. if the writer on ammonius in the edinburgh encyclopedia knows what he is talking about, then he describes the modern theosophists, their beliefs, and their work, for he says, speaking of the theodidaktos: he adopted the doctrines which were received in egypt (the esoteric were those of in

theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt q. what is the difference between buddhism, the religion founded by the prince of kapilavastu, and budhism, the "wisdomism" which you say is synonymous with theosophy? a. just the same difference as there is between the secret teachings of christ, which are called "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and the later ritualism and dogmatic theology of the churches and sects. buddha means the "enlightened" by bodha, or understanding, wisdom. this has passed root and branch into the esoteric teachings that gautama imparted to his chosen arhats only. q. but some orientalists deny that buddha ever taught any esoteric doctrine at all? a. they may as well deny that nature has any hidden secrets for the men of science. further on i will prove it by buddha's conversati

rightly regards as proven; but he does not turn a passing glance on its researches. he does not even agree altogether with his brother spiritualist. it is the story over again of the old scotch body who, together with her husband, formed a "kirk" they had exclusive keys to heaven, or, rather, she had, for she was "na certain aboot jamie" so the infinitely divided and subdivided and re-subdivided sects of spiritualists shake their heads, and are "na certain aboot" one another. again, the collective experience of mankind is solid and unvarying on this point that union is strength, and disunion a source of weakness and failure. shoulder to shoulder, drilled and disciplined, a rabble becomes an army, each man a match for a hundred of the untrained men that may be brought against it. organizat

ouse so much interest and so much animosity at the same time? a. there are several reasons for it, i believe; among other causes that may be mentioned is: 1. the great reaction from the crassly materialistic theories now prevalent among scientific teachers. 2. general dissatisfaction with the artificial theology of the various christian churches, and the number of daily increasing and conflicting sects. 3. an ever-growing perception of the fact that the creeds which are so obviously self-and mutually-contradictory cannot be true, and that claims which are unverified cannot be real. this natural distrust of conventional religions is only strengthened by their complete failure to preserve morals and to purify society and the masses. page 20 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt 4. a convict

sequences! q. but surely buddha must have repudiated the soul's immortality, if all the orientalists and his own priests say so! a. the arhats began by following the policy of their master and the majority of the subsequent priests were not initiated, just as in christianity; and so, little by little, the great esoteric truths became almost lost. a proof in point is, that, out of the two existing sects in ceylon, the siamese believes death to be the absolute annihilation of individuality and personality, and the other explains nirvana, as we theosophists do. page 40 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt q. but why, in that case, do buddhism and christianity represent the two opposite poles of such belief? a. because the conditions under which they were preached were not the same. in india

and the things revealed should be trodden under foot. thus, the reticence of both buddha and jesus-whether the latter lived out the historic period allotted to him or not, and who equally abstained from revealing plainly the mysteries of life and death-led in the one case to the blank negations of southern buddhism, and in the other, to the three clashing forms of the christian church and the 300 sects in protestant england alone. theosophical teachings as to nature and man the unity of all in all q. having told me what god, the soul and man are not, in your views, can you inform me what they are, according to your teachings? a. in their origin and in eternity the three, like the universe and all therein, are one with the absolute unity, the unknowable deific essence i spoke about some tim

in the agnostic journal-one of your accusers-has just hinted that the followers of this disgraceful sect are theosophists, and "claim true theosophic insight" a. he wrote a falsehood, and that's all. there never was, nor is there at present, one single vallabhacharya in our society. as to their having, or claiming theosophic insight, that is another fib, based on crass ignorance about the indian sects. their "maharaja" only claims a right to the money, wives, and daughters of his foolish followers and no more. this sect is despised by all the other hindus. but you will find the whole subject dealt with at length in the secret doctrine, to which i must again refer you for detailed explanations. to conclude, the very soul of theosophy is dead against phallic worship; and its occult or esote

ts own? a. it is false, for it has none at all. now that the entrance fee of 1 and the small annual due have been abolished, it is even a doubtful question whether the staff at the headquarters in india will not soon be starved to death. q. then why not raise subscriptions? a. we are not the salvation army; we cannot and have never begged; nor have we ever followed the example of the churches and sects and "taken up collections" that which is occasionally sent for the support of the society, the small sums contributed by some devoted fellows, are all voluntary donations. q. but i have heard of large sums of money given to mme. blavatsky. it was said four years ago that she got 5,000 from one rich, young "fellow" who went out to join them in india, and 10,000 from another wealthy and well-k

rom the smallest atom of matter to man and god. it is in a sense "the seven-skinned mother" of the stanzas in the secret doctrine; the essence of seven planes of sentience, consciousness, and differentiation, both moral and physical. in its highest aspect it is nirvana; in its lowest, the astral light. it was feminine with the gnostics, the early christians, and the nazarenes; bisexual with other sects, who considered it only in its four lower planes, of igneous and ethereal nature in the objective world of forms, and divine and spiritual in its three higher planes. when it is said that every human soul was born by detaching itself from the anima mundi, it is meant, esoterically, that our higher egos are of an essence identical with it, and mahat is a radiation of the ever unknown universa

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

en accessible for the public. otti votavova introduction anyone who should believe to find in this work nothing else but a collection of recipes, with the aid of which he can easily and without any effort attain to honor and glory, riches and power and aim at the annihilation of his enemies, might be told from the very inception, that he will put aside this book, being very disappointed. numerous sects and religions do not understand the expression of magic otherwise than black art, witchcraft or conspiracy with evil powers. it is therefore not astonishing that many people are frightened by a certain horror, whenever the word magic is pronounced. jugglers, conjurers, and charlatans have discredited this term and, considering this circumstance, there is no surprise that magic knowledge has

present the supreme godhead. let us tread upon this path to this supreme godhead practically and step by step, beginning from the lowest sphere, to arrive at the true realization of god in ourselves. let us praise the happy man who will reach this still in his earthly existence. us banish fear of the pains, for all of us will reach this goal. 18. asceticism from the remotest times, all religions, sects, turns of mind and training systems have regarded asceticism as a very important problem. various systems of the orient turned asceticism into fanaticism, causing great damage by exaggeration and wild excesses that were unnatural and unlawful. the mortification of the flesh, generally speaking, is just as one-sided as developing one part of the body only, neglecting all the other parts. if a

(mudras) performed by the bali priests in their cults in the orient, or the exorcism ritual of magicians. the synthesis will always remain the same. at a trial, the hand with three fingers raised for the oath as confirmation of a truthful statement may also be regarded as a magical gesture. from the christian point of view the raised fingers symbolize the trinity. each of the numerous lodges and sects has its own rites. the lodges of the freemasons, for example, are all bound to a fixed sign, word and touch. a lot could be said about this problem from the historical point of view. for practical magic respecting the magical training, however, studies like these would be absolutely useless. it is of no importance at all to the genuine magician if he reads books about the particular way in w

decay and destruction will follow, apart from the fact that the curses of the absolutely innocent victims pining in prisons, sentenced to death or sent to hopeless battles in the field, will invisibly produce an opposite polarity that will also contribute to the decomposition of the power reservoir. the same law works in all the rest of cult practices, no matter whether they happen in religions, sects or lodges. the miraculous healings in places of pilgrimage have the same fundamental base. the devoted believer is drawing up the spiritual power from the akasa principle, accumulated there by the worshipers as a result of their firm faith and unshakeable confidence, and the miraculous effect is carried out in this manner. the well-trained magician will always find the sole true explanation

vernight to unworthy people. akasa will derange a person mentally, arouse doubts of all kinds, or hold him prisoner by vicissitudes and reverses of fortune in order to protect the mysteries in every possible way. these mysteries will always remain hidden from incompetent persons, though hundreds of books should be published about them. a true magician does not know any hatred against religions or sects, since he knows that every religion does have a fixed system that is intended to lead to god, and that is why he respects them. it is a well known fact that every religion has made mistakes, but he does not condemn it because every dogma is serving the spiritual maturity of its followers. in the due course of his development the magician goes through that stage of maturity where he can see w

dly display this surplus of patience in order to achieve a result that he can sooner obtain with the help of one of the methods described here. the loading by an traditional ritual is easier and requires only a few repetitions to bring about the contact, the effect being so amazing as to verge on a miracle. the snag here is that such traditional loading rituals happen to be the secrets of lodges, sects &c, that i myself cannot give away. it is quite obvious that a magician trained in clairvoyance could easily get hold of these secrets, but there is always the danger of being found out. and the oriental magicians who guard their rituals under the oath of death would proceed ruthlessly against anyone that should dare to grab them without permission. therefore i warn every magician not to do

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

having done homage and offered sacrifice to demons, thought otherwise of p. 49 the sacrament of the body of christ than the catholic church teaches, saying that the same venerable sacrament is by no means to be worshipped; and also asserting that they are not bound to obey or believe the decrees, decretals, and apostolic mandates; in the meantime, consulting demons according to the rites of those sects among the gentiles and pagans, they despise the sacraments of the catholic church, and draw the faithful of christ after them by their superstitions" as no inquisitors of heresy have been appointed in ireland, he begs the king to give prompt assistance to the bishop and other prelates in their efforts to punish the aforesaid heretics. 1 if the above refer to the kyteler case it came rather l

ISIS UNVEILED

dren, is the supreme spiritual ruler over ninety thousand people, who believe that he is in frequent intercourse with the gods for the mormons are polytheists as well as polygamists, and their chief god is represented as living in a planet they call colob. the god of the unitarians is a bachelor; the deity of the i^ sby- terians, methodists, congregationalists, and the other orthodox protes- tant sects a spouseless father with one son, who is identical with him- self. in the attempt to outvie each other in the erection of their sixty-two thousand and odd churches, prayer-houses, and meeting-halls, in which to teach these conflicting theological doctrines, 354,485,581 have been spent. the value of the protestant parsonages alone, m which are ^lettered the disputants and their families, is r

lone, m which are ^lettered the disputants and their families, is rou^ily calculated to approxunate $54,115,297. sixteen million (16,179,387) dollars are, moreover, contributed every year for the current expenses ta the protes- tant denominations only. one presbyterian church in new york cost a round million; a catholic altar alone, one-fourth as much! we will not mention the multitude of smaller sects, communities, and extravagantly original little heresies in this country which spring up one year to die out the next, like so many spores of fungi after a rainy day' we will not even stop to consider the alleged millions of spiritualists; for the majority lack the courage to break away from their respective religious denominations. these are the back-door nicodemuses. and now with hlate let

ng up one year to die out the next, like so many spores of fungi after a rainy day' we will not even stop to consider the alleged millions of spiritualists; for the majority lack the courage to break away from their respective religious denominations. these are the back-door nicodemuses. and now with hlate let us inquire. what is truth? where is it to be searched for amid thb multitude of warring sects? each claims to be based upon divine revelation, and each to have the keys of the celestial gates. is any one of them in possession of this rare truth? or, must we exclaim with the buddhist philosopher "there is but one truth on earth, and it is unchangeable: and this is that there is no truth on it" though we have no disposition whatever to trench upon the ground that has been so exhaustive

denly break and hurl it into final amiihilation. the great body of nominal christians may be divided into three unequal portions: materialists, spiritualists, and christians proper. the materialists and spiritualists make common cause against the hierarchical pretensions of the clergy; who, in retaliation, denounce both with equal acerbi. hie materialists are as little in harmony as the christian sects themselves the comtists, or, as they call themselves, the positivists, being despised and hated to the last degree by the schools of thinkers, one of which maudsley honorably represents in england. positivism, be it remembered, is that 'religion' of the future about whose founder even huxley has made himself wrathful in his famous lecture. the physical basis of life; and maudsley felt oblige

two such materialists as huxley and maudsley, then we must thhik indeed that it is absurdity itself. among christians there is nothing but dissenidon. their various churches represent every degree of religious belief, from the omnivorous credulity of blind faith to a condescending and high-toned deference to the deity which thinly masks an evident conviction of their own deific wisdom. all these sects believe more or less in the immortality of the soul. some admit the intercourse between the two worlds as a fact; some entertain the opinion as a sentiment; some positively deny it; and only a few mainfain an attitude of attention and expectancy. impatient of restraint, longing for the return of the dark ages, the romish church frowns at the diabolical manifestations, and indicates what she

aham, and terah, and later as henoch, ezekiel, and daniel. who of those who ever studied the ancient philosophies who understand intuitionally the grandeur of their conceptions, the boundless sublimity of their views of the unknown deity can hesitate for a moment to give the preference to their doctrines over the incompre- hensible, dogmatic and contradictory theology of the hundreds of christian sects? who that ever read plato and fathomed his ?ro 'or, 65. fiiiubu,ap.augutl.,xxiii,2;xx^i, 3;d. beaiudire: biml.erit. du maniek, i, p. 297. 66. z-afouoie, illmepart, ch. it, p. 257: puu, 1892, 3nl ed. the words "converted uid cmmcnted by sl paul" may have been in earlier editioni, but aie not in snl. 07. le rpuilime, eu, p. 215. digitizecoy google plato's prudent reserve 39 "i^tom no person ha

egyptian hierophants; while with the hindfls. from whom they were all derived, the same rule has prevailed from time immemorial. we are left in no doubt upon this point; for the agnuhada parikdtai says exphcitly "every initiate, to whatever degree he may belong, who reveab the great sacred formula, must be put to death" naturally enou^ this same extreme penalty was prescribed in all the mul^anous sects and brotherhoods which at diffocnt periods have sprung bom tfae ancient stock. we find it with the early ess^nes, gnos- tics, theurgic neo-platonists, and medieval philosophers; and in our day even the masons perpetuate the memory of the old obligations in the penalties of throat-cutting, dismemberment, and disemboweling, with which the candidate is threatened. as the masonic 'master's word'

, and he who studies but with a view to perfecting himself and so more easily acquiring the promised immortality, who need have any fear; but ratiier he who makes of the science of sciences a sinful pretext for worldly motives, who should tremble. the latter will never vnthstand the kabaliatic evoeationa of the supreme initiohon. the licentious performances of the thousand and one early christian sects may be criticized by partial commentators as well as the ancient eleu^nian and other rites. but why should they [the latter] incur the censure of the theologians, the christians, when their own' mysteries' of "the divine incarnation with joseph, mary, and the angel" in a sacred trilogy used to be enacted in more than one country, and were famous at one time in spain and southern france? late

not a people, nor the most abject tribe, but after its own fashion has believed in an unseen god, the first cause of unerring and immutable laws, and in the immortality of our spirit. no creed, no false philo- sophy, no religious exaggerations, could ever destroy that feeling. it must therefore be based upon an absolute truth. on the other hand every one of the numberless religions and religious sects views the deity after its own fashion; and, fathering on the unknown its own tpeculations, forces these purely human outgrowths of overheated im- agination on the ignorant masses, and calls them 'revelation' as the digitizecoy google 122 isk unveiled dogmas of every religion and sect often differ radically, they cannot be true. and if untrue, what are they "the greatest curae to a nation" re

hath faith, and have not wotlu? con futr tape himf. likewise also wai not kahab tbe harlot notified by workm, when ihe had received the mesiengera, and had tent tbem out ttoolhet way? jama, ii. i^ 2s clement describes ba^des, the gnostic, as "a philosoplier devoted to the cootemplation of divine things" this very appropriate expression may be applied to many of the founders of the more important sects whidi later were all engulfed in one that stupendous compound of unintelligible dogmas enforced by irenaeus, tertullian and others, which is now termed christianity/ these must be called kereeiea, then early christianity itself must be included in the number. basilides and valentinus preceded irenaeus and tertullian; and the two latter fathers had less facts than the two former gnostics to s

ncluded in the number. basilides and valentinus preceded irenaeus and tertullian; and the two latter fathers had less facts than the two former gnostics to show that their heresy was plausible. neither divine right nor truth brought about the triumph of their [irenaeo-tertullianic] christianity; fate alone was propitious. we can assert, with entire plausibility, that there is not one of alt these sects kabalism, judaism, and our present christianity in- cluded but sprang from the two main branches of that one mother- tnmk, the once universal religion, which antedated tbe vedic ages we speak of that prehistoric buddhism which merged later into brfthmanism. 240. cf. jiutin; hortatom addrees to l/u qreeke, iv; gesnenu: 0p4b1)2 ahanta. 241. wron^y aacribed to clement, who however describes tbe

nkind as soon as it was placed on a sure footing, the above is found to be the essence of every re- ligious philosophy, with the exception of later christianity. it was that of zoroaster, erf pythagoras, of plato, of jesus, and even of moses, albnt the teachings of the jewish law-giver have been so piously tampered with. we wiu devote the present chapter mainly to a brief survey of the nu- merous sects which have claimed to be christian; that is to say, have be- lieved in a chriatos, or an anointed one. we will also endeavor to ex- plain the latter appellation from the kabalistic standpoint, and show it reappearing in every religious system. it might be profitable, at the same time, to see how far the earliest apostles paul and peter agreed in their preaching of the new dispensation. we wi

lowing assertion "the nazarenes are jews, honoring the anointeo [jesus] as a jutt man and using the evangel according to peter* peter was a nazarene, accord- ing to the talmud. he belonged to the sect of the later nazarenes, which dissented from the followers of john the baptist and became a rival sect; and which aa tradition goes was instituted by jesus himself. history finds the first christian sects to have been either nazarenes hke john the baptist; or ebionites, among whom were many of the rela- tives of jesus; oressenes (lessaens, or the rfctfrapeultu healers, of which the nazaria were a branch. all these sects, which only in the days of ire- naeua began to be considered heretical, were more or less kabalistic. they believed in the expulsion of daemons by magical incantations, and pr

onites, among whom were many of the rela- tives of jesus; oressenes (lessaens, or the rfctfrapeultu healers, of which the nazaria were a branch. all these sects, which only in the days of ire- naeua began to be considered heretical, were more or less kabalistic. they believed in the expulsion of daemons by magical incantations, and practised this method; jervis terms the nabatheans and other such sects 247. enseb: e el bitl, it, t; sulpidui sererui: ckrtmica, 11, 31. 24s. it appeara that the jewi attribute a hi^ antiquity to sepher toledetk kmau. it m mentioned for the first time by martin, about the beginning of the thirlceuth century, for the talmudibtt took great ore to conceal it from the chriitiani. uvi says that poi^ dwtui salratkui (paria, 1520] published aome portioiw ot it, which

ung darta of satan [aitaort, 2 vols, and by jacob huldrich, aa hvlona jadiuae naivmti, lcyden, 1705 (aee alk. uvi: a toutm da apriu. 21b. llkeodowt: batrtt. jabid. u. ii. digitizecoy google 128 isis in4veiled" wandering jewish exorcists* the arabic word nabae meaning to wan- der, and the hebrew toj, naba, to prophesy. the talmud indiscriininate- ly calls all the christians noxari^ all the gnostic sects alike believed in magic. irenaeus, in describing the touowera of basilides, says "hiey use images, invocations, incantations, and all other things[>ertaining un- to magic* dunlap, on the authority of ijghtfoot, shows that jesus was called naboraiot, in reference to his humble and mean external con- dition "for naaaraiot means separation, alienation from other men* the real meaning of the wor

ds clearly imply, a follower of the buddhist doctrine. in hebrew the word naba, k23, means to speak by inspira- tion; and dj is nebo, a god of wisdom. but nebo is also mercary, and mercury is buddha in the hindq monogram [iconography] of planets. moreover we find the talmudists holding that jesus was inspired by the genius of mercury* the nazarene reformer had undoubtedly belonged to one of these sects; though perhaps it would be next to impossible to decide ab- solutely which. but what is self-evident is that he preached the philo- sophy of b'uddha-sdkyamimi. denounced by the later prophets, cursed by the sanhedrim, the ruuara they were confounded with others of that name "who separated themselves unto that shame* were secretly, if not opei, persecuted by the orthodox synagog. it be- 2g7

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

of mysterious subjects; the light revealed to pimander, zoroaster, and all the sages of the east, as the emanation of the spiritual sun. bohmen writes of it in his divine vision or contemplation, and molinos in his spiritual guide, whose work is the ground of quietism: quietism being the foundation of the religion of the people called friends or quakers, as also of the other mystic or meditative sects. we enlarge from a very learned, candid, and instructive book upon the occult sciences. regard fire, then, with other eyes than with those soulless, incurious ones, with which thou hast looked upon it as the most ordinary thing. thou hast forgotten what it is or rather thou hast never known. chemists are silent about it; or, may we not say that it is too loud for them? therefore shall they s

sophia. last, and not least, the countless churches rise, in the latter-day dispensation, sublimely to the universal signal, in the glorifying, or top, or crowning cross; last of the revelations! in the fire-towers of the sikhs, in the dome-covered and many-storied spires of the hindoos, in the vertically turreted and longitudinally massed temples of the bhudds, of all the classes and of all the sects, in the religious buildings of the cingalese, in the upright flame-fanes of the parsees, in the original of the campaniles of the italians, in the tower of st. mark at venice, in the flame-shaped or pyramidal (pyr is the greek for fire) architecture of the egyptians (which is the parent of all that is called architecture, we see the recurring symbol. all the minarets that, in the eastern sun

th of eighteen months after he had risen, he received from sophia (soph, suph, or holy wisdom, that perfect knowledge or illumination, that true gnosis, which he communicated to the small number of the apostles who were capable of receiving the same. the gnostic authorities are st. irenaeus in the first place, tertullian, clemens alexandrinus, origen, st. epiphanius. the gnostics are divided into sects, bearing the names of valentinians, carpocratians, basilideans, and manich ans. gnwsij, gnosis, gnossos: thence gnostics. as the son of god remained unknown to the world, so must the disciple of basilides also remain unknown to the rest of mankind. as they know all this, and yet must live amongst strangers, therefore must they conduct themselves towards the rest of the world as invisible and

e referring to alchemy, and to the universal alchemic process. the mystical sense of the old and the new testaments is none other than the history of alchemy originated in the cabala (with the secrets contained therein, and the rationale of that called the philosophers stone. it matters not to the question of these secrets fixed what religions be professed; whether christian, whether those of the sects whether infidel and heathen. that only is catholic which lies in the stone otherwise practical magic; whereby demons are commanded, good spirits evoked, and the innermost hidden resources of nature, and the spirits of nature, laid bare and availed-of. rosicrucian magic system. 339 secondly. when deity is said to be light pervading and vivifying all nature, he enters not in anything unless a

chinery of the sylphs. during puja, the yogini is supposed to be in an exalted visionary state (guy na nidra) wherein, like the sibyls among the ancients, and the modern clairvoyantes, she answers questions in a delerious manner, and is supposed to be for the time inspired. foreign quarterly review, no. x, for february 1830; art. viii. histoire critique de gnosticisme, et de son influence sur les sects religieuses et philosophiques des six premiers si cles de l re chretienne. ouvrage couronn par l academic royale des inscriptions et belles lettres. par m. j. matter, professeur. 2 tomes, avec planches, 8vo, paris, 1828. the third volume is of small size, and contains eleven plates of gems and symbols. g profundities of brahmin belief. 347 this book proves gnosticism to be identical with the

ens, et de 1 yoni, dans leur myst rieuse conjonction. l yoni se nomme aussi bhaga (pudendum muliebre. madheri, douce; et argha, vase en forme de bateau. benares is the peculiar seat of the linga or phallic worship. no less than forty-seven lingas are* puranas (new testament, the modern scriptures of the hindus, as distinguished from the vedhas (as bible, or more ancient scriptures. wilson on hind sects. as. res. vol. xvii. as. res. vol. xvii. pp. 208-210. chinese hint. the chinese pagodas are phalli, storied tors, or obelisks; abounding in bells to be agitated in the winds to drive-off the crowds of roving malignant spirits. the whole of china may be mystically said to be populated by bells and the dragon. indian phallicism. 349 visited, all of pre-eminent sanctity; but there are hundreds

ange to say accompanied throughout by muntras and forms of meditation and of devotion incomprehensibly foreign to the scene. in other aspects this presentation of the yogini is a sacrifice and the whole meaning of the rites is sacrificial-rites performed before an altar and implying superstition undoubtedly but deep mystery and some profoundest suggestions (wilson, as. res, vol. xii. 225, on hin. sects. vide rig. vedam, book ii. c. viii. s.s. 13, 14, 2d attham, 8th pannam, rigs b. 14, which contain the sucla homa mantram &c) the caste-mark of the saivas and sactas consist of three horizontal cabalistic ark and its contents. 351 are made of meat and wine, which are then distributed amongst the assistants. here follows the chanting of the muntrus, and sacred texts, and the performance of the

ormance of the mudra, or gesticulations with the fingers. the whole service terminates with orgies amongst the votaries of a very licentious description. this ceremony is entitled the sri chakra, or purnabisheka, the ring or full initiation. this method of adoring the sacti is unquestionably acknowledged by the texts regarded by the vanis as authorities for the excesses practised. wilson, on hin. sects, vol. xvii, as. res. ward, on the vaisnavas, p. 309. in gregory's works( gregory's notes and observations upon several difficult passages in scripture vol. 1. 4to. london, 1684) is to be found a significant comment noah prayed daily in the ark before the body of adam* i.e, before the phallus, or regenerator (adam being the primitive phallus, or great procreator of the human race (under its p

K AMBER THE BASICS OF MAGICK

underestimate the tremendous power of magick. use magick to alter events and to achieve your goals. exert an influence over people and phenomena. but power for its own sake is self defeating. the power which magick can give you should not be your primary reason for studying it. magick and witchcraft a number of other occult disciplines are prevalent today besides magick. there are many cults and sects which profess their own views, but there are really few differences between them. one popular area in the occult today is witchcraft. this is far removed from the cliche of devil worship. real witchcraft is a nature religion (pagan. witchcraft has much in common with magick. alchemy also has much in common with magick. it's heritage comes from the middle ages. alchemy fathered chemistry and

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

esidents of israel are anxious about the very existence of the state. two-thirds think it is plausible that a surprise attack on israel will occur, as it did on yom kippur, 1973, and 70% do not trust the present political and military leaderships. moreover, we are not only failing to get along with the world, we seem to be torn and divided from within more than any other nation. we are split into sects that are hostile to one another. why is this so? is there something special about us? are we doomed to always suffer more than everybody else? why are we not allowed to live our lives in peace? why are the eyes of the world always on us? in this part of the book, we will clarify israel s place on the human map and see if there is a way out of this bleak and ominous state. to do that, we will

nothing else; and we will only be able to perform it by achieving unity among ourselves. our return to israel under threat was part of nature s plan, and thus gave us the opportunity to discover for ourselves our inner need to unite, and to create a nation that leads humanity to wholeness. it is no coincidence that we are currently failing to create a united society in israel. we are divided into sects: secular vs. religious, left vs. right, ashkenazi vs. sephardic, natives of israel vs. new olim (immigrants) and so on. all our efforts to unite have thus far been futile; the social gaps are deepening, and hatred and alienation worsen. a recent survey disclosed that even today, 57% of the 176 from chaos to harmony israeli public believes that the state of israel s existence might be in dang

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

ents, and parties emerged. kabbalists never related themselves to anything, since their course has always been directed towards uniting with the creator, and there is only one method to achieve that goal v kabbalah. we are not connected with any schools or streams that were formed to reflect a character, a way of life, or a relation to zionism. these worldly relations produce various communities, sects, parties, call it what you will. since we do not take into account anything material, believing that man should confine himself to his aspirations to the creator, there is no basis for defining any other schools beside the one we mentioned and to which we belong. w h y o n ly j e w s a n d m e n? q: the things you say are so right. but i cannot understand this nationalistic differentiation

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

g books on the egyptian origin of masonry, although it may be that he is not always quite sufficiently critical; bro. j. s. m. ward, the author of freemasonry and the ancient gods, who was hiram abiff? and a number of other works, who looks to syria as the source of masonry, though he has compiled a mass of valuable information from many other lands; and mr. bernard h. springett, author of secret sects of syria and lebanon, who has collected much material bearing upon masonic rites among the arabs. 15. to the work of the anthropological school is due a clear revelation of the immense antiquity and diffusion of what we now call masonic symbolism. it tends, however, to find the origin of the ancient mysteries in the initiatory customs of savage tribes which, although admittedly of incalculab

of individual mystics: 653. in the third century we find manes, the widow s son, the link for all of those who believe in the great work done by the sons of the widow and the magian brotherhood. 654. in the fourth century the central figure for all occult students is the great iamblichus, the forerunner of the rosicrucians. 655. from the third to the ninth century the following organizations and sects appear; manichaeans; euchites; dionysian artificers; ophites; nestorians; eutychians, and the magistri comacini, of whom we may read in llorente s history of the inquisition, and in professor herzario s i maestri comacini. this author says: in this darkness which extended over all italy, only one small lamp remained alight, making a bright spark in the vast italian necropolis. it was from th

whole group of spanish mystics. 664. eighteenth century: the fratres lucis, or the knights of light; the rosicrucians; the knights and brothers initiate of st. john the evangelist from asia, or the asiatische bruder; the martinists; the theosophical society, founded in london, 1767, by benedicte chastanier, a mystic mason; the quietists; the knights templars; some masonic bodies. 665. the various sects and bodies here detailed should not be understood as belonging exclusively to the century under which they appear in the above classification. all that this list is intended to convey is that such sects were more markedly prominent during the century in which they are placed(*op. cit, pp. 27-9) 666. yet again mrs. cooper-oakley writes with deep appreciation of the work done by the troubadour

the above classification. all that this list is intended to convey is that such sects were more markedly prominent during the century in which they are placed(*op. cit, pp. 27-9) 666. yet again mrs. cooper-oakley writes with deep appreciation of the work done by the troubadours: 667. from the death of manes, a.d. 276, there was an intimate alliance- even a fusion- with some of the leading gnostic sects, and thence do we derive the intermingling of the two richest streams of oriental wisdom: the one, directly through persia from india; the other, traversing that marvellous egyptian period, enriched by the wisdom of the great hermetic teachers, flowed into syria and arabia, and thence with added force- garnered from the new divine powers made manifest in the profound mystery of the blessed j

the new divine powers made manifest in the profound mystery of the blessed jesus- into europe, through northern africa, finding a home in spain, where it took deep root. from this stock sprang into full flower that richness of speech and song for which the troubadours will live for ever, manichaeans who sang and chanted the esoteric wisdom they dared not speak. 668. next we see them dispersed in sects, taking local names- separated in name only, but using the same secret language, having the same signs. thus, everywhere they journeyed, and no matter by what name they were called, each knew the other as a widow s son, bound together on a mystic quest, knitted- by virtue of a secret science- into one community; with them came from the east a chivalric ideal, and they chanted of love and san

science- into one community; with them came from the east a chivalric ideal, and they chanted of love and sang of heaven: but the love was a divine love, and their heaven was the wisdom and peace of those who sought the higher life(*ibid, p. 124) 669. i have taken two long extracts from mrs. oakley s book, because it is the only one of which i know which treats in any detail of these little-known sects. among them two stand out as better known or at any rate more fully discussed than the others, and both of them have to a considerable extent influenced our modern masonic rituals, especially those of the higher degrees. these two are the knights templars and the brethren of the rosy cross. 670. the knights templars 671. the order of the knights templars, called also the poor knights of chri

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

western occult circles, by implication white light occultists are right-hand path practitioners. the western occult referent of left-hand path should be carefully distinguished from its original meaning in eastern religions. the expression lefthand path is taken ultimately from south asian tantrism, which distinguishes between dakshinachara or right way and vamachara (also vamamarga) or left way sects and practices. there are left-hand path practices within both hinduism and buddhism. the most well-known of these involve sexual intercourse, which has caused tantric yoga to become almost synonymous with sex yoga in the minds of many westerners. western sex magic is, in fact, very much indebted to traditional tantric practices.however, the traditional vamamarga of hinduism and buddhism enco

literature, why christians fall for a lie searching for the truth. journal of psychology and theology 20, no. 3 (1992a. the hard facts about satanic ritual abuse. christian research journal (winter 1992b. richardson, james, joel best, and david g. bromley. the satanism scare. new york: aldine de gruyter, 1991. robinson, bruce a. satanic ritual abuse. in james r. lewis. the encyclopedia of cults, sects and new religions. second edition. amherst, ny: prometheus books, 2001. ross, colin. satanic ritual abuse: principles of treatment. toronto: university of toronto press, 1995. smith,michelle, and lawrence pazder.michelle remembers. new york: congdon and lattes, 1980. reissued new york: pocket books, 1981. stratford, lauren, and johanna michaelson. satan s underground: the extraordinary story

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

ted the world (the demiurgus, and his six sons, the planetary genii. he appeared amongst men as the man jesus, and wrought miracles (see king's gnostics and their remains) the gnostics divided humanity into three parts: those who, as savages, worshiped only the visible nature; those who, like the jews, worshiped the demiurgus; and lastly, themselves, or others of a similar cult, including certain sects of christians, who worshiped nous (christ) and the true spiritual light of the higher ons. after the death of basilides, valentinus became the leading inspiration of the gnostic movement. he still further complicated the system of gnostic philosophy by adding infinitely to the details. he increased the number of emanations from the great one (the abyss) to fifteen pairs and also laid much em

nd much material concerning this strange doctrine of ons and their strange inhabitants. james freeman clarke, in speaking of the doctrines of the gnostics, says "these doctrines, strange as they seem to us, had a wide influence in the christian church" many of the theories of the ancient gnostics, especially those concerning scientific subjects, have been substantiated by modern research. several sects branched off from the main stem of gnosticism, such as the valentinians, the ophites (serpent worshipers, and the adamites. after the third century their power waned, and the gnostics practically vanished from the philosophic world. an effort was made during the middle ages to resurrect the principles of gnosticism, but owing to the destruction of their records the material necessary was not

er of mnemosyne in the grotto of trophonius; or of the ciceion in the mysteries of the eleusinia. different drugs were easily mixed up with the meats or introduced into the drinks, according to the state of mind or body into which it was necessary to throw the recipient, and the nature of the visions he was desirous of procuring (salverte's the occult sciences) the same author states that certain sects of early christianity were accused of using drugs for the same general purposes as the pagans. the sect of the assassins, or the yezidees as they are more generally known, demonstrated a rather interesting aspect of the drug problem. in the eleventh century this order, by capturing the fortress of mount alamont, established itself at irak. hassan sabbah, the founder of the order, known as th

own higher self. when adam seemingly awoke, he actually sank into sleep, for he no longer was in the spirit but in the body; division having taken place within him, the true adam rested in paradise while his lesser part incarnated in a material organism (eve) and wandered in the darkness of mortal existence. the followers of mohammed apparently sensed more accurately than the uninitiated of other sects the true mystic import of paradise, for they realized that prior to his fall the dwelling place of man was not in a physical garden in any particular part of the earth but rather in a higher sphere (the angelic world) watered by four mystical streams of life. after his banishment from paradise, adam alighted on the island of ceylon, and this spot is sacred to certain hindu sects who recogniz

eeper schools of philosophy have leaned toward the latter as more adequately acknowledging the infinite potentialities of divine completeness in both aspects of creation. the christian church is fundamentally opposed to the theory of marriage, claiming that the highest degree of spirituality is achievable only by those preserving the virginal state. this concept seemingly originated among certain sects of the early gnostic christians, who taught that to propagate the human species was to increase and perpetuate the power of the demiurgus; for the lower world was looked upon as an evil fabrication created to ensnare the souls of all born into it--hence it was a crime to assist in bringing souls to earth. when, therefore, the unfortunate father or mother shall stand before the final tribunal

ngthened by the allegory of adam and eve, whose sin through which humanity has been brought low is universally admitted to have been concerned with the mystery of generation. mankind, owing to father adam its physical existence, regards its progenitor as the primary cause of its misery; and in the judgment day, rising up as a mighty progeny, will accuse its common paternal ancestor. those gnostic sects maintaining a more rational attitude on the subject declared the very existence of the lower worlds to signify that the supreme creator had a definite purpose in their creation; to doubt his judgment was, therefore, a grievous error. the church, however, seemingly arrogated to itself the astonishing prerogative of correcting god in this respect, for wherever possible it continued to impose c

rpose for which they were intended, and the time of their introduction into europe. in his researches into the history of playing cards, samuel weller singer advances the opinion that cards reached southern europe from india by way of arabia. it is probable that the tarot cards were part of the magical and philosophical lore secured by the knights templars from the saracens or one of the mystical sects then flourishing in syria. returning to europe, the templars, to avoid persecution, concealed the arcane meaning of the symbols by introducing the leaves of their magical book ostensibly as a device for amusement and gambling. in support of this contention, mrs. john king van rensselaer states "that cards were brought by the home-returning warriors, who imported many of the newly acquired cu

and assert that he and christian rosencreutz were one and the same individual. they accept fire as their universal symbol because it was the one element by means of which they could control the metals. they declared themselves the descendants of tubal-cain and hiram abiff, and that the purpose of their existence was to preserve the spiritual nature of man through ages of materiality "the gnostic sects, the arabs, alchemists, templars, rosicrucians, and lastly the freemasons, form the western chain in the transmission of occult science (see the tarot of the bohemians translated by a. e. waite from the french of papus) max heindel, the christian mystic, described the rosicrucian temple as an "etheric structure" located in and around the home of a european country gentleman. he believed that

aled--we exhort those who would become of our fraternity to study unceasingly the sacred scriptures, for such as do this cannot be far from us. we do not mean that the bible should be continually in the mouth of man, but that he should search for its true and eternal meaning, which is seldom discovered by theologians, scientists, or mathematicians because they are blinded by the opinions of their sects. we bear witness that never since the beginning of the world has there been given to man a more excellent book than the holy bible. blessed is he who possesses it, more blessed he who reads it, most blessed he who understands it, and most godlike he who obeys it. chapter xi. we wish the statements we made in the fama fraternitatis concerning the transmutation of metals and the universal medi

they possessed the true secrets of transmutation and multiplication. these adepts were polyonymous individuals who unexpectedly appeared and disappeared again, leaving no trace of their whereabouts. there are indications that a certain degree of organization existed among them. the most powerful of the alchemical organizations were the rosicrucians, the illuminati, and certain arabian and syrian sects. i n the documents which follow, references are made to the "brethren "or "brothers" these are to signify that those who had actually accomplished the magnum opus were banded together and known to each other by cipher codes and secret signs or symbols. apparently a number of these illuminated adepts dwelt in arabia, for several of the great european alchemists were initiated in asia minor. w

origin of freemasonic symbolism who desires to trace the development of the order through the ages will find a practical suggestion in the following statement of charles w. heckethorn "but considering that freemasonry is a tree the roots of which spread through so many soils, it follows that traces thereof must be found in its fruit; that its language and ritual should retain much of the various sects and institutions it has passed through before arriving at their present state, and in masonry we meet with indian, egyptian, jewish, and christian ideas, terms therefrom the supreme ambition of their craft and symbols (see the secret societies of all ages and countries) the roman collegia of skilled architects were apparently a subdivision of the greater ionian body, their principles and org

pocrypha, although a few stray hints may be found in some of the commentaries written by the ante-nicene fathers. the facts concerning his identity and mission are among the priceless mysteries preserved to this day in the secret vaults beneath the "houses of the brethren" to a few of the knights templars, who were initiated into the arcana of the druses, nazarenes, essenes, johannites, and other sects still inhabiting the remote and inaccessible fastnesses of the holy land, part of the strange story was told. the knowledge of the templars concerning the early history of christianity was undoubtedly one of the main reasons for their persecution and final annihilation. the discrepancies in the writings of the early church fathers not only are irreconcilable, but demonstrate beyond question

gans than were their successors in later centuries. in an effort to solve some of the problems arising from any attempt to chronicle accurately the life of jesus, it has been suggested that there may have lived in syria at that time two or more religious teachers bearing the name jesus, jehoshua or joshua, and that the lives of these men may have been confused in the gospel stories. in his secret sects of syria and the lebanon, bernard h. springett, a masonic author, quotes from an early book, the name of which he was not at liberty to disclose because of its connection with the ritual of a sect. the last part of his quotation is germane to the subject at hand "but jehovah prospered the seed of the essenians, in holiness and love, for many generations. then came the chief of the angels, ac

olical garments and thus preserved for several centuries under the name of mystic christianity. it is generally supposed that the essenes were the custodians of this knowledge and also the initiators and educators of jesus. if so, jesus was undoubtedly initiated in the same temple of melchizedek where pythagoras had studied six centuries before. the essenes--the most prominent of the early syrian sects--were an order of pious men and women who lived lives of asceticism, spending their days in simple labor and their evenings in prayer. josephus, the great jewish historian, speaks of them in the highest terms "they teach the immortality of the soul" he says "and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for" in another place he adds "yet is their course of life bet

ritual and philosophical temple to serve as a dwelling place for the living god. like the gnostics, the essenes were emanationists. one of their chief objects was the reinterpretation of the mosaic law according to certain secret spiritual keys preserved by them from the time of the founding of their order. it would thus follow that the essenes were qabbalists and, like several other contemporary sects flourishing in syria, were awaiting the advent of the messiah promised in the early biblical writings. joseph and mary, the parents of jesus, are believed to have been members of the essene order. joseph was many years the senior of mary. according to the protevangelium, he was a widower with grown sons, and in the gospel of pseudo-matthew he refers to mary as a little child less in age than

MEANING OF MASONRY

rld, though all aiming at teaching truth, express that truth in different ways, and we are more prone to emphasize the differences than to look for the correspondences in what they teach. in some masonic lodges the candidate makes his first entrance to the lodge room amid the clash of swords and the sounds of strife, to intimate to him that he is leaving the confusion and jarring of the religious sects of the exterior world, and is passing into a temple wher ein the brethren dwell together in unity of thought in regard to the basal truths of life, truths which can permit of no difference or schism. allied with no external religious system itself, masonry is yet a synthesis, a concordat, for men of every race, of every creed, of every sect, and its foundation principles being common to them

he minds of millions from religion altogether. as lot's wife is metaphorically said to have crystallized into a pillar of salt through turning back in desire to what she ought to have renounced altogether, so in trying to serve mammon and god at the same time the roman church has failed in both and, as the result of the false steps and abuses of centuries. the world is to-day a chaos of disunited sects and popular religious teaching is as materialistic as masonry. it is a pity, for in its original design and practice christianity was intended to serve as a system of initiation upon a catholic or universal scale, and to take over, supersede and amplify all that previously was taught, in a less efficacious way and to a more restricted public, in the ancient mysteries. it is not possible here

MICHAEL FORD A RITE OF THE WEREWOLF

witchcraft and sorcery, the western initiate of today holds a wealth of information to build from. idries shah points out in the sufis that the spanish word for witch is bruja, and are considered the children of wisdom. the history of witchcraft and primal sorcery is bound within the yatuivdah and dregvants15 of iran and persia, within the early zoroastrian religion. the middle eastern cults and sects of magical practice produced what we commonly call magickal paths today. what was lost or well forgotten, by some incantation or spell of remembrance, such surged forth as a bestial atavism that which was dead now emerged as a 12 angels are considered by abu-hamid mohammed al-ghazali to be the higher faculties of man. 13 empyrean= highest heavens, heights, the astral plane which leads to the

was added, signifying wisdom from the head of the teacher. the aniza tribe also had a symbol of the wasm or tribal brand, which was a symbol which resembled a birds foot. the clan was also known for their use of the bloodletter16 which was called the adhdhame, or athame. in later times, the aniza tribe migrated to spain which brought some aspects of the witch-cult to europe. other middle eastern sects which marked themselves as walkers between worlds were the maskhara (called also dervishes, being a sect which were marked on the skin (mabrush) and intoxicated with the thorn apple, the same as mandrake. both contain alkaloids and cause the sensation of flying. in the western world, the mark of cain is this very marking which initiated the body into the witch-cult through the witches sabbat

MORALS AND DOGMA

y, and fraternity; but it is no more the high-priest of republicanism than of constitutional monarchy. it contracts no entangling alliances with any sect of theorists, dreamers, or philosophers. it does not know those as its initiates who assail the civil order and all lawful authority, at the same time that they propose to deprive the dying of the consolations of religion. it sits apart from all sects and creeds, in its own calm and simple dignity, the same under every government. it is still that which it was in the cradle of the human race, when no human foot had trodden the soil of assyria and egypt, and no colonies had crossed the himalayas into southern india, media, or etruria. it gives no countenance to anarchy and licentiousness; and no illusion of glory, or extravagant emulation

s his _will_ to do it. he is true to his mind, his conscience, heart, and soul, and feels small temptation to do to others what he would not wish to receive from them. he will deny himself for the sake of his brother near at hand. his _desire_ attracts in the line of his _duty, both being in conjunction. not in vain does the poor or the oppressed look up to him. you find such men in all christian sects, protestant and catholic, in all the great religious parties of the civilized world, among buddhists, mahometans, and jews. they are kind fathers, generous citizens, unimpeachable in their business, beautiful in their daily lives. you see their masonry in their work and in their play. it appears in all the forms of their activity, individual, domestic, social, ecclesiastical, or political. t

the sons of the people! is it true that masonry is effete; that the acacia, withered, affords no shade; that masonry no longer marches in the advance-guard of truth? no. is freedom yet universal? have ignorance and prejudice disappeared from the earth? are there no longer enmities among men? do cupidity and falsehood no longer exist? do toleration and harmony prevail among religious and political sects? there are works yet left for masonry to accomplish, greater than the twelve labors of hercules; to advance ever resolutely and steadily; to enlighten the minds of the people, to reconstruct society, to reform the laws, and improve the public morals. the eternity in front of it is as infinite as the one behind. and masonry cannot cease to labor in the cause of social progress, without ceasin

the dissemination of moral, political, philosophical, and religious truth, and the practice of all the virtues. in every age, its device has been "liberty, equality, fraternity" with constitutional government _law, order, discipline, and _subordination_ to legitimate authority-_government_ and not _anarchy. but it is neither a political party nor a religious sect. it embraces all parties and all sects, to form from among them all a vast fraternal association. it recognizes the dignity of human nature, and man's right to such freedom as he is fitted for; and it knows nothing that should place one man below another, except ignorance, debasement, and crime, and the necessity of subordination to lawful will and authority. it is philanthropic; for it recognizes the great truth that all men are

n its highly figurative and imaginative style. mordecai, too, occupied a high station, no less than that of prime minister, and esther or astar, his cousin, was the monarch's wife. the magi of babylon were expounders of figurative writings, interpreters of nature, and of dreams--astronomers and divines; and from their influences arose among the jews, after their rescue from captivity, a number of sects, and a new exposition, the mystical interpretation, with all its wild fancies and infinite caprices. the _aions_ of the gnostics, the _ideas_ of plato, the _angels_ of the jews, and the _demons_ of the greeks, all correspond to the _ferouers_ of zoroaster. a great number of jewish families remained permanently in their new country; and one of the most celebrated of their schools was at babyl

reign teachings, and that mixture of doctrines, adopted by the pharisees, and which constituted the popular creed. we come at last to the _essenes_ and _therapeuts, with whom this degree is particularly concerned. that intermingling of oriental and occidental rites, of persian and pythagorean opinions, which we have pointed out in the doctrines of philo, is unmistakable in the creeds of these two sects. they were less distinguished by metaphysical speculations than by simple meditations and moral practices. but the latter always partook of the zoroastrian principle, that it was necessary to free the soul from the trammels and influences of matter; which led to a system of abstinence and maceration entirely opposed to the ancient hebraic ideas, favorable as they were to physical pleasures

to that sect. the place where he preached, his macerations and frugal diet, the doctrines he taught, all prove it conclusively. there was no other sect to which he _could_ have belonged; certainly none so numerous as his _except_ the essenes. we find, from the two letters written by paul to the brethren at corinth, that city of luxury and corruption, that there were contentions among them. rival sects had already, about the 57th year of our era, reared their banners there, as followers, some of paul, some of apollos, and some of cephas. some of them denied the resurrection. paul urged them to adhere to the doctrines taught by himself, and had sent timothy to them to bring them afresh to their recollection. according to paul, christ was to come again. he was to put an end to all other prin

carry it back to god. eusebius broadly admits "that the ancient therapeut were christians; and that their ancient writings were our gospels and epistles" the essenes were of the eclectic sect of philosophers, and held plato in the highest esteem; they believed that true philosophy, the greatest and most salutary gift of god to mortals, was scattered, in various portions, through all the different sects; and that it was, consequently, the duty of every wise man to gather it from the several quarters where it lay dispersed, and to employ it, thus reunited, in destroying the dominion of impiety and vice. the great festivals of the solstices were observed in a distinguished manner by the essenes; as would naturally be supposed, from the fact that they reverenced the sun, not as a god, but as a

the earth, have flocked up toward the eternal throne of god, to receive his judgment? the religion of love proved to be, for seventeen long centuries, as much the religion of hate, and infinitely more the religion of persecution, than mahometanism, its unconquerable rival. heresies grew up before the apostles died; and god hated the nicolaitans, while john, at patmos, proclaimed his coming wrath. sects wrangled, and each, as it gained the power, persecuted the other, until the soil of the whole christian world was watered with the blood, and fattened on the flesh, and whitened with the bones, of martyrs, and human ingenuity was taxed to its utmost to invent new modes by which tortures and agonies could be prolonged and made more exquisite "by what right" whispers the voice "does this savag

had preserved the ritual and ceremonies that accorded with the simplicity of the earliest ages, and the manners of the first men. the rules of pythagoras were followed there. like the egyptians, who held wool unclean, they buried no initiate in woolen garments. they abstained from bloody sacrifices; and lived on fruits or vegetables or inanimate things. they imitated the life of the contemplative sects of the orient; thus approximating to the tranquility of the first men, who lived exempt from trouble and crimes in the bosom of a profound peace. one of the most precious advantages promised by their initiation was, to put a man in communion with the gods, by purifying his soul of all the passions that interfere with that enjoyment, and dim the rays of divine light that are communicated to e

ruggles for adequate external utterance, striving to tell to one man, to _paint_ to him, an idea existing in the mind of another, and essentially incapable of utterance or description, in a language all the words of which have a sensuous meaning. thus, the idea being perhaps the same in all, its expressions and utterances are infinitely various, and branch into an infinite diversity of creeds and sects. all religious expression is symbolism; since we can describe only what we see; and the true objects of religion are unseen. the earliest instruments of education were symbols; and they and all other religious forms differed and still differ according to external circumstances and imagery, and according to differences of knowledge and mental cultivation. to present a visible symbol to the ey

ian legend. they symbolized osiris by the sun, isis by the moon, and typhon by scorpio; and wore crystals bearing these emblems, as amulets or talismans to protect them from danger; upon which were also a brilliant star and the serpent. they were copied from the talismans of persia and arabia, and given to every candidate at his initiation. iren us tells us that the simonians, one of the earliest sects of the gnostics, had a priesthood of the mysteries. tertullian tells us that the valentinians, the most celebrated of all the gnostic schools, imitated, or rather perverted, the mysteries of eleusis. iren us informs us, in several curious chapters, of the mysteries practised by the marcosians; and origen gives much information as to the mysteries of the ophites; and there is no doubt that al

nostics, had a priesthood of the mysteries. tertullian tells us that the valentinians, the most celebrated of all the gnostic schools, imitated, or rather perverted, the mysteries of eleusis. iren us informs us, in several curious chapters, of the mysteries practised by the marcosians; and origen gives much information as to the mysteries of the ophites; and there is no doubt that all the gnostic sects had mysteries and an initiation. they all claimed to possess a secret doctrine, coming to them directly from jesus christ, different from that of the gospels and epistles, and superior to those communications, which in their eyes, were merely exoteric. this secret doctrine they did not communicate to every one; and among the extensive sect of the basilideans hardly one in a thousand knew it

hey imagined they saw in nature. he strives to check the germination of the divine seeds of life which the supreme god of holiness and love, who has no connection whatever with the sensible world, has scattered among men. that perfect god was at most known and worshipped in mysteries by a few spiritual men. the gospel of st. john is in great measure a polemic against the gnostics, whose different sects, to solve the great problems, the creation of a material world by an immaterial being, the fall of man, the incarnation, the redemption and restoration of the spirits called men, admitted a long series of intelligences, intervening in a series of spiritual operations; and which they designated by the names _the beginning, the word, the only-begotten, life, light, and _spirit [ghost: in greek

; the ancient scandinavian to _odin, frea, and _thor; and the old etruscans to tina, talna, and minerva _strength, abundance, and _wisdom. while plato tells us of the _supreme good, the _reason_ or _intellect, and the _soul_ or _spirit; and philo of the _archetype of light _wisdom [s??a, and the _word; the kabalists, of the triads of the sephiroth. while the disciples of simon magus, and the many sects of the gnostics, confuse us with their _eons, emanations, powers, wisdom superior_ and _inferior, ialdabaoth, adam-kadmon, even to the three hundred and sixty-five thousand emanations of the malda tes. and while the pious christian believes that the word dwelt in the mortal body of jesus of nazareth, and suffered upon the cross; and that the holy ghost was poured out upon the apostles, and n

er-sleeping, the protector of the land "when the dragon foe devastates my provinces" says ormuzd "and afflicts them with famine, then is he struck down by the strong arm of mithras, together with the devs of mazanderan. with his lance and his immortal club, the sleepless chief hurls down the devs into the dust, when as mediator he interposes to guard the city from evil" ahriman was by some parsee sects considered older than ormuzd, as darkness is older than light; he is imagined to have been unknown as a malevolent being in the early ages of the world, and the fall of man is attributed in the boundehesch to an apostate worship of him, from which men were converted by a succession of prophets terminating with zoroaster. mithras is not only light, but intelligence; that luminary which, thoug

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

ed to their operational secrets. symbols remain but their interpretations change: this is a law of evolution. nor is it to be doubted that eastern influences were at work in this area as they were in others. in fact, they became so imbedthe collegia and the barbarian invasions 31 ded that several centuries later, the crusaders had trouble recognizing their own religion among the various christian sects of asia minor. architecture also transformed at this time. the curved shapes of circular churches replaced the straight lines of the roman basilica, and eventually the domes, each more audacious than the one built before, took on an appearance that indicated their architects had found models among the persian seleucca and ctesiphon. this period marked the birth of byzantine art, a synthesis

ciety that is politically dominated by islam, but in which a large proportion of believers in other faiths manage to live without difficulty, in a kind of symbiosis for which we would search in vain to find an equivalent in other societies" islam opened for christians numerous doors toward social understanding and harmony. on the muslim side, the principle artisans of this action were the ismaili sects, particularly the karmates and the assassins. the ismaliens were a bough of the shiite branch of islam. karmate propaganda, born from ismailism, took on the form of a large reform movement that was both social and religious in scope. from the ninth to eleventh centuries, this movement shook the muslim world, including syria, persia, india, and especially egypt, where it led to the installati

anch of islam. karmate propaganda, born from ismailism, took on the form of a large reform movement that was both social and religious in scope. from the ninth to eleventh centuries, this movement shook the muslim world, including syria, persia, india, and especially egypt, where it led to the installation of the fatimid dynasty. it was in egypt that a command center for the majority of ismailian sects, the dit ul hikmat, was founded. in the social sphere, karmatism is characterized by the organization of labor and groups of workers into professional corporations (sinf; pi. asnaf, which seem to have been in existence since the tenth century and were connected with religious brotherhoods (tariqa; pi. turuq. it is important to note that the contemporary recollections of asnafs and turuq in s

the dit ul hikmat, was founded. in the social sphere, karmatism is characterized by the organization of labor and groups of workers into professional corporations (sinf; pi. asnaf, which seem to have been in existence since the tenth century and were connected with religious brotherhoods (tariqa; pi. turuq. it is important to note that the contemporary recollections of asnafs and turuq in shiite sects emphasize both the spiritually and socially educational value of labor.26 the hierarchical degrees apprentice, worker, foreman, and master were the rule, as were the obligation to mutual assistance and the initiatory oaths.27 trade secrets were gradually passed on to each grade in accordance with a legal custom (dustur, which was transmitted orally. the kinship of these professional brotherh

in the assassins devoted their time to the study of philosophy in the fortress of alamut, which was located in a persian domain. when the mongols of kubla khan defeated the assassins in the twelfth century, the victors found an immense library and an astronomical observatory there. outside of the holy land, there was another region where christians had contact with arab civilization and ismailian sects in particular: spain. in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, an ismaili group similar to the assassins, the brothers of purity, lived on the iberian peninsula. we possess fifty-one treatises left by these brothers and know that their initiation consisted of four grades. the objective they pursued was the propagation of a philosophy inspired by that of aristotle with neoplatonic interpretatio

ins of freemasonry from ancient times to the middle ages nor should we overlook the considerable influence of alchemy. this science, which took shape in the syncretic milieus of third-century alexandria as a synthesis of egyptian, chaldean, jewish, and hellenic speculations and practices, evolved rapidly before entering byzantium and from there the arab world, notably in the fatimid and ismailian sects. it was among the arabs in the thirteenth century that arnaud de villeneuve, saint thomas, raymond lulle, and roger bacon studied alchemy, which took on considerable importance in europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. we should also note that its symbolism is closely tied to that of philosophy and construction. in the architectural domain, european builders were subject to th

tines and templars played an important role in the propagation of these muslim influences. of course, the templars, recipients of arabic knowledge and culture, which they then passed on to others, did not necessarily explore these influences through high scientific and metaphysical speculation. they were primarily men of action, warriors and builders* from their extensive relations with ismailian sects and arab corporations, the templars were at least aware of and largely adopted if only on an operative plane certain arab organization structures, rites, symbols, practices, and trade secrets. many brother servants had already been initiated in their secular lives to similar operative rituals. they were particularly open to receiving this new contribution and transplanting it to the west, wh

ame christians and christians became muslims without experiencing any disorientation. there were affiliations of ismailians and saracen rulers in the temple and perhaps templars among the muslim brotherhoods. this becomes all the more likely given that the faith of eastern christians showed such distinctive features that it was almost impossible to discern any demarcations between these christian sects and the derivatives of islam. both sides came closer to one shared ideal. the fatimids of cairo imagined the possibility of a peaceful universalism that was the rebirth of the thought of the pharaoh amenhotep iv. the templars echoed* we should recall that the essenes also dressed in white linen and practiced a form of solar worship. the uniform of the assassins consisted of a white robe, red

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

mperate in the use of arrack, and some make a boast before christians of the superiority of their religion to that of isl m, inasmuch as it does not prohibit the use of intoxicating liquors. drunken broils, however, such as are, alas! too common in our own land, are almost unknown among them, and the native christians with whom they dwell, bear witness that in their general intercourse with other sects, they are comparatively free from many of those known immoralities which p. 133 pollute the lives and conduct of mohammedans; though it in said that great lewdness secretly prevails within the limits of their own community. this is a natural result of polygamy, which is allowed among them to the extent of three wives, to the facility of obtaining divorce, and particularly to the frequency of

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

l, and there found, not a repulsive and obscene object, but the young and gracious countenance of a priestess of isis or maia, who gave him a sisterly salute, and he was then admitted to the banquet. as to the orgies which in many such assemblies followed the banquet, we must beware of believing that they were permitted generally these secret agapae, it is known, however, that a number of gnostic sects practised them in their conventicles during early centuries of christianity. that the flesh had its protestants in those ages of asceticism and compression of the senses was inevitable and can occasion no surprise, but we must not accuse transcendental magic of irregularities which it has never authorized. isis is chaste in her widow hood; diana panthea is a virgin; hermanubis, possessing bo

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

o-ners, presumably he can avoid any suggestion of heresy or witchcraft, but we need to remember constantly that seventeenth-century scotland, and indeed england, had re-cently emerged from the fanatical conflict of the revolution, based on extreme protestantism and religious prejudice. of course it need hardly be added that the type of lore that kirk describes was strictly banned by all christian sects and authorities, catholic, protestant, and multiple orthodox or unorthodox variants thereof. kirk next reports a typical death and sickness tradition (page 28) in which the wraith or death-dog appears, but he gives it an interesting interpretation, saying that this wraith is the exuded fumes of the man approaching death and, like astral bodies tossed in the wind, it is neither a true soul no

RUBY TABLET OF SET

ds to a pessimism wherein one sees only the failures of things, unconsciously neglecting their positive legacy. nietzsche interprets hegel as saying that history had now reached its perfection in the contemporary german state system. nietzsche sees danger in this because it would lead to lassitude on the part of modern man, who would feel "there is nothing more to be done [compare the "last days" sects of early, medieval, and modern christianity, as well as the "ecological doomsday" ideologies of the late 20th century] man differs from other animals, says nietzsche, in that he has the power to "create horizons. to construct visions, ideas, and ultimately philosophical systems. these horizons are meaningful to him unless he perceives them as artificial constructs. in that case he either des

rthodox christian groups. they were, and still are, often lumped in with christianity. this is always with the added label "heresy, but they were actually very syncretic. they did borrow from the teachings of christ, but equally from the greeks, egyptians, indians, israelites, and persians. theories as to their origins abound, but the most cogent one is that they derived from the heretical jewish sects, like the essenes. this is based in part on the geographical evidence of early gnostic writings, and on the teachings themselves. one of the prominent themes in their writings is their hatred of the old testament, it's god, and it's laws, which was in accord with many radical jewish offshoots of that time. within this generally anarchistic philosophy, however, there arose specific groups tha

d. 7. of either feeding the god/goddess, or partaking of his/her life force 8. with its shamanistic approaches 9. always keeping in mind that to them paganism is the worship of "false gods" 10. not only are the criteria also present in these religions, but some interesting developments show up in modern judaism. 11. roman catholicism is a valid example, since it is largely imitated in the various sects that are followed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide from the coptic christians of africa to the russian and greek orthodox of middle and eastern europe. 12. which established the "apostles' creed" as the basic statement of belief for each baptized catholic 13. though not admitted in centuries that followed, or at that time for that matter 14. an innovation which occurred to them af

SATANGEL

chin, and shedim. lilith (aramaic. mother of the lilim and all succubi, nocturnal sexual vampire, mother of *cain, first wife of adam. the screech owl (isiah 34:14. whose cult spread from palestine to greece, where she merged with hekate. originally a babylonian goddess lilitu, or ardat-lilil. lucifer (latin, bringer of light. the rebel angel who was cast from heaven (isiah 14:12. certain gnostic sects regard lucifer as a divine power in his own right, and the witches recognise him as the initiator and bringer of illumination. in etruscan gypsy lore he is the father of aradia and consort of diana. it is this godform that became the emperor of hell (grimorium verum. roman god of the morning star (venus. luciftias (enochian, brightness) whose return is heralded, alongside babalon, in the cal

SATANIC BIBLE

sm, wedding, and funeral ceremonies were dedicated to the devil. i was a free-lance magazine writer, and i felt there might be a story in lavey and his contemporary pagans; for the devil has always made "good copy, as they say on the city desk. it was not the practice of the black arts itself that i considered to be the story, because that is nothing new in the world. there were devil-worshipping sects and voodoo cults before there were christians. in eighteenth-century england a hell-fire club, with connections to the american colonies through benjamin franklin, gained some brief notoriety. during the early part of the twentieth century, the press publicized aleister crowley as the "wickedest man in the world. and there were hints in the 1920s and '30s of a "black order" in germany. to th

SATANIC RITUALS

eld dianic "esbats" with furtive regularity. this presents a charming picture. but it is folly, because it bestows a degree of intellectual sophistication on people who were essentially ignorant, and who were willing to go along with whatever form of worship the opinion makers gave them. at any rate, during the period when accounts of the black mass were employed as propaganda against "heretical" sects and orders, few cared about the finer points differentiating the witch from the satanist. both were as one in the eyes of the inquisitors, although it is safe to say that unlike the majority who bore the label of witch, those who conducted themselves "satanically" often earned their stigma. this is not meant to condone the actions of the inquisitors against such freethinkers and rebels, but

es of higher learning. it was to be expected that the hermetic principle of "as above, so below" and vice versa would apply to gifted and intelligent individuals. an inquiring, well-developed mind could often be dangerously skeptical and subsequently irreverent! thus there was always a supply of "depraved" priests ready and willing to celebrate satanic rites. history has, in fact, produced entire sects and monastic orders that fell into humanistic and iconoclastic fever. think about it; you personally may have known of a priest or minister who wasn't quite what he should have been! today, of course, in christianity's death throes, anything goes in the clergy, and priests once tortured and executed for "vile heresies (urban grandier, for example) would seem like boy scouts by current standa

with their work in the fields-were welcome. as was to be expected, the christians worked overtime to stamp out all such beliefs, thereby placing both the simple muzhik, who cherished the good old devils, and the educated, in mortal fear of any remnant of dark forces. thus a satanic underground that was carefully cloaked in christian trappings was bound to develop in russia. those who entered such sects were either driven by emotion alone (the followers) or by emotion and reason (the leaders. by the nineteenth century, religious severity had reached its zenith, with virtually all of russia adhering to the orthodox church. but the old gods were preparing a vehicle of retaliation: the men of "god" were revealed, as in other countries, as the real villains, but they were so steeped in their ho

but the old gods were preparing a vehicle of retaliation: the men of "god" were revealed, as in other countries, as the real villains, but they were so steeped in their holy selfrighteousness, they were unable to imagine their own disintegration. out of the morass of "goodness" flickered an occasional secular spark of "wickedness" these flickerings kept the old ones alive. known erotic religious sects existed in russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, despite the prevailing orthodox climate. evidence indicates they were led and directed by men whose visionary abilities, practices, and goals revealed them as satanists of the first order. the sect of the khlysty demonstrates this more than any other. their wise men knew that the passions will always win out. on the surface, t

genii. the khlystys invoked biblical gods of pleasure, as well as dark, forboding demons like balaam, and persian deities like kors. in the ritual of these "seekers after joy" their whirlings and circumambulations, followed by frenzied sexual release, were virtually indistinguishable from the ecstatic flailing about of the dervishes. undoubtedly the strongest testimony to the influence of foreign sects upon the khlysty was their dogma of "repentance through sin"-the proposition that physical intercourse with a "divine" or chosen one (one in whom a god or the flame of god dwelt) would abolish and transform sin into virtue. this doctrine has overt resemblance to and varies only slightly from one preached by the brethren of the free spirit in france, germany and czechoslovakia in the fifteent

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

f the nearly 6.5 billion people on earth, only about 16 percent (about 1.1. billion) say they do not believe in a god or do not believe in a specific religion. the rest of the world s population belongs to one of more than twenty different major religions. features and format world religions: almanac covers the history, traditions, and worldviews of dominant and less prominent religions and their sects and offshoots. this title examines the development of religions throughout history and into modern times: their philosophies and practices, sacred texts and teachings, effects on everyday life, influences on society and culture, and more. the two-volume set features eighteen chapters on today s prominent world religions and also explores ancient beliefs, such as those of egypt and mesopotami

r constantine converts to christianity. 380 the emperor theodosius i declares christianity the official religion of the roman empire. 610 according to islamic belief, the prophet muhammad begins receiving revelations and prophecies from the archangel jabra il (gabriel. 632 the death of muhammad marks the beginning of a long period of islamic civil war and separation of islam into sunni and shiite sects. xii world religions: almanac timeline of events 1054 the christian church is formally divided into two distinct branches: the roman catholic church and the eastern orthodox church. 1095 1291 the duration of the crusades, a series of military campaigns in which european christians attempt to take control of the holy land from muslims. 1391 1474 life span of gedun drub, considered the first d

d marks. daevas: ancient persian deities. dao: the path or way; the rhythmic balance and natural, flowing patterns of the universe. de: political power that is the result of a ruler s virtue and honesty. deity: a god or goddess. dharma: righteousness in one s religious and personal life. diaspora: the scattering of the jews throughout the world. digambara: literally sky-clad; one of the two major sects of jainism. disciple: a person who accepts and assists in spreading the teachings of a leader. in the bible, a follower of jesus. doctrine: a set of ideas held by a religious group. druidism: a neo-pagan religion based in the celtic region of the british isles. dynasty: a sequence of rulers from the same family. xviii world religions: almanac words to know eightfold path: the path of the bud

sm, used for purposes of meditation. oral torah: interpretations of the torah and ways to apply their laws. orders: religious communities. original sin: the sin that fell upon humankind when adam and eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden; this act, in turn, led to the separation of humans from god. orishas: name given to the lesser gods of santer a. orthodox: the name of one of the sects of judaism, generally referring to traditional jews who are conservative in their outlook. oshogatsu: the shinto new year. ostara: neo-pagan holiday held at the time of the spring equinox. 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. parshva: the twenty-third tirthankar

pyramid: a stone tomb constructed to house a deceased pharaoh of egypt. qi: the breath of life or vital energy that flows through the body and the earth. qur an: the sacred scriptures of islam; contains the revelations given to the prophet muhammad revealed to him beginning in 610. ra kah: a unit of prayer. rationalism: belief that knowledge can come exclusively from the mind. reform: one of the sects of judaism, generally used to refer to the less traditional branch of the faith. regla de ocha: the formal name for the santer an religion. rehit maryada: the sikh code of ethical conduct. religious daoism: a form of daoism that recognizes gods, ancestor spirits, and life after death. ren: empathy, the ability to feel for and sympathize with others; the highest confucian ideal. resurrection:

e of hinduism, as well as of much classical indian literature. santer a: the way of the saints; an african-based religion practiced primarily in cuba and other central and south american countries. santero: a practitioner of santer a. saum: fasting. sect: a small religious group that has branched off from a larger established religion. sect (kyoha) shinto: shinto as it is practiced by a number of sects, or groups, formed primarily in the nineteenth century. secular: worldly things, of the physical world, as opposed to religious and spiritual. world religions: almanac xxvii words to know sedreh-pushi: the zoroastrian initiation rite. sephardic: term used to refer to jews of north africa, the middle east, spain, and portugal. shahadah: the islamic declaration of faith. it consists of the wor

the messenger of god. shaman: in indigenous tribes, an intermediary between the gods and the tribal members; also one who controls various spiritual forces, can look into the future, and can cure the ill with magic. shamanism: a term used generally to refer to indigenous religions that believe in an unseen spirit world that influences human affairs. shari ah: islamic law. shi ite: one of the main sects of islam; from the phrase shi at ali, or the party of ali. shinbutsu bunri: the separation of shinto and buddhism when shinto was declared the official state religion. shinbutsu shugo: the combination of shinto and buddhism. shinto: literally, the way of the gods or the way of the kami. shiva: the destroyer god, embodying the erotic and sexual. shivaism: a major sect of hinduism, which sees

to everyday questions of faith and morality. sunni: the main sect of islam. supernatural: that which is beyond the observable world, including things relating to god or spirits. supreme being: the central god responsible for creating the cosmos. sura: any chapter in the qur an. susano-o: the shinto god of violence and the ruler of the oceans. svetambara: literally, white-clad; one of the two main sects of jainism. swastika: a pictorial character that symbolizes the eternal nature of brahma because it points in all directions; also used as the official emblem of the nazi party during world war ii (1939 45. takhts: seats of spiritual authority in sikhism. the five takhts are gurdwaras located in india. talmud: traditions that explain and interpret the torah. tanakh: the chief jewish scriptur

called nonreligious people, comprise the third largest group in the world dealing with religious matters. with 1.2 billion who share similar doubts, agnostics and atheists rank after christianity and islam in number. estimates for atheists and agnostics alone, however, are between 500 and 750 million worldwide. 22 world religions: almanac agnosticism and atheism in ancient india various religious sects (groups) appeared which did not rely on the belief in a single supreme god. some historians describe these sects as atheistic. unlike atheism, however, they include beliefs about the order of the universe and way of living. jainism, carvaka, and buddhism all reject the rituals of hinduism. jainism and buddhism contain some supernatural elements, but buddhism in particular rejects the necessi

lic church was a dominant force in the west, both religiously and politically. the popes were not only the leaders of the catholic church, but rulers of a large portion of central italy. as the church became more and more concerned with politics, its spiritual reputation suffered in many places. during the reformation this led to widespread criticism of both the catholic church and the protestant sects that broke away from it. though this period focused on politics more than on religious ideas, such as the existence or nonexistence of god, the reformation paved the way for later criticisms of religion. the scientific discoveries of the age of enlightenment, an intellectual movement in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that emphasized reason and logic, reinforced the questioning

gn conquerors inhabited the land, and various cults gained favor and then went out of favor. but amen and amen-ra remained the major cult. the local goddess neith became more popular and was later incorporated into greek and roman pantheons in the figures of athena and diana. even after the introduction of christianity, the ancient gods continued to be worshipped until about the sixth century ce. sects and schisms both egyptian and mesopotamian deities had cults that were popular in different places and in different times. of note were two later mesopotamian deities, marduk and ashur. marduk was the national god of babylonia, and the babylonians went to great pains to rewrite the creation myth so that he would be the king of gods, replacing the mesopotamian god enlil. such a replacement la

for the religion. sites. the shrine of baha u lla h in israel is considered the holiest site for baha s. observances. the most important holy period for baha s is the festival of ridvan, held from april 21 and 29 through may 2. naw-ruz, or new year s day, on march 21, is also an important holy day. phrases. baha is sometimes used by members to address one another. world religions: almanac 75 baha sects and schisms the baha faith is itself the result of a schism, or separation, from the babis, and that faith was itself an islamic sect. since the religion was established there have been several disputes over leadership. the first of these disputes occurred after the death of baha u lla h, who had established the covenant of baha u lla h. this covenant was a promise to his followers guarantee

abbani, as his successor. although he was young when he was named the guardian, shoghi effendi was generally accepted by the faithful. his marriage to a westerner, mary maxwell, a baha from the united states, and his growing international focus led to complaints from his immediate family, many of whom began disobeying him and marrying covenant breakers. this did not result in the creation of more sects, but it did force shoghi effendi to excommunicate several family members. with the death of shoghi effendi, the hereditary office of guardian came to an end. leadership was supposed to be passed to the oldest son, but shoghi effendi had no children, and other members of the family had already been excommunicated as covenant breakers. for a time control fell to a small body of advisers, the h

known, taught that a person could escape the pain and suffering of life by eliminating desire. the way of living he established is also considered to be a philosophy, or a set of ideas through which to gain a better understanding of values and reality. the buddha searched for six years to learn the meaning of life, and he gained many followers in his lifetime. since his death, dozens of different sects, or subgroups, have formed in buddhism. the religion has spread from its native india to the rest of the far east and to the west (the countries in europe and the americas. the great majority of its followers are in asia. estimates suggest that there are about 350 million buddhists worldwide, or about six percent of the world s total population. it is the fourth-largest world religion, behin

m in the united states in the twenty-first century. the spread of buddhism has also been enhanced in the united states by waves of immigration from buddhist countries in asia. despite its growing popularity, only 1 percent of the u.s. population is buddhist. european nations also have a small presence of buddhists, but their presence continued to increase slowly in the early twenty-first century. sects and schisms buddhism had already split into two main branches, or schools, by the first century bce. in the early twenty-first century there exist three main types of buddhism: theravada, mahayana, and vajrayana. theravada means doctrine of the elders, and it bases its practices and beliefs on the original teachings of the buddha as gathered in the pali canon. it is sometimes referred to as

ndividual faith as the most powerful ingredient in a person s salvation. luther s proposed changes ending the selling of indulgences, and simplification of rituals drew new believers and inspired other reformers. because the movement sought to reform church practices, it became known as the reformation. since it began as a protest against the perceived abuses of the roman catholic church, the new sects that resulted became known as protestant. catholics reacted to these reform movements with the counter- reformation of the sixteenth century. led by conservative catholics and pope paul iii (1468 1549, the counter-reformation wanted to reform the church, but slowly and from within. they hoped their reforms would stop protestant advances and preserve catholic traditions. protestantism continu

SEPHER YETZIRAH WESTCOTT

book to condemn the doctrine of the sages of his time, who were incredulous of the supreme dogma of the unity. at least, this was the opinion of rabbi saadiah--blessed be he--as written in the first chapter of his book the philosopher's stone. these are his words: the sages of babylon attacked abraham on account of his faith; for they were all against him although themselves separable into three sects. the first thought that the universe was subject to the control of two opposing forces, the one existing but to destroy the other, this is dualism; they held that there was nothing in common between the author of evil and the author of good. the second sect admitted three great powers; two of them as in the first case, and a third power whose function was to decide between the two others, a

SIR WALLIS BUDGE EGYPTIAN MAGIC

the powers of darkness, and workers of the "black art" in the "white" and "black" magic of the egyptians most of the magic known in the other countries of the world may be found; it is impossible yet to say exactly how much the beliefs and religious systems of other nations were influenced by them, but there is no, doubt that certain views and religious ideas of many heathen and p. xiii christian sects may be traced directly to them. many interesting proofs might be adduced in support of this statement, but the limits of this book will not admit of their being given here. when we consider the lofty spiritual character of the greater part of the egyptian religion, and remember its great antiquity, it is hard to understand why the egyptians carefully preserved in their writings and ceremonie

tracts quoted in support of the deductions set forth in it were intended to enable the reader to judge for himself as to the general accuracy of the conclusions there given. many writers on the egyptian religion have somewhat blinked the fact that it had two sides; on the one it closely resembles in. p. 2 many respects the christian religion of to-day, and on the other the religion of many of the sects which flourished in the first three or four centuries of our era, and which may be said to have held beliefs which were part christian and part non-christian. in its non- christian aspect it represents a collection of ideas and superstitions which belong to a savage or semi-savage state of existence, and which maintained their hold in a degree upon the minds of the egyptians long after they

mblem, or picture, became an amulet with protective powers; and it seems that these powers remained active as long as the substance lasted and as long as the name, or emblem, or picture, was not p. 64 erased from it. the use of amulets was common in egypt from the earliest times to the roman period, and when the egyptians embraced christianity, they, in common with the gnostics and semi-christian sects, imported into their new faith many of the views and beliefs which their so-called heathen ancestors had held, and with them the use of the names of ancient egyptian gods, and goddesses, and demons, and formula, which they employed in much the same way as they were employed in the days of old. footnotes 27:1 i.e, chapter xxiv, which is entitled "the chapter of bringing words of power unto os

apyrus in which the above extracts occur we find a series of magical names which may be read thus--atir- atisa, atirkaha-atisa, samumatnatmu-atisa, samuanemui-atisa, samutekaari-atisa, samutekabaiu-atisa, samutchakaretcha-atisa, tauuarehasa, qina, hama, senentuta- batetsataiu, anrehakatha-sataiu, haubailra-haari. from these and similar magical names it is quite certain that the gnostics and other sects which held views akin to theirs obtained the names which they were so fond of p. 176 inscribing upon their amulets and upon the so-called magical papyri. the last class of documents undoubtedly contains a very large proportion of the magical ideas, beliefs, formula, etc, which were current in egypt from the time of the ptolemies to the end of the roman period, but from about b.c. 150 to a.d

SPENSER THE CULT OF THE ALL SEEING EYE 1960

l disarmed the 400-man "papal guard" and clapped a score of "cardinals" and pham cong tac himself under house arrist. in early march, 1956, the general forced the "pope" into exile in pnompenh in cambodia, by collecting certified letters from 19 "vestal virgins" of cao dai who complained that pham cong tac had raped them. the cao dai. at the height of its power in l955, controlled. with two other sects. one-third of south viet nam. the three sects formed an exotic consortium of religious fanatics, feudal warlords, uniformed hoodlums and racket bosses. their combined armies totaled 40,000 men. one of the sects, the hoa hao. is composed of dissident buddhists founded by the deceased huynh phu so, who. so the story goes, converted his psychiatrist when he was sent to a lunatic asylum. the oth

converted his psychiatrist when he was sent to a lunatic asylum. the other sect, the binh xuyen. is an organization of bandits, in mustard-colored uniforms, who controlled both the brothels of saigon and the police of the same city under an arrangement with the absentee chief of state, bao dai. their commander, general le van vien. was once a river pirate. premier ngo dinh diem crushed the three sects. for eight years south viet nam was free of the evil of the cao dai. then, in late 1963. the premier and his brother. ngo dinh nhu. were assassinated in a cia-supported murder plot headed by buddhist traitors in the vietnamese government. at once the top surviving cao dai leader, exiled general le than tat, returned to viet nam from cambodia to regroup the many factions of the cult into a un

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

further required was the conviction that their spirit should be extended into life in general more than had been the case with the mysteries themselves. such a conviction was actually widespread, as we can gather from reports about the way of life practiced among the essenes and the therapeutae groups that were in existence well before the time of christian origins.153 the essenes were one of the sects active in palestine. they were of a closed nature and with an estimated membership at the time of christ of around four thousand. they formed a community, whose members were directed to lead a life suited to the development of the higher self within their souls, and so to achieve rebirth. 154 the aspirant was subjected to stringent tests in order to establish whether or not he was sufficient

too far from her carefully guarded sacred truths. yet during the first centuries of christianity the search for the way to god was much more individual than in later times.165 a long road had to be traveled before augustine could declare: i would not believe the message of the gospel if i were not urged to do so by the authority of the catholic church. it was, however, through the several gnostic sects and writers that the struggle between the way of the mysteries and that of christianity took on its specific coloring. the term gnostics is applied to all those writers from the first centuries of christianity who sought for a deeper, spiritual meaning in its teachings.166 they are to be understood as thinkers steeped in the ancient mysteriosophy and striving to comprehend christianity from

TECHNICIANS GUIDE TO THE LEFT HAND PATH

levels of human activity. the left hand path is a syncretism in the post modern era, one which takes liberally from several areas of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. existentialism, relativism, antinomianism, hermeticism, all share ideas that are synthesized into the lhp conception. tracing the roots of these ideas we find hints and glimpses contained in the extant thoughts of certain gnostic sects, the graeco/roman egyptian philosophies, and aspects of the ancient egyptian religious cults. particularly, we see this in the reflections of the ancient setian priesthoods of egypt whose ideas have been integrated into other lines of philosophical thought. as previously stated, the differentiation between the lhp and the rhp is one of intent. for instance, in the church of rome (catholic) r

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

ar order of the temple, the modern-day knights templar, the vatican's knights of malta and knights of columbus, the order of the odd fellows, the order of ahepa, the order introduction 13 of skull and bones, the bohemian club, the pilgrims society, and a thousand or more other secret societies and orders, not to mention the many jewish cabalistic groups, satanic churches, and witchcraft and druid sects. knowledge of secret signs opens doors british satanist aleister crowley, a man who fancied himself the "wickedest man on the planet" was grand master of the ordo templi orientis (o.t.o) and also founded the mysterious and luciferian, order of astrum argentinium. he once ruefully and knowingly intimated that after he had independently learned and practiced how to do the secret handshakes of

nguage, and codes? one finds many reasons. for one thing, the psychopath these are the kind of people who are illuminists seems to be drawn to the darkness, to mysterious perversions and deep occultism "nothing so arouses the deep mind's attention than the call of the dark, arcane and mysterious" paul huston writes in his book, mastering witchcraft.5 secrecy is deemed essential amongst witchcraft sects, and witchcraft is, in essence, illuminism. huson explains "now witchcraft consists of knowledge, and knowledge brings power. power shared is power lost. although we have entered the age of aquarius, along with its attendant freedom and loosening of restrictions, it will still be very much in your interests as a witch to shroud certain of your doings in a reasonable veil of secrecy."6 as you

are of these oddities is unknown "el diablo" shows his horns- the devil rides out 1 33 134 codex magic a helen keller (1880-1968, shown here at her desk, creator of the deaf signing system. the brilliant keller was a pitiful character in some ways. stricken blind and deaf at an early age, she nevertheless went on to considerable achievements in life. but helen keller also got involved in occultic sects like swedenborgianism and theosophy. did her membership in these groups inspire keller to choose a hand sign for the deaf, translated as "i love you, which is today often used interchangeably with the universal "i love (and/or worship) satan" hand sign? helen keller with alexander graham bell. keller wrote a book, my religion, in which she explained her occult religious views and her enthusi

timony to the sacred life and teachings of krishnamurti, that gold light of eternity. an advertisement for a biography of india's theosophy guru, krishnamurti. occultist annie besant, who took over as leader of theosophy after the death of its founder, once touted krishnamurti as the "christ of the new age" tbe guru's pose here shows he's "on the square" and honors the trifold deity of illuminist sects. this man, in 1994, participated in the brutal, genocidal massacre of 3,000 tutsi tribes people who sought refuge in a church in rwanda, africa. in this news article (austin american-statesman, april 11, 2004, he says he is repentant and is rehabilitated. the cultic positioning of his arms and clenched fist say otherwise. rock star ozzy osbourne lets his masonic friends know he's "on the squ

p a federal building in oklahoma city, remained an enigmatic personality to the end. but this picture of mcveigh in prison shortly before his execution may be revealing as to the man's character. what at first appears to be just the man's thumb sticking out may actually be the magical sign called the manofigo (a clenched hand or fist, the thumb jutting out. in some secret societies and witchcraft sects the thumb thus symbolizes the phallus inserted as a creative act. in sum, in this posture, mcveigh, realizing it is the final image or one of the last of him that the outside world his accusers will probably see, is saying "f..k you" the article accompanying the picture of mcveigh would seem to buttress this theory. it is titled "no regrets, no remorse" and says the oklahoma city bomber is "

mmander albert pike, who died in 1891, is entombed in the scottish rite's house of the temple, exactly 13 blocks from the white house. technically, there are several different types of occultic stars, each having its own set of doctrinal characteristics. the enneagram, for example, a nine-pointed star, is popular as a spiritual talisman in the bahai faith and theosophy and in other new age occult sects. the pentagram, from the greek "pente" meaning five, and "gramma" a letter (thus the "letter five) is a five-pointed star. a pentalpha is more blatantly satanic. it is the form of a triple triangle. the pentagram star can also be called the pentacle, pentalpha, the star of isis, the star of venus and by other names. its usage can be traced back to babylon and it has often been employed in ma

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been regarded as a kind of sleep, perhaps like a rest before a rebirth, as corpses were carefully positioned in the fetal state. sources: burial, ritual, religion, and cannibalism. http//thunder.indstate. edu/ ramanank/ritual.html. 10 july 2001. oldest discovered burial site while many people consider the belief in reincarnation to be held primarily by the adherents of hinduism and some buddhist sects, the concept of past lives is by no means confined to these eastern religions. this chapter will examine many western philosophers, clerics, medical doctors, and scholars who have expressed an individual acceptance of a prior and continued existence in an earthly body, in addition to certain christian, islamic, and jewish sects that have also suggested that reincarnation may be one of the fo

is not an approved doctrine in any of the orthodox christian, islamic, or judaic religions, which all hold fast to the belief that there is but one lifetime, one day of judgment, and a heavenly resurrection of the body for the righteous. reincarnation, the great wheel of return set in motion by one s karma, is accepted as a reality in the hindu and buddhist religions, as well as certain mystical sects in judaism and islam. in the early days of christianity, however, even the church s greatest leaders, such as st. clement of alexandria (150 215 c.e) in his exhortations to the pagans, stated their beliefs in the soul s preexistence: we were in being long before the foundation of the world. we existed in the eye of god, for it is our destiny to live in him. we are the reasonable creatures of

nced early christian doctrine, believed in reincarnation, and when the teachings of origen (185 c.e. 254 c.e, who championed preexistence, was anathematized in 553, they, along with other believers in reincarnation, were condemned as heretics. in later centuries, those who held gnostic views were forced to remain silent regarding their beliefs in reincarnation, so they very often formed their own sects and schools of thought, such as the cathars, the knights templar, the rosicrucians, and the albigenses. because many serious-minded christians believe that there is evidence in the gospels that jesus (c. 6 b.c.e. 30 c.e) himself believed in reincarnation, they are comfortable with 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 49

ce (1877 1945) and rudolf steiner (1861 1925) evolved their spiritual teachings primarily through their own revelations, inspirations, and psychic abilities, blavatsky claimed to be able to draw upon the ancient wisdom of the masters koot hoomi and morya to abet the considerable knowledge that she had distilled from various mystery schools, hindu religious thought, jewish mysticism, and christian sects. many of the concepts and the spiritual eclecticism professed by blavatsky in the 1880s would be revised on a large scale in the 1970s, in what has loosely been called the new age movement. in addition to such contributions as occult masters and guides, blavatsky introduced the legend of the lost continent of lemuria, the return of the maitreya (world savior, and was greatly responsible for

e rites themselves may take hours, days, or weeks to complete. but in spite of their careful scrutiny of all claims of satanic possession, the church has admitted to having ten official exorcists on duty in the united states today; ten years ago, they had only one. most experts agree the majority of exorcisms currently being conducted in the americas are being performed by protestant churches and sects. approximately 600 evangelical exorcism ministries are in operation, in addition to numerous exorcisms being conducted by pentecostals and other christian sects. these religious bodies see satan as an active force. they perceive a heightened campaign of evil in what they believe are the fast-approaching end-times before the second coming of christ. they believe the devil and his demonic hord

of glossolalia for the christian ended in the first century. st. augustine (354 430) denied that any special ability, such as speaking in tongues, prophesy, and so forth, proved one s faith. with the advent of the protestant reformation, leaders such as martin luther (1483 1546) dismissed glossolalia as unnecessary to the christian faith. in the eighteenth century, however, certain new visionary sects, such as the shakers and the catholic apostolic church, began to consider speaking in tongues as one of the special gifts given to true believers. then, in the early 1900s, pentecostalism declared that spirit-baptism brought with its indwelling power the ability to speak in tongues. in the 1960s, glossolalia became suddenly popular even among the more mainstream churches. while the movement

the people of the east bent their knees to diana, isis, and cybele, they had worshipped the great mother as inanna in sumeria, as ishtar in babylonia, and as astarte among the hebrews. most scholars agree that among the first images of the black madonna and her son were representations of isis and horus. the black madonna may also refer to mary magdalene, who, in the traditions of many christian sects, such as the gnostics, was the wife of jesus (c. 6 b.c.e. c. 30 c.e) in this interpretation of the events that occurred after jesus death at the hands of the romans, mary brought the cup used at the last supper the holy grail from palestine to southern france, where it would eventually be guarded by the knights templar. there is also a belief that mary arrived in france carrying within her w

g beliefs all bearing the label of gnostic arose in the first century, strongly competing with the advent of christianity. the term gnostic is derived from the greek gnosis, meaning to know, and the adherents of gnosticism unabashedly declared that members of their form of religious expression knew from firsthand experience the truths that other beliefs had to accept on faith. many of the gnostic sects blended elements of christianity with the eleusianian mysteries, combining them with indian, egyptian, and babylonian magic, and also bringing in aspects of the jewish kabbalah as well. whatever the expression of the various gnostic belief structures, they all emphasized a detachment from the material world and an elaborate series of spiritual hierarchies through which those initiates who ha

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advanced extraterrestrial technology for such earth resources as water, minerals, cattle and certain of its citizenry. ufo abductions are conducted by aliens as a species-monitoring program. physical examinations of humans and crossbreeding attempts involving preselected men and women are allowed by the government as a treaty concession. as the year 2000 grew nearer, many fundamentalist religious sects became obsessed with fears concerning the millennium and armageddon, the great final battle between good and evil. such an obsession created a mind-set of suspicion that had many members of these religious groups identifying satan s minions gathering to fight the forces of good as aliens arriving on ufos. a number of fundamentalist christian evangelists began to blend accounts of ufos with t

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: causeway books, 1973. seligmann, kurt. the history of magic. new york: meridian books, 1960. spence, lewis. an encyclopedia of occultism. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1960. simon magus (c. first century) several cults with widely differing beliefs all bearing the label of ggnostic h arose in the first century, very strongly competing with the advent of christianity. many of the gnostic sects blended elements of christianity with the eleusianian mysteries, combining them with indian, egyptian, and babylonian magic, and bringing in aspects of the jewish kabbalah as well. the first gnostic of importance was simon magus, a samarian sorcerer, a contemporary of the apostles, who was converted to christianity by philip. although he had been a highly respected magus, simon continued to

political and religious restructuring was occurring in germany, the country was not tolerant toward divergent ideas and beliefs. in southwestern germany alone, more than 3,000 witches were executed between 1560 and 1680. perhaps the reasons for such heavy persecution of suspected witches lay in the distrust that the warring christian factions.the roman catholics and the newly emerging protestant sects.had toward one another, and their religious zeal prompted them to accuse a variety of scapegoats as servants of satan. in 1630, prince-bishop johann georg ii fuchs von dornheim, the infamous hexenbischof (witch bishop, constructed a special torture chamber which he decorated with appropriate passages from scripture. he burned at least 600 heretics and witches, including a fellow bishop he su

they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or to speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. h although totems are most often associated with native americans, many cultures have at some time in their past used animal totems. local sport teams use names such as the tigers, lions, bears, cardinals, and falcons. various religions and sects use expressions like the lamb of god, the dove of the holy spirit, and the lion of judah. people through history have even had such surnames as bear, beaver, wolf, crane, crow, drake, finch, fish, fox, hawk, robin, pike, lamb, partridge, and salmon. for many centuries, humans have allowed animals to be both surrogates and teachers. the ethnologist ivar lissner has pondered the provocative my

THE LUCIFERIAN PATH THE WITCHES SABBAT MICHAEL W FORD

f witchcraft and sorcery, the western initiate of today holds a wealth of information to build from. idries shah points out in the sufis that the spanish word for witch is bruja, and are considered the children of wisdom. the history of witchcraft and primal sorcery is bound within the yatuivdah and dregvants7 of iran and persia, within the early zoroastrian religion. the middle eastern cults and sects of magical practice produced what we commonly call magickal paths today. what was lost or well forgotten, by some incantation or spell of remembrance, such surged forth as a bestial atavism that which was dead now emerged as a necromantic shade. by the wealth of symbolism there is indeed much to develop from be ready to grasp that which was always slightly out of reach by dream, that fleetin

s was added, signifying wisdom from the head of the teacher. the aniza tribe also had a symbol of the wasm or tribal brand, which was a symbol which resembled a birds foot. the clan was also known for their use of the bloodletter8 which was called the adhdhame, or athame. in later times, the aniza tribe migrated to spain which brought some aspects of the witch-cult to europe. other middle eastern sects which marked themselves as walkers between worlds were the maskhara (called also dervishes, being a sect which were marked on the skin (mabrush) and intoxicated with the thorn apple, the same as mandrake. both contain alkaloids and cause the sensation of flying. in the western world, the mark of cain is this very marking which initiated the body into the witch-cult through the witches sabbat

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

o hisses, gpray to god and he will tie a knot in his bandana and perhaps remember it some day; but above all, sacrifice to me, or by jove! i will sacrifice you: h and the fool, even in his folly, thought it were better to lose his wits than his brains, and his turnips than his turnip; so he dug and he dug, and he slew and he slew, religion growing fatter and fatter, spawning churches and breeding sects, till unfortunate man found himself so hedged in by the spiritual, that in order to maintain his life in this world he had to acknowledge the church fs supreme authority, and grovel before her in the dust of degradation. crowley gives a curious example of this growth, and the ultimate sameness of all religions in that gruesome and weird drama, gthe god-eater. h maurya the sister of criosda s

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

e excommunicated in 1324 by larmenius, who declared them to be temple desertores and with the knights of st. john of jerusalem, dominiorum militae spoliatores, placed for ever outside the pale of the temple. a similar anathema has since been launched by several grand masters against templars who were rebellious to legitimate authority. from the schism that was introduced into scotland a number of sects took birth.7 the legend of pierre d aumont was accepted as historical truth by many continental masonic groups, among them the french chapter of clermont, and it was from the ranks of the last mentioned organization that at some time between 1751 and 1754 baron von hund (1722-76) recruited the first members of the stricte observance, a quasi-templar masonic order which claimed to possess sec

TWO ESSAYS ON THE WORSHIP OF PRIAPUS

spirit, and released them from the restraints of inert brucker in loc. citat) nor could he have gained this knowledge from any people which history has preserved any memorials; for we know of none among whom science had made such a progress, that a truth so remote from common observation, and so contradictory to the evidence of unimproved sense, would not have been rejected, as it was by all the sects of greek philosophy except the pythagoreans, who rather revered it as an article of faith, than understood it as a discovery of science. thrace was certainly inhabited by a civilized nation at some remote period; for, when philip of macedon opened the gold mines in that country, he found that they had been worked before with great expense and ingenuity, by a people well versed in mechanics

distinctive organs of the male. hence euripides calls bacchus qhlummorfoj,1 and the chorus of bachannals in the same tragedy address him by masculine and feminine epithets.2 ovid also says to him, tibi, cum sine cornibus adstas, virgineum caput est. 3 alluding in the first line to his taurine, and in the second to his androgynous figure. the ancient theologists were, like the modern, divided into sects; but, as these never disturbed the peace of society, they have been very little noticed. i have followed what i conceive to be the true orphic system, in the little analysis which i have here endeavoured to give. this was probably the true catholic faith, though it differs considerably from another ancient system, described by aristophanes;4 which is more poetical, but less philosophical. ac

om each other by the laws of its own constitution, implanted in it by the creator, who was also the destroyer and renovator;3 for, as plato says, all things arise from one, and into one are all things resolved.4 it must be observed, that, when the ancients speak of creation and destruction, they mean only formation and dissolution; it being universally allowed, through all systems of religion, or sects of philosophy, that nothing could come from nothing, and that no power whatever could annihilate that 1 see plate xxi, fig. 7. 2 strabo, lib. xv, p. 712. 3 brucker, hist. crit. philos. vol. i, part 2, lib. i. plutarch, de placis. philos. lib. ii, c. 18. lucretius, lib. v. ver. 91. cic. de nat. deor. lib. ii. 4 ex noj ta panta genesqai, kai eij t' uton analuesai, in ph d. the same dogma is st

istence in the middle ages of secret societies or clubs connected with this obscene worship, besides the public festivals. of these it can hardly be expected that any description would survive, but, if not the fact, the belief in it is clearly established by the eagerness with which such obscene rites were laid to the charge of most of the medi val secret societies, whether lay clubs or religious sects, and we know that secret societies abounded in the middle ages. however willing the romish clergy were to make profit out of the popular phallic wor- 1 see before, p. 146, and plate xxxiii. generative powers 171 ship, they were equally ready to use the belief in it as a means of exciting prejudice against any sects which the church chose to regard as religious or political heretics. it is ve

reformident, quibus 172 on the worship of the these pagan ceremonies were even carried into the churches, and that many of the clergy took part in them. it is probable, too, that when paganism itself had become an offence against the state, and those who continued attached to it were exposed to persecution, they embraced the name of christians as a cover for the grossest superstitions, and formed sects who practised the rites of paganism in their secret conventicles, but were placed by the church among the christian heresies. in some of these, especially among those of an early date, the obscene rites and principles of the phallic worship seem to have entered largely, for, though their opponents probably exaggerated the actual vice car-ried on under their name, yet much of it must have had

vote venientium ad facratissimum diem, injuris lascivientium appetatur, ut etiam ipsius sanct religionis p ne fugiatur accessus. burchard, decret, lib. x, c. 20, de conviviis qu fiunt ritu paganorum, ex concil. africano, cap. 27. see labb s, concil, tom. ii, col. 1085. 1 epiphanii episc. constant. panarium versus h res, vol. i, p. 459, ed. petav. generative powers 173 controversialists to several sects, such as the followers of florian, and of carpocratian, who were accused of putting out the lamps in their churches at the end of the evening service, and indulging in sexual intercourse indiscriminately;1 the nicolait, who held their wives in common; the ebionei; and especially the gnostics, or followers of basilides, and the manich ans. the nicolaites held that the only way to salvation la

f religious hatred, and consequent popular prejudice, the general conviction 176 on the worship of the that these sectarians had rites and practices of a licentious character appears too strong to be entirely disregarded, nor does it present anything contrary to what we know of the state of medi val society, or to the facts which have already been brought forward in the present essay. these early sects appear to have professed doctrines rather closely resembling modern communism, including, like those of their earlier sectarian predecessors, the community of women; and this community naturally implies the abolition of distinctive affinities. one of the writers against the medi val heretics assures us that there were many professed christians, both men and women, who feared no more to go to

nd had carnal intercourse as long as he was able. their leaders taught them that the most perfect degree of charity was to do or suffer in this manner whatever a brother or sister might desire and ask, and hence, says mapes, they were called paterini, a patiendo.1 other writers have suggested a different derivation, but the one first given appears to be that most generally accepted. the different sects or congregations in italy and the south, indeed, appear generally to have taken their names from the towns in which they had their seats or head-quarters. thus, those who were seated at bagnols, in the department of the gard, in the south of france, were called by the latin writers bagnolenses; the same writers give the name of concordenses, or concorezenses, to the heretics of concordia in

. this sect must have been very ignorant and superstitious if it be true which some old writers 1 propter nocturnas coitiones, a voce germanica caters, id est, feles seu lemures. see ducagne, sub v. cathari. generative powers 179 tell us, that they believed that the sun was a demon, and the moon a female called heva,1 and that these two had sexual intercourse every month. like the other heretical sects, these cathari were accused of indulging in unnatural vices, and the german words ketzerie and ketzer were eventually used to signify sodomy and a sodomite, as well as heresy and a heretic. the waldenses generally, taking all the sects which people class under this name, including also the older bulgari and publicani, were charged with holding secret meetings, at which the devil appeared to

e there, the old woman was lifted from the ground, and, following the ball of thread, was carried into the air nobody knew where; and the archbishop s officers 1 bonacursus, vita h reticorum, in d achery, spicilegium, tom. i, p. 209. this book is considered to have been written about the year 1190. 180 on the worship of the burnt the young woman in her place.1 it was the belief of most of the old sects of this class, as well as of the more ancient pagans from whom they were derived, that those who were fully initiated into their most secret mysteries became endowed with powers and faculties above those possessed by ordinary individuals. a list of the errors of the waldenses, printed in the reliqui antiqu, from an english manuscript, enumerates among them that they met to indulge in promisc

e to the place of meeting upon a staff anointed with a certain unguent, and were conveyed thither in a moment of time. the writer adds that, in the parts where he lived, these practices had not been known to exist for a long time.2 our old chroniclers exult over the small success which attended the efforts of these heretics from france and the south to introduce themselves into our island.3 these sects, with secret and obscene 1 radulphus cogeshalenfis, in the amplissima collectio of martene and durand. on the offences with which the different sects comprised under the name of waldenses were charged, see gretser's scriptores contra sectam waldensium, which will be found in the twelfth volume of his works, bonacursus, vita h reticorum, in the first volume of d achery's spicilegium, and the

relief, and that they ought to relieve their brethren when appealed to under the same circumstances. 3 this appears to have been the most common form of the injunction. in one or two instances the receiver is described as adding that this was an act of contempt towards the other sex, which may perhaps be considered as showing that the ceremony was derived from some of the mysteries of the strange sects which appeared in the earlier ages of christianity. jean de st. loup, who held the office of master of the house of templars at soisiac, said that, on his reception into the order, he received the injunction 1 post qu immediates pr cepit idem frater p. ipsi testi quod si aliquis frater dicti ordinis vellet jacere secum, non deberet recusare. ipse tamen testis, ut dixit, non intellexit quod h

ee a series of figures engaged in the performance of various ceremonies, which are not easily explained, but which von hammer considers as belonging to the rites of the gnostics and ophians. the offering of a calf figures prominently among these 1 see our plate xxxviii. 200 on the worship of the rites, a worship which is said still to exist among the nossarii, or nessarenes, the druses, and other sects in the east. in the middle of the scene on one side, a human skull is seen, raised upon a pole. on another side an androgynous figure is represented as the object of worship of two candidates for initiation, who wear masks apparently of a cat, and whose form of adoration reminds us of the kiss enacted at the initiation of the templars.1 this group reminds us, too, of the pictures of the orgi

may perhaps call the gnostic mythology answering to the sophia of the ophianites. he considers that the name baphomet is derived from the greek words baf m teoj, i. e. the baptism of metis, and that in its application it is equivalent with the name mete itself. he has further shown, we think conclusively, that baphomet, instead of being a corruption of mahomet, was a name known among the gnostic sects in the east. zonar is not an arabic word, and is perhaps only a corruption or error of the sculptor, but von hammer thought it meant a girdle, and that it alluded to the mysterious girdle of the templars, of which so much is said in their examinations. the letter b is supposed by von hammer to stand here for the name baphomet, or for that of barbalo, one of the most important personages in t

doctrines, were only so many devils. hence arose the diabolical agency in the scene. thus we easily obtain all the materials and all the incidents of the witches sabbath. where this older worship was preserved among the middle or more elevated classes of society, who had other means of secrecy at their command, it would take a less vulgar form, and would show itself in the formation of concealed sects and societies, such as those of the different forms of gnosticism, of the stadingers, of the templars, and of other less important secret clubs, of a more or less immoral character, which continued no doubt to exist long after what we 1 see michelet, la sorci re, liv. i, c. 9, on the use and the effects of the solane, to which he attributes much of the delusions of the sabbath. 248 on the ge

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

ists used its fabled might to restore the dead to life, to rule storms and calm the seas, to turn back the course of the sun, and to drive demons out of those possessed. so revered was the name by the ancient jewish priests that they forbade anyone to speak it. after the fall of herod's temple to the romans in a.d. 70, its true pronunciation was lost to the general jewish population, but esoteric sects and solitary magicians continued to rely upon its potency as the foundation of all their works. in the middle ages, ba'alai shem, or masters of the name, employed tetragrammaton to heal the sick and banish evil spirits. one such ba'al shem was the great jewish magician rabbi loew of prague, who breathed life into lifeless clay by means of the power of the ihvh and with it created the dreaded

y throne of god (rev. 4:6-8. they must be ruled by an even higher nature. the only beings possessed of a more holy nature than the wings of the winds are the twentyfour seated elders with their white robes and crowns of gold, and the seven fiery spirits of god. the elders are the banners of tetragrammaton, and the fiery spirits are the seven traditional planets. these planets are divided into two sects ruled by the sun and the moon. the sect of the sun contains jupiter, saturn, and mercury. the sect of the moon contains mars, venus, and mercury. there is another ancient division of the planets in astrology that assigns them under the sun and moon to the signs of the zodiac. by this arrangement, the zodiac is divided down the middle into a solar half (right side) and a lunar half (left side

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 symbolized in the various myths by prostitution. in the vision of st. john, the goddess earth becomes the great whore babylon, who from a gnostic perspective is a degraded form of the queen of heaven. among some gnostic sects, she was called barbelo or sophia. in the myth of the simonian gnostics, she is helena, one of whose incarnations was helen of troy. the gnostic prophet simon, who was confused with the biblical simon magus by the fathers of the church, taught that he was himself the highest power, god the father. according to irenaeus, a very biased reporter, simon found helen working as a prostitute in tyr

WHO ARE THE DRACONIANS

s of marc dutroux, the alleged leader of the paedophile ring. one investigator said it was "like going back to the middle ages" in fact there has not been an old, middle, and modern age with regard to these rituals. it, is a seamless flow over thousands of years under the control of the sarne bloodlines. human skulls were found at the sacrificial sites identified by witnesses, particularly at the sects headquarters. the satanic group behind the belgian murders is said to interconnect with similar rings in holland, germany, and america" in truth, it will be part of the global network which operates in all countries. satanism is run like a transnational corporation. what is called satanism is the ruling hierarchy of the brotherhood pyramid under the command of the reptilians. like all the ot

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

e witch; but when the papacy became firmly established the priests treated the cult as a hated rival and tried to persecute it out of existence. the puritans also took up the work with glee, and between them they practically succeeded. from the eleventh century onwards the church had a number of dangerous rivals. the manichean doctrines were widespread in southern europe; these had many different sects but they lived peacefully side by side. they were largely synonymous with the catharists. they had their own bishops and deacons, and had great reverence for their 'perfects- initiated persons who were regarded as almost divine. they prostrated themselves before them, saying 'benedicite' the perfects also adored each other, though this adoration was not directed towards themselves but toward

the catharists with believing and teaching that they could freely indulge in all kinds of pleasures or debaucheries until they entered the circle of perfects; that their souls wandered about from one creature to another (reincarnation) until they became perfects, and then ascended to heaven at death. they were also charged with persuading people not to give money to the church. there were similar sects known as waldenses and albigenses. we know practically only what the church tells us about them and she makes identical charges against them all, with witchcraft thrown in for good measure. crusades were organised, very large numbers of people were massacred, the sects disappeared underground, and the persecution was switched to the heathens, the people of the heaths, who carried on the old

de nude virgins. christians accused them of 'baptising' children into heathenism. their association could only be entered by initiation, and learning and practising their secret lore. their magic power was much feared by early christians, who ascribed it to the devil. if we only knew really what the druids believed and taught, whether there was only one form of belief and whether they had various sects among them, it would be easier to say whether there was any connection or not with witchcraft. the latter may have been purely orthodox, thought of as extremely high or ultra low in type, the fanciful religion of a lot of women, a vile heresy, or simply the religion of the natives that no decent person might have anything to do with. it is quite possible that it was several of these things a

hlike, which he thought quite natural things to do; but he was most highly shocked and gave a very heavy penance because after some battle louis ate a mince pie on a friday, not knowing there was some tiny bit of meat in it. so when old writers who were initiated say 'all the mysteries were the same, surely they must mean the inner essences were the same. a heathen examining the various christian sects, catholic, roman and orthodox, presbyterian, methodist and church of england churches, would say they are at heart all the same. they all worship the triune god, the father, the son and the holy ghost. though some may pay more honour to the virgin and the saints than others, and the people who thus worship are on the whole good and worthy people and obviously would not so worship if the reli

h all seem to be derived from ancient egypt. i feel that the egyptian cults were too severe and respectable to go in for the blood practices used by africans. i think pythagoras, who is generally credited with bringing the mysteries to greece, was not the sort of man who would have had anything to do with blood sacrifices or other objectionable practices. but it is conceivable that there were two sects, the worshippers of set, as well as those of osiris, who crept in with the plea 'there is a short cut; if you cannot work magic properly, you can gain power this way' the writings of witches speak with horror of the practice of sorcerers using blood to gain power. but the evil knowledge may have kept pace with the good and may account for some of the statements against the cult which i am st

mes daily and used to pluck birds alive, were put in charge of the persecutions, and they spread the story of a conspiracy against christ. some people say they really believed some of the things they preached, but this i find hard to credit, though the more ignorant of their hearers might. it is certain that from the orgy of persecution, as in the earlier cases of persecutions against the various sects of heretics, someone obtained enormous loot, and, of course, it is true that these people were guilty of worshipping their own god in their own way. some people say that the church simply had written lists, and tortured witches and knights templar till they said 'yes' to all charges, and this accounts for all resemblances. but this is only partly true. the important resemblances are not in t

sing precognition, as the society for psychical research records prove. another charge made against witches, the templars, the waldenses, the gnostics and many others was the 'osculum infame. this may have been a stock charge against anyone the clerics disliked, and seems to have been used on the principle that any stick is good enough to beat a dog with. it was first used against all the various sects of heretics, then against the knights templar. witches do not kiss the devil's posterior, first because they never kiss anyone's posterior and, secondly, because the devil is never there for anyone to kiss. i cannot make it any clearer than that, can i? as i have said, there is no pact with the devil or with anyone else. this, i think, arose from the faust type of legend which may have been

rs that took place, and i have a feeling, based on nothing more than a hunch, that much the same happened in ancient crete. it is also quite possible that something like this occurred in egypt, but i have no evidence of this. i think in celtic and pre-celtic times witches had great scope and used their powers wisely and with restraint. in rome i think they had too much opposition from conflicting sects, from the roman character, the mixture of the population and, of course, christianity, which, together with various wars and invasions, put them out of the running for a thousand years. about the time of the end of the crusades, however, men's minds began to be rather freer; the shock of the total defeat and destruction of the crusaders, together with the new ideas these had brought from the

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

ngs of the hindus (from the works of sri ramakrishna) people partition off their lands by means of boundaries, but no one can partition off the all-embracing sky overhead. the indivisible sky surrounds all and includes all. so common man in ignorance says, my religion is the only one, my religion is the best. but when his heart is illumined by true knowledge, he knows that above all these wars of sects and sectarians presides the one indivisible, eternal, all-knowing bliss. as a mother, in nursing her sick children, gives rice and curry to one, and sago arrowroot to another, and bread and butter to a third, so the lord has laid out different paths for different men suitable to their natures. dispute not. as you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also the equal liberty

t thinking. ed abbey no one but god and i know what is in my heart. arabic whatever we cannot easily understand we call god; this saves much wear and tear on the brain tissues. ed abbey many millions search for god, only to find him in their hearts. sikh working is half of religion. turkish a man without religion is like a horse without a bridle. latin all isms should be wasms. abbie hoffman most sects are right in what they affirm and wrong in what they deny. goethe only the deaf and the blind are obliged to believe. romanian no religion without courage. arabic science investigates; religion interprets. science give man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. martin luther king, jr. religion has two children, love and hatred. russian doctrine is nothing but t

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